Om

This entry is a compilation of all my posts in the Philosophical Literature section, and then some in the Religious Texts section. All the numbered posts are written by me, and I've put some other people's posts in quotes to show the exchange and evolution of ideas. The posts are numbered up from my 500th previous, because further back than that they disappear into a void. I'm making this entry so that I have all my posts in an organized format, for myself and for others to read if they are interested, and so I may reference them easily if I chose to write an article or essay. I placed commentary on my own posts and (some) of the quoted posts, such as Blaze's. I don't know the protocol for this, so I will just list those whom I've quoted here at the beginning. Thank you to Blazeofglory, B-Mental, AwayAloneAlast, Crazefest456, Bakiryu, Jon1jt, Starving Buddha, beyondhuman, and anyone else if I quoted them but forgot to mention them here. I hope everyone can enjoy this, I've tried to separate my long paragraphs and I try to help understand them with my analytic commentations. I've enjoyed compiling this so far, I like examining my philosophy as it has developed and evolved. My philosophy, as philosophy in general, is about the search for knowledge and truth. Anyhow- enough ado!! Hope you enjoy and thank you very much for your interest!! Comments are welcome, but Private Messenges would be more facilitating, if there is an in-depth question. Currently, this blog entry is still in creation.




[B][SIZE="3"]Part 1- "Limitless Possibility"[/SIZE][/B]

[B]Post 2050[/B]

"Limitless possibility"

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[definition of terms.]

It is true that everyone believes in something. Gravity, for instance, we are fairly convicted about.
I don't share Midas' definition of belief, which seems arbitrary-- to say that we only believe what we haven't analyzed. I believe in gravity but it is something which, if I analyze, will still be my belief.


[quote="bakiryu"]
[COLOR="Red"][SIZE="2"]Does believing makes us what we are?

(Or you can just rant about belief: what is it and what does it mean to you?) [/SIZE][/COLOR][/quote]

Yes, belief makes us what we are, and this is a great thing. Belief creates the reality which we live in and it creates who we are, so the possibilities are limitless. When I say it creates reality, I mean it creates reality for us.

[smoking.]
Take smoking for example. It's what you believe whether you can quit or not. It might be difficult to take the leap and say that you're not addicted and you can quit if you want to. There are beliefs built on beliefs, but we can choose to believe what we want, we can even choose the beliefs which all others are built on.

The smoking example: if I define for myself what the effects are on me, then I can control my actions. Nicotine effects the brain, but so does fresh air. Nicotine wires the brain and makes it so that the brain is receptive to it, but so does fresh air and spirituality.

[essence.]
Often our beliefs separate us from others by a chasm. This can be good or bad-

[saints.]
-Saint Anthony was indubitably separated from others because he was on a plane of spirituality when the rest were in the worldly plane- and they saw the light that had been embodied in him, and they followed him and he brought many to liberation. It took twenty years of praying in the wilderness for the complete transformation which happened before he came back to the city. The austere practice of St. Anthony is remarkably similar to the austere practice of Milarepa of Tibet. The parallels are remarkable. The mind is transformed by the practice, and in the process of transformation the beliefs are aligned with integration, and the fundamental beliefs are also aligned with reality. I've done just a bit of this austere practice and it's sort of like an super-accelerated growth. It's a cascade. It's written that a single flame can dispel thousands of years of karmic impurity, and also that after one enlightened thought, all others are enlightened. I find this not to be exactly true; as we can have insights but then completely forget about them, but the cascade effect is real. I would go to say that the practice of St. Anthony and Milarepa was done to transform the mind- mind and beliefs are connected- and the beliefs, and to align them with nature, reality or spirituality- in Anthony's case, God- and then be transformed by the cascade.

St. Anthony's religion was Christianity, and Mila's religion was Buddhism. Schopenahur writes about a similar idea to Buddhism, that the world exists as our idea. It isn't the world we view that we know so much as the eye that views it. In Buddhism this is described in that reality exists in our minds. The self-sufficient mind contains everything it needs. So reality is subjective and we create our own reality for ourselves, and then there's practice which if we are dedicated to it will give us mental stability and clarity. Okay, that's my rant I suppose.

[B]Post 2065[/B]

[temporal.]

[quote="blazeofglory"]Beliefs are not at one with life. Beliefs are things that come and go and of course they are temporal and indeed some beliefs may shape minds and most do not and fade away. They are like morning dews and you can not see them afternoon.[/quote]

[reality vs. unreality.]

Beliefs come and go, but are beliefs the same thing as what you believe? What you believe truly shapes reality. I don't mean that it shapes things external, like supernatural powers- I don't mean that believing things aren't what they are will make them so. But beliefs in relation to our own minds do make our minds, and from our minds come our actions and our lives. Everything is in our minds, for example psychological problems, such as addiction. Beliefs and perceptions shape us, because if we think something is a certain way, then we won't act otherwise! But if we think things are another way, then we might have a much greater possibility.

[B]Post 2067[/B]

[Schopenhaur.]

I've read more Nietzsche than I have Schopenhaur, but I like Schopenahaur.

[B]Posts 2073-5[/B]

[to Jon1jt.]

But you fail to mention exactly what philosophy that is, so I don't know what you're talking about.

[quote="Jon1jt"]Ontology, and Schopenhauer is in the early modern development of that.[/quote]

[admission.]

Perhaps I am associating belief too closely with the mind.

It is from the mind that afflictive states cause suffering.

[transformation.]

The mind that is transformed does not suffer (as it does not have the afflictive states.)

So can a mind that is yet to be transformed become transformed?

Of course it can.

[practice.]

The mind can effect this transformation by acting the practice, and the practice transforms the mind.

Ontology is actually the basis of what I'm saying. The fundamental state of the mind is what all others are built on.

[Ontology.]

I guess what Blaze is saying is that beliefs do not affect the fundamental state of the mind. And this is true in a sense. However, it is very limited in another. The mind is not something out of our limits. It's within our limits to change our minds.

Like I say, it might be quite a leap to change our minds about something. Especially if we don't try to understand what's beneath.

Elaborate a little and tell me something I am missing, a wider view, or refine my beliefs.

[B]Post 2076[/B]

[to beyondhuman.]

[quote="beyondhuman"][World, Life and stuff. ]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And I had the odd friend who every now and again would come to me for advice, Cos' I'm apparently this advice machine.
This one friend of mine was about to commit suicide, She told me of her plans by telephone, So i drove down to her apartment, I don't know how incredibly un-sober I was (I was a drug addict back then) , But i got there safely and on time. She said to me, These exact words: "Why the **** should I not push this chair!" and I simply replied, "Life is a test, we have to pass it, by not ****ing it up and doing something like this."
She then took the rope from her neck and walked over to me with tears in her eyes, Sooner or later she was my girlfriend. That didn't last too long though.

A little while after that event i began to think, "Whats the purpose of our being here? Why are we on earth, If we are ruining it like we are"

Any answers to those last two questions?


-Cheers, Matt[/quote]

[sickness of the world.]

Your poor friend was feeling the sickness of the world...
Which I am feeling...
I cannot wear pants because they choke you. I wanted to wear a robe but I don't have one, so I'm wearing a blanket...

[B]Post 2098[/B]

[to Starving Buddha.]

[quote="Starving Buddha"][The Spiritual Path.]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I am interested in finding others who have started on the spiritual path towards enlightenment. Who may have had the experience of being in the Divine Presence; those who have experienced a moment of rapture that erased all doubt about the Divine. This is not necessarily about any particular religion, but a religious experience that is beyond any denomination. I am interested in finding those who have come to the realization that there is only one spiritual message that is broadcast through every religion and mystical practice. I am interested in finding others who see themselves as teachers, as lightbearers to bring to the world of darkness the beacon necessary to guide others onto the path...[/quote]

[effects of meditation.]

I think I agree with you Starving that there is one message broadcast. I had an interesting and revealing experience in meditation last night. In most Buddhist writings on meditation, at least for beginners, emphasis is placed on stilling the mind, or coming to peace, or rest, from discursive thoughts. Well, that isn't exactly how I meditate anymore. Now I meditate for the highest spheres. What I felt last night was my chakras being in alignment, and this is necessary to be conscious, I've read. Meditation can be transforming, you know. That's what I meditate for. If you do it right you can actually see the effects of it immediately, of which you won't find too many other people speak. The divine, that I felt last night; I felt it as another world- the other shore, Heaven on earth; or some kind of energy. I felt it enter my mind as I focused, and expand. Anyway that's all I have to say about this right now.

[B]Post 2119[/B]

[stolen material.]

Blaze got the microcasm and macrocasm bit from me, I guarantee you. :D

[Blaze's theory.]

[quote="blazeofglory"]Maybe you are right and of course you and me are not different entities and of course one organic whole, and indeed the sharing is there from one another. Ultimately the otherness that appears as a borderline blurs and we will emerge as a unified whole.[/quote]

[B]Post 2140[/B]

[no enlightenment.]

On the spiritual path,
there is no enlightenment, and there is nothing which is enlightened

how can there ever be that which never was?

[B]Post 2157[/B]

[liberate.]

Spiritual knowledge itself clears perplexity and insecurities. The person is not trying to become immortal, but knows that existence is very fleeting. They have peace of mind and their knowledge teaches them to value others' peace of mind. If you truly perceive what your nature is, then you should know that if you are true to it, you would liberate people and if people knew your heart and the liberating songs in it, they would revere you as a great teacher; if one were true to their buddha nature, they would be a buddha of this age.

[an allegory. the dream does not affect us.]

Truly we are in a dream and as soon as we awaken from that dream we have an ultimate peace of mind, we see that the entire dream is just a person waking, in a room, with absolutely no knowledge of anything, but experiencing full bliss, and reading one sentence over and over, which they also are the author of, with the pencil: "I don't know who you are, but by the time you finish reading this." Because the sentence and the situation is entirely accurate for our existences; the repeating day is our coming into and out of our dream; and the writing of the same sentence over is our creating reality for ourselves; if we truly awaken from the dream we see we are the same as the person in bed spending countless eternities with the pencil and the sentences. We have absolutely no obstacles to our enlightenment, and only continue out our continual being until we've fully understood our situation, and the sentence we keep writing for ourselves in our room, until we awaken from the dream again.

[in the allegory, we are aware of reality. everything that has happened, did not affect us. we know ourselves.]

The sentence is reality; we've written the sentence, and knowing the writer of the sentence is bliss. We read the sentence but we don't know who wrote it, we don't know anything- that is fully ignorance. We keep coming back to the knowledge that we are the author of the sentence, so that becomes all we know. We also know the reality around us. We are at peace knowing we are the shapers of our own reality, and through non-attachment, we've realized that there is nothing to be attached to. Reality is outside the dream.

[B]Post 2171-2[/B]

[to AwayAloneAlast.]

[quote="AwayAloneAlast"][original sin to karma.]

Curiously, the 'original sin' claim is found in religions beyond just Christianity. Take Hinduism, for example (the religion besides Christianity about which I know most); certain schools maintain that Brahma created the world through a sort of hubris, a sin--that is why you never see Brahma worshiped in India. Moreover, our Karma (action) from past lives is what is responsible for our rebirths. The ultimate goal is to stop this cycle of reincarnations; one only reincarnates to redeem oneself of the sin of karma.[/quote]

In truth it's very similar to Pure Land Buddhism, too.

[to deny the self and others-- as they relate to the self.]

The best thing we can do is say no to others and no to ourselves. That's because life is a dream. Life is a dream and all we can do is pursue knowledge and peace for ourselves, for ourselves only. We realize that life is a dream, and in this we've also seen the truth, so we go back into the dream because that's what life is, but we go back with the knowledge of the absolute. In truth there's no duality, no good or bad, nothing to be attached to, no concepts and no time.

[end of philosophy.]

The end of philosophy comes and goes in ebbs and flows. When it goes, for example, when philosophers are exiled or forgotten, the philosophers must rest happy in the peace they have for themselves.

Humanity must realize that it is impermanent. It must do a death meditation. the champion is right in that humanity is possibly headed soon for a drugged sleep-death or oblvion. After all, if the people in humanity do this, isn't that what is happening?

[possibilites of the mind.]

I'm not saying I done this or anything, but when people do drugs, the possibilities could be endless. It all depends on what goes on in the minds of the people doing them. Hendrix did drugs and he died on them. They destroyed him yet the LSD allowed him to write some of the most beautiful music we know. The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Grateful Dead....
that's getting off topic, I know..
sorry.

[B]Post 2185[/B]

[simply a poem.]

[B]On The Last Day[/B]

Let the sunlight shine on me.
How it reminds me of my true nature-
Cosmic, angelic, unborn, a being out of time.
The great crystal diamond vehicle in my eyes,
I ride a Blue dragon, in a flight of several,
While unborn presences merge with my mind,
Whispering, chanting, "Eternal."

It was the beginning of the last day,
And the sun was in a special way.
Flowers rose and starlight fell,
And unseen presences filled the air.
The murmur of the great dragon filled the sky,
And the earth was the groundstuff of his mind,
And the wind whispered the chanted word, "Eternal."

Life holds close her sister Breath,
And sister Breath holds Life for warmth.
Life, the whore we drag through muddy streets,
And Breath the jackal abused that hides at night.

[B]Post 2203[/B] - On Belief

[quote="blazeofglory"]Nikolai, I understand your point of view, of course. Your points are logically sound and agreeble.

[programming.]

Yet I have a different opinion. Beliefs are learned. kind of software, and we are from the moment we are born programmed to believe things. This belief has a wide repertoire indeed from believing in Gods to many other social taboos.

[undeniable belief.]

Indeed we cannot free ourselves from believing some thing. Even not to believe in God is also believing in the fact that there is no God, paradoxically speaking.

[reprogramming.]

Therefore belief has no strong foundation and it is very shaky. And our beliefs are changed and if we analyze or study how our beliefs progressed babyhood to now we observe variations of course in our beliefs ub high degrees from then to now.

[progression-- dimensions.]

This is what I believe in. I do not say I am totally right, may be from one angle. There are other dimensions I may overlook and you may discern.[/quote]

[assertion.]

No, in this case you need to have an active assertion, such as "I am at peace." It is true that being at peace is no different in actuality than in descrition, that is, if you are at peace then your mind can't otherwise be, yet it also must be from the mind that you are at peace. This is not something that comes after years of development, it's something that is in greater flux, yet it is no less important on gradual developmental advances.

[quote="blaze of glory"]Mind and peace are incongruous things, Nikolai, for the mind is subject to attributes, and the peace you get from the mind is not static, and of course it is the absence of sadness.

There is peace above the level of the mind, and this is what we cal Satchitananda in Sanskrit.[/quote]

[B]Post 2291[/B]

[heart-mind.]

I say mind, but of course I do not know what I'm talking about my friend! Isn't there a word for heart-mind? That is usually what I mean when I say mind.


[SIZE="3"][B]Part 2- God or Chaos?[/B][/SIZE]

[quote="blazeofglory"][God or Chaos? I can not say.]

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[the questions. links. sequence. questions embed answers.]

I raise some questions, fragmentary questions. There are no links there and they are independent questions. They are not sequential. Add your questions and answers too if you have any.

I believe that questions embed answers too.

************************************************** ******

[the dilemma.]

Torn between these two disparities I am in a dilemma. Godliness and ungodliness
that something very intriguingly questioning.

Since my babyhood these questions have been stretching my mindscape and of course I am still unanswered.

[the conflict.]

I have read many religious texts, Buddhism, Hinduism and Christianity, Islam, Taoism and many other theologies, philosophies, yet I am not fully convinced about their statements.
Of course there are some convincing accounts or testimonials that approbate this fact, the fact about the existence of God or some supreme power in the Vedas yet they are not fully reliable.

I turned to science and read Einstein, quantum physics, and many other scientific assertions.

[the universe.]

Yet scientific facts or theories are simply a handful of sands and the question of the whole cosmos is a vast sandmass stretched infinitely in the limitless desert.

This universe is really mysterious and it is unfathomable and never scientists can know the depth of the secret of the universe. For the universe keeps on expanding infinitely.

[arguments.]

Some argue just because the universe is very vast and limitless and that is why they assert God's existence and this too is not a convincing proposition.

All create a God of their own, and they carve out images of their own, in the shape and form that bear a resemble to both.

[conclusions.]

I like to be honest that I live through varying opinions. At times I believe not in the Gods theologies or mythologies describing His characteristics, but as a fountain of universal consciousness and at times only chaos.

[questions.]

I just like questioning more and more to plunder deeper and deeper of course.
I keep on reading more and more. Now what appeal to me more are Zen, Sufism, Taoism, the Vedas. These are some sources I find more credible and convincing.

[epilogue.]

I am amazed indeed at everything in the universe.

I am also amazed at the fact that we all are mortals and yet feel as if we are immortal and keep on living with hope and aspiration until we take last breathe.

Creation is simply amazing. The question we are here is also amazing. Are not you amazed at everything around you and the fact that you exist?[/quote]

[B]Post 2436[/B]

[a contemplated response.]

Blaze, I was thinking of writing you as I had some more things to share with you; but you know already what's in my mind and meditations; you've described it as sublimating yourself.

If you are not at peace, and if you do not understand something, then you should take your own advice and set all the misconceptions aside; as you say let ideologies clash and live the life that you live, knowing as you do that you will come to Heaven by it...

[new ideas.]

I would recommend reading the Gita as much as possible-- I know you've read it, long, long before I was ever aware of it and you probably have read more of it than I have; but I just recommend reading it again, very carefully, and with as new of ideas as you can possibly think of. Focus on liberation and transcension...

Use the one-pointed meditation from Buddhism, and Krishna consciousness to aim your hands and heart at the Godhead, and then you will be rewarded with bliss and knowledge.

[reference-- vantage.]

If you can take away all misperceptions, Blaze, then you will see reality as it truly is; as a passing dream. Nothing in the dream will not pass; it is all here one time, and gone another; we our selves are not bound by time, we just view things from this reference because of the way we were taught. Since nothing in the dream will not pass; truly there is nothing that is not of the nature of void...

[evidence.]

This is explained in the Heart-Sutra; which is as fantastic to understand-- equally, exactly, equivicably-- as our own nature. There is nothing to be enlightened, no enilghtenment, and importantly, there was never anything to be attached to in the first place.

[ultimate view. vantage vanishes.]

In the ultimate view there is no duality and no time. If we can relax and feel our being, this is much more than words. If we arrive at the ultimate view, we are at peace unknown by any except those also at the same view. When you make this kind of achievement, which requires many, many, many hours of meditation; you will be struck by it like nothing else. You will be completely at peace because you are situated in perfect knowledge and happiness.

[progress results in happiness. vantage is again overcome.]

This stage at the ultimate view is closely connected with having trust in your mind; cf. Inscription on Trust in the Mind, by Seng Ts'an. There is nothing more to know. It is only peace and happiness which we strive for; and these can only be attained when we stop striving. When we are situated perfectly in meditation, we're not disturbed by any of the passing dream.

[the means.]

When we see things with perfect understanding, we know what their true forms are. When we realize that things are not difficult or easy, then we know that simple knowledge of a form suffices; and if we examine everything we know, then we realize that we know all the forms sufficiently and perfectly, and when we realize this, we have perfect trust in the mind.

[idealists.]

Of all idealists one thing is shared; the desire for a perfect, peaceful existence. The realists and other differing philosophers say so much peace makes them sick to the stomach, and it is too peaceful for them; but we answer-- what do you ask for? Crime?

[what do you ask for?]

We say let there be no crime and you say you would not like it so. Well then let there be this; let there be no crime at all, and then let there be one crime, and let it happen to you! For we are not bored when we have time, and when we read and learn we realize that we are always learning, and how can we have more knowledge at one time or another? We've come out of the dream at various intervels, but known we've had to go back into it. Since the ultimate view is that there is no duality; take this to your heart and trust yourself above those who teach false teachings.

[false teachings lead to crime. the ultimate view creates transcendence.]

As to whether the dream is of Visnu or it is an atheistic universe, whether the ground we walk on is the manfiestation of the mind of Krishna, from his Visnu expansions, or whether it's all materialistic, and spiritualty is just something that evolved out of nature and humanity-- let others debate this, who cannot be happy learning and teaching higher things.

[Visnu, God, higher teachings-- taking a side. examining the issue-- is there an issue? examining the problems the issue examines. a God-created vs. Godless matrix.]

And I actually challenge you to make a side; be convinced whether it is a God's creation or not. However are you sure it is chaos if it is not God? Since God is a thing we argue about in our minds; look at nature, look at the cosmos, look at the Earth before and after humans and tell me this is chaos-- take humans out, this is not chaos; but a beautiful synchronated world, an ecosystem, everything connected and related and affecting everything else; it is not chaos, it is a world of very sublime beauty; and Earth has described perhaps very beautifully and poetically in the science fiction of Douglas Adams, in a story as a Computer, a vast computer where the organic elements themselves are part of the matrix. There is no mention of God, but you would call such a matrix chaos? No, it is not chaos, it is a matrix.

[discovery, knowledge, sharing.]

As you can see in my signature and also the beginning of this post, I talk of God, and the Gita, and Heaven. This is because I feel I have discovered something very valuable; spiritual attainment of the highest order. Yet I do not believe that even the most sublime things I have discovered about aiming my heart and mind and hands at the Godhead, even this, does not preclude the possibility of a Godless matrix.

[spiritual attainment.]

Much talk, but not much worry. Blaze, don't you see what is sublime in those who are well-convicted? I am very convicted; beyond convicted-- anything else would be the wrong way to be!! I remind you that 1% of spiritual progress to the Supreme cannot be lost. I have perhaps attained 1%-- now, at some point, I will be attacked by demons and perhaps faced with gross grotesqueries and harassments and temptation will be high. But by then we have gotten far beyond whether there is a God or not.

[resolution not to think about the conflict.]

This is why I would not even think about this in such times of distress or conflict. I rather will be convicted both in my devotion and love for the Godhead, which is transcendental in all respects; as well as-- perhaps somewhat slightly less-- convicted in my belief that I cannot truly know the difference between a God's universe or a Godless matrix; but devoted still to the transcendental nature and body of Godhead.

[convicted further and faith in the resolution, and faith in God.]

If you cannot be convicted like I am, then I advise you to be convicted of the existence of Krishna, and the idea that the material universe is part of Krishna's Visnu expansions. This is an exceptional view. Work towards the Supreme. But think;; how can you make any progress in this world if you do not trust yourself?? So try to trust yourself, because the moment you begin to, at this moment all the false teachings begin to unravel of themselves.




[B][SIZE="3"]Part 3-[/size][SIZE="2"]
(Conversation with Crazefest, discourse on the self, truth of the mind, being, eternals, and progress towards knowledge and transcendence.)[/SIZE][/B]

[B]Post 2366[/B]

[B-Mental to crazefest456.]

[quote="B-Mental"]Good luck with that craze. Sometimes, it is easier to be patient, and understand yourself...your confessions are unto yourself. You will come to a place where you can confront your fear, at that time you must chose correctly, but all choices are correct. Part of self identity is to release your inhibitions.[/quote]

[jumping in. growth.]

Craze, I take it you are younger than me, I'd just say if you didn't mind, I would just say I think you are intelligent, and of course very mentally stable, and that always comes before everything else...I hope you always become more at peace and happier as time goes by --I think also growth is a two-fold process; gradual development and insight or realization.

--Of course this is very vague...For the ultimate goal of self-realization, always during the progress towards it we have to have trust in ourselves.

[right? wrong?]

It's all a state of mind, which gives us a lot of control over our destinies. Ask, and thou shalt receive-- so if we ask for love, beauty, peace, knowledge, skillful means, whatever we ask for we are given. The more so since we choose what we think, and what we think is nothing less than entire reality for us. This is why sometimes it seems wrong to actually think things, as in thinking someone is right or wrong. We know what's right and wrong, and when we think about things, they become more complicated and we forget or lose our focus.

[intellect.]

Thinking is just an exercise of our mind, and if we are not thinking, our mind is still involved with everything of creating our reality for us. But we are not the only ones in our lives; in fact everything is interdependent.

Anyway, just some thoughts...not all of this was directed at you, Craze, a lot of it I thought of, and then I saw your posts.

[peace.]

Something I felt recently was sort of embracing the whole world, and being at peace with everyone.

[quote="crazefest456"]No, I really needed this...I really don't mind! I've become a tad bit flighty over the years, and I forgot the real reason why finding my self became harder. I really, REALLY appreciate this, both of you.[/quote]

[B]Post 2370-1[/B]

Ha, happy to help then!

[remembering.]

I think we go around and around, learning about different things and coming back to the same points again and again; when I think about things like it seems you are now, I don't think I very often forget what I've thought about.

[the cave, the shadows, the dream-- what does it mean?]

It's like putting a puzzle together, I guess. You're obviously into philosophy. I am a big fan of Nietzsche; who in the beginning of his first book "The Birth of Attic Tragedy", he mentions the commonness among philosophers to view the world as a dream, and Plato's "The Cave" comes to mind. I keep coming back to this point because it seems understanding this truth is different from everything else. What we see is a shadow, as Plato describes.

[my analogy of the man with the pen.]

My own allegory is sitting in a room with a pen, writing a single sentences, which signifies existence; and knowing only the knower, only the writer of the sentence, not knowing so much about the sentence itself, just coming back always to the fundamental knowledge of authorship, and examining the sentnece, but completely at peace with everything in it, like a Stoic; and even transcendening from this reality eventually...

[quote="crazefest456"]That's exactly it; I focused too much on the sentence or the shadows of things outside the cave. There must be a balance between knowing my self and my actions...but wouldn't that make me even a tad bit disillusioned; if I make a clear rift between my two identities?[/quote]

[a state of mind. peace. nature of the slate of our mind. destiny.]

As for it all, it is all a state of mind. Thus we can only be at peace,, if we are at peace. The slate can be wiped clean-- I often wonder, can the nature of the slate be altered? What is the nature of the slate? Presumably, such goodness as to be buddha-nature. Does this mean it's possible to realize this? Quite so it does. That is our destiny, and in fact it is our past also. Whether reincarnation from family to family, exists, so to speak, it is quite factual that genetic and heredity link us with our past and future in that way. Our health and genes are determined by our ancestors-- Not solely, the first, second, third or fourth previous generations, but countless generations before that, is what makes up our genetics and DNA. Now, these ancestors must have lived everything we can experience in our lives! They must have meditated, fasted, been healthy, been spiritual, been enligthened, as well as lived every kind of depravity-- at least in some measure, on some scale. The truth is we have good genes-- all of us. To realize our fullest potential is to improve our entire line of succession-- all of the skills that are hereditary...not to mention worldy status and position.

[to realize means to ask, but is nothing without trust.]

To realize this, all we need to do is ask for it. We must needs but trust our selves and ask for it; since we make it for ourselves by ourselves, by our asking. Let us, for instance, ask for God, in the Christian sense. Already we have come to a breakthrough. We want peace, and what is the source of that peace? Following His Law. If we are always asking Him, then we are never breaking His Law. If we have not broken, nor will break, His Law, then nothing material can possibly affect this spiritual realization. We have transcended, we see our reality and we see our destiny and nature. Etc., etc.,

[asking becomes a covenant. faith. the Cave. our senses, knowledge of phenomena, are not real, but shadows. we exist as physical beings while all we view are shadows of our real being. as we are real beings but only know a shadow of our real being.]

And yet our asking must become acting. Where is the drive to act, though? But our asking becomes creating-- which we cannot cease to do, ever, we cannot cease creating reality, as long as we are alive. So we come back to creating reality...

that would be faith, perhaps. Faith that everything is different; that we will not fail, and that our ultimate destiny is, in fact, something better than our imagining, that if we even fully realized what we believe we are capable of, then it would be better than we could imagine. And perhaps we are capable of even more than we think we are? In fact, this actually must be the case.

Now about the Cave-- I have limited knowledge of it; I may have read about it or had it explained to me. I should read it again, I just read the Wikipedia stub on it under Plato. I think it's not shadows outside but shadows on the inside of the wall, made by the setting sun, as the person is chained and unable to move. Plato says that the forms we see are but shadows of their ideal ideas. They are also passing shadows, which seems to be the justification or proof of calling it a dream. There's more in that Plato says the senses are not to be trusted, basically, or their input taken as real, etc.... I think a Buddhist monk would enjoy discussing it. Anyway, what do you think?

[B]Post 2373[/B]

[quote="crazefest456"] I love these ideas, but I haven't read the Gita (yet) or studied it at all, so please don't mind if I ask a few questions:
1 How about the reality of our "selfs"? Isn't that grounded in the misperceptions we are born into? If so, how do we get out of this imprisonment?

2 Can the truth of mind be sorted out through the other mess that is programmed in our brains (or hearts)?
3 I'm sort of scared about not striving for peace and happiness, because I feel like I'm sinning (in a way) that I'm not trying to put my thoughts into action...Will peace just come to us? I really don't trust my actions, at all infact! So do I have to do things without thinking about its effects, or something else?

Maybe I misunderstood all this; now I'm planning to read these texts, to make sense out of everything.[/quote]

[quote="crazefest456"]thanks for the links...I'll get to it tonight.
Does meditation really need to be intricate? I mean, I start fazing out at the most weirdest (ok, WORST ) times and then start meditating about everything. Anything could make me react this way-- too much anger or worry, or annoyance. I'd be walking and doing my necessary duties in school, but at the same time, my mind wasn't even there. I was meditating the whole time. I had to explain to my friends in one sentence to bear with my odd behavior because I needed that. While everyone was in action, my face had this smirk plastered over, pretending to acknowledge my reality here.
But since I allowed myself to become peaceful (for that week), didn't that ultimately make me use meditation to strive for that peacefulness?
Is this even meditation?[/quote]

Craze, you are very lucky actually to have experienced that! I've only experienced that once, that I can really remember, and it's fairly recently. Of course I meditate every night and I've had a lot of progress, etc...but being in that kind of continuous meditative trance just briefly, anyway, I know what you mean I think.

To answer your questions:

[quote="crazefest456"]I love these ideas, but I haven't read the Gita (yet) or studied it at all, so please don't mind if I ask a few questions:
1 How about the reality of our "selfs"? Isn't that grounded in the misperceptions we are born into? If so, how do we get out of this imprisonment?[/quote]

I have referred once or twice to our nature being a buddha-nature. For those who think Buddhism is an atheistic or even (gosh) nihlistic "religion"---in other words...er... a bad thing... what can I say?-- anywho, forget them, the rest is directed at Craze.

Anywho, so I refer to our nature as being buddha-nature. B-Mental's mentioned auras; there's a lot of stuff in this world I know nothing about.

[to the question of the self. buddha-nature and boddisattva.]

To your question of the selves, I say that our true nature is buddha-nature. Now, this term, buddha-nature, is something so large it is at the ends of my imagination. What is a buddha? It is one who enlightens an entire age; the entire world at a particular time, perhaps. It is a boddhisattva, and one who perhaps has spent time as a god or demigod.

[abstraction. realization of the sublime-- Supersoul. essence. evidence.]

This is very extravagant and fantastic, I know. It is larger than what we see ourselves as, and its realization is far away from what we know exists. However, this is an indicator of its existence. The sublime and the Supersoul exist; because as we can see and observe them, so are they too observing us.

[existence.]

Existing as our full realized self-nature, in one philosophical sense, is as great, as sublime, as fully realizing our nature in any sense that we can observe it in.

[essence.]

Realizing our nature in a physical way, with our actions, seems so distant to us because we are so constantly fixated in a conditioning which prevents us from viewing it.

[our physical existence.]

If we really observe our selves, our physical bodies, however, don't we see that we are matter, the same as energy, and that our realization would be into pure light?


[quote="B-Mental"]Well just to briefly comment on the aura...My father had an aura that others remarked about, but he and I experienced things which could have been either aura. I recognise it most especially around street lights and animals. Anyways, I joined the internal struggle for purity of mind and action, to encourage and try to never discourage. This enhances my my aura... something that animals recognise.

Meditation for me is effortless, and a wonderful passage of time. I release all of my pure energy into my aura (this really takes a long time to learn, don't get discouraged) and then I begin to "ride the white lightning" I experience my aura as it expands, when I recognise that something has felt my aura I blink (internally). When some thing recognises my blink, it will blink back. I recognise this intersection of auras as an "electric" flash.

The first time I experienced this was on the ocean, and it is like nothing you can imagine. The abundance of life beneath the surface that lives there flashes you like a brilliant cascade of flashbulbs (with differing intensities). When I can, I push my aura through this and expand it further. Ok, now I'm going to be categorised as cuckoo. These experiences are after years of attempted purification and meditation. I know that I will never be truly pure, but I will continue to strive for this.

Now back to the topic, I know that I would never have achieved any level of meditation without first overcoming my questions of faith...it is pinnacle to belief. I do believe that there is some Supreme being. As for the title....Science has found order in Chaos, and this lends to a further belief in the Supreme hand involved in everything.[/quote]

[B]Post 2374[/B]

[the second part of my post 2373. truth of the mind.]

[quote="crazefest456"]2 Can the truth of mind be sorted out through the other mess that is programmed in our brains (or hearts)?[/quote]

Yes truth can be understood, and it can be helpful in understanding and growth. I will use the term 'mind' in this discussion, rather than brain; as I use it I mean either 'mind' or 'heart-mind.' I do not think that mind and brain are the exact same; if for no other reason than that mind is a different word. For instance, "areas of the mind" would probably mean something mental, where as "areas of the brain" would probably be physical; the phsysical regions of the brain.

[the knowledge that essence is void has no essence. the form that emptiness is form has no form, and is thus emptiness, and is thus form.]

It is quite interesting you say "truth of mind" because I think the mind is in fact something very sublime, and so then the truth of it is also sublime. Now from my experience, through different means we can understand the true nature of the objects of the mind with certainty. The great Buddhist truth, what is described in the Heart Sutra, or Sutra of Perfect Wisdom, is that the nature of all form is void. Still this truth as expressed is a form itself; and so, though it might be revered as a gem of self-illuminating wisdom, its nature is void the same as everything else. Although I don't know what that tells us! Anyhow, this seems to be exactly what Plato was saying; and Plato says that when we see things as empty, as they are, then we escape from the "cave of ignorance." Ooh, ominus sounding.

[spiritual advancement requires refuge in practice.]

A great way to get past bad conditioning is to actively practice better habits. A lot of praise is reserved throughout religious texts and society too for those who have broken out of their conditioning. The Buddha says this, that one who is committed to meditation, and meditates for an hour a day, is doing a good job of this, and is on the path, or advancing on the path, to liberation. Don't neglect to correct habits of thinking. After all, thinking and acting are very closely related. And don't forget your spirit, too, I suppose.

Anywho, one absolutely sure-fire way to change all conditioning is to change environments. Just a thought.

[meditation as a tool of progress.]

[quote="crazefest456"]Does meditation really need to be intricate? I mean, I start fazing out at the most weirdest (ok, WORST ) times and then start meditating about everything. Anything could make me react this way-- too much anger or worry, or annoyance. I'd be walking and doing my necessary duties in school, but at the same time, my mind wasn't even there. I was meditating the whole time. I had to explain to my friends in one sentence to bear with my odd behavior because I needed that. While everyone was in action, my face had this smirk plastered over, pretending to acknowledge my reality here. [/quote]

Like I said before, this indicates to me a particular experience which I recognize, as I've had it.

As for too much worry, anger and annoyance, I understand; it's nothing to fret about. In fact you should not avoid it but use everything you can as fuel for your understanding, a lesson to learn from. Don't be upset by your afflictive emotions; if you reject them, then you'll worry even more. Don't feel guilty over not striving for peace. Keep striving for peace, you're intelligent and you have a lot of potential, and what knowledge you've attained, what you have to share now is very valuable! If you think knowledge and meditation will help you in your quest for peace, pursue them also.

[the mind turns slowly as in martial arts, it does not stop at any object, at the same time it is unmoved and undisturbed. peace and equanimity. parallels.]

Back to your post (above quote); meditation is good to help for a peaceful mind. Studying buddhism and aikido, I learned a small amount about the mind being at peace--- the mind at peace turns slowly. It is disturbed by nothing. The agitated mind is disturbed by things it thinks are external. It is good to be at peace, peace of mind and centered in meditation, but this could be difficult in a roomful of noisy people. The Buddhists talk about big mind, and small mind. Big mind is when the mind relates to nothing, or to the unchanging eternals. Small mind is when the mind relates to the things it confronts, it observes, as externals, which it thinks it is inside. If the mind relates to these-- or takes its reality from them; it is small mind. If it relates to none of it, it is big mind; it is not disturbed by phenomena, and it turns slowly, and is well focused, and is not distracted, but stays on its target. This would be related to one-pointed concentration, which I find a parallel in Krishna consciousness.

[peaceful.]

[quote="crazefest456"]But since I allowed myself to become peaceful (for that week), didn't that ultimately make me use meditation to strive for that peacefulness?
Is this even meditation?
3 I'm sort of scared about not striving for peace and happiness, because I feel like I'm sinning (in a way) that I'm not trying to put my thoughts into action...Will peace just come to us? I really don't trust my actions, at all infact! So do I have to do things without thinking about its effects, or something else?
Maybe I misunderstood all this; now I'm planning to read these texts, to make sense out of everything. [/quote]

[true view, nonduality, truth, interdependence, happiness.]

It is said that the true view is that meditation is not different from non-meditation, and inaction not different from action. Not the same, but not different. Not two, and not one. If this appeals to you, pursue it. I can tell you I think it's one of the highest truths. Non-duality. The smallest is at one with the largest. Time is an illusion. Things of this nature. Interdependence of all living things. These are Buddhist ideals but the last, interdependence, is a precept of Unitarianism, for example. I wish you luck and I look forward greatly to your replies. May you be happy.




This last has been just a touch lengthy probably, I apologize. :alien:

I suppose you could look up your roots, if that's what you felt inclined to do, but what I've been thinking is that it isn't terribly important. What's important is that we had ancestors in the last century, which excercise a very strong role on our position-- our grandparents and parents, these are large figures in our lives-- yet we have ancestors in every century; back two centuries, and much beyond that! Each generation we have a couple, a man and a woman, who conceive a child, who meets another child, who conceive another; we actually have very, very many ancestors. They're with us.

[asking.]

[quote="crazefest456"]That's one of the things that I do less and less. Asking Him seemed like humiliation for me, because I felt like I didn't really deserve his attention. I feared insincerity in my worshipping him that I pretty much stopped asking...I'm shocked, I guess I repressed this inside that I never really knew I wasn't asking. I feel like I've done a horrid thing...see, I again over thought this whole supplicating thing that I completely stopped! That's insane, I really didn't think I would do something in this magnitude.[/quote]

[progression of true ideas. non-identity in the body. non-identity in ideas. non-identity in a passing self.]

Well I could not tell you it is better to ask or not ask. I believe I'm getting closer to what is true; and I already understand some things. Since I have various opinions about various truths, I recognize when I agree with something and if I believe it is more truthful, or less truthful. What I think is truth is that all of my ideas and definitions for pretty much everything, are limited, and so often flat out wrong. I think I have a body; well, is it mine? I think a body is a certain structure and healthy organism, yet is it truly so? Is it matter? So say everything; but it is passing, and it is not me, and so I know it is not what I think it is.

[the dream and vantage points.]

So after all this; questions to my belief or knowledge of metaphysics are even more dismantling. How can I call anything good or bad? If I am to put structure to what I see as the platform of my self, my honor, or my karma, or anything like that; I have to take it in its immensity, and everything becomes scary and unstable. I have to realize that though not putting too much emphasis on my own authority; yet I have to focus on becoming Stoic about the dream, both climbing out of my cave of ignorance, and practicing methods which fascilitate realization.

[pursuing skillful means. aware of my darkness.]

Meditation and contemplation, philosophy and breathing excercises, moving martial arts are a part of meditation; all of these things are good for me, and sometimes amazing, so I should continue to pursue this, and other skillful means, and also cultivate goodness in virtuous acts; for though I am not proud of all my actions, I can at least be proud of some of them, and I can take responsibility for myself.

Even if you throw a light upon my shackled form in the cave darkness, still would you see a self-aware and intelligent being, aware of its darkness, or perhaps a peaceful soul, aware that the perceived and agreed upon reality of darkness is merely another illusion. So I cannot recommend asking or not asking, as I do not wish to call myself right or wrong, or any other person right or wrong; yet I do realize that asking is closely related to taking responsibility. Perhaps neither is required, or at least no duty to material directives, and perhaps the highest responsibility is altogether spiritual in nature.

[mind-weeds.]

[quote]oh, it's been a few years (I was introduced to the allegory in my poli sci class) for me...I mixed it up
Senses, though deceiving, can be a component of the little mind you were talking about in the "God or Chaos?" thread...I just they're just cobwebs on the kernel of the Real; but useful cobwebs, to me [/quote]

Yes, it's quite wonderful you said this! I first became aware of the idea in Buddhism, and now it has evolved, but exists practically, a little different. In Buddhism there is written about a thing called "Mind-weeds." To put it very simply, they're something we can 'pull out' and plant, and they can help nourish better concentration, meditation or what have you. Now I just sort of think that with integration or focus, different thoughts or "mind-weeds" can be a good thing, meaning good for the health of the body and the brain; etc., if this makes any sense.

[B][SIZE="3"]Part 4- Heredity[/SIZE][/B]

[roots. links. path.]

[quote="crazefest456"]I love the idea of ancestry lines contributing all the necessary skills. But I feel too torn from such lines-- I wish their presence would inculcate inside me so that I'd have an easier time finding these skills. I guess I need to learn about my roots and filling in that rift between that past and now.
I really love these ideas...they all make up a wonderful path to lead and to fear nothing, all the while. [/quote]

[repeat of the same lives. progress culimating in nourishment for the soul. realizations, transcendence, and emergence from inevitible darkness of an age.]

I was thinking about this; in a way we are connected to our ancestors, past to present; the practice in various skillful means they did, long before we were born, these are seen come alive if we practice the same skillful means. Now this holds true for something like playing piano, if someone has a great deal of music in their veins, this can be relearned and expanded upon; but think how great our history is-- how far back it goes, and all of this time what our ancesters were doing are the same things we are; walking, running, thinking, meditating, eating, drinking, breathing, talking, laughing, and everything involved in their lives, which would not be truthfully too much different from our lives-- finding fulfillment, finding peace, happiness, and extension, and finding realization.

Simply to observe ourselves; our hands, our minds, our bodies, our souls; is to take the first step, and if we see ourselves as we truly are, we'll see that we're totally directed towards this realization, towards spirituality, and all of that. Did we not have ancestors who had broken through the illusion? Who found realization in religion, and yet were also true to standards of equality and integrity we have developed now; found realization, and sometimes emergence from the restrictions of their age?

[different approaches. ancestors.]

I suppose you could look up your roots, if that's what you felt inclined to do, but what I've been thinking is that it isn't terribly important. What's important is that we had ancestors in the last century, which excercise a very strong role on our position-- our grandparents and parents, these are large figures in our lives-- yet we have ancestors in every century; back two centuries, and much beyond that! Each generation we have a couple, a man and a woman, who conceive a child, who meets another child, who conceive another; we actually have very, very many ancestors. They're with us.

[B][SIZE="3"]Part 5- Religion[/SIZE][/B]

[quote="blazeofglory"]Truth is indeed a pathless land as famously said by J.K Krishnamurti. It is not subjective. You often seem to glimpse truth through your writing s . O f course inquiry takes us close to truth and there are inquisitions in your writings and this is what absorbs me in point of fact.

There are indeed countless paths and Gurus and we simply flow with eddies of ideas and opinions and they simply mislead us.

Personally I do not fully hinge upon particular sets of ideas. All of us are indeed inquirers and not arrivers and making conclusion is indeed dogmatic.

This world is really mysterious and I do not why I can not fully subscribe to both ideas of materiality and spiritualities and both indeed suffer limitations of their own and indeed beyond a point both ideologists can not venture.

Nikolai, I know you are a tireless seeker and indeed your ways of inquiries appeal to me for there is pervasiveness in your inquiry[/quote]

[B]Post 2398[/B]

[our philosophy of being outshines unnecessary conflicts. an analysis of individuals who use ad hominem for some unknown reason, and who start personal conflicts. these personal conflicts are the absence of any transcendental thinking.]

Well, there is a certain "One" that all philosophies are centered around. As long as we agree that there are different levels of existence and being, then there will always be one underlying source, and at the other end a nothingness. We can agree or disagree about anything we want to. Truly we can learn from anyone, yet there are many who operate on such opposite pretexts, as to make communication impossible. How do you communicate with someone, for instance, who harasses you and has a low or worse opinion of you? These people are completely lost in ignorance and ambition, they do nothing but insult others to destroy their security and self-respect. This is obviously done out of a twisted drive to show their opposition's "mistakes" and "flaws", etc. In any case to be in contact with such a harasser, it, as Plato describes, cuts the wings of the soul from their nourishment, and the soul falls dead to the ground. This is why those who have climbed out of the ignorance do not want to continue in the struggle for existence, rather they are sufficient in the truth they possess, and if they can truly find no other living people who will nourish them, then they prefer at least to protect their soul by not engaging in those who have no vision for the spiritual. Now it is absolutely the truth, as you say, that we cannot battle such people for the truth, about ourselves, or any of our objects of contemplation. No words may be said in such a case that will further any kind of mutual understanding and nourishment.

[B]Post 2403[/B]

[Hinduism.]

Hinduism upholds that all living things have souls, so it isn't new age.

They say we are above nature, but this is completely wrong. We are parts and parcels of nature, as nature is a thing greater than us. Just because nature doesn't write volumes of poetry or compose symphonies in our 12-tone system, doesn't mean anything at all. Nature provides us with everything, should we not serve Nature as a whole then, instead of only ourselves, and our own desires?

[B]Post 2406[/B]

[another Ontological proof for God-- I see God. God sees me.]

Glancing over some of the comments on this thread but not reading them all, I'd just like to give my suggestion; a perhaps more eloquent, better, proof, that would never-the-less get less support and enthusiasm, is this: I can see God, therefore He can see me. Which is like this; if you think things can be connected in a vast, vast way, beyond imagining, beyond time, in a way that actually slips through all the doors of reality, then this is true, in fact, and it is a more real reality, a more real being; yet this true reality, the one that slips through the holes of the common illusion, would not be seen by anyone else, and to speak of it would seem madness. Therefore: I see God-- something no one else can see-- and [B]through my new vision I can see that it is real[/B], and I can see that God sees me.

[Q.E.D.]

[quote="blazeofglory"]Nikolai, I know you are on a spiritual path. Yet I have to say something about what you said notwithstanding the fact that there is nothing to do with agreement and disagreement.

Somewhere you seem to be judgmental of what others said and done in point of fact, yet, Nikolai, there is some reality we must understand. All we do here is for struggle for existence. All of us indeed have to do struggle for existence and indeed sins from one perspective. You can not continue living without killing living beings. When you eat meat indeed there is sin for you can not eat it without killing, and even if you are a vegetarian the killing is involved.

Therefore, we can not live without committing sins. Only there is a question of degree and nature. All are committing sins of some kind.

You know the story in the bible of a widow who was stoned by a throng of people for her adultery. She was accused of being involved in profanities. Jesus saved her.

This vindicates that all of us are sinful in point of fact.[/quote]

[B]Post 2407[/B]

[it is wrong to have opinions about others' being, mind character, and it is more wrong to try to force these opinions upon them.]

What I mean is that we cannot have any kind of honest exchange with someone who operates under such guidelines as to make opinions about others' being, state of mind, character, when these are wrong. How would you feel if someone said you were depressed, for every day of your life?

[an example of persistent abuse. abuse depresses the soul, and cuts it off from the light, if the victim becomes entangled.]

How would you do if someone said you were weak, inferior, stupid, helpless, ugly; all of these things are horrible, horrible things to say, yet people do believe them and say them. When placed in such a position, it would be very difficult to have peace of mind, growth, and happiness in ones' self...I am beginning with Plato or Socrates' definition and description of the soul, and I am talking about the kind of people who nourish others' souls, and those who do not. And in making decisions in this life, one has to realize that there are those who will abuse them, and cut their soul away from the light, and these people are to be seen as such; defined by their actions towards' others.

I think it is remarkablly good that we have such a community here, and I am very grateful for it. I find my soul nourished with knowledge and friendship; yet even here I have seen such persons that do not care for such communal friendship; for whatever reason. And they do not have a leg to stand on. I am not talking about vegetarian or omnivourous, and I am not talking about killing in battle. I am talking about those who cannot speak without hatred. If you need proof of the existence of such persons I can give it to you, although it is very plain.

[if there is good and bad, then there are best and worst persons, but most are in the middle, like on a bell-curve.]

Personalities are surely spread out and on a bell curve. Thus there are people along every place of the spectrum, from the worst through the mean to the best of people. Now I do not wish to judge others. But I do wish to grow in my spirituality, and help others, not as a condescending wish to teach but with an idea that such communication is of the highest and deepest sort.

[there is great potential for the pure exchange of ideas. great resources of sharing experience, insight, progress, ideas and knowledge. on the spectrum on the bell-curve, again we are faced with the existence of the worst, of the lowest, and their impact upon us.]

Especially is it pure on this particular form of communication; and on my part at least I tell you there is no attachment, and no desire. Nothing disharmonious. And in my quest for persons of a like nature-- and for those whose differences interact harmoniously with mine; I know that on the spectrum, there will be those who are firmly rooted in negativity, and vice, who must be completely opposite from me, and value everything oppositely; and as it is said what is good for one is not necessarily enjoyable, it's also true that what's normal for one is traumatic, and hateful to another.

[a sick desire for control and power over other human beings leads to misery.]

The people who I am talking of will not only desire what is different from me; they have no boundaries and so their desires are in excess; their desire for material power overflows into a desire to control me, to control my mind; and this is shown in the fact that they have opinions of me-- that on whatever spectrum they see things through; I am of the lowest sort on it-- and they repeat these over and over to convince me of it; this is the harassing I was speaking of.

[religion is the way to spirituality. "acknowledging the difference between good and bad is the first step on the path to Comprehension" - Karl Jaspers.]

So while it's wonderful to have this communication; it can be frustrating to meet someone who, if you listen to them, will cut your soul off from the nourishment of purity, knowledge, and virtue. You might say, well, if your soul is so nourished then why do you not fly away on its wing? It is a good point for the analogy, yet we know that we do not always have complete control over our spirituality. It might be easier if we did, yet you must realize that we cannot 'defeat' the whole world. If we are met with one person, with two, then they are perhaps a force more powerful than us; and when we are in such a situation it is like we are in an entire ocean, struggling for our existence. I'm sure you've read passages...