Do you shrink yourself

Originally Posted by Cmt12

I agree with your last sentence so I disagree with the first sentence. The escapism, paranoia, victim mentality, and controlling behavior point to a lack of emotional awareness which means a lack of spiritual awareness. Unless we have different ideas about how we become more spiritually aware..

Yes. I mean people can be psychically aware, tuned in to energies, or have developed an intricate intellectual understanding of how the universe/people etc work, but not have the emotional development to handle that.

[God-Like]

Originally Posted by Dar

T

Well, if I have a point, it's that there is often a fine line between madness and genius , or wacko-nutty and super-enlightened, or delusional and visionary , and what other people think isn't necessarily the most important thing (and maybe not important at all) to be concerned about .

Hey Dar

My uncle was sectioned 20 years ago cos he flipped his lid having a mental breakdown .

Within the hospital he became aware of mind powers that he didn't know existed .

He felt like God, he was getting others in the ward to stand up and sit down and such likes just by his will .

Was he crazy, some would say absolutely yes, some would say ... yer man that's far out and cool and totally groovy ..


x daz x

[Cmt12]

Originally Posted by Ivy

Yes. I mean people can be psychically aware, tuned in to energies, or have developed an intricate intellectual understanding of how the universe/people etc work, but not have the emotional development to handle that.

Thinking about it more I take back what I said. I agree with you. I think spiritual awareness can happen without emotional awareness but I don't think spiritual development can happen without emotional awareness.

So I guess that means I think spiritual development is different than spiritual awareness. Spiritual development to me is ego related so it can't be done without dealing with negative emotions. Awareness comes as a result of that but you can also become spiritually aware in other ways like you said. Okay, I think I have it sorted out now

[Baile]

Originally Posted by Ivy

Yes. I mean people can be psychically aware, tuned in to energies, or have developed an intricate intellectual understanding of how the universe/people etc work, but not have the emotional development to handle that.

Each step on the spiritual path requires three steps on the self-development moral path. Self-development, self-awareness, moral development... it's the difference between blaming the world and faulting the so-called spiritually uneducated masses, versus taking inner responsibility for one's negative, pessimistic attitude and outlook. Your last two posts are spot on.

[BlueSky]

Originally Posted by wstein

Sure a million for that, a million for this, a million more each for a million reasons. I agree there are lots of reasons to incarnate.

However you add it up, eventually all those millions have been lived. Then what?

This is likely one of the reasons people 'forget' when they incarnate.

Living is pretty awesome. What do you think not living is like?

[BlueSky]

Originally Posted by silent whisper

Well what do you think brings people together, commonality is one factor..so shared commonality is what life can be about. I think care comes in many forms of that connection.. My own support in this thread was both through shared understanding through my own story but also I had an intention to listen to sominium and let his story play out with a more conscious awareness beyond my own..

SO that *no one cares* you see was not my intention at all maybe others, but I cant speak for them..... perhaps it is just where you reside at present, maybe your seeking to care in a new way on the forum, not in the way you mentioned. We are all evolving I suppose in new ways all the time...Noticing this stuff is what I am noticing through your own noticing, but then I don't always notice things that are true to others...so nm if I am noticing you in this way and I am way off...just delete it from your memory once you have read it....:)

Unfortunately "no one cares " took away from what I was trying to say and understandably so. When I typed it I knew it but didn't bother to look for a better choice of words.
I'm just saying it's hard for humans to listen without comparing to their own views. I'm not saying it's a bad thing, it's just interesting and it has nothing to do with how I wish to interact on the forum. We feel our views are what we learned and therefore can be used as a yardstick to compare conflicting views and I think that is what is really happening.
Personally I wanted to believe Somnium and listened openly until he started with his negative view of others. I don't think that indicate his emotional immaturity dealing with his spiritual growth. I think it is the source of his experiences within the mind thought to be spiritual.

[A human Being]

Somnium - I wasn't suggesting that you overlook peoples' actions and judgments towards you; heavens no, that would be folly indeed. I was simply saying, don't judge people by their actions, see them in silence and sense their presence. Jesus recognised what his persecutors did (he talked about 'what they do,' after all), he just didn't judge them for it, and dehumanise them, which I feel is what you're doing.

Originally Posted by Capacity

Unfortunately "no one cares " took away from what I was trying to say and understandably so. When I typed it I knew it but didn't bother to look for a better choice of words.
I'm just saying it's hard for humans to listen without comparing to their own views. I'm not saying it's a bad thing, it's just interesting and it has nothing to do with how I wish to interact on the forum. We feel our views are what we learned and therefore can be used as a yardstick to compare conflicting views and I think that is what is really happening.
Personally I wanted to believe Somnium and listened openly until he started with his negative view of others. I don't think that indicate his emotional immaturity dealing with his spiritual growth. I think it is the source of his experiences within the mind thought to be spiritual.

Sometimes sharing is just sharing not a view..but your entitled to yours of course..

Sometimes when we are wanting to believe people rather than accept where they are at and allow the interactions to evolve as they will, we place an expectation on the sharing almost immediately. It then becomes a perceived, *not ideal* situation in that view.. Negativity is part of the process of evolving for many. Some people here at sf seem to think people *SHOULD* be somewhere else, when they are where they are and moving from that place, for their own journey..That comes through a select few in this thread quite clearly as they often do in other threads as well with people they percieve should be somewhere else.

[BlueSky]

Originally Posted by silent whisper

Sometimes sharing is just sharing not a view..but your entitled to yours of course..

Sometimes when we are wanting to believe people rather than accept where they are at and allow the interactions to evolve as they will, we place an expectation on the sharing almost immediately. It then becomes a perceived, *not ideal* situation in that view.. Negativity is part of the process of evolving for many. Some people here at sf seem to think people *SHOULD* be somewhere else, when they are where they are and moving from that place, for their own journey..That comes through a select few in this thread quite clearly as they often do in other threads as well with people they percieve should be somewhere else.

You accept people where they are because you believe that they are on your path. You believe there is a path and that there are many ways to reach a common goal. Others believe there is one way but the energy from both are the same. IMO of course

[Cmt12]

Originally Posted by Baile

Each step on the spiritual path requires three steps on the self-development moral path. Self-development, self-awareness, moral development... it's the difference between blaming the world and faulting the so-called spiritually uneducated masses, versus taking inner responsibility for one's negative, pessimistic attitude and outlook. Your last two posts are spot on.

To expand on this a bit, we all slip into negative mindsets at times and feel frustrated or impatient towards others. A natural consequence of spiritual development, at least in my experience, is that the heat gets turned up as we delve deeper into our minds and become more aware; we become more exposed to the suffering below the surface. Alternatively, people are born into a spectrum of how much they are already exposed to this suffering based on inheritance. So, it's expected that every once in a while you are going to be sucked into it and lose you're spiritual perspective for an egoic one when the fire is blazing. At times, I feel the need to isolate myself when I'm really feeling the heat and I'm susceptible to it. Spiritual practice is not so much that you never get sucked into the fire, but it's the constant self awareness that when you do, you are able to recognize it and separate yourself quickly.

But it's when you unconsciously deny the fire is there and get sucked into it for long periods of time to the point that it shapes your beliefs and behaviors in harmful ways, that is when mental health becomes a concern. The denial of the fire compounds with a web of defense mechanisms and pain avoidance adaptations that have to be worked through one by one. Eventually, if it isn't dealt with the mind may adapt in negative ways such as personality disorders or schizophrenia. Having a blazing fire will often have that polarizing effect of either pushing you toward or away from spiritual development depending on how you deal with pain. So, yes it is a fine line. Consciousness, self awareness, and pain tolerance, or pain awareness, are the three tools you need. To get off the path, you have to be either unconscious or in denial.

I want to say this and I'm probably in the minority, but I don't believe anyone is beyond hope of being able to turn around. I don't believe that is wishful thinking either. Now, how much of what I am saying applies to this thread? It's hard to be certain on an Internet forum and with the limited information, but mental health is definitely a concern with people that pursue spiritual development. Regardless, we have access to the tools we need to make sure it doesn't become an issue.