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Bodhi Tree
2972 Posts |
 Posted - Jul 17 2016 : 01:25:39 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by sunyata
Have you been hopping and hovering? If yes, I want to see.
The price of admission to see the show will cost a little more than your average movie ticket. Just a tad more of an investment, but well worth it.  |
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sunyata
USA
1511 Posts |
Posted - Jul 17 2016 : 07:20:23 AM
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No problem. I'll work extra to pay for it. |
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Bodhi Tree
2972 Posts |
Posted - Jul 17 2016 : 09:38:14 AM
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Your bhakti will be rewarded! (In addition to t-shirts, we could make some AYP fortune cookies with little pieces of paper that say stuff like: "Your sutras will cultivate miracles beyond your wildest dreams." "Your mantra will refine until you are saturated with stillness." "You are surely a channel for an outpouring of divine love.")  |
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lalow33
USA
966 Posts |
Posted - Jul 17 2016 : 8:42:14 PM
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| I'll do it before you. Don't mess with me. Lol. I'm already on the ceiling when I'm falling asleep. |
Edited by - lalow33 on Jul 17 2016 8:46:24 PM |
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lalow33
USA
966 Posts |
Posted - Jul 17 2016 : 10:15:21 PM
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| Me? I'm not ahead of anyone. Ya gots to be kidding me. I just tease Bodhi. |
Edited by - lalow33 on Jul 17 2016 10:16:03 PM |
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Bodhi Tree
2972 Posts |
Posted - Jul 18 2016 : 10:44:38 PM
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The humor is good! We can't take ourselves too seriously.
Speaking of, I'm off work tonight, so I took a little stroll to a nearby park where there's a swingset. I had written about this park before, about the time when it started raining and I kept swinging. Good times. Tonight the park gates were locked, so I hopped the fence (tsk, tsk). Something about that swing is pretty addictive—I just couldn't resist. I get to rocking back and forth, and the rhythm becomes ecstatic. It's like stillness in action. I don't have to exert much physical effort, but I enjoy the sensation of whizzing through air on the arc of the pendulum.
I miss spending more time outside during the nighttime. My current shift is 4PM to Midnight, and I have to work underneath fluorescent lights all night long. It gets draining. I recently read in my anatomy and physiology book that the body secretes more melatonin when the sunlight starts to fade, and melatonin helps soothe the body and mind for sleep. So, darkness is good and necessary for the body to understand when to unwind and slip into relaxation and the deep sleep state. I'm still getting some decent sleep, but not as deep as I know I can go. So, when I get my massage therapy license, I will probably quit my night job and reclaim the sweet darkness which the florescent lights have been depriving me of. |
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Dogboy
USA
2254 Posts |
Posted - Jul 18 2016 : 11:23:57 PM
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| I too sometimes swing in the dark, but can anytime in the day too. Knowing my autistic daughter most likely will be living with us at home a while, I bought an adult-grade stainless steel play structure for the backyard, bought for me truth be told. It has two 10 foot swings, monkey bars, trapeze, and rings (for hanging inverted). I also built a 2 foot and 3 foot high balance beam, to test balance while in asana. Swinging empty minded makes one ageless |
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Bodhi Tree
2972 Posts |
Posted - Jul 19 2016 : 01:20:11 AM
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Radical! That's the kind of apparatus a man needs. I would totally buy something like that.
May you stay...forever young, Dogboy.  |
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Bodhi Tree
2972 Posts |
Posted - Jul 20 2016 : 11:13:19 PM
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Broad Contemplations
In A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens wrote:
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way—in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.
Now that's some brilliant humor. And it still rings true today. Dickens was making light of the the arbitrary nature of our perception—how we use extremes and polarities to help make sense of our relative position in space and time. We rely on notions of good and evil, best and worst, heaven and hell to put things in a perspective that the mind can somewhat grasp. Of course, politicians, or what Dickens called the "noisiest authorities", have a particular way of stretching and contorting our scale of perception in the hopes that we might be persuaded to take a side. But, I don't want to divert into a political discussion.
More to the point, Dickens' astute humor begs the question: Is progress real? If the perception of an individual or group is more or less arbitrary, and based on a sliding scale, then isn't the concept of progress (forward movement, betterment, improvement, etc.) a ruse, an illusion, a sleight of hand?
Well, maybe it is, maybe it isn't.
If we consider the passage of time from when Dickens wrote the novel to present day, can't we observe certain benchmarks that convey the reality that things have gotten better? More global unity, for instance. We could also say that maybe some things have gotten worse. The impact of industrial pollution on the environment, to name one. So, once again, there is this seesaw of perception in play.
But, let's say we clean up pollution, and even the environment gets better, and let's also speculate that ALL aspects of life continue to improve, thereby yielding a utopia in which no rational or reasonable mind could deny the concept and reality of progress. Even at that point, we could easily speculate: Well, there must be another evolutionary planet in another galaxy that is at the raw and rough beginning stages of its existence. And we might wonder: Will there ever come a time in which creation stops, when there ceases to be rough beginnings, when all that remains is highly evolved lifeforms?
And I don't think we could answer yes to that question, because the nature of time and space itself seems to be change, and you cannot divorce beginnings and endings from change. Only what we call God, pure bliss consciousness, the witness seems to be changeless. Only the all-encompassing, ultimate reality seems to be immune from notions of progress and regression. And if we are That, and if the splinters of space and time are reflections of That, then we can actually choose whether we want progress, or no progress, eternity, or no eternity, ad infinitum. It boggles the mind.
God was lonely, so He created the universe. God was satisfied, so He put the universe to rest. God cast Himself into a bout of amnesia, and upon recovering, remembered that He was never created, and could never be destroyed.
And yet, the tiny speck of God (who we also are) ends up wanting to be as much like the whole of God as possible.
Enlightenment. Self-Realization. Salvation.
Walt Whitman wrote:
I have heard what the talkers were talking, the talk of the beginning and the end,
But I do not talk of the beginning or the end.
There was never any more inception than there is now,
Nor any more youth or age than there is now,
And will never be any more perfection than there is now,
Nor any more heaven or hell than there is now.
So, it seems, that the Here and Now encompasses all past, all present, and all future. Here is progress, here is no progress. Here is regression, here is no regression. Here is everything in between.
I guess I'll meet you somewhere...in between. |
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Charliedog
1625 Posts |
Posted - Jul 21 2016 : 03:27:14 AM
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I'll meet
you
in the eternal
now,
where all
is
as it is,
a
forever
changing,
explosion
of
love
Thank you for sharing your ever mind boggling magical views and perspectives of life Bodhi
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sunyata
USA
1511 Posts |
Posted - Jul 21 2016 : 07:18:26 AM
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quote:
And yet, the tiny speck of God (who we also are) ends up wanting to be as much like the whole of God as possible
Yes.Thank you The epitome of joy.
quote:
Enlightenment. Self-Realization. Salvation.
The beginning of the actual journey not the end.
quote:
And I don't think we could answer yes to that question, because the nature of time and space itself seems to be change, and you cannot divorce beginnings and endings from change. Only what we call God, pure bliss consciousness, the witness seems to be changeless. Only the all-encompassing, ultimate reality seems to be immune from notions of progress and regression. And if we are That, and if the splinters of space and time are reflections of That, then we can actually choose whether we want progress, or no progress, eternity, or no eternity, ad infinitum. It boggles the mind.
Agree.Through spiritual practices we realize we are that and all is that. We realize all is awareness. However, isn't awareness a mystery?
Yes, it boggles the mind. |
Edited by - sunyata on Jul 21 2016 08:20:29 AM |
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Bodhi Tree
2972 Posts |
Posted - Jul 21 2016 : 5:30:35 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by Charliedog
I'll meet
you
in the eternal
now,
where all
is
as it is,
a
forever
changing,
explosion
of
love
I love that poem, Charliedog, and I especially like how you have broken up the lines into small pieces. Very nice simplicity and minimalism.
quote:
Originally posted by sunyata
However, isn't awareness a mystery? Yes, it boggles the mind.
I'm glad you mentioned that. It would seem that if I discover the essence of myself, then there would be no more mystery, because I would "know" myself. But in surrendering to silence, it is an "unknowing", paradoxically. Yet, the potential to know and experience as many details as possible is still there for the asking, so maybe we get to have our cake and eat it too. Mystery and omniscience, wrapped into one?
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Bodhi Tree
2972 Posts |
Posted - Jul 21 2016 : 5:45:42 PM
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Underwater Excursions
I drove to a swimming hole at Lithia Springs Park. The water there is crystal clear and bubbles up from the ground. When I arrived, a couple hundred people were sitting on the sandy perimeter of the basin. I walked through the gate, where two lifeguards were checking for wristbands. I asked them why no one was in the water. One of them replied: "We're doing a safety check. It'll be over in a couple minutes." The other one quickly added: "Yeah, we had to clear everyone out because there's a turd floating in the water." We all laughed. The first lifeguard assured me that wasn't true.
I found a spot in the sand where I could put my towel and sandals. As promised, another lifeguard spoke though a megaphone and told everyone that it was safe to get back in the water. Kids that had been eagerly waiting and fidgeting on the beach jumped in before the lifeguard could even set down the megaphone. They were all splashing and swimming in a matter of seconds. I took my time.
I waded in and strapped on some goggles. The freshwater was cool—not warm like the saltwater of the Gulf of Mexico. I swam towards the middle of the basin and dipped my head under the surface, peering towards the deep center. There was a school of fish hanging out around the underground fissures that were shooting out spring water and creating a moving current that had to be swam against. There was also a metal grate that had been installed at the bottom, perhaps to protect the fissures.
I dove down and kicked my legs vertically to propel my body towards the spring. The school of fish didn't seem to mind and just kept wiggling with the flow, maintaining their semi-stationary position, like birds floating on a breeze. I made it to the bottom and grabbed hold of the grate to keep still and resist my own buoyancy. The pressure in my ears was a little painful. I couldn't stay long and sprung upward off the grate, launching myself back to the surface to gasp for air.
I swam to more shallow water, where it was crowded. Two kids were charging in my general direction, and their father was trailing close behind. He said: "Now watch out for the adults!" As he was passing by, I said to him: "Eh, adults are overrated." He chuckled and affirmed: "Yep, adulthood is definitely overrated."
I swam back to the center and repeated my diving efforts. I improved my breath-holding capacity, but the pressure on my ears was still uncomfortable. The school of fish remained unaffected—perfectly calm in their natural habitat. I returned to the surface and rested again, admiring the scenery. I repeated this process of diving and resting a couple more times before drifting back to shore.
When I walked back to my car, I found a swingset along the way. Of course I had to saddle into one of the seats and make some noise with the creaky chains. The squeaky noise subsided as I worked the chains, and I lulled myself into a contemplative rhythm. Then I drove to work for my evening shift. I felt purified and opened. Must have been the water. |
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Dennis
USA
83 Posts |
Posted - Jul 21 2016 : 6:38:31 PM
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Sounds like a nice spring. Lovely clean cool water.
FYI you can relieve the ear pressure by holding your nose shut with your hand, then breathing out through your nose. The back pressure should 'pop' your ears and relieve the discomfort.
Old skin/scuba diving technique.
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sunyata
USA
1511 Posts |
Posted - Jul 21 2016 : 7:11:02 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by Bodhi Tree
quote:
Originally posted by sunyata
However, isn't awareness a mystery? Yes, it boggles the mind.
I'm glad you mentioned that. It would seem that if I discover the essence of myself, then there would be no more mystery, because I would "know" myself. But in surrendering to silence, it is an "unknowing", paradoxically. Yet, the potential to know and experience as many details as possible is still there for the asking, so maybe we get to have our cake and eat it too. Mystery and omniscience, wrapped into one?
Yes, once the essence is revealed, it is experienced and it lives through us. Instead of wanting to get somewhere, there is relaxation, deepening, unfolding and flow.
You said it well Mystery and Omniscience wrapped into one. Having said that- there is still a mystery, just look at our body mind and everything around us. I’m in wonder every day, every moment- Bubbles of bliss.
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Bodhi Tree
2972 Posts |
Posted - Jul 21 2016 : 7:22:50 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by Dennis
FYI you can relieve the ear pressure by holding your nose shut with your hand, then breathing out through your nose. The back pressure should 'pop' your ears and relieve the discomfort.
Old skin/scuba diving technique.
Thank you for that, Dennis! It's funny, I was thinking there must be a trick, but I had forgotten what it was. Now I have to go back there and try it out. 
quote:
Originally posted by sunyata
Having said that- there is still a mystery, just look at our body mind and everything around us. I’m in wonder every day, every moment- Bubbles of bliss.
Truth.  |
Edited by - Bodhi Tree on Jul 21 2016 7:30:20 PM |
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sunyata
USA
1511 Posts |
Posted - Jul 21 2016 : 7:24:29 PM
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Water feels the most grounding to me. Looks like you had a great time at the springs. Also, you are lucky to live by the beautiful beaches- I'm envious.
Prefer the Golf coast beaches to the Atlantic coast. |
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Bodhi Tree
2972 Posts |
Posted - Jul 21 2016 : 8:01:49 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by sunyata
Also, you are lucky to live by the beautiful beaches- I'm envious.
Oh c'mon, you're only 1½ hours east of me! We should be pitying people that live in Indiana or somewhere like that. |
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JR8036
USA
281 Posts |
Posted - Jul 21 2016 : 9:04:13 PM
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| Pheewww I'm glad he didn't say ohio lol |
Edited by - JR8036 on Jul 21 2016 9:47:40 PM |
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sunyata
USA
1511 Posts |
Posted - Jul 21 2016 : 9:24:45 PM
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Bodhi Tree
2972 Posts |
Posted - Jul 21 2016 : 9:48:23 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by JR8036
Pheewww...I'm glad he didn't say ohio lol
I visited my cousin in Ohio when she was attending Ohio State. We had a good time. I saw some squirrels that were much bigger than Florida ones, and some of them had black fur. Very interesting. I also taught her Deep Meditation on that trip. |
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JR8036
USA
281 Posts |
Posted - Jul 21 2016 : 9:55:30 PM
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| That school is only 45 min east of me. I have never been to Florida in the summer time I have heard it gets really humid there. |
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Bodhi Tree
2972 Posts |
Posted - Jul 21 2016 : 10:18:11 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by JR8036
I have never been to Florida in the summer time I have heard it gets really humid there.
Oh yeah. Water even saturates the air.
Once I get my AYP certificate next year and start rolling as a teacher, I will definitely be holding retreats here in Florida, so it would be great to have you. Embrace the humidity!
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JR8036
USA
281 Posts |
Posted - Jul 22 2016 : 08:05:16 AM
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| Lol maybe in the winter that's the reason I never been there in the summer |
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lalow33
USA
966 Posts |
Posted - Jul 22 2016 : 10:22:37 PM
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Haha! I just posted before this how I hate humidity. I know the cure for it, Thank God.
I live in Indiana. We have water here. There's actually beaches up north, waterfalls, forests, rivers, lakes, and a multitude of caves. You got caves in Florida? |
Edited by - lalow33 on Jul 22 2016 10:32:24 PM |
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Journal of a Disgruntled Mystic
