Long time no see!

ZiggySunshinedust

[cite] Lynn Cornish:[/cite]

That said, I don’t see any necessity or virtue in getting to that place of universal knowing. If I do, I do; if not, so what?

That's the truth. So why do I meditate every day? Because it feels good! 8)

Doesn’t it all boil down to this? Like all the rest of life on earth, we do what feels good… even if it feels ‘bad’ (if you know what I mean). What we think and do is determined deep within us in the balance scales of emotion. What we [chref=71]think[/chref] is ‘truth’, ‘good’, ‘right’, and ‘perfect’ simply reflects what we are want and like. It is so simple, so why is it so complicated? Simply because emotion is not rational, and our rational perceptions, in the final analysis, pivot on emotion. Perhaps this is the fuel that drives the sense of irony. Hmm...

ZiggySunshinedust

First I'd like to thank everyone for their replies and discussions in my last post about sexuality. This is the first time I've been able to get on here in a while, and it was nice to read all your responses!

I guess I'd been consumed the past few months. With what? I'm not exactly sure. For a while I seemed to dive deep into Taoist thought and philosophy, all at once... maybe too much at a time. All of a sudden it was like a switch... and I seemed to do the opposite of everything I thought I learned. I got really overwhelmed, stressed, selfish. It all came to a peak recently, and I just felt like I had to stop a moment and regroup my thoughts.

I'm not sure exactly what's been triggering it all, but I feel like I'm reverting to some pretty childish behavior, especially in my relationships with other people. I'm moody, possessive, paranoid. I know in my head that this behavior is irrational and just plain silly. But somehow it's harder to face that in my heart.

I'm going to start reading the tao te ching again... I find it really helps to ease my mind. And I'm gonna pick my shakuhachi back up and try to practice again... it was challenging yet calming. I'm way off balance right now, and I need help getting back to harmony. Any advice?

Thanks,
ZiggySun.

mr.minor

Greetings from Pensacola too haha! You mentioned about regrouping your thoughts. If I have any advice it is to use the teaching that uses no words. Remember that the way that can be spoken of is not the constant way. I find myself considering the way too much instead of finding it. I tend to take more of a listening approach instead of thinking, then acting. Sometimes it is necessary, but I find it best to avoid thoughts all together. I have a lot of emotional difficulties myself, but when I began rehashing them, I find that I am just battling perceptions against one another, justifying views. When I release these thoughts and just listen to my body, things just work themselves out. A great quote I like to return to is; Balance may lay more in dissolving problems at their perceptional origin than by solving them.

I try not to spend too much time studying Taoist philosophy, morals, this and that, as I know that the more time I spend doing Yoga and just listening, all the questions you're looking to answer will answer themselves.

ZiggySunshinedust

Hooray P-cola!

Hey, thanks for your thoughts on the subject. I think you're right, I do need to just listen... to the non-words that come to me. Thinking too much is, after all, what seems to always get me in trouble.

You talked about finding the way rather than considering it. I think that was very well said, and it really struck a chord with me. It takes a lot of work, of course... to keep oneself from thinking too much. Especially people with busy or worried minds. But I think as I find balance, those nagging worries will subside.

I found a lot of peace yesterday as I was working out my emotions, reading the TTC... maybe unconsciously knowing that worry begets calmness, and that if I let go of striving for both (or either), the balance would fall into place.

mr.minor

Letting things fall into place is a good approach, and can be learned just through listening. I am doing the same everyday. If we remain afraid of the worries and emotions, then our reaching for harmony becomes a struggle rather than a learning process, and then the desire/suffer complex arises. Though if we take our emotions and thoughts with a grain of salt, we will be able to deepen the connection.

Carl

[cite] mr.minor:[/cite]... if we take our emotions and thoughts with a grain of salt, we will be able to deepen the connection.

How to do this is the eternal question isn't it? Every solution we come up with always comes with a 'how to implement it' side...and perhaps a 'how to implement the how to implement...'. It fascinates me how every solution always comes with an attendant problem, just as every problem suggest a possible solution. Round and round we go. :roll:

My solution to the problem of solutions is to slow down, stop, wait, and as mr.minor says, listen. I would also add watch. Listening and watching are only possible when we slow down enough to 'take it all in' and just breathe.

This Tao Te Ching passage speaks to this: [chref=16]I do my utmost to attain emptiness; I hold firmly to stillness... [/chref]

Lynn Cornish

I think the mechanics are this. If you do not fear or resist your emotions, but see them for what they are, mere sensations with or without thoughts attached, the emotions become transparent in a sense and you can see through them to the stillness that surrounds everything.

It is the endless fighting of 'what is' that leads to suffering. Accepting, even loving, 'what is' leads to .....no where. Maybe I'll see you there. 8)

mr.minor

I like it!

ZiggySunshinedust

Thanks to all of you.

I see what you're all saying. It was when I was worried about my actions and what I was doing that I became distressed about it. And that worry led to more unbalanced behavior... which led to more worry.

This week I got to spend a lot of time with my best friend. The "peak" I mentioned earlier involved her, and she got upset, and I got upset with myself. But once I saw that it is what it is and nothing more, and it can't be changed now, I found more peace.
Instead of moping and apologizing all week to her, I let the problem become "transparent." Not to say I was trying to ignore my feelings, but I was letting my feelings be ...without letting them overwhelm me. And everything was fine... much better than if I had let the problem linger without reason. I think we bonded a lot too.