Monthly Archives of: August 2023

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Meditation does not occur when you sit on your behind and decide to meditate.

August 31, 2023
14 comments

Many years ago, when i was in college, so-called gurus from the East came to our campus, providing students with meditation techniques that involved sitting cross-legged and concentrating on allegedly “special” mantras that were supposed to take us to a higher spiritual level. I went to a couple of these sessions and ended up telling the bearded gurus — who were taking money, by the way, for their efforts — that i felt that what they were promoting was just a glorified form of self-hypnosis. I read about hypnosis while in high school and was familiar with what it entailed. Needless to say, they were not very elated regarding my comments.

Many people are greedy and gullible. They think that they can pay money that will enable them to soar to some kind of higher spiritual plane. Real meditation is not what one can greedily arrange to happen. It is not something that one can practice. Real meditation is not doing something to attain some otherworldly result (to escape from reality). Real meditation is an effortless thing that may take place if one is very perceptive, caring, and greed-free. Real meditation is not doing something to get something out of it. One cannot “know” that one is meditating. Real meditation takes place, in one, unawares, without a person concluding that he or she is doing it.

A dull, greedy little mind can sit cross-legged (repeating so-called “special” words for decades but it will only be mesmerizing itself hypnotically… rendering itself to be even more dull and robotic). There is no path to the truly spiritual because the truly spiritual (i.e., the timeless) is not in a place. It is not locked up in a box upon an altar. Place and time are bound together.

Beyond the Caterpillars … Photo by Thomas Peace c.2023
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Sorrow is a Conditioned Reaction…

August 24, 2023
10 comments

Sorrow is a reaction. Sorrow is a mental response to something manifesting as a cause which results in an effect from what is accepted to be an observer. Conditioning concerning the manifestation of an “observer” results in a response allegedly from (and supposedly “by”) that observer. Intelligence, however, perceives that the observer is not separate from the observed. Such perception is not merely a standard reaction; it is, rather, holistic action beyond conditioned reaction (if it is indeed genuine, pristine perception, and not just an idea). This pristine perception negates the suffering of sorrow (in that it is clarity beyond robotic reaction). Does the clarity of wisdom habitually carry the burden of sorrow? Not likely. Wisdom is deeply living; sorrow and depression are not deeply living. Reactions are rooted in thought/thinking and can (and do) manifest as sorrow. Habitual thinking has the element of sorrow within it (intrinsically). Profound perception is living and is not exclusively rooted in thought/thinking. Such perception often exists beyond cadaverous, conditioned sorrow.

Lucky Four Leafers … Photo by Thomas Peace c.2023
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The ego prevents Deep, Holistic Compassion…

August 17, 2023
11 comments

The ego of most people exists as a learned, limited set of reactions that involve separation, distance (from what are considered “others”), conflict, and a circumscribed (though false) center. Thought/thinking is the source of the ego, not the other way around. Egos, being restricted in nature, often cause havoc in the world; just check out the news. The ego, being limited, is often a cause of suffering (both with what are considered “inward” and “outside” events). The ego manifests suffering (because of its confinement and falsity). Deep, holistic compassion is dynamic and involves unadulterated perception. Such perception is direct and is not a mere reaction… it is action and is not robotic (like superficial reaction is). When the ego is transcended, a real, holistic compassion may occur that exists as immense and profound intelligence.

Buck “I” … Photo by Thomas Peace c.2023
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More About “Praying”

August 10, 2023
25 comments

Well, this one is not going to win me any popularity contests!
Nevertheless, one hopes that you have the seriousness, energy, and integrity to openly attend to this.

Although i may have had a profound spiritual nirvana-oriented “experience,” which (if it indeed happened) would definitely cause me to realize the reality of that vast, sacred intelligence… i generally do not pray. With regard to human beings praying, it is indeed amazing how many people think that they have to point out (to that vast, supreme intelligence) what needs to be done in life. If it is indeed vast and intelligent, it wouldn’t need a middle-man (i.e., a basically primitive, fragmentary, limited, little hominid species) to tell it what needs to be done. A human being may think that he or she must point out what he or she or what others need… but that, in a big way, may be arrogant, limited, and insulting. Furthermore, some people may maintain that praying makes them feel better. Well, alcohol and other drugs make a whole lot of people feel better but that does not mean they should be frequently used.

Additionally, many people in life have problems and need help. There would be no end to any divine, miraculous activity of helping people (and animals) once that ball gets rolling. Nature is basically allowed to (naturally) run its course. My suggestion — and i’ve said this before — is, instead of using symbolic words, mental supplication, and summoning wishes toward a supposed God-oriented image in your head… actually roll up your sleeves and do something. For many years, i was a teacher for the multiply handicapped. Instead of merely praying and wishing that their lives improved, i actually did something. Perhaps — at times — one can be somewhat of an extension of that vast, unimaginable, compassionate intelligence, (without merely relying on internal wishes and invocations), without requesting some invisible power to magically get things done.

And please don’t continue to anthropomorphize things; and, of course, that sacred immensity doesn’t want to be worshipped (by fragmentary minds) via idolization, because it certainly doesn’t have a primitive, narcissistic human ego (thank goodness) that craves adoration. One is suggesting here that large numbers of humans have misconstrued what true spirituality entails… but then, one has realized that fact ever since one was in grade school.

Sweet Yellow … Photo by Thomas Peace c.2023
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When The Mind Worships What it Considers to be God…

August 3, 2023
13 comments

When the mind — as thought/thinking — worships what it considers to be “God,” it — in actuality — is worshipping thought-formulated images that it absorbed from others or that it manufactured on its own. So, in essence, it is worshipping itself (or part of itself). Alternatively, it may be far more prudent to diligently inquire as to whether the sacred really exists (or not). And such an explorative inquiry, if it is to be pristine and uninfluenced by outside (or inside) agencies, may best be often done beyond the limitations and trickery of thought/thinking. A lens that is not contaminated by outside debris perceives clearly beyond all of the rot. Keeping the mind healthy, clear, inquisitive, compassionate, orderly, and of dynamic depth, may be far more important than clinging to secondhand images, beliefs, so-called experts, and traditional routines.

Grasping for Life … Photo by Thomas Peace c.2023