--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Jason <jedi_sp...@...> wrote: > > Has it occured to you that both of us are an elite minority > on this planet. I mean how many of us really pondered over > the meaning of existence.?
Absofuckinglutely. A critic once said, when discussing the films of Woody Allen, "Neurosis is a disease only the well-to-do have time for. I would suggest that enlightenment and the "spiritual path" are things that only the well-to-do have time for. If we had been born into the karma of *most* of the sentient beings on this planet, would we *ever* have had time to ponder them? > You seem to believe in an infinite series of re-incarnations. Yes, I guess I do. > That dosen't sound logical to me. all things ultimately end. I do not believe this. I think that's an anthropomorphism projected onto a universe that never ends. I do not believe that there is a "goal" or an "end" to sentient existence or to spiritual seeking. I tend to believe that, as the Tao Te Ching says, "From wonder into wonder life will open." I further believe that it will keep opening forever. At least I hope so. I would view reaching a state in which I thought I had attained the "goal" or "end" of life as an indication of FAILURE, and a sign that I should press the "Restart" button and buy a humility clue. I would hope that the "purpose" of life -- if there is one -- is that wonder keeps opening into wonder eternally. > --- On Sat, 1/2/10, TurquoiseB <no_re...@yahoogroups.com> wrote: > Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: Self is just self capitalized > Date: Saturday, January 2, 2010, 5:08 AM > > > Actually, the teaching of every realized being in > history is that life *is* cool for them. Coolness > dependeth not on one's external circumstances. It > dependeth only on how one perceives those external > circumstances. As my man Bruce Cockburn once said: > > Little round planet > In a big universe > Sometimes it looks blessed > Sometimes it looks cursed > Depends on what you look at obviously > But even more it depends on the way that you see > > I do not delude myself that I am 'way fortunate. I > am the luckiest fuckin' human being I've ever met. > I should have died dozens of times. Or wound up > behind bars somewhere. I have systematically > ignored the rules and "popular wisdom" presented > to me *as* wisdome most of my life. And I have > gotten away with it. > > I honestly do not know which is the chicken and > which the egg in this scenario. Did I manage to > ignore or break all the rules and have a smokin' > life anyway because I dreamed it into existence > by never imagining that there was any other way > to live my life, or did the good fortune of my > life just tempt me into thinking that the "rules" > didn't apply to me? Beats the fuck outa me. All > I know is that I have been phenomenally lucky. > > Others have not been so fortunate. One could go > so far as to say that *most* have not been so > fortunate. I feel for them. So did all of the > spiritual teachers in history. That is probably > why they taught using the *metaphors* and the > *desires* of the less-than-fortunate . > > Find yourself preaching to an audience who believe > that life is suffering -- because that is what they > perceive their lives to have been -- and which > metaphors are you going to pick to convey a way > *past* suffering? Duh. I do not *fault* the Buddha > for starting with "Life is suffering." Look at his > demographic. > > It's just that lately I am more drawn to teachings > that don't speak to that demographic. There are a > few of us "out here" in the spiritual smorgasbord > whose lives have *not* been perceived as suffering. > They've been perceived as one fuckin' glorious > E-ticket ride, in fact. > > For whatever reason, our lives rocked. They rock > still. Every morning presents a new opportunity for > additional rock-on-age. > > So the "life is suffering" metaphors don't *work* as > well for me as they might for those who are suffering. > I do not deny their suffering or the desire for a > cessation of that suffering. It's just that -- for > whatever reason -- I find it difficult to *feel* that > desire for a cessation of suffering or a cessation > of relative life itself. Relative life has just > fuckin' *rocked* for me. In this incarnation and in > several more that I have memories of. > > In some of them I was persecuted and literally tortured > to death. Slowly. By people who were *getting off* on > torturing me. These memories -- whatever they are and > wherever they came from -- are part of my personal > "memory bank," my recollection of my personal past. To > me they feel just as "real" as memories of last week. > > But those incarnations rocked, too. I would not change > one moment of any of them. If I did, I wouldn't be here > the way I am now, and I kinda like here and the way I > am now. > > > >
