Why I am here in this forum
 

You could say that synchronicity is what led me here. I was trying to sign up for a couple of social networking sites and the confirmation e-mail kept on getting stuck/not reaching my inbox. Their own tech support did not know what to do, so I had given up.
I then did a reading for myself, which raised a number of questions and started to look for answers in the various forums. Then I came across this one, where you guys have had similar issues.
In the end, I used my GMail account for the social networking sites, for which I now have access, and I am a new member here!

Call that synchronicity? - certainly one of those seemingly unrelated things that form a pattern.

Welcome to the forum ! :)

Kind of a cool feeling isn't it?:biggrin: I hurd a qoute once, "let your feet guide you" it really stuck and in ways i live by it. I learned to pick up the little signs to help me on my journey. If someone were to ask me where i am going. I think I would say, i don't know, ill let you know when i get there.

Welcome to spiritual forums. It is what you believe that matters.

Re:
 

I would imagine you’re here for the same reasons the rest of us are here. You have experienced something so profound and supernatural that you can’t yet explain it. Not only can you not explain it, but those within your orbit have difficulty or are unable to explain it themselves. I would also guess that only individuals that have experienced this kind of connection are the ones that understand it, or are at least attempting to understand it.

This sounds beautifully elitist to me.

Old saying :birds of a feather flock together. That's probably why you are here. You were looking for someplace or community forum that had interests, beliefs or presence of mind as you have and low and behold here you are. I feel this is why I am here. I don't want to try and fit in with closed minded people that because of their lack of research think I am an idiot that will believe any snake charmer that comes along.

To closed mined people I go with this quote. "It is easier to fool someone than it is to convince them they have been fooled" by Albert Einstein. Also " a closed mind is a terrible thing to waste" by unknown.

I love learning and some folks here are full of lessons :smile: It is really nice that way.

Thanks everyone, and for sharing in/hosting this space.

BT

This is the basic premise of law of attraction.
Expressing your self will be easiest in a places where others express in a similar way you do, this makes it the path of least resistance.
That's why you are here

I definitely believe we're in these forums to continue our growth and to realise we're not alone, perhaps? I'm really grateful to be here and welcome to everyone old and new to this site :-)

It is, but it's really the reason why any community or group forms in the 'real world' or online. Something happens that is beyond your understanding/comprehension, we seek out other people with shared experiences who can lend guidance or advice, and then a community forms. Could be spirituality, could be old VW's; doesn't really matter what the subject is, it's the same basic drive/desire.

Requoted

There is a contradiction in the requoted text which hinders, even stops progress. I am only going to make a counter statement. Those who have understood the experience can describe it, explain it, and understand the conditions that lead to it AND can 'instruct' others how they can achieve the same.

IOW there is no mystery surrounding it. All is known, for centuries if not millennia. The process is understood, practiced in places all over the world and the nature of the result is known. Those who say otherwise practice an elitism for whatever reason they may have.
If you do not get a precise, complete and entirely satisfactory answer from the people around you then you are moving in the wrong circles.

Like Dogen said "There is nothing hidden in this world."

Surely, this isn't just a random thought you are sharing?

So just out of curiousity, what are your credentials, so that I know when you say things like this I should believe them?

You are welcome to disagree with me and not to believe in anything I say.
It is simply my opinion that in order to move humanity forward we cannot keep on saying that happiness, insight, enlightenment is reserved for the few. It must be available to everyone, without exception and that is why I am a Purland Zen Buddhist with significant leanings towards Jodo Shinshu.

Since you ask for my credentials, not that I think they should count for much here, a PhD in Metaphysics, certified trainer in "Capacitar" Wellness practices, Reiki master.

I don't think credentials are needed for your justification, and I whole-heartedly agree with your sentiments that happiness, insight, and enlightenment are for all. I believe that when one gains a knowledge of a subject beyond the 'average' person, there is a degree of obligation to share that knowledge to help others, when asked for. It's not just the seeker/learner that gains new insight and knowledge, but the giver/teacher also should be learning through the experience as well, furthering the overall body of knowledge and understanding for the individuals involved.

i said what i said because apparently, there is a type of knowledge which is considered (by way of 'social norms') to be so foolish as to be immediately dismissed by anyone who hears it, and yet may in the end be the most powerful thing one can attain.

In that kind of environment, one who learns simply isn't going to be able to teach.

Also, AFAICT not everyone is currently 'ready' even for enlightenment. And there is some doubt in my mind as to whether 'everyone' would even like it. Maybe a lot of people are like me and would like to do without all this drama, and just lead normal, uneventful lives where people weren't asking us to be who and what we aren't all day every day.

1) If the teaching explicitly or implicitly states that one has to change ones present western materialistic life, e.g. meditate for 3 hours a day, become vegetarian if not vegan, etc before one can even hope for any movement in spiritual terms then people are not prepared to listen.
2) If people are not prepared to listen then they cannot be taught

Therefore one has to look at the message and that is often a confused and irrational one. It is up to the teacher to give explanations which are clear and make sense to ordinary people.
There are paradoxes, easily resolved, but instead of doing that they are used to score points from one followers while losing the ones who cannot make sense of it, through no fault of their own.

I'm confused. Is this the teaching you adhere to? (point 1 above)
Also from what I understand from pure land buddhism. It still holds all the pittfalls human live has. At least If I understand the Pali canon correctly, In both of which it could very well be the case that I misunderstood.

Do you want to elaborate on how you understand Pure Land Buddhism?

With Love
Eelco

i guess I'm curious as to what exactly your stance is. You've said it should be given to everyone (which I think is part of the point of this place) but at the same time you recognize that the known paths through it aren't something that people at large would want to endure. How do you reconcile those two beliefs?

Maybe I can address post 18 and 19 in one. It distinguish between outcomes and practice. Too often an outcome is demanded as precondition for good practice. E.g. you should meditate but it will only really help you if you are also a vegetarian. Becoming a vegetarian is then a precondition.
This is contrary to any good spiritual path which must say "come as you are" with all the human failings and foibles one may have.

Then one is given a practice, without any moral, intellectual, ethical, spiritual framework around it. IOW, the practice purely as a mechanical process.
If the practice is any good it will inevitably result in the desired outcomes. If it does not then the practice itself is not worth anything.

Pure Land Buddhism says do this or that, chant, meditate, pray, whatever and our innate nature represented as Amida Buddha will do the rest.

Jodo Shinshu goes one step further and says even if one cannot be a good Buddhist in the classical sense as one's profession may involve killing, e.g. hunters, fishermen, butchers, the military, one can still be saved by the power of Amida Buddha's vow. Just recite the Nembutsu diligently. You don't even have to believe in that it works. Just do it, that is all.

On a different point, chanting, Buddha name recitation, is a practice that does not require putting time aside. It can be done any time and anywhere provided one's activity does not require a special focus like e.g. driving a racing car. In our lives there is plenty of idle time where our mind just free-wheels and rambles with the only purpose to appear to do something. These are the moment where we can practice. It can become part of one's everyday life and does not create a split into one's worldly life and one's spiritual life.

Nail, meet head. :hug3: I have a lot of friends who seem to think, 'once I get my diet in order, I'll spiritually grow,' or 'once I move here,' etc, etc, like there are these 'roadblocks' that they have to overcome in order to keep growing. IMO, when you connect with your Higher Self, and in those 'upper' dimensions/densities, time and your physical body are meaningless. The only 'roadblock' in the way of spiritual growth is your own notions of what is holding you back. If you think your diet is holding you back, it very well could be, but it's more of the idea of it holding you back.