--- In [email protected], anonymousff <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > --- In [email protected], TurquoiseB <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Or, both work equally well, for people of the right > > temperament or predilection. And they might not work > > as well for people with other predilections. The game > > seems to be about determining what works best for you. > > *** > Yes, I agree with you on this. On the other hand, some choices may not > have long term outcomes that are so desirable. It may take a lifetime > to realize this. Then it isn't so fun to have made a mistake. I am not > speaking of choices in the abstract. It is an issue that I am dealing > with in my own life even now. > > That's why I'm not so inclined to the democratic equality of all > possible pov's as you appear to be. Obviously, one has to have some > criteria, be they from intellect, intuition, feeling, observation, > experience, or whatever, to make such decisions. > > One thing I have thought of recently - we have the capacity to accept > pain/discomfort to a remarkable degree if we think it is somehow for > our good in the long run. So if our belief system says that the hell > we are going through is unstressing, or in some other way an > indication of success (substitute the belief system of your choice and > its corresponding cross to bear), maybe we'll try to stick it out. If > our belief system says that this same set of experiences means > that "this is not good for me", then we quit doing it, etc. > > But spiritual systems always come packaged with a corresponding set of > beliefs that are designed to convince you that pain and discomfort > experienced through those systems is a good thing, and will have a > heavenly conclusion. So, when testing out the options on the market, > not only are you dealing with your predispositions and previously held > beliefs, you are also being exposed to new beliefs, and, to give a > system a fair test, you are allowing yourself to revise your thinking > to accept these new ideas. > > That's why I would like more of a dialog in this area. Because I don't > think that truth is as relative as all that. Maybe human beings are > very flexible. But is truth?
I'm the wrong person to ask about "truth." I don't believe that such a concept exists in the universe. In my view, it's all POV and state of consciousness, "relative truth." Two people look at the same situation and see two completely different "truths." The same person looks at the situation in different states of consciousness and sees different "truths." Which one is "truth?" I'm a big believer in intuition, and that intuition can be "trained." That is, one pays attention to one's intuitions and tries to figure out the state of attention or the "feeling" that accompanied the moment of intuitional "seeing." Then, if the intuition turns out to be correct, watch for that same state of attention or "feeling" in the future, and pay more attention to it. I remember the first time I really had this work out for me. I had been being trained in this process for some time by my teacher at the time (Rama), and had experienced a few intuitions that were accompanied by a certain "feeling." Each of them turned out to be factually, unequivocably true. Then (I was unhappy with my current job) I looked at the paper one Sunday and saw a want ad for the then third largest software company in the world. I didn't even have to read the text of the ad. The "feeling" was there. This was "my job." I applied. They interviewed me. Everything seemed to go well. Then they didn't call. For a week or more they didn't call. I started getting worried. Not about the job per se, because after all, a job is just a job. What I was worried about is that this "feeling" I had come to count on had been wrong. So I called them. They said, "Oh, we're so happy you called. We decided just after seeing you to hire you, but some twit in the personnel office lost your resume and no one here had your phone number." It *was* "my job." I'd love to be able to say that I come to intellectual, reasoned decisions about the major decisions in my life, based on considering all the available options and then listing them in 'Plus' and 'Minus' columns and stuff like that. But it isn't true. I go mainly on intuition, as long as that "feeling" is there. And it has never steered me wrong. Unc To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
