Posts by poppers

23

old lurker says Hello!

by rowan in

jw
friends

i have been lurking in this site for more than three years now.

i want to thank the people who work to maintain this forum, for as in the the case of hundreds of others in need of help, this site has been key in my exit from the wt slavery and emotional recovery.

it was in this site that i learned about ray franz.

poppers

Hello Rowan, and welcome. The air of freedom is fresh indeed. Breathe it in deeply. Let go of everything and just Be and the air is even more fresh.

174

we have the truth there is no doubt

by PMJ in

jehovahs wittnesses have the truth there is no doubt about i.people can say what they like ut there is no other group of people who bring glory to jehovah

Welcome back, Terry!

by AuldSoul in

jw
friends

let's all embarrass terry by drawing a lot of attention to his recent return.. welcome back, terry!

good to see you posting again.. respectfully,.

auldsoul

poppers

Good to see you back, Terry. Your presence is a good counter-balance to some of the more "gumbyesqeu" posters. Sorry gumby, couldn't resist - I really luv ya, man.

32

Why is there an opening?

by JH in

jw
friends

.

in men's underwear.. gee, i never used it

This question reminds me of when I was going through Marine Corps boot camp. We wore "s k i v v i e s" - large boxer shorts with an ample opening. One morning while scrambling to zip up my utiliity pants as fast as I could, the tip of "Mr. Poppers" was poking out the opening and got caught! Man alive, did that ever hurt! Sure enough, it happened a couple of more times. You'd think once would have been enough to learn to be aware of what I was doing.

27

Anointed seem to think they have special POWERS

by justice for all in

jw
friends

ever notice this about the so called anointed?

the ones i've met seem to think they have these powers especially with the scriptures and some brothers and sisters treat them as such.

i always thought this was weird and somewhat superstitious.

poppers

"I am the only anointed upon the earth as king and have the special priviledge of being assigned the tasks of the faithful and discreet slave."

Oh (brown)boy! Here we go again.

"What would you like to know about your Father JAH? I can tell you in truth......."

Can he tell me what name you'll appear under next here on JWD? Why do you keep changing names? It comes across as deceptive.

35

will someone please pull me out of this funk......or at least come join me

by kittyeatzjdubs in

jw
friends

i wish i could just lock myself in my office and sleep this away.

i feel like there's this heavy boulder around my shoulders and it's just pulling me downdowndown...i think it started last night when i tried to play my guitar...but i'm no good at it...you know that feeling where you know how and what you want to be...but you can't b/c you just suck at it...i want to be an accomplished musician singer...but i can't sing and i don't have an ear for music.

i feel like i have no talents...i can't sing, can't play music, can't draw.

poppers

Hi kitty,
I used to think I couldn't draw either, then I came across a book called Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, by Betty Edwards. It really works, you'll see. Now I've even had the occasion to teach this to elementary kids. (I grew up HATING art, but this showed me that I wasn't a lost cause). Give it a shot, you'll amaze yourself and you will discover that you really do have talent.
poppers

52

Are You Truly Happy

by Golf in

jw
friends

for me, i've learned to be content.

a to what makes me happy, well, i'm happy when other people are happy.

i'm happy when i give my grandchildren plenty of hugs and kisses.

poppers

JamesThomas said,
"My sense is that Poppers is not pointing to happiness in the common way we would see it as an adjective: as something added and connected to some circumstance, situation or act. But rather a happiness or contentment which we truly are. In other words, we are not a person who is happy. We are Happiness....or rather the living-reality that the word points to."

JamesThomas, your sense of what my post was about is right on the mark. Thanks for bringing out my meaning so clearly.

poppers

52

Are You Truly Happy

by Golf in

jw
friends

for me, i've learned to be content.

a to what makes me happy, well, i'm happy when other people are happy.

i'm happy when i give my grandchildren plenty of hugs and kisses.

poppers

Smiles said, "What you refer to as happiness above is what I refer to as inner peace. And it is a constant for me no matter what's happening around me."

Good for you Smiles. Happiness is the stepchild of inner peace. There will always be happiness when there is inner peace.

52

Are You Truly Happy

by Golf in

jw
friends

for me, i've learned to be content.

a to what makes me happy, well, i'm happy when other people are happy.

i'm happy when i give my grandchildren plenty of hugs and kisses.

poppers

Golf said, "Poppers, you seem to be a young person,"

Gee, thanks for that - I am 54.

"could you educate more about why its's a fallacy to think "there's gotta be something that makes you happy?"

I am not talking about striving to accomplish certain things in daily life, or the pleasure you get from certain activities. Rather, I am pointing out what happens when one discovers one's essential nature, when one realizes what they really are. The THINKING that there HAS to be something that MAKES you "happy" is an idea which arises in the mind, and that any happiness that comes from reaching "goals" is only temporary, is fleeting. If one only had to do a certain thing to gain happiness, what good is that happiness if it is only fleeting? A state of "less than happy" will arise again until another "goal" is reached or another activity is found to take the place of the previous one - what if no such goal is realized again, or if the acivity which provided happiness no longer works and a new one can't be found? This sort of "happiness" will keep one continually looking outside oneself, and this is the fallacy that I am referring to.

To be "truly happy", means to me, a "happiness" which is unconditional, and this is what is found when one's true nature is uncovered. This happiness doesn't imply that one is in a constant state of super-happy bliss, but it does mean that there is the realization that nothing more NEEDS to be added on to what you already are, or no circumstance NEEDS to be avoided. No matter what is going on, when one's essential nature is realized/known there will always be an underlying current of happiness. That "happiness" is the natural by-product of realizing what you really are.

There are people whose outer circumstances seem "grim" to others, yet there remains happiness within themselves. And there are people whose every whim is realized, yet their happiness is continually fading. Where "you" are between these extremes indicates the degree to which you know what you really are. There are many people who are discovering this unconditional happiness, and they are discovering that this happiness can only happen now, in the present moment.

52

Are You Truly Happy

by Golf in

jw
friends

for me, i've learned to be content.

a to what makes me happy, well, i'm happy when other people are happy.

i'm happy when i give my grandchildren plenty of hugs and kisses.

poppers

Yes.
Someone here said, "there's gotta be something that makes you happy." I used to think that way too, but now I see the fallacy of thinking this. I have found that nothing has to happen, nothing needs to change for happiness to be here always. There is a danger to think otherwise; to think otherwise makes "happiness" conditional. The great secret that so many miss is that you are naturally happy, it is your very nature. Only by adopting others' ideas about happiness is your natural, inherent happiness overlooked. Looking outside oneself to "complete" oneself, to feel wholeness again, puts oneself in a prison of concepts, puts oneself in a landscape where "happiness" is only conditional and fleeting. To rediscover your natural, inherent, and ever-present happiness the walls of your prison must crumble - every idea and belief that you hold must be dropped in favor of living consciously in the present moment. Afterall, the present moment is all there is; why spoil it by creating ideas about what is going on within it?