manitou

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About manitou

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  1. What an incredible ride this has been. I'm getting up there in years, 77 next month. I've participated in this discussion group for 16 years, since 2008. I've observed a few things, in my time with this wonderful community. Regardless of which side of the planet we're born on, and what our 'local' religion tells us to believe, all of mankind seems to be given a thing inside of them that wants to move upward. Some humans rebel against it because that's their nature and their conditioning. But the demi urge is there, whether Christian, Daoist, Buddhist, all of us. I know, from this, that we are all the same entity. I know this because sadness in me creates a physical response; it makes my eyes cry. Sadness in you creates a physical response. It makes your eyes cry. The warm presence I feel inside, the warm void that is always there (and always okay!) is the same warm void that you feel inside of you. The more we are able to calm the mind, the less of a mess our lives are. Structures are a fabulous pathway, religious structures. It gets us so far. But only so far. The distance between the monk's fingertip and the moon, we're all on our own. It is experiential and can't be transmitted with words. (It actually can be transmitted with words, but it takes the experiential aspect to realize that it's not actually as crazy as it originally sounded) I believe the mistake many make is to believe that their structure is the best and the truest, and decide to become an expert in the ways of the structure, perhaps even make a living at being a structure expert. For a time, this is great for everybody (unless the master has lost his 'beginner's mind' and he's really enjoying the role of master). However, any given student is not able to get further than the master's capability until the student leaves the master and realizes that there is a huge process of self-realization ahead of him. The noble truth sought by the student is not found outside of himself, or within the structure of any religion, or even the words of his master. It's hidden in the last place we would ever think to look. Inside ourselves. If the student can find it there, he has surpassed the master. The only process that seems to cut through to the clarity is self-examination, as in 'the unexamined life is not worth living' (someone famous said it, I think) To see ourselves totally non - judgmentally, but with the eyes of one who is looking for dynamics. Early dynamics at their beginning, in childhood, which creates a particular reaction today. These things get in the way of clarity. So if clarity is sought after, the hatreds, grudges, and all the other reactions that get in the way have to be removed. There are ways.
  2. The Idiots Way

    It seems to me that the mind the rinpoche is describing is the meditative mind free of mental dialogue. This is why meditation is such a crucial component of enlightened thought
  3. The Idiots Way

    Nice thread. I think the most accurate detector of our own clarity is by monitoring our own reactions to things. If we are quick to anger, always having to push anger down, if we are judgmental of anyone or any group of people, the list goes on and on.....the more reactions we have to our surroundings (reactions which are based on our young conditionings) the less clarity we have. The purity and evenness spoken of above is the state in which all things are received without judgment (optimally!) and dealt with, again without the interference of our own prejudices and wrong or cynical thinking.
  4. The Idiots Way

    Wonderful paragraph. As I see it, this is the very foundation of the approach to an enlightened state. It's not talked about nearly enough. Folks love to go onto different pathways, as it says in the DDJ, but the middle way is the one that goes down through the karmic traces, through the conditioning, through everything that gives us a separate personality. We go down inside ourselves, out of necessity to remove inner blemishes that will contort the lens of our own observations. Enlightenment is the state where the inner contortions are gone and all is clarified. It's not a far-reaching knowledge that has been learned from masters and books and the experience of the great ones. It's the inner awareness that we develop; cultivating an uncomplicated awareness is the absolute predecessor. Why am I like this? Why does this make me so mad? How come I always go for the same men? Why am I so lacking of confidence? There are a million questions we ask of ourselves to get down to the real reasons for our behavior today. It's to try and remove every piece of conditioning within yourself that causes you to make judgments, and why the need for making judgments at all. So many facets to look at. And life does it for us. As Castaneda called it, it was 'tracking yourself', which was to walk in impeccability, in awareness, always keeping the Great Warrior with you. From this point on, we can start tracking our behavior, correcting it as we go along. Just partner up with life...
  5. The Idiots Way

    Time isn't linear. It's already happened
  6. Following the inner voice of conscience. This is something that doesn't get talked about enough here, and yet it is the most important component, IMO, of attaining enlightenment. It isn't attained with the mind, it's attained by removal of traits and reflexes that get in the way of clarity. Beautifully said by the Rajini
  7. Ramadan mubarak to everyone celebrating this year!

    Congratulations on the new job! Best wishes to you!
  8. Spiritual arrogance and it's pitfall

    It's hard to be a genuine person unless you're in the wu-wei mindset. In that mindset, you are a part of everyone else. And as we are all part of the same Whole, you know the other person to your core, because you have the same configuration in your core. I know that you are the same as me inside, because when you are emotionally sad, physical tears come out of your eyes. The same thing happens to me. Therefore, our systems must be the same template, only with different conditionings. In doing 'not-doing' in all situations, you are going with the flow of life. You let the dynamics come to you, and the higher self inside of you will know how to handle everything that comes down the pike. And "Don't be so humble, you're not that great" will now be part of my arsenal.
  9. Is Buddhism a complete path?

    It seems to me that the concept of faith includes expectations. Faith that someone is going to do something? I think the whole point of the DDJ is to live without expectation, accepting what is. The whole concept of faith seems to have left me - that was something I used to span the gap between what I was being instructed, and what my adult brain told me was true.
  10. Is Buddhism a complete path?

    Blind faith is what I was taught in Sunday School. To believe something that makes no sense whatsoever when the adult brain looks at it. Faith (or hoping that something external is coming to save us?) is replaced with Knowing at some point. When you realize who the navigator actually is, there is no need for faith, blind or otherwise.
  11. Is Buddhism a complete path?

    Nicely put! A leap of faith into the unknown, and by ourselves. That's the distance between the tip of the master's finger and the moon.
  12. Bums I am missing

    When BaguaKicksAss first posted this picture, I thought it was a picture of her. I asked her about it, she wasn't thrilled.
  13. Is Buddhism a complete path?

    I don't think any religious structure is a complete system for enlightenment. As I see it, the most important component of enlightenment is abandoning the triggers which cause us to react, first. Things can't be seen in their reality if they are colored by emotion or anxiety. Abandoning our triggers is done by clearing out the blockages within, rectifying memories that affect our life today. That's the inner work of enlightenment. If one had a good Buddhist rinpoche that was self-aware and knew himself inside out, that would be a very helpful addition to the Buddhist teachings. Enlightenment is nothing more than realizing who you really are. It's a realization, a self-realization.
  14. Emotions are the path

    Did you know what I was talking about?
  15. Emotions are the path

    Eliminate desire. Figure out why they're there. Look at the source and understand it. It will resolve itself once you become aware, and the emotion will lessen more and more over time. If someone has a problem with too much emotion, they're giving their power away. Be like water. Let all things flow through you, have no expectations on people, don't differentiate between good and bad behavior in another.