In order to grow spiritually based on truth, you need to know what conditioning is

Originally Posted by JustASimpleGuy

Step 1 - Basic mindfulness techniques. It's not what the world is doing to us, but how we react to what the world is doing to us. In other words don't take things personally or get overly upset about things outside of your control.

Step 2 (non-dualist version) - Realize the perpetrator body-mind cannot touch You. Furthermore You can exercise free will, overriding the potential self-will tendencies of body-mind reaction(s) to said perpetrator body-mind.

Forgetting about the spiritual aspect (Step 2) the secular aspect of Step 1 is an amazingly powerful first step. As long as I maintain my practice and after a few months of picking it back up it gets to the point where very rarely is it that thoughts are not noticed as they arise. At that point all the conditioning of a lifetime of experience is almost a moot point. The balance of power shifts and drastically from mind to awareness. Free will trumps self-will far more often than not.

This time I endeavor to not get complacent and drop my practice after 6 or 7 months. Of course it's not perfect, but it's far, far better and I don't know of any other way to combat a lifetime of experience. Samskaras...

Anyway that's the only practical way I've found to address the root cause of unhappiness, misery, suffering, overreacting. It can't just be talked away. It requires a lot of work.

[MikeS80]

Originally Posted by JustASimpleGuy

What I suggest is addressing the cause. The cause of all misery is mind and being absorbed in mind. Meditation practice is a familiarization with the territory, thus providing a better way to navigate its perils, and more importantly can facilitate coming to the epiphany one is not mind (or body).

Yes, but it keeps people ignorant of what the cause is. Knowing the cause of something prevents and stops the symptoms of something. Not knowing the mental cause of something does not help anyone. Not reacting, will prevent you from being conditioned, but not reacting will never stop you from not reacting, you will be not reacting continuously. Not reacting is a continuous cycle.

[MikeS80]

Originally Posted by JustASimpleGuy

Forgetting about the spiritual aspect (Step 2) the secular aspect of Step 1 is an amazingly powerful first step. As long as I maintain my practice and after a few months of picking it back up it gets to the point where very rarely is it that thoughts are not noticed as they arise. At that point all the conditioning of a lifetime of experience is almost a moot point. The balance of power shifts and drastically from mind to awareness. Free will trumps self-will far more often than not.

This time I endeavor to not get complacent and drop my practice after 6 or 7 months. Of course it's not perfect, but it's far, far better and I don't know of any other way to combat a lifetime of experience. Samskaras...

Anyway that's the only practical way I've found to address the root cause of unhappiness, misery, suffering, overreacting. It can't just be talked away. It requires a lot of work.

That is good, whatever works for you and yes it is a lot of mental work.

Originally Posted by MikeS80

Yes, but it keeps people ignorant of what the cause is. Knowing the cause of something prevents and stops the symptoms of something. Not knowing the mental cause of something does not help anyone. Not reacting, will prevent you from being conditioned, but not reacting will never stop you from not reacting, you will be not reacting continuously. Not reacting is a continuous cycle.

It's a direct way of experiencing the root cause and that root cause is reacting to thinking, that when it arises is wholly unbidden. It's when we latch onto those thoughts, that thinking, attach to it and then think it's something purposeful and that we are in full control of. Then it spirals out of control into an emotional reaction. Reacting to conditioning, accumulated life experience, is the problem. Realizing what it is via direct experience and not reacting is the remedy.

It's a technique that allows one to experience just how insubstantial, random and meaningless thoughts are by directly experiencing them as one experiences clouds floating by in the sky. It's a technique that takes advantage of neural plasticity and puts it to beneficial use.

This isn't something one can think their way out of. One has to experience their way out of it. It's not a lot of mental work. It's a lot of experiential work.

[MikeS80]

Originally Posted by inavalan

What if somebody doesn't subscribe to that truth? ("Cosmic Trinity's (our creator's) pure truth")

Have you discovered about that truth starting from a clean slate, or you looked for it to be that way based on the way you were ... manipulated?

Through iterations, trying to avoid all manipulations, I formed a system of beliefs quite different from the one you seem to subscribe to. Surely, I feel I see the weakness of yours (you let yourself being manipulated), as you probably feel that I was manipulated. As long as we don't get rude, and don't get upset with each other is amusing ...

There is truth that you are able to see and know as absolute facts about the physical Universe and God by knowing yourself by looking deep inside yourself, which is what knowledge is and what the gnostics call gnosis. And then there are not truths/beliefs or lies that are alternative views of the truth (perceptions) of the physical universe and God, the biggest one being good vs bad/positive vs negative because the ego creates (via the law of attraction) the bad and negative mental duality opposition to God's inherently good and positive nature. God's nature is good/positive, so we humans are inherently good and positive too. Any belief, knowledge etc etc that opposes that truth is non-truth/conditioning and should be called quite frankly a lie. Take Christians who think all humans are sinners for an example. All human are not sinners, a human is only a sinner when he/she believes in lies/things that are not true. Christians who believe that are sinners because they believe in the lie that all humans are sinners. The above is the reason why Satan is called the king of lies. Satan is called the king of lies because Satan is non-truth/conditioning. The bible and other holy books make more logical sense when you think god is nature/the universe while you read them.

[inavalan]

Originally Posted by MikeS80

There is truth that you are able to see and know as absolute facts about the physical Universe and God by knowing yourself by looking deep inside yourself, which is what knowledge is and what the gnostics call gnosis.

And then there are not truths/beliefs or lies that are alternative views of the truth (perceptions) of the physical universe and God, the biggest one being good vs bad/positive vs negative because the ego creates (via the law of attraction) the bad and negative mental duality opposition to God's inherently good and positive nature.

God's nature is good/positive, so we humans are inherently good and positive too.

Any belief, knowledge etc etc that opposes that truth is non-truth/conditioning and should be called quite frankly a lie.

Take Christians who think all humans are sinners for an example.

All human are not sinners, a human is only a sinner when he/she believes in lies/things that are not true.

Christians who believe that are sinners because they believe in the lie that all humans are sinners.

The above is the reason why Satan is called the king of lies.

Satan is called the king of lies because Satan is non-truth/conditioning.

The bible and other holy books make more logical sense when you think god is nature/the universe while you read them.

This is a pitiful argumentation ... and full of venom.

[MikeS80]

Originally Posted by inavalan

This is a pitiful argumentation ... and full of venom.

Is it? Or is it your perception of it? It makes logical common sense to me.

[MikeS80]

Originally Posted by MikeS80

Is it? Or is it your perception of it? It makes logical common sense to me.

The truth triggers people's emotional conditiining, beliefs and attachments. Yes, The truth is venomous to your conditioning but on the other hand, take away your conditioning and the truth is not venomous, the truth just is.

[zorkchop]

One astounding thing about Truth . . . Truth prevails whether we believe in it or not. It is NOT that we accept Truth / Life to promote as an accumulation . . . but that Truth / Life accepts US . . . after we have broadened and unfolded to the degree that we are Truth IT-self. Truth cannot help but accept the individual that lives so far within IT that IT begins to take the individual even farther up / along the Path.

This happens ONLY after one uncovers and practices the ability to leave the psychic worlds at world ( dying daily ) and again begins to discover from the true home of Soul . . . upwards. A basic “mindfulness” is only a preliminary to all of this.

This cannot happen with misdirection, half-truths, and mid-level understandings. The mind - body - emotions are all tools to use and learn from.m They do their job well. Lofty claims are more often than not . . . baseless and empty. Discernment becomes even more vital.

An old saying . . . good judgement comes from making good choices . . . and that comes from first making bad choices. No one is born . . . automatically good. You learn . . . each and every step. You would be astounded by how many previous lives we each have lived.

Thus . . . the Path continues. On we go.

[MikeS80]

Originally Posted by zorkchop

One astounding thing about Truth . . . Truth prevails whether we believe in it or not. It is NOT that we accept Truth / Life to promote as an accumulation . . . but that Truth / Life accepts US . . . after we have broadened and unfolded to the degree that we are Truth IT-self. Truth cannot help but accept the individual that lives so far within IT that IT begins to take the individual even farther up / along the Path.

This happens ONLY after one uncovers and practices the ability to leave the psychic worlds at world ( dying daily ) and again begins to discover from the true home of Soul . . . upwards. A basic “mindfulness” is only a preliminary to all of this.

This cannot happen with misdirection, half-truths, and mid-level understandings. The mind - body - emotions are all tools to use and learn from.m They do their job well. Lofty claims are more often than not . . . baseless and empty. Discernment becomes even more vital.

An old saying . . . good judgement comes from making good choices . . . and that comes from first making bad choices. No one is born . . . automatically good. You learn . . . each and every step. You would be astounded by how many previous lives we each have lived.

Thus . . . the Path continues. On we go.

Good/positive and bad/negative emotions are extremes. Logic, reason and common sense are in the middle of those extremes, thus is balanced. God/nature operates through logic, reason and common sense because our brains where/are designed to work that way.