Zen video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9BBy3aidRE&feature=player_embedded


Let me know what you think!

It's just 4 1/2 minutes, shouldn't more than 30/40 minutes to download with dialup.

Originally Posted by din

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9BBy3aidRE&feature=player_embedded


Let me know what you think!

It's just 4 1/2 minutes, shouldn't more than 30/40 minutes to download with dialup.

Hardy har har

How 'bout tell'n us poor folk somethen about it before we make such a commitment.

Nice graphics.
I think that the text would be strengthened in some places by replacing 'we' with 'I', although it wouldn't quite make sense given the present video flow. It would probably need some insert which would turn it into a self-reflecting exercise more than a presentation.
In other places replacing 'we' with 'there is' might be useful.

The principle would be to first personalize it as 'my experience' then de-personalize it into 'there is no "I/my"'.

[BlueSky]

Originally Posted by din

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9BBy3aidRE&feature=player_embedded


Let me know what you think!

It's just 4 1/2 minutes, shouldn't more than 30/40 minutes to download with dialup.

I liked it. I liked how it used common sense to show that we are not this and that.
That is actually how I came to the same conclusion except it was more that I realized that who I thought I am is totally subject to things like what country or culture I was born in and what people have influenced me.
Who I thought I am changes every second.
So here I stood knowing who I was not.
Personally I would have stopped the video at that wisdom and left out it claims of who/what we are. Although I will say that it was inspiring to hear the way they describe who we are.
Thanks for sharing
James

Greetings..

The video makes several false claims, then builds a story around the false claims..

'You' can exert will over heart activity, breathing, and mental activity.. the video is biased toward certain esoteric belief systems, contrary to actual occurances in reality.. to be certain, the video approaches the thinking process to tell you the thinking process is not who you are, when it IS who you are.. it's just not ALL of who you are.. the body-mind is who you are, it's just not ALL of who you are..

Be well..

[chadley]

Originally Posted by TzuJanLi

Greetings..

The video makes several false claims, then builds a story around the false claims..

'You' can exert will over heart activity, breathing, and mental activity.. the video is biased toward certain esoteric belief systems, contrary to actual occurances in reality.. to be certain, the video approaches the thinking process to tell you the thinking process is not who you are, when it IS who you are.. it's just not ALL of who you are.. the body-mind is who you are, it's just not ALL of who you are..

Be well..

Still, this video can be helpful to those who experience by thinking only. Observing your own thoughts without judgment can be helpful. It seems to me that the understanding that our mind and body are a part of the whole rather than it being not who we are escapes most spiritual teachers. I remember having a discussion with a monk of sorts who had explained to a group of people that our body is a temporary housing for the soul, it is not who we are. I told him that is one way of looking at it, however, you may find out that the body is actually the physically representation of our entire being. Most of the world of religion just can't wait to leave the body and in doing so seek to loose a part of themselves.

Originally Posted by chadley

Still, this video can be helpful to those who experience by thinking only. Observing your own thoughts without judgment can be helpful. It seems to me that the understanding that our mind and body are a part of the whole rather than it being not who we are escapes most spiritual teachers. I remember having a discussion with a monk of sorts who had explained to a group of people that our body is a temporary housing for the soul, it is not who we are. I told him that is one way of looking at it, however, you may find out that the body is actually the physically representation of our entire being. Most of the world of religion just can't wait to leave the body and in doing so seek to loose a part of themselves.

That sounds about right, Chadley.. it's funny to hear someone say "all is One", then say, "we are not our bodies".. cripe, if it's all One, we can't help but be our bodies, and everything else, too..

Be well..

[andrew g]

I watched it last night and went backwards and forwards a bit on whether to reply. It looks like these thoughts are now going to be thrown out there...

I liked some aspects of the video a lot but found myself pulling odd faces slightly at other aspects. While pointing beyond conditioned ideas of who we are I think is very much helpful, I dont actually see the idea that there is an 'I' or a 'Self' as necessarily a problem, what I see as a problem is the strange human idea that there is an I AND a Self, as this split creates a sense of separation. This split is directly linked to the belief that 'I exist'. The moment this is believed (or any other idea is believed to be specific) is the moment we live as an I (the believer) and a Self. We are split into parts and experience this split as stress.

Furthermore, if I reflect on the nature of experience, I can see that there are different experiences happening. 'I' am not having the same experience as 'you', though we are both sharing the experience of Life itself. What this means is that while the 'what is experiencing' is the same (we could call this 'The Experiencer'), there are individual experiencers or selves (or no-selves if you prefer).

Like Bob, I would say that yes, we are the mind-body, but then I would also say that we are not fundamentally or primarily the mind body. If we were, the experience would end with the ceasing to function of the mind-body, and every fiber of my being tells me that death is an illusion, that actually there is no death, and that the experience continues beyond the ceasing to function of the mind-body. We are that eternal individuated experiencer. We are primarily Spirit having a human experience, but we are both Spirit and human because they are not separate. The I beyond the I goes on, the Individuated No-Self goes on. If the ceasing to function of the mind-body brought with it an end to the experience then we would be as life-less as a toy robot.

Originally Posted by TzuJanLi

The video makes several false claims, then builds a story around the false claims..

'You' can exert will over heart activity, breathing, and mental activity.. the video is biased toward certain esoteric belief systems, contrary to actual occurances in reality.. to be certain, the video approaches the thinking process to tell you the thinking process is not who you are, when it IS who you are.. it's just not ALL of who you are.. the body-mind is who you are, it's just not ALL of who you are..

Most people have only very limited control over the body and mental processes. We are the body-mind but most people operate have a body-mind-ME process running. There is something happening which is not necessary but this process has taken over and become bigger and stronger than who I am. That is why I put body-mind in lowercase and ME in bold capitals. This superfluous activity is the target of the video and what you call esoteric theories.
One problem with many of such theories is that they seem to target the thinking process as a whole, whereas it is just a certain kind of thinking process which is a problem.

[Gem]

I guess things interact with the body, and the body itself is a chemical interaction, so changes occur and these are experienced as sensations, but a sensation comes and it changes and it passes... experience change.

The changing form is witnessed, felt and intelligently cognised somehow, so it just comes down to be aware and more sensuous. No need to question who we, what we, or if we are.

The importance is the knowing that all is change or will change and there is only impermanance. In this way all sensation is equal... this too shall pass... and by seeing things as change one sees things equally and does not feel overly adverse to unpleasentry nor enormous craving for sweet sensation... one woud just notice it and see how long it lasts.