He's gone. It's strange how some people can just walk away...
Thoughts about....well, not thinking(?)
- Thread starter LogGrad98
- Start date
He's gone. It's strange how some people can just walk away...
countonbuckets
Member
That Is Some Far Out Stuff Man. Thanks For Sharing The Video. Many Things In Life Over The Years Have Slapped Perspective In My Face. I Try My Best To Train Myself To Live In And For The Present But The Habits I Grew Up Around And With Have Me In The Same Routine That Tolle Referenced: Always Thinking About The Next Step.
I Had An Awakening Of Sorts When I Was 17 And My Old Man Passed Away. My Mother Had Died Two Years Prior And I Was The Oldest Of Four Children. At My Father's Wake One Of His Friends Who He Loved Dearly And I Always Looked Up To Saw How Broken Up I Was. I Had Many Of My Parents Friends Walking By To Console Me And Hug Me While I Wept. When He Got To Me He Just Looked At Me And Said "Hey Man, **** Happens."
Obviously You Were Coy In Your Post For A Reason But Whether It Was Death, Infidelity, Theft, Or Your Step Son Coming Out Of The Closet Then Threatening To Have His Mother Kick You Out Of The House When I Said He Better Be Sure This Time After He Came Out The Year Before But Then Said He Was Kidding Because He Wanted Attention (I Have Gone Through These All) I Hope You Still Have Something To Live For That Keeps You Excited And Passionate For Something.
LogGrad98
Well-Known Member
Contributor
20-21 Award Winner
2022 Award Winner
2023 Award Winner
2024 Award Winner
Come at me bro.
Seriously, I am interested in what other people think. Everyone has to find their own path through this life, and maybe in time I will be able to share some of what I am going through, although at this point I find it a little self-conscious to talk about and am still working through stuff. Suffice it to say that I found another video by Tolle that talked about quieting the constant thoughts in your mind, and that really struck a nerve for me, as that was a symptom, and partly a cause, of what I was going through. I read his second book, Stillness Speaks and, even though a lot of what he says seems to be common sense I have rarely seen it put in the same context he does. That one spoke to me (see what else I did there?). I have started The Power of Now, but I have read a lot of other things, scripture included, in between Stillness and now. The thing that impressed me about Tolle was that he didn't completely discount religion, which I still hold onto, the way some other "mystics" did. In fact he references Jesus now and then to emphasize a point, and it feels like Tolle is expounding on what Jesus already taught us more than anything else.
I'm ok if this turns into a religious discussion, as for me it has been somewhat of a spiritual journey. I know not everyone likes that, but I think without exposing ourselves to dissenting viewpoints we can't even really learn anything or grow at all.
Wow cotton, that's deep. Seriously. It is amazing to me what we, as people, and as individuals, have faced in our lives, and overcome, for the most part. Anyway, found some way to keep going. Sometimes we feel like there is no way to overcome, and that can lead to...well scary things.
I definitely have things to live and fight for. My wonderful amazing tolerant and patient, and beautiful to boot, wife of 22 years. My 4 kids. My mom and dad (sorry to hear about yours). But as part of this all I have had to find my way out of always living for and looking for what comes next, and other things as fulfillment. I have even had to learn to go against the grain of both the religious teachings I grew up with and our prevailing cultural norms and NOT put my family, or even my wife, or my job, or whatever, ahead of my own fulfillment. Not just my own wellbeing, but ahead of what I need to do to be fulfilled in life. Like you said, those are long ingrained habits that are hard to break.
I don't know, maybe this is just a big mid-life crisis and what I really need is to buy another Corvette and high-tail it to Mexico with some blonde half my age for a few years before crawling back to the Mrs. hoping she would take me back.
But EJ is the closest I know to any blonde that would just take off with some strange guy to an exotic locale. And I am not real excited about that mustache.
LogGrad98
Well-Known Member
Contributor
20-21 Award Winner
2022 Award Winner
2023 Award Winner
2024 Award Winner
Yeah so I guess this is a little far out there. I don't know I just wondered what other people thought about the concepts. I wasn't trying to get all esoteric on everyone, or be all cryptic, but that is exactly what I did.
So, yeah.
So, yeah.
glad you're back Log
my mind is too scattered at the moment to focus on anything though so I have no further comment to add at this time
straight to the point of the whole philosophical approach the guru trots out. now.
well, maybe. But there is a place you could take your higher, or lower, criticisms too with impunity. . . . . the LTE.
I haven't read The Power of Now and I'm not a good writer/argument maker, so please bear with me.
I watched the YouTube clip you posted and it sounded a lot to me like Buddhism... in particular Zen Buddhism? I am from a Buddhist background.. my family was Buddhist and I grew up going from Theravada Buddhism and branching out into Mahayana Buddhism and eventually the abstract Zen Buddhism... so I have had my fair share of "Mindfulness" training... Zen meditation, Shikantaza, "Just Sitting", you name it, I've done it... I was even ordained as a monk for a while living in a temple amongst the mountains in the North of Thailand. Buddhism in general boils down to "The cessation of Suffering" by way of "Being and living in the present moment" and experiencing things as they are at each moment without worrying about the future, the past, etc. "Enlightenment" is essentially a deep understanding that we and the Universe are one... and that each moment is all that we have and all that we should be focussed on. Mindfulness practice is in fact being used in the psychology I believe in treating and helping patients with terminal illness, mental illness, etc..
While I felt "At Peace" when I was ordained as a monk, I've always felt an empty void inside of me that was never fulfilled. "Why are we here?" for example, is a question we don't ask as a Buddhist because it's simply "A question not worth asking". So while we're told to sit in meditation.. while we're told to experience things as they are "at this moment", the question at the back of my mind still exists... "Who created the Universe?".. "Who created us?"... "Why do human exist?" .. etc, etc, etc.
I'm not going to go into reasons why I have since become a Christian because it's a personal journey and it would be different for everyone. Suffice to say that I have found "Love" to be the only thing that is "Good" in this world. In Buddhism, "Love" is taught as one of the emotions that is an obstacle to Enlightenment. Why? Because it's one of the "attachment" that we need to get rid of, in order to reach Full Enlightenment. As an example, the Buddha himself had to leave his family and went into the forest and meditate for 6 years before being enlightened. After some consideration/pondering, I was left asking myself this question "Is Peace or cessation of suffering = Truth?" or "Is Love = Truth?".
Ultimately I do believe that "True Love" exists and it exists in the creator who has created us... I'm talking about True Genuine Love.. (not Lust, Sex, Desire, etc). If True Genuine Love exists in this world (and I believe it does, naturally at least to a certain extent, between a mother and a child), it must follow that it should also exist in the mind of the Creator who have created us.. This leads me to the scripture that said that God is Love.. By Grace He saved us - not by Works. His Ultimate Love for us was Christ's sacrifice at the Cross on that day for all our sins...
Interestingly, I watched a Charles Stanley sermon this morning that more or less explained some of this.. By having Christ in our hearts and trusting him, we find Truth, True Peace and God's True Genuine Love. Ultimately, this is exactly the kind of Love that God wanted us to share with everyone around us, family, friends, etc, the way he had loved us.
Peace be with you...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAqECaQoVPw
Last edited:
sahlensguy
Well-Known Member
My take is that Tolle is a ******** artist.
He "never" has negative emotions??? Okie dokie.
If you want to live in the now, accept God's free love that continually flows like falling rain drops. Look up, open up, and catch every drop as it falls to you. There it is, catch it now, and now, and now, and now, and now, and now, whoops missed one. Repent and catch the next one now, and now, and now, and now, and do good works. No time to sit on park benches. God's creatures are all around. His loves fills you with love for your fellow man. Catch it now and do good works. Turn the other cheek and do good works.
Peace
Sahlensguy
He "never" has negative emotions??? Okie dokie.
If you want to live in the now, accept God's free love that continually flows like falling rain drops. Look up, open up, and catch every drop as it falls to you. There it is, catch it now, and now, and now, and now, and now, and now, whoops missed one. Repent and catch the next one now, and now, and now, and now, and do good works. No time to sit on park benches. God's creatures are all around. His loves fills you with love for your fellow man. Catch it now and do good works. Turn the other cheek and do good works.
Peace
Sahlensguy
OK, after watching the first minute of the video all I can think is that he must be on drugs...
and I do get pissed at drivers who cut me off or do anything that seems stupid to me, and I suppose I do personalize gusts of wind because I'll get just as pissed at the wind as anything, if it disrupts the pile of papers on my desk...
by the way, Log, sorry but I'm not seeing what you did there, anywhere...
color me clueless in that regard
I feel like it's one of those hidden picture puzzles where something appears if you look at it the right way... and I could never get those to work either
but in spite of my cluelessness, I'm still glad to have you back
color me clueless in that regard
I feel like it's one of those hidden picture puzzles where something appears if you look at it the right way... and I could never get those to work either
but in spite of my cluelessness, I'm still glad to have you back