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What will you do with the stories entrusted to you?

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Re: What will you do with the stories entrusted to you?

#121

Post by inkblotuniverse »

atoav wrote: post #91
hatsunearu wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

maybe I'm just an asshole but I've felt whatever is the opposite of sonder these days when I come across people that are so clueless and inattentive they might as well be zombies.

Sounds like a thing that everybody would acuse each other of in any given hyperindivisualistic society. I mean especially in the US you sadly have quite some people who would rather hurt themselves than have a penny go to the help of others. This is beyond pure indifference towards strangers. People actively despise living in a society (even if they ultimatly profit from it).

I could easily imagine people accusing each other of it in a hyper-communalist society, as well!

Re: What will you do with the stories entrusted to you?

#122

Post by jes »

mistermann wrote: post #110
jes wrote: post #38

For much of my life, I was a jerk. I was insecure and often became offended and unkind when things didn't unfold the way I thought they should. It really screwed up my relationships and in my mid-50s, I found myself pretty much angry and alone in the world. I was constantly stuck in a story no one else really knew much about. What I came to understand was that I had picked up certain ideas about myself over the cours…

Now that you have been through this once, do you think it's possible that if you went through all of the material you consumed in this period (assume photographic memory), would you be able to prepare a presentation (customized for yourself) with content that would be adequate to accelerate this process (and speculatively, a plausible range of how much) if you were to deliver itself to your past you (say, at the time…

I do think that would be possible.

Your question seems to be along the lines of "Is it possible to speed up the process of seeing that the separate, egoic self is an illusion?"

I think it is. In fact, Rupert Spira and others talk about "The Direct Path" for doing exactly this.

Why do you ask?

Re: What will you do with the stories entrusted to you?

#123

Post by mistermann »

jes wrote: post #122
mistermann wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Now that you have been through this once, do you think it's possible that if you went through all of the material you consumed in this period (assume photographic memory), would you be able to prepare a presentation (customized for yourself) with content that would be adequate to accelerate this process (and speculatively, a plausible range of how much) if you were to deliver itself to your past you (say, at the time…

I do think that would be possible. Your question seems to be along the lines of "Is it possible to speed up the process of seeing that the separate, egoic self is an illusion?" I think it is. In fact, Rupert Spira and others talk about "The Direct Path" for doing exactly this. Why do you ask?

Well, it typically takes...I dunno, 2 to 5 years or so to make some substantial progress (with luck) I'd say, I wonder what could be accomplished in MUCH tighter time frames, even giving up some aspects.

Basically, it's one of those "what is possible?" questions.

One thing I've noticed with various different spiritual teachers is that it seems like a personality type match is highly beneficial - for example, Rupert never did much for me, whereas people like Ram Dass, Alan Watts, Terence McKenna, Jiddu Krishnamurti I can listen to for hours. I wonder if there's something that could be done about this as well.

Re: What will you do with the stories entrusted to you?

#124

Post by tobinfekkes »

eyelidlessness wrote: post #88
tobinfekkes wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is water. https://youtube.com/watch?v=eC7xzavzEKY

That was much much better than I could have expected, and I’m glad I used my annual YouTube visit to watch it.

Glad to hear it. Thank you for saying so.

Re: What will you do with the stories entrusted to you?

#125

Post by NovaVeles »

btilly wrote: post #117
NovaVeles wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Alternatively - "The nicest thing about anything is not knowing what it is." - George Carlin. Not knowing how a cloud works is magical for instance. But taking this line of thinking too far can be disastrous. There is a happy middle ground.

You think you know how clouds work? Did you know that water vapor is less dense than air, so it rises, and this is part of why clouds form? Seriously, the atomic mass of H2O is 18. Compare to the other major parts of air which are N2 at 28, O2 at 32, Ar at 40, and CO2 at 44. Everything beyond that is a rounding error. Therefore, all else being equal, wet air rises.

I didn't mean it 'too' literally, but that is indeed a neat fact.

Re: What will you do with the stories entrusted to you?

#126

Post by NovaVeles »

atoav wrote: post #112
NovaVeles wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Alternatively - "The nicest thing about anything is not knowing what it is." - George Carlin. Not knowing how a cloud works is magical for instance. But taking this line of thinking too far can be disastrous. There is a happy middle ground.

I don't think so. There is of course a childlike magic in looking at the clouds and dreaming of the people who live there. But the feeling of fantasy a child gets when looking at clouds does only partly stem from not knowing what they consist of. I have many topics that still fascinate me as much as they did when I was a kid – to be honest, maybe even more than back then, because now I know how ridiculously complex t…

I am completely with this angle as well. In a way I was saying 'Ignorance is bliss but the consequences are dyer'.

The fluid dynamics thing is a good example. Another one is the Demoscene. I knowing how it is done, or the limitations they are working with - that is where the magic comes from.

Re: What will you do with the stories entrusted to you?

#127

Post by ThalesX »

boredemployee wrote: post #54
cercatrova wrote: post #13

Sonder: n. the realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own—populated with their own ambitions, friends, routines, worries and inherited craziness—an epic story that continues invisibly around you like an anthill sprawling deep underground, with elaborate passageways to thousands of other lives that you’ll never know existed, in which you might appear only once, as an extra…

I usually have that reflection when I'm travelling. It's indeed a depressing feeling. Last time it happened I was in the middle of Rome/Italy with many unknown faces around me, that I was seeing for the first time and - thinking at that time - that I will never see them again.

I've had a melancholic moment traveling in a bus on the narrow roads in Nepal, and seeing some rock faces, just realizing that while the rocks will be there long after I am gone, I will never set my eyes on the same rock face again.

So many years later and I still think about that rock face for some reason.

Re: What will you do with the stories entrusted to you?

#129

Post by jes »

mistermann wrote: post #123
jes wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I do think that would be possible. Your question seems to be along the lines of "Is it possible to speed up the process of seeing that the separate, egoic self is an illusion?" I think it is. In fact, Rupert Spira and others talk about "The Direct Path" for doing exactly this. Why do you ask?

Well, it typically takes...I dunno, 2 to 5 years or so to make some substantial progress (with luck) I'd say, I wonder what could be accomplished in MUCH tighter time frames, even giving up some aspects. Basically, it's one of those "what is possible?" questions. One thing I've noticed with various different spiritual teachers is that it seems like a personality type match is highly beneficial - for example, Rupert n…

I share your interest.

To speed up a process, I usually try to identify the rate-limiting step (the constraint.)

I would guess that one of the factors that affects the time required to see through the illusion of a separate, egoic self, is "How badly do you want a much better existence than the one you've been living?"

Invalidating a low-level assumption of the kind we are discussing has to trigger a lot of re-evaluation by a person. In other words, it really turns everything on its head. I think people are often very smart, in a sub-conscious way, and they can see where self-inquiry might lead, and they say to themselves, in essence, "Screw that. Too scary!"

On the other hand, if you're really suffering, you'll probably pay a high price to escape it.

Re: What will you do with the stories entrusted to you?

#130

Post by mistermann »

jes wrote: post #129
mistermann wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, it typically takes...I dunno, 2 to 5 years or so to make some substantial progress (with luck) I'd say, I wonder what could be accomplished in MUCH tighter time frames, even giving up some aspects. Basically, it's one of those "what is possible?" questions. One thing I've noticed with various different spiritual teachers is that it seems like a personality type match is highly beneficial - for example, Rupert n…

I share your interest. To speed up a process, I usually try to identify the rate-limiting step (the constraint.) I would guess that one of the factors that affects the time required to see through the illusion of a separate, egoic self, is "How badly do you want a much better existence than the one you've been living?" Invalidating a low-level assumption of the kind we are discussing has to trigger a lot of re-evalua…

Ya....there does seem to be a number of "Active Defenses" within the mind that can see "upgrades" coming a mile away. It is a very slippery opponent!
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