What did you learn on your spiritual way?

[donq]

Recently, one of my friends asked me that. I knew she was not into spirituality, so I had to be careful about my answer. Anyway, it was not a challenge, just her true curiosity.

I said, "What did I learn (and still learning) is there's always the next corner. And I might never know what is waiting for me. It can be both a good thing or a bad thing.
"But after the full moon, it will inevitably be waning. If I'm upmost happy now, the only thing that can be waiting for me might be unhappiness. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a pessimist. Spiritual way's taught me to prepare myself in advance for anything that might happen."

[zeta]

To listen and quietly hold space

[donq]

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P.S. I've been doing that. Good one!

[hera]

I have learned that there is always more to learn and that there is possibly/probably some truth in every individuals belief system

[donq]

Hi Hera,

Thanks for your post.
And this is just to let you know that if sometimes you didn't see my reply, please also check the page. If I clicked "thumb up" (DonQ likes this), it meant I already read it and agreed with you.

[mojomojo]

I have recently read, The four agreements, by Don Miguel Ruiz, in it he states that due to the ego mind (the false self) and the fact that the vast majority of people live in fear, we have created hell on earth.
It has been my belief for some time, but hits home when someone else puts it in writing.
What have I learned, that the ego mind is very ill, problem is, we all suffer from it to some degree.
We all have a shadow side which needs to be brought to awareness.

[hera]

It was interesting to read your post mojomojo and I have also heard from several different sources that it is we humans, with our egos, who have created this hell on earth.
How do we stop it? I find it difficult to foresee a time when this will happen, but apparently now is the time that the opportunity for us to change is paramount and that it is possible if/when we change our priorities and become focused on love for others (this includes Gaia herself and all lifeforms) and their needs instead of just ourselves, although this is also important, but not in the self serving way that has become the norm.

[mojomojo]

Hello Hera,
I do believe the capalist system has a lot to do with encouraging greed and selfishness, I have met a few wealthy people in my time, they all come from a place of fear, and I have yet to meet one who is happy.
From my own experience, spiritual practice takes us back to God consciousness and removes the fear, as you have already said, the ego mind is the problem and all fear stems from the ego mind.
The problem is trying to live in this world in a state of God consciousness, when all around are fully taken over by the ego, sooner or later someone will drag you back down.
How do we change the world ego consciousness, I have no idea, I do believe all we can do is work on our self and if someone asks, by all means, tell them.
They say the truth sets you free, but how could it, when you look around at all the needless suffering, but I do agree, we are at, or coming to a crisis point.

[donq]

Hi Robert and Hera,

I believe that being optimistic gives us some hope, while being pessimistic gives us some truth.
So, the truth is, we have created hell on earth.
How about the hope? As Hera asked, "How do we stop it?".
Like Robert said, I have no idea either.
So, what will we do, then? Just sitting and waiting for it to happen?
I know we are just a very little specks of the large earth, but could our consciousness affect something on a large scale (global consciousness)?
Again, I really have no idea.

[mojomojo]

Hi Monty,
There was a time when a lot of Buddhist monks went to a certain part of New York, and stayed in constant meditation for a period of time.
It was reported, there was a noticeable effect in the surrounding area, how they measured that I’m not sure, maybe crime rates fell, maybe people just felt uplifted.
We all know if everyone took up serious spiritual practice, it would have a positive effect and maybe that is the answer, but we also know that is not going to happen any time soon.
Maybe I’am looking back with rose tinted glasses, but I don’t believe I’am, growing up in the sixties my local community was a far different place, people looked out for one another, people were more humble.
In the summer the front door was left wide open, neighbours called in announcing their arrival by voice, in the winter the door was closed, but the key left in the lock.
What was so different back then compared to now?
I do hope what I’m thinking is wrong, it was not that long after the Second World War, is that where we are heading again?

[donq]

Hi Robert,

That was wonderful story (about Buddhist monks' meditation), even my main spiritual practice is Buddhism, my reasonable mind still has some doubt about its cause and effect. But even hearing it, somehow it could really uplift me inside. Thanks.
Again, it was a wonderful story about your local community in the 60th. It happened here, too, when I was a kid and lived in the upcountry.

While I was reading, "people looked out for one another, people were more humble. In the summer the front door was left wide open, neighbours called in announcing their arrival by voice, in the winter the door was closed, but the key left in the lock." don't know why I felt so sad. Yes, I was comparing it with nowadays.

What was the first change that brought it go downhill?

Here, I was thinking of this book. A long time ago, I translated (from English) Dostoevsky's Dream of a Ridiculous Man, and many years ago, I found its wonderful animation (hope English subtitles also comes with the link).



The summary: It recounts the man’s experience with nihilism leading up to his decision to die by suicide. A chance encounter with a distraught little girl compels him to delay the act. Falling asleep, he has a dream about a parallel world in which everything and everyone is perfect. And he was the one who corrupted that world. However, this dream transforms his outlook and gives him a newfound faith in humanity and love. The story explores ideas about nihilism, egotism, meaning, love, responsibility, and truth.

[mojomojo]

Hi Monty,
thanks for posting the video, it was done very well and so apt to the conversation we are having, very enjoyable.
But it made me realise, why do I have reason to point the finger at anyone, when I have yet to forgive those who have done me wrong, when I have yet to replace all negative emotions with love.
The reason the world is the way it is, is because of ourselves.
We have yet to finish our own transformation, so why point the finger out, maybe we should point at ourselves.

[hera]

Mar 1, 2024 20:14:21 GMT mojomojo said:

Hi Monty,
thanks for posting the video, it was done very well and so apt to the conversation we are having, very enjoyable.
But it made me realise, why do I have reason to point the finger at anyone, when I have yet to forgive those who have done me wrong, when I have yet to replace all negative emotions with love.
The reason the world is the way it is, is because of ourselves.
We have yet to finish our own transformation, so why point the finger out, maybe we should point at ourselves.

This is the crux of the matter I believe, self forgiveness which as we all know can be extremely difficult.
However, thought has as much power as physical action, possibly more which is why we find ourselves in these difficult times.

I have heard about the following several times also which demonstrates the power of thought and if our thoughts can affect water in this way, what can all the negative thoughts/emotions do to our whole planet (people included).  No wonder we are in such a mess!  I have been trying to recognise when I am feeling and therefore creating negativity and changing it around to loving, positive thoughts and feelings which isn't easy but becomes more habitual the longer I practice it.

In his studies, Emoto found that water exposed to positive words and intentions formed beautiful, symmetrical crystalline structures when the water was frozen, while water exposed to negative words and intentions formed disorganized, asymmetrical structures. Water Has Memory! Dr. Masaru Emoto's Water Experiment!

[mojomojo]

In the book, The four agreements, the first agreement states, be impeccable with your word.
He then goes on to explain how words have power, and negative words feed the parasite, I guess the parasite is the negative entity, or dark side of our self.
But I do agree totally with Hera, if words hold so much power, the thoughts that create the word must also carry the same.
Guess we are all still in the learning process, but it does remind me of the power of meditation which seems to advance one in all these aspects.

[donq]

So agree with both of you about our words and thoughts can affect us and everything around us.

That's also very true to the placebo effect (when a person's physical or mental health appears to improve after taking a placebo or 'pseudo' treatment). More obvious is the nocebo effect (the opposite of the placebo effect. It describes a situation where a negative outcome occurs due to a "belief" that the intervention will cause harm.)
So, it's boiled down to a "belief." A woman got a letter and read it, then fainted. There was no reasonable link (cause and effect) between the letter, ink, etc. and her fainting. The thing was, she got very bad news. And her mind was so powerful that it made her faint. This will be true to the other way around, too.

P.S. May I ask both of you something off-topic?
As recently, our forum seemed to be very quiet, I decided to try some pen pal sites, as I still wanted to write something in English (as you already know English is not my first language). I got, say, two good pen pals from Russia. Anyway, both of them said goodbye after they knew my birthday (they were into astrology and numerology). I cannot help but wonder, do those numbers could really affect our lives that much? Anything to share? Thanks

[mojomojo]

Sorry Monty, I know nothing about astrology or numerology.

[donq]

It's all right, Robert. I asked just out of my curiosity. Nothing's serious.
So, it's safe for me to let you know what day my birthday is.

[donq]

This is the part where Dostoevsky described that other world in The Dream of a Ridiculous Man:

"Suddenly, quite without noticing how, found myself on this other earth, in the bright light of a sunny day, fair as paradise. I believe I was standing on one of the islands that make up on our globe the Greek archipelago, or on the coast of the mainland facing that archipelago. Oh, everything was exactly as it is with us, only everything seemed to have a festive radiance, the splendour of some great, holy triumph attained at last. The caressing sea, green as emerald, splashed softly upon the shore and kissed it with manifest, almost conscious love. The tall, lovely trees stood in all the glory of their blossom, and their innumerable leaves greeted me, I am certain, with their soft, caressing rustle and seemed to articulate words of love. The grass glowed with bright and fragrant flowers. Birds were flying in flocks in the air, and perched fearlessly on my shoulders and arms and joyfully struck me with their darling, fluttering wings. And at last I saw
and knew the people of this happy land. That came to me of themselves, they surrounded me, kissed me. The
children of the sun, the children of their sun--oh, how beautiful they were! Never had I seen on our own earth
such beauty in mankind. Only perhaps in our children, in their earliest years, one might find, some remote faint
reflection of this beauty. The eyes of these happy people shone with a clear brightness. Their faces were radiant
with the light of reason and fullness of a serenity that comes of perfect understanding, but those faces were
gay; in their words and voices there was a note of childlike joy. Oh, from the first moment, from the first glance
at them, I understood it all! It was the earth untarnished by the Fall; on it lived people who had not sinned.
They lived just in such a paradise as that in which, according to all the legends of mankind, our first parents
lived before they sinned; the only difference was that all this earth was the same paradise. These people, laughing
joyfully, thronged round me and caressed me; they took me home with them, and each of them tried to reassure
me. Oh, they asked me no questions, but they seemed, I fancied, to know everything without asking, and they
wanted to make haste to smoothe away the signs of suffering from my face."