Frankie we might also ask does ego even exist? Yes there are certain persistent tendancies, but how do we conclude that it is a thing? See from the perspective of consciousness ego is just where we are not conscious, conscious of our nature - which leads to the confusion of separation. That's why they call it awakening, the rest naturally follows without any need for dogma.
Markfromcali
JoinedPosts by Markfromcali
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43
Mental masterbaition is it bad or good?
by frankiespeakin in.
first off let me thanks for your contributions in advance.. i read this term in post that gave it a negative slant.. masterbaition is good and whole some,,why would some one use it as negative,,unless they veiwed it a negative??
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Mental masterbaition is it bad or good?
by frankiespeakin in.
first off let me thanks for your contributions in advance.. i read this term in post that gave it a negative slant.. masterbaition is good and whole some,,why would some one use it as negative,,unless they veiwed it a negative??
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Markfromcali
This post is in response to Auntfanny and Zen's posts.
The point in my messages to SS before is it isn't about you. (you of course may not agree, but I'm just saying that was the main point) Now obviously we do some things that makes us feel better sometimes, but it's just a question of whether that's your main concern. If that's the case, sex with another individual wouldn't be much different, if the motivation is the same.
Zen, as far as some of the points you mentioned it all depends on whether a person's idea of spirituality and goodness is coming from a projection from their own mind or if there has been an actual realization of union, which as you probably know means a death - there's nobody that survives to some higher plane, if we're talking about self realization. Someone can be high on their own idea of what being a spiritual person is about, (the seeker ego) including aversion to sex - which is still aversion, and that's no better than grasping. A do gooding ego is still an ego - which is not to say it is bad, just calling it what it is. There is nothing wrong with being a hermit, but if you're a hermit because you're addicted to the bliss of emptiness, that's just another kind of attachment. It's the same thing if you're busy doing what would be considered good things because you're into this good guy identity. The real thing just comes naturally, while people interpret it as 'doing for others' the one who is actually there has no sense of other, neither is there any sense of self because the real thing makes any idea unnecessary. Better and higher is only meaningful when there's separation, and viewing the monastic life as better would be just another form of this. So I say don't be so quick to buy into the prevailing view of what the spiritual path is.
OF COURSE it would be easier to abide in peace and stillness if you're in an isolated environment, but the real test is whether that still exist in the everyday world that the rest of us lives in. If not, it was just a function of stimuli or the lack of it. I'm sure you'd agree that what we're talking about is something deeper than that, if nothing else. There may be a time for that, but to look at it another way if that's the only way you can have peace then you are now imprisoned in that environment.
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Mental masterbaition is it bad or good?
by frankiespeakin in.
first off let me thanks for your contributions in advance.. i read this term in post that gave it a negative slant.. masterbaition is good and whole some,,why would some one use it as negative,,unless they veiwed it a negative??
?
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Markfromcali
Yes! I was just coming back to the thread to make a post about spiritual masturbation, which by the way is a point that 'spiritual people' have made before. (in so many words no less)
Of course, growth implies relative existence, and if spiritual existence is absolute then abiding in the bliss, meditating in a cave in the Himalayas wearing a diaper is probably the ultimate in spiritual masturbation. It has also been pointed out that sages eventually outgrow that stage and join the world and actually play an active part, this would be completion of the entire process - because you include both form and emptiness. From this perspective it really isn't growth anymore, there's just sort of an on going evolutionary process - but nothing is seen as better or worse. People who get to that point usually do something to facilitate the evolution of consciousness whether directly or indirectly, but if they really get it it is hardly something to be proud of. It's not as if you are better than anyone else, how can you be when there is no one else?
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Mental masterbaition is it bad or good?
by frankiespeakin in.
first off let me thanks for your contributions in advance.. i read this term in post that gave it a negative slant.. masterbaition is good and whole some,,why would some one use it as negative,,unless they veiwed it a negative??
?
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Markfromcali
Whether you choose to view it as good or bad, I think the point of the expression (but maybe not for all who use it) is just that it is 'not going anywhere', as Saint said. So as opposed to intercourse, whether sexual or intellectual, masturbation is just kind of repetition if nothing else, without any kind of exchange.
If you look at the Stuart Smalley character from SNL, that would be kind of a self esteem masturbation. "I'm good enough, smart enough, and gosh darn it, people like me!" Of course sometimes self esteem is really low in some people and that might be helpful for a time, but that's just the thing - you gotta keep doing it, and ultimately you're not going anywhere. In fact, one might view it as a limit placed on the self. What I mean by that is you spend so much time and energy into some sort of 'masturbation' in an effort to reinforce your worldview, your identity as a sexual being or whatever that you never grow beyond that, you don't expand your repertoire in life beyond those things. So masturbation as behavior that cultivates a reinforced sense of self might make you feel better about yourself, but lets just say one might want to balance that against actually growing through different and diverse life experiences.
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Markfromcali
Love includes everything, even the things you don't like. True love is realized when you have no choice but to love.
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Intelligence
by asleif_dufansdottir inok, i'm not trying to fan any flames, (don't beat me simon!
) but the anthropologist will explode if she doesn't get to say something.
"race" - we are all homo sapiens sapiens.
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Markfromcali
So are you implying that if one is a people person then one is likely to be more "intelligent"
Not at all. What I'm saying is basically it applies to all areas of life, which is certainly not limited to being a people person - that is just one area I used as an example.
To look at it another way, there is both breadth and depth to intelligence, although there is something to be said about how smart one lives their life as a whole even if it isn't very deep in any particular area. The thing is there may be psychological issues that prevent the intelligence from functioning in a particular area of life, this could be either something like programming a VCR to interpersonal relationships. To use a crude example it is like that quote from Dune about fear is the mind killer... This is particularly significant in the context of a forum such as this with many ex-JWs, because in a way what prevents people from getting over emotional issues is such a block. Sometimes people who are very knowledgeable about psychology still have stuff to work out too, so clearly there is a difference between a conceptual intelligence and an actualized intelligence that functions in all areas of life. I would say the key lies in an understanding of the nature of mind itself, (or the nature of self..) as opposed to the content alone.
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My Trip - Jim_TX
by Jim_TX inwell... as most know, i went out to san jose last tuesday for a whirlwind 'tour' of the western states.. i was to leave san antonio by airplane, and return by van - driving all the way back, running tests on equipment along the way.
(think about the man in the ads, saying "can you hear me now.
" - and you'll be reeeeeeal close.).
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Markfromcali
Sad. You can just imagine the internal dis-ease they're having, but then I guess we've all been there.
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Intelligence
by asleif_dufansdottir inok, i'm not trying to fan any flames, (don't beat me simon!
) but the anthropologist will explode if she doesn't get to say something.
"race" - we are all homo sapiens sapiens.
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Markfromcali
It seems to me what is often missing in this type of discussion is whether the intelligence is integrated into different areas of life. We've probably all known people who "can't" program their VCRs to tape a show, yet they may do something far more complex in their job, they more than likely just don't like dealing with electronics. But perhaps a more telling and practical example is when it comes to interpersonal relationships. Often times the dynamics are not that complicated from an outside observer, but if you happen to have some kind of co-dependency going on then you just can't see things as they are, being limited in the perspective of your position in the relationship. (although emotions may be involved, I don't see this as categorically different if we're looking at it in terms of integration) So I would say the true test of functional intelligence would be how someone goes about their life in general, which would be different from applied intelligence in a particular area or a specific type of task.
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Since You've Been "Out"----Do You Feel Better About Yourself???
by minimus ini do.
it's great knowing that leaving the organization has not produced our "weeping and gnashing of the teeth" as we might once have believed.
we've become free!!!!!!!!!
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Markfromcali
I don't really feel better or worse about myself in any Stuart Smalley kind of way, but I would say I am able to feel things better. If you think about it, when you're a JW you're constantly fighting certain feelings based on your beliefs so that all the constant struggle would create such confusion that you are not able to feel things very well, being clear about what you feel is a big step toward a real, deep liberation. Sometimes people are understandably dealing with more traumatic issues and may have intense feelings come up, but I would point out it just means you are getting clearer about your feelings.
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The "What If" Game
by copsec ini ask a question, the next person answers my question and then asks their own and so on.
so i will start off with....... .
what if animals could talk?
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Markfromcali
Meditation would become masturbation.
What if you were Tom Jones?