JamesThomas

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Posts by JamesThomas

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  53

  The Origin of Fear

  by purplesofa in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  maybe you can see how the jw religion uses fear on its people.

  how it is effective.

  how it works.

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  JamesThomas

  Purps:

  Here is where I like what Tolle says about how this is usually attained right before death, and that the way to live is to be as you have already died(i think that is what it said)

  So as much life as we can live experiancing this before death the richer and deeper our lives will be, and truely eveyone that we come into contact benefits.

  Yes, when the body and brain are dying, there is no energy left to hold on to all that was believed and conceptualized to be true about "self" and "other" (all the rest of the universe seemingly separate from the physical body). The lies fade and dissolve. The pristine foundational reality, remains untouched. Ahhhh, here I am; the way, the life and the truth. The gloriously pristine peace and wholeness that a life time was used futilely trying to attain. We truly already are what we seek. Why wait until death. Die before you die, and live this expression of life in the deep richness and unity that really IS.

  This is easy to say, but a lot of stuff can arise that is being held tightly onto, and this can unfold as a great deal of fear. It's as if the false self does not want to die, and so self-preservation mechanisms can sometimes kick into high gear. Personally I have experienced -- at times -- terrorizing fear because of this. One way to lighten the load is to assure the mind, the ego, that it need not fear. The ego can come along to, it's just that once our authenticity is realised, the thoughts, beliefs, memories and emotions that make up the false-self of the ego are seen for what they are: a chimera. They lose their power. So, I generally do not choose to use terms like "death of the ego". It's more a way of gentle allowance rather than violence or some kind of force. As I recall Eckhart was one who was key in helping me see it this way.

  Good for you, Purps. It's fun to see you catch on to all this, and you have a sweet and, ummm, sensuous way about it....but then there is revealed a very fine and deep richness that was missed before; and the senses like it a lot.

  Got another cigarette?

  j
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  53

  The Origin of Fear

  by purplesofa in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  maybe you can see how the jw religion uses fear on its people.

  how it is effective.

  how it works.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  JamesThomas

  Purps:

  I wanted to bring out how many years I lived in this constant state fearing Armeggedon was any day coming. Of all the things I regret the most of the JW experiance is this. Every single day I was so afraid of the future I missed out on my life and my kids.

  This is perhaps the saddest tragedy of a JW type belief system, is that it has us always reaching fearfully past this moment of life to some make-believe future time and place. We become the walking-dead with our focus and significance placed in a dream as we allow reality to pass us by. Your right Purps, the best thing we can do for others is to be deliciously present ourselves.

  As far as aloneness; there can come a moment within self investigation, that it is clearly realized that "I" am nothing that the mind and circumstance creates or presents, and instead have no recognizable or definable boundary. Here, as the walls dissolve, does "other" (and so there is a vast pristine aloneness). You are everything, but no specific thing. Here, love blooms as there is no other to despise (which doesn't mean you necessarily like everyone, separate forms still remain -- there is just a deeper realised consciousness of oneness).

  Narkissos:

  It gets harmful, imho, when the "craziness," instead of being embraced or rejected individually as such, turns into a fashionable "wisdom" and eventually a kind of religion; when it comes to be recommended or looked for as objectively "good," and good to all. At this point people who neither really need it nor can truly understand it will be inclined to pretend they do, and harm themselves and others.

  For instance, I think much of the "cross" symbolism ("dying to oneself" etc.) has meant about the same "thing" to Christian mystics. Yet its wider religious and cultural "success" has cast a dark blanket over much of the natural freshness of life in Christian civilisation for many centuries, and thus it has poisoned many minds and lives.

  In this case the "craziness" is not a teaching but rather a finger pointing to the fact that you are not the isolated and broken individual believed to be, but rather whole and pristine. It is not the message which is poison, rather it is the corrupt interpretation that the mind can add. This is probably why much of Eckhart Tolle's book: The Power of Now, deals with gently and nonjudgmentally watching the mind's antics and manipulations. In my opinion Eckhart's way of expressing is far more precise and clear, and so more difficult and less likely to be manipulated than the way Christianity expressed -- what we both agree is likely the very same foundational message.

  The message is a universal one as the foundational reality to which it points incorporates all existence. No one, or no thing is left out. What the mind does with the information, who can say. You place the message out there, and the chips fall where they may.

  j
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  53

  The Origin of Fear

  by purplesofa in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  maybe you can see how the jw religion uses fear on its people.

  how it is effective.

  how it works.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  JamesThomas

  Narkissos:

  It is quite ironic that the essence of this stuff is found in most religious traditions, including Christianity (as the Christian mystics did not miss) yet it is lost under a mountain of dogmatic beliefs, ritual practices and moral precepts which are the sum of religion to the majority.

  Yes, a humongous irony. Perhaps religion is the outcome of the futile attempt to own or somehow bottle the essence.

  It is also ironic (to me) that so often this deconstruction of identity is immediately reconstructed as another identity or supra-identity ("true Self," "true I," "true Consciousness" -- insert your own favourite capitalised substitute for "God" or "Christ" or "Buddha").

  It certainly seem to be the case that the mental concepts of non-ego can all too easily be incorporated into the ego. It can get pretty tricky at times, and Eckhart often points out that "spiritual seekers" need to be especially wary of this.

  Whatever, I hold "this" to be potentially both helpful and harmful. A remedy and a poison that I would definitely not recommend to everybody, only to people whom I feel need it. Btw I suspect that anyone who does need it will find it when s/he really needs it, with, without or in spite of what I may say about it. The only value of hinting to "it," imo, is to help people who get "there" know (or believe?) that they are not crazy -- or that they are not the only crazy ones...

  In my own case I have found that if there is no readiness for something, there is no comprehension and it all just seems crazy -- no harm done. When there is readiness, it is as if the knowledge exists whole within already, and the guidance heard is just a reminder of what already is.

  j
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  47

  Ever been lied to by anyone on this forum?

  by snarf in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  you all know how it works...you post a few topics, comment a few times and pretty soon people get to know your name, then they p.m. you and you start talking, then suddenly you find out through their posts and comments that they were lying to you.

  has this happened to you?

  did it make ya mad?

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  JamesThomas

  Gumby, the gumfibber, promised me a shine. Never got one.

  To this day, I is a dull boy.
• 
  53

  The Origin of Fear

  by purplesofa in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  maybe you can see how the jw religion uses fear on its people.

  how it is effective.

  how it works.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  JamesThomas

  5go:

  Suck to be a cynic some days but this sounds so religious. There are no secrets to life. Stay away from people that say so.

  This guy credits things to the ego which really go to the super ego and the id.

  Planning for the future real or not is delutional but, nessesary.

  After what most of us have been through here, it is healthy to be cynical.

  Eckhart does not offer a new religion or belief system; rather he simply helps those who want help to see how the movement of the mind can create counterfeit beliefs of "self" and "other". Rather than being religious it is far more akin to radical-realism.

  To imply that Eckhart suggests to not plan for the future, from what I can see, is a less than a coherent interpretation of his message. It's more about not making a delusional future into our "reality".

  j
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  53

  The Origin of Fear

  by purplesofa in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  maybe you can see how the jw religion uses fear on its people.

  how it is effective.

  how it works.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  JamesThomas

  Thank you, Purps, for posting this.

  Eckhart Tolle has a rare and beautiful talent for clearly explaining the dynamics of the mind so that it can be seen first hand. He does not leave us with just seeing what is false, but also helps us see our underlying completeness. He speaks from this genuine completeness.

  Here is a 1 1/2 hour video of him giving a talk in India several years ago in which he walks us through the mind and into the presence of actuality, I suggest using headphones.

  http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4504936856994869317&hl=en

  j
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  59

  WOW! JW SLAMMED BIGGIE at Newspaper

  by DannyHaszard in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  wow this is more severe than even i would post what goes around comes around...you can't assault millions of victims without repercussions http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&tab=wn&ie=utf-8&q=jehovah+witness on the news wire the people speak: religious group changes bible text.

  muskogee daily phoenix, ok - 14 minutes ago.

  jehovahs witnesses go to meetings twice a week to train and learn how to manipulate people into questioning their belief and doubting their faith.

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  JamesThomas

  Standing on the jagged and weapons strewn landscape of the Bible, Christians do battle; fortunately because of our modern laws, only verbally striking each other into oblivion.

  It's madness.

  j
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  60

  Sincere?..Bible-Believers-Can Your Beliefs Be Supported Without The Bible?

  by nvrgnbk in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  does your real-life experience and what you observe in nature lead you to the same conclusions that are presented as fact in the bible?

  .

  or do you believe because of the power of suggestion?.

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  JamesThomas

  I'm in the middle of preparing for making a batch of plum jam, so this will be quick.

  Alpha:

  meaning "Be still and know that : I am God" with " I " being me ??

  Exactly. It's a universal truth, not a relative one. However, "I" is not the individual little "I" that is believed to be. It's not an ego trip.

  Bernadette:

  How does the cruelty and distructiveness in nature fit in with a loving reality?

  Good question. There is an underlying non-duality, a wholeness and purity that you are that is untouched by the dualistic nature of phenominal expression. There has to be a first hand realisation of this for it to make sense. It has to be seen or it can sound cold and crazy. Seeing the oneness which holds all existence, actually opens deeper compassion and understanding. You are one with the bitter and the sweet.

  There is a totally unconditional and nonjudgmental purity from which an infinite expression of life unfolds. It is not hindered by any judgments or concern for what we call "good" and "bad". This Purity, is what you are; what all is. When the underlying reality is clearly seen, there is a realization that you are all life, yet more importantly you are the pristine consciousness which all life exist within.

  Does this make sense? Poppers could probably express it more clearly. He has a very poetic way about it.

  j
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  60

  Sincere?..Bible-Believers-Can Your Beliefs Be Supported Without The Bible?

  by nvrgnbk in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  does your real-life experience and what you observe in nature lead you to the same conclusions that are presented as fact in the bible?

  .

  or do you believe because of the power of suggestion?.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  JamesThomas

  Sad emo,

  What I am referring to is what you truly are. The Bible or any objective thing, can not give you what you are. The only thing anything or anyone can do, is point back at you.

  I suggest going deeper than "blackness". What sees the blackness? What exist that every thing, even blackness can exist? I suggest you saw off the limb which stopped you.

  j
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  60

  Sincere?..Bible-Believers-Can Your Beliefs Be Supported Without The Bible?

  by nvrgnbk in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  does your real-life experience and what you observe in nature lead you to the same conclusions that are presented as fact in the bible?

  .

  or do you believe because of the power of suggestion?.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  JamesThomas

  AlphaOmega:

  I just find it "hard" to even want to let go of the Bible, when that is the very thing that has got me to my open mindedness.

  There is an wise old Buddhist saying: One uses a boat to get to the other side of the river, then it is abandoned that we may go on our way. (or something like that...and I'm not selling Buddhism here). Who/what is this "me" who has "open mindedness"? What we want to find out is do you exist as is believed? Who/what are you, really? What is real?

  You can look and see (depending on where you are in your journey)

  What is seeing? Turn 180 from the Bible you hold in your hand. What is the authentic and genuine reality that is seeing these words right now? Do you see what I'm getting at? Bibles, words, thoughts, teachings, beliefs and all other objects only distract from a valid inner investigation. But don't believe me, see it clearly first hand.

  You are at a very critical time as you see that there is a propensity to not let go. This is a good sign. See more. See what is not you. See that all the thoughts ever believed about "self" are not that which sees all the thoughts....and gently let go of them. New stuff and older stuff will arise to lay claim on you, gently see it for what it is (not you), and let go of it.

  I have found it is a journey of subtraction. We truly already are the purity and wholeness we seek; it is all the erroneous shit that blinds us. See. Clearly see what is false, and what remains is True. It's You. That's all. It's very simple. Don't need Bibles and books to add to you. Don't need religion or gurus to give you something. Don't need to travel anywhere. Just see. Quietly and gently see. It is your sincerity and earnestness which will fuel this journey to where you already are.

  j