(bemusedly) i don't know which is worse - people not saying there is something to have or what the expectations are to get it... but being very 'in your face' once they can say that some 'valuable opportunity' has passed you by

or people saying quite clearly what to and what you are going to get, then rigging the game so it isn't possible to do valuable things or get valuable results.

But I guess I get what I deserve.

Sigh.

A good place to start to get clarity with your questions would be to click on the link the OP provided in post #146. The first article is entitled, "The Life-Changing Effects of Optimism." This is really the very opposite of "I get what I deserve, sigh" capitulation. Freely choosing optimism as a path, one learns to see and experience that all life is indeed shaped via one's choices: by the beliefs one chooses to hold onto (or not hold onto), and by the degree with which one steps consciously and purposefully into life.

There is no game and life certainly is not rigged. There are of course karmic considerations, yes. But we all have those. And while our karma cannot hold us back, it can bind us if we let it. We can choose indolence, and we can choose not to progress, and we can choose capitulation. But it's not life or karma that does that; that's simply the individual, choosing that for themselves. And quite often choosing it out of a place of negativity and pessimism. Thus the appropriateness and wisdom of article.

Oh that's interesting. FallingLeaves, I see it was you who responded to a post of mine back in December. I had written that given all belief is simply a choice we make for ourselves, why not believe in the best instead of the worst? You replied with a statement about optimism (belief in the best) as "self-serving super-hype," and a further comment that "the bubble IS going to burst."

It sounds like you struggle with remaining positive. That's a difficult one, I did as well for many years. It's a real soul-struggle of our times in truth, for millions if not billions of people on this planet. All the best.

i was going to post something elsewhere to night but felt that I shouldn't.

But since you are on about it here, one of the points was that I feel that 'positiveness' as practiced by people is rife with the notion of how to get things and/or how to get others to give you things, as well as dreams of what the future can be like... and as it turns out if you want a truly unimpeded view of what is here/now you don't have any choice but to step away from notions of what you can get for yourself, or notions of a rosy future. Step away from positiveness as practiced by the world. Not that that seems like a valid choice though...

But also it is darned *hard* to be positive and the ONLY motivation I can find for going to the effort is that others say they would appreciate me more if I were like them and just went for it. But I know from experience, that being what others want me to be jsut for the prospect of getting kudos isn't for me... because quite honestly, any time I've tried it took a lot of effort, then the others didn't even pay up. And I am definitely not going to assume that future effort will be rewarded any more than past effort was at this point. What was that about the definition of insanity?

So I guess positivity isn't for me. At least not the way you are likely to be defining the word. (shrugs).

Faith
 

It is an old saw, tired for many, but still and all, if one has a little, that little can leaven the positive-negative seesaw. Contentment, even confidence results from Faith in one's True Nature being part of the only Reality.

Our conventional self is a phantom, always craving more pleasant and less unpleasant. It is to be ignored as much as possible.

Then rest assured that our buddha-nature or christ-nature or godly-nature is what IS and IT can be known.

Wise words. Really about all one can say when all is said and done. Individuals either understand that - have come to conscious recognition of that truth - or they have yet to. From my experience, the planet-wide struggle we see today - the chronic pessimism, negativity and even anger towards life - is a result of humanity having lost that faith and understanding of one's true nature. And an understanding of the one Reality as you put it, which Theosophy and spiritual science can indeed point one towards.

FallingLeaves, when the human being comes to a soul understanding regarding truth of life, incarnation and existence, positivity becomes the natural and constant state. For example, when the human being finally understands there is no death, and that the soul is eternal, there is no longer any fear of death. And in that space where fear and terror of life once resided, joy and gratitude blossoms.

Timeless Truths
 

A new topical compilation of some of Blavatsky's The Secret Doctrine, put together by Fiona Odgren. Have not read it yet, but it will have an appeal to those who wish not to read the entire 1400 pages of the original.

http://www.powells.com/book/timeless...81490782263#SR

Also in hardcover...

N. Sri Ram

Copy of Timeless Truths arrived and it will not cause those with poor vision to squint - maybe 16 pt type! Nice little glossary, but no index, several photos of the principals involved with HPB in SD project, Masters included. She quoted from the Theosophical University Press edition

Odgren's Foreword about the production of The Secret Doctrine is thorough & good, yet she does not say how she chose the 56 "major themes" in this compilation. They are arranged alphabetically starting with the Absolute One Eternal Be-ness, then Angels etc.

It is a unique approach and will, because of its wide range of themes in all three areas of Science, Philosophy and Religion, attract a differing group of thinkers. The Stanzas of Dzyan are not emphasized or quoted much, which is just as well, for they are off putting to many.

Hard & soft cover.