Posts by poppers

33

"Live life each day to the fullest" - What does it mean to you?

by gumby in

first off...ss inspired me to write this.

i don't think he'll mind me saying this cuz i'm patting him on the back for it.. in a pm he said " live life each day to the fullest...what do ya thing gumby"?.

i didn't know how to answer him.

poppers

To me it means to live life fully present with what is, consciously rather than unconsciously, even when the seeming 'bad stuff' shows up.

106

Should Anything Exist????Says Who???Should Nothing Exist?? Says Who?

by frankiespeakin in

should anything exist?

that is a question that nobody can answer with authority.

if any one says they have the answer, i ask:"says who?

As long as we seem to be in this physical body and in this physical universe we may as well as participate in it fully. I am not suggesting that being awake means to shun what is happening 'out there'. Rather, one can fully participate and enjoy all of the experiences that are available, but now without fear because what seems to happen can't harm the real you in any way. When it's known to be a play then there is a relaxation about everything that happens because You can't be swayed one way or another. Living becomes joyful and there is a sense of fullfillment that isn't dependent on anything outside You.

The silence of awareness is always here, but that doesn't mean that being consciously aware of it keeps you apart from anything else which appears within it. If being awake makes one oblivious to what's happening then it isn't worth it. I assure you that it is. But don't just believe me, investigate for yourself; otherwise it just turns into another belief system. Accepting the idea of what I am attempting to describe will get you nowhere; one must find out directly. At a certain point one will be ripe to hear what is being said and actually do the investigation. Once that happens and it is followed through, nothing will really change but everything will seem different.

106

Should Anything Exist????Says Who???Should Nothing Exist?? Says Who?

by frankiespeakin in

should anything exist?

that is a question that nobody can answer with authority.

if any one says they have the answer, i ask:"says who?

poppers

Yes fanny. Or it's like watching a movie - we are so absorbed in the moving images and the action that we never notice the screen upon which the images are dependent. Nothing could happen if not for the screen, and who notices that?

28

Freedom is...................................................

by ozziepost in

jw
friends

"and the truth will set you free" (john 8:32)

so what does freedom mean to you?

finish off this sentence "freedom is..................."

poppers

knowing that the one who would desire freedom doesn't really exist.

106

Should Anything Exist????Says Who???Should Nothing Exist?? Says Who?

by frankiespeakin in

should anything exist?

that is a question that nobody can answer with authority.

if any one says they have the answer, i ask:"says who?

poppers

The ground of everything is being/awareness/consciousnesss - everything arises out of it and is a modification of consciousness, just as a wave seems separate from other waves. But all waves arise from the ocean and are the ocean in reality.

Who speaks when poppers speaks? Seemingly poppers. But poppers' identity isn't a fixed and separate thing which exists independently at all times - it comes and goes. How can I be something that comes and goes? For something to come and go there must be a background of permanency to compare it against. I can only be something which is permanent.

Have you ever woken up in the morning and just lay in bed for a few moments without thoughts running through your head, feeling peace and clarity, and then suddenly the 'story of you' surfaced to remind you of all of your concerns? Where were 'you' in that moment of clarity and peace? And in that moment of clarity and peace wasn't there a sense of existence/being? So obviously, there must be 'something' there prior to the arising of the idea of 'me'. So which is more real, that which comes and goes or that which is always here? If it weren't for awareness there wouldn't even be awareness of the identity which you believe yourself to be.

Or perhaps there have been moments when looking at nature when the mind dropped away, and with it the storyline of your life. During those moments there is simply beingness/awareness, and the experience when remembered it is with words like peace and serenity. That awareness is always there, and that's what you really are.

Or when you wake up in the morning after a great night's sleep. What is it that lets you know that you've had a great night's sleep when 'you' were asleep? You don't conclude you had a great sleep because there's no memory of waking up throughout the night, and therefore it was a good sleep. There is an immediate knowing that it is so. It is this awareness which is always here which has witnessed the sleep. This witnessing is awareness itself and it's always here, and that is what you are.

There is knowledge of 'things' which can be analyzed by the mind and there is 'knowingness' itself. Even with knowledge of things, ask yourself 'how is it that I know this?' if not for awareness. So yes, knowledge of things requires a referent, but knowingness itself doesn't. When you read these words on the screen there is also awareness of things on the periphery to which the mind isn't paying attention to, but still there is a knowingness that they are there. The sensory input is the portal for information to enter but it is awareness that knows it's there. Even if nothing arises in awareness how could there be a knowing that nothing is there if not for awareness.

This awareness is so common, so ordinary, that people overlook its existence. Because it is so transparent and without form it doesn't stand out. People notice what changes, what moves, and awareness doesn't change or move so its not easily noticeable, but because of it nothing else could be.

106

Should Anything Exist????Says Who???Should Nothing Exist?? Says Who?

by frankiespeakin in

should anything exist?

that is a question that nobody can answer with authority.

if any one says they have the answer, i ask:"says who?

poppers

Narkissos,

What the word I points to is wordlessness when it refers to what you actually are.

You said, "Thinking that I can settle in wordlessness is delusional IMO". Yes, thinking is dulusional. The delusion (in the context of discovering what you really are) is in thinking and believing that you are something other than wordlessness. I can't settle into wordlessness because it is wordlessness. With awakening there is a seeing beyond/behind the words and concepts from wordlessness.

Most people's reaction to this is similar to what you are expressing. One of the main tricks of the ego is to bring to bear every argument it can come up with - in doing this it ensures that it remains as a personal reference point through which everything is filtered. To be awake is to live in the unknown, and the ego/mind does everything it can to understand/know everything - what can be understood can be controlled, what isn't understood can't be controlled, and ego/mind doesn't like lack of control.

Being awake means every moment is viewed as if for the first time without reference to past (mind) or future (mind) and without judgment (ego).

106

Should Anything Exist????Says Who???Should Nothing Exist?? Says Who?

by frankiespeakin in

should anything exist?

that is a question that nobody can answer with authority.

if any one says they have the answer, i ask:"says who?

poppers

frankie,

Great insight when you said, "I speak here incorrectly using human concepts I know,,but it seem to me that this what ever it is is love in a sense more profound than words." Yes, a love which is wordless; and so open, accepting, and benevolent that It allows everything to be as it is. To step away from what the 'little me' thinks it is is to be open to what is.

106

Should Anything Exist????Says Who???Should Nothing Exist?? Says Who?

by frankiespeakin in

should anything exist?

that is a question that nobody can answer with authority.

if any one says they have the answer, i ask:"says who?

poppers

Good question Satanus. First of all, a correction to my last sentence in my last post - it should read: But don't look for it with any expectation of what 'It' might be, for 'It' has no shape or form.

Being awake doesn't imply nothing continues 'out there'. And I'm not sure if a mass awakening will ever happen, but on an individual basis, of course things continue. There will be differences, however. The 'problems' which typically arise due to conflicting beliefs arising out of 'separate entities' would largely disappear - egos bumping heads with one another will be seen as a sort of 'play' that has no impact on what one actually is - nothing can harm or change consciousness in any way, so there is no fear of anything. What is seen is viewed as though it were some sort of elaborate play in which the characters believe in the role they are portraying (those who are 'sleeping', that is). Even with the awakened the ego is put on occassionally so one can function in the everyday world, but the ego is more like a loose fitting garment that can be easily set aside when not needed. Whenever a 'problem' is encountered there is an immediate recognition that ego has temporarily returned. When it's seen to be a play there can be a conscious participation in the play rather than an unconscious participation, as is currently the case. The unconscious participation is where 'problems' exist. To the awakened all is seen as a great game and the 'imagined me' doesn't really exist.

I would surmise with a mass awakening wars would end because they would have no driving force to keep them going. But of course, it wouldn't really matter anyway since even 'war' would be just another dream scenario which is recognized as such. But commerce would continue because as long as one has a body that body will have certain needs in order to continue within the dream. But there will no longer be an attachment to the body because it is seen to be a temporary thing arising out of permanent awareness.

106

Should Anything Exist????Says Who???Should Nothing Exist?? Says Who?

by frankiespeakin in

should anything exist?

that is a question that nobody can answer with authority.

if any one says they have the answer, i ask:"says who?

poppers

Right Narkissos. We 'people' are left with rules of grammar to help us communicate. The trouble with this is that it limits this kind of communication to the conceptual, while what we really are is beyond concept. 'We' are stuck with words which automatically, by their very use, puts limits on what we actually are. How else to do it? Well, as Ramana Maharshi might say, 'Who is asking?' His most powerful teaching was when he was silent and the one who sought answers recognized the silence of awareness within.

As soon as you are dealing with words you are dealing with concepts - discover for 'yourself' what's here before the words arise, what's always here. But don't look for it in any with any expectation of what 'It' might be, for 'It' has no shape or form.

106

Should Anything Exist????Says Who???Should Nothing Exist?? Says Who?

by frankiespeakin in

should anything exist?

that is a question that nobody can answer with authority.

if any one says they have the answer, i ask:"says who?

poppers

To be even more precise, there isn't really a shift in identification from ego to awareness - what there is is the dropping of ego identification into What Is always here. There is no entity which identifies with awareness, there is simply the resting in awareness and the 'knowingness' that That is what you actually are. Again, this can't be put into words that makes sense. If it worked that way then all one would have to do to awaken is read the 'magic formula' and one would awaken. All words/concepts must be seen through - recognize That in which words and concepts arise and pass away again.

To simply be, is to be Being - to identify with what arises in Being is where ego/minds get stuck.