"It's like closing some metal object and seal it as much as you could to protect from RUST, but leaving the humidity inside, without any chance to get rid of it = OXIDIZING process is WORSER! "
Nice analogy.
poppers
JoinedPosts by poppers
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48
The GREATEST IRONY of Shunning and Disfellowshiping
by Trojan ini have lately started to think many things over.
as i adquire more knowledge, or other kind of knowledge, i see things more and more in another light.
it's a strange and thrilling experience i'm going through.
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poppers
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19
Is the truth of something the path of least resistance?
by Spectrum inunless hidden or confused by disinformation i believe that knowing the truth is found by following the path of least resistance.
if this criterion is not met then you cannot conclude that you have the truth.
the truth has a way of sorting itself out unless unatural forces are used to skew it.
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poppers
Spectrum, you said, "I don't know if humans can operate outside of the consciousness their mind creates though."
I would ask if this statement has been verified in your direct experience, or is it an unquestioned assumption. Investigate - see if mind creates consciousness or if mind arises out of consciousness. There is a vast difference, and this difference is critical in discovering the truth of one's being. -
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Is the truth of something the path of least resistance?
by Spectrum inunless hidden or confused by disinformation i believe that knowing the truth is found by following the path of least resistance.
if this criterion is not met then you cannot conclude that you have the truth.
the truth has a way of sorting itself out unless unatural forces are used to skew it.
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poppers
I will respond to this, just so your thread isn't left hanging, which happens to me sometimes. You said, "I believe that knowing the truth is found by following the path of least resistance."
I think you are onto something here, maybe something more profound that you realize. "Knowing the truth" is one of those phrases that usually gets applied to situations/circumstances, the land of relative "truth"; and there is the seeking of a "higher truth" which transcends the intellect, the land of the "absolute truth/god".
I'm not sure what you mean by "following the path of least resistance", but I will take that interesting phrase and apply it to something which is dear to my heart, and that is discovering the truth of my "being", which is the domain of the transcendental. The way that I interpret that phrase is that when we no longer "construct" ourselves we approach the conscious experience of our being. By this I mean that when we no longer resist who we are by applying thoughts/ideas/conceptual frameworks we are left with nothing but our pure essence, the truth of our being. In other words, we complicate/resist who we really are through the conditioning our minds have been subjected to so that we no longer know who we really are. By following the path of least resistence we overcome that condtioning and re-discover our true selves. The problem, however, is that the conditioning is so entrenched and familiar that we are unconscious of it for the most part. Sometimes the condtioning gets bypassed; for example, when we become lost in nature to the point where we "forget" who we believe ourselves to be and feel a oneness, or when we are so tuned into a piece of art or music that our minds stop and we are fully present. These moments are free of resistence, free of notions of "self", and the knowing of the truth of oneself gets revealed, but this knowing of the truth of oneself is nonconceptual, for this truth is beyond the mind's ability to grasp.
poppers -
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poppers
Has anyone seen the movie Downfall? It's a German production about Hitler's last days. I haven't seen it but would like input from anyone who has - was there a problem in following it with subtitles?
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86
An Observation About Life
by JamesThomas inbeing consciously present in this moment of life's expression, being open and meeting with this present moment of reality, being truly with what is actually here without judgments and mental commentary, does not seem to leave much room for beliefs in deities and their shenanigans.
in fact such imaginings only seem to steal away the vibrant aliveness of here.
so, perhaps, it is when we are not that much present with the truth of life, right here, right now, and rather lost in mental interpretations that we feel a need to become involved in the drama of gods and religion.
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poppers
jst2laws said, "Yet my appreciation for the "allusion" (physical world) I refer to above has increased. I still occasionally let myself get caught up in the daily anxieties but no longer refer to them as "anxieties of life". They are the anxieties that rob us of "life".
Thanks again for starting this thread. How about a new one on MEDITATION?"
No longer referring to them as "anxieties of life" is a very wise step, a step which puts "space" between them and what "you" really are. Now, take another step toward consciously experiencing your true essence and don't refer to them even as "anxieties". Instead, when there is a feeling within you which has heretofore been labeled "anxious", just be with the sensation without any label - let there be a naked and raw "sitting" with the sensation and WATCH it without attaching a "story" to it - this is a very courageous act, and goes against the grain of our conditioning, but it is essential. This will allow the sensation to run its course and leave the body. Telling yourself a story about the sensation will keep it in place; by letting it be there you are giving it space to "be", and when they are here presently there is nothing to be gained by resisting them.
This "watching" of sensations, emotions, and thoughts will cultivate a realization: That You are not your mind, emotions, or sensations, but are instead that in which they arise and fade away. You are the PRESENCE in which all else appears; you are the conscious spaciousness which allows all else to be. There will grow a sense that "you" are always here - calm, peaceful, content, and everything else comes and goes. This is freedom, and it is here now in this very moment.
Your interest in meditation is laudable, for there is much to be gained from such a practice: increased health benefits, discipline, a calm mind, and many others. But, as JamesThomas alluded to, the purest form of meditation is being fully present in the moment while life unfolds. When fully present, the mind has nothing to "do" and is naturally quiet, the aim of most meditation techniques. So, if practiced for the purpose of living a healthier lifestyle meditation is great, but as a practice to gain the most profound realization (knowing what you really are) meditation can actually get in the way - take it from me, someone who practiced meditation for nearly 30 years and never got any closer to what was promised by every meditation teacher/technique that came my way.
That being said, if you have any questions about meditation I will answer them as best I can base on my many years of practice. -
91
YOU EVER FEEL SCARED IT IS THE TRUTH?
by Cordelia injust wondered as im prob about to give up so much, coz i dont think it is the truth but its come as such a shock!.
my family believe it so much, my dad feels he can answer any question i have, and being brought up in it sometimes it scares me.
coz my family believe it so much, .
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poppers
Having never been a dub I can't answer this question the way those of you who have been, but I would like to answer it this way: I am reminded of how anorexics view their bodies as they look at themselves in the mirror - they actually SEE themselves as overweight. No matter how reasonable and logical another person can be in pointing out that they are fatally thin, they won't see it themselves and the result is fear to the point that they will starve themselves to death. Why does this happen? Because there is a distortion in how their mind is operating. I don't know if this distortion is psychological or if there is a pathological reason, but the result is the same - a distorted BELIEF that they are overweight. Whether or not they get they recover from this distorted thinking will determine whether of not they will continue to live.
It seems to me that it is the same with JWs - their BELIEF that it is "the truth" is based on distorted thinking which prevents them from seeing what others do who have broken away or who were never in it in the first place. Their claims of being "the happiest people on earth" is, IMHO, a disguised form of fear that they aren't willing to consciously consider and deal with - as long as they can put on the happy face and continue to tell themselves they are happy, they won't have to face the reality that it's just a bunch of horseshyte. The "mirror" that others place in front of them to point out the distortions is largely ignored because the thinking process has been damaged. Thepeople who are seeing the reality, have restored their ability to see without distortion and drop the fear that flowed out of that distortion. If someone has trouble dropping the fear, then you can be assured that some distorted thinking is still in place. -
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Wicked angel was driving the UFO the wise men saw
by Franz inif an angel was in a ufo that led the astrologers (the 'wise men') to the young child jesus in that house (mt 2:11), then it must have been a wicked angel.
we have these pagan astrologers (greek, "magoi"; see de 18:10-12 and isa 47:13,14) traveling along and they see a "star".
(how convenient; astrologers.....stars.....) does it lead them directly to jesus?
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poppers
"Thus the next time you see a 'star' on top of a Christmas tree, remember that it represents a wicked angel who was determined to have Jesus, the Son of God, killed."
Is this according to YOUR theorizing? Isn't it possible, even if it is true, that we have since recognized the star on top of the Christmas tree as representing something entirely different? Does what's inside one's heart concerning the star mean nothing at all? -
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OK, I't My Turn As The Newbie
by BlackPearl ini'm not sure where to start, probably in two major areas.
mechanics thing, that can't work, and what i see as the lack of true love in the brotherhood.
i've been in "the truth" or lack thereof, for about 30 years, give or take a little.
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poppers
Welcome BlackPearl - I really enjoyed your post. Sounds like you were able to maintain some sanity in a vast sea of insantiy - commendable.
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12
The Better Days...
by Blueblades inmy mom used to cut chicken, chop eggs and spread mayo on the same cuting board with the same knife and no bleach, but we didn't get food poisoning.
my mom used to defrost hamburger on the counter and i used to eat a bite raw sometimes, too.
our school sandwiches were wrapped in wax paper, in a brown paper bag, not in ice pack coolers, but i can't remember anybody getting e.coli.. almost all of us would have rather gone swimming in the lake instead of a pristine pool ( talk about boring ), no beach closures then.. the term cell phone would have conjured up a phone in a jail cell, and a pager was the school pa. system.
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poppers
Thanks for that Blueblades - I agree. I tell kids today about playing "work-up" and "500" and they look completely puzzled (both are baseball type games when you don't have enough kids for 2 teams for a regular game); they've got to be part of an organized team with uniforms and practice schedules. We neighborhood kids "appropriated" a vacant lot and with push mowers and developed our own ballfield. We made a backstop out of 2 X 4s and chicken wire. Our thirst got quenched from the garden hose from a house across the street. In left field where the weeds grew tall we dug "tornado" shelters - 4 foot deep holes in the ground, big enough for one person. More than once when playing a baseball games, the left fielder would completely disappear as he inadverdently stepped into one while attempting to catch a deep flyball.
On the same lot we created a circus with different acts, one a sharpshooter with a BB gun (I stood with an 8" straw in my mouth while the neighbor kid would shoot it out of my mouth from 30 feet away! And he never missed). We invented games based on Japanese horror movies we saw on TV - "Rhodan" comes to mind, which required the use of the neighbor's large lot, as well as neighboring roof tops. The lady who own the house would bring us homemade cookies and only asked that we didn't ruin her flowers. We made our own fun - today the kids have to have the latest in electronic games, DVD and CD players, and iPods to keep their minds full of manufactured noise.
Our local swimming pool was the most popular in the county - it was a stream that got dammed up during the summer. It had a "deep" end with high and love dives, a huge slide, and at the dam's entrance, which was infested with blood suckers, we put up a basketball hoop. It also had a "shallow" end with a small diving platform and smaller slide. Twice a year it had to be weeded out by hand by the local caretaker, who would wade through the pool swinging a big sythe to and fro. What torture it was waiting for that to be done. Sometimes a local youth who was suffering from temporary insanity and wished to actually bathe, brought a bar of soap to use while in the pool. Today, almost no one goes there anymore, favoring instead the artificial pools where you have to shower before and after swimming.
Those of us who were lucky enough had BB and pellet guns. We could roam the neighborhood plinking away at birds, bottles, and tin cans that were laying around. Nobody called the police unless a window somehow got broken, or an errant BB ricocheted off something and hit someone causing real harm. The really adventuresome, like me, made homemade blowguns out of aluminum tubing we stole from the local TV antenne dealership, or homemade firecrackers and rockets. Today, if someone were to do either there would be a SWAT squad called.
For an outstanding return to yesteryear as experienced in my era (late 50s and 60s) and state, Wisconsin, read The Life and Times of the Last Kid Picked. Simply wonderful.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0812966589/sr=1-1/qid=1139161802/ref=sr_1_1/104-7155561-4394350?%5Fencoding=UTF8 -
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poppers
Holy crap, DY!!! That IS awesome!