God in Buddhism

Originally Posted by sentient

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Ha ha smart-ars*

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Trying to quit or cut down at least, but the consecutive days of smoke
has got me loopier than usual.

[sentient]

Have been so sorry to hear about the fires in the news .....

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[Phaelyn]

Originally Posted by sentient

But then, sometimes you would have one person in the group, who wouldn’t tune in and let go – staying “outside the flow” and I just couldn’t understand why?
How come? What gives? Why the barrier? What is there to hold onto or defend?

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I defend my self enclosed misery lol

Seems to me, as one who wondered alone a lot as a young child, the only company I had was my own mind. So this self talking in our heads becomes a friend of sorts. But then as we age, and have a lot of bad experiences, this same mind that started out as our friend, becomes a torture instrument. The memory, habitual negative thinking and such.

But as adults, we are so merged with this self talking, from being into it for so long, the idea to dissociate from it seems so far away, impossible, and of course, all attempts to free ourselves are done with our good friend, our minds from which we are attempting to escape. So we are in a prison and working with the prison guard to find a way out, which never turns out well.

Really, most people are quite satisfied with living with their self talking, their egos. They never turn towards religion or philosophy or spirituality. Then some grow dissatisfied in some way, and turn towards these things, but only in superficial ways. Like, I'm lonely, so join a religious group, and now my loneliness is solved. But I'm still this ego running around. But some are tormented by their minds in various ways that can't be fixed superficially. They grow depressed, deal with addictions or on and on... can't form satisfactory relationships with others. Are just unhappy. Just joining a religious group does not work for them, as their problems cannot be fixed with a band-aide. So these types, are forced in a way, to find the root of their conflicts.

That one person in the group, who wouldn’t tune in and let go – staying “outside the flow” their problem is their own minds, and no one but themselves can solve that problem. But then we are assuming they have not tuned in and let go because they are not joining some group doing whatever... it could be, they are stuck in their own content, in their self enclosed talking OR it could be they are completely liberated and content to just watch others... there is no way for us to know what someone is internally, though what they say or do can give that away.

Originally Posted by Gem

Yea. To me the various sects have their own ways and I don't know any better. I have no idea what a union is supposed to be, and for me, drumming and chanting is just a tremendous din (I have grumpy old man syndrome ). I'm more like, be quiet, sit still, be alertly aware of what's happening, and don't react no matter what happens. That must seem really mundane compared to all the fantastic things Buddhism has come to offer, but I'm rather boring and ordinary I'm afraid. Thanks for the videos and stuff. I'll go back and have a look at those now.

Just do what works for you. I rather like the chanting and the like; I find it one of the most beautiful parts of Buddhist artefacts.

Giving in is something also physical; I remember reading something by Luang Por Sumedho a while ago where he just wanted to meditate and do nothing else. He soon learnt otherwise, but then again he was under the wing of a Master.

YMMV

Respectfully,

JL

[sentient]

Originally Posted by Phaelyn

That one person in the group, who wouldn’t tune in and let go – staying “outside the flow” their problem is their own minds, and no one but themselves can solve that problem. But then we are assuming they have not tuned in and let go because they are not joining some group doing whatever... it could be, they are stuck in their own content, in their self enclosed talking OR it could be they are completely liberated and content to just watch others... there is no way for us to know what someone is internally, though what they say or do can give that away.

I had 2 very dear Aspie friends like that. And I understood it when they explained it to me - how they need to stay forever vigilant in social settings.

They won’t get into the flow of music either, but subconsciously they do “tune in” … and afterwards, sometimes, out come these amazingly deep, mind blowing insights, when they are a bit lost ‘who is speaking them’.

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[Ewwerrin]

Delete. Wrong message.

[sky]

Originally Posted by Phaelyn

Once you get a taste of it, mere satisfaction is not enough.
It's the expansive being, free completely from self.
Moving from the "chatter" to the observer is only the first step.
Because the observer is still connected to the content.
Now when you empty yourself of the observer as well,
that's where the magical world is.

Sounds like a dream world, I prefer the real world which is full of magic

Originally Posted by Ewwerrin

Delete. Wrong message.

I was excited to have read it.
It seemed full of wisdom.

Originally Posted by sentient

Have been so sorry to hear about the fires in the news .....

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Thank you my friend.
The smoke kinda reminded me of my time in Manila, in the Philippines.
Except that was jitney smoke.

[Phaelyn]

Originally Posted by sky123

Sounds like a dream world, I prefer the real world which is full of magic

Would something like this interest you at all?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NjPdqd7mQM

I think some like these kinds of philosophical teachings, discussions, some don't.