Turquoise and whomever, You are whatever your state of mind is in the present moment.
If you hold some rather special belief in the present moment it is like you are at the base of a stairway where you can't see past the top landing. I don't care for stairways much. They are rather boring and not well decorated. In my most sublime and beautiful moments I have forgotten all beliefs because the present moment is more than enough in and of itself. Enlightenment should be beyond all beliefs and the present moment stands on it's own with no yearning, if the definition of the word is to have good meaning. The shadow creatures that you mention do represent the lowest common denominator, and I see them for what they are, and in that aspect they are beautiful too as you point out, and just a little informative too. Beautiful noise. All blog sites that bear close proximity to spiritual movements which have opened doors to expanded awareness and light, if they are not heavily moderated, attract shadow creature trolls. A site with TMO moderated mode would be way too boring. Could be that if the moderator set up this blog site in a more advanced format, where there were catigories, a mosh pit, and the ability to easily embed photos and video screens, it would be more useful to most users. But that might be easier said than done. Got to go to work, but I feel like hiking in the hills today. It is mushroom season. http://picasaweb.google.es/sumocobre/TecomatlN#5238099468779673714 ________________________________ From: TurquoiseB <no_re...@yahoogroups.com> To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com Sent: Fri, July 2, 2010 4:29:44 AM Subject: [FairfieldLife] FFL as Tabloid: The joy of the lowest common denominator Just now I went out to sit in one of my favorite cafes and relax for a bit before getting back to work. During the summer I almost never drink alcohol (because doing so puts me right to sleep once the weather gets hot), but I still like the cafe scene because 1) watching the passersby is like a never-ending movie, and 2) the cafes I hang out at have copies of the British tabloids lying around for me to read. For Americans who don't know, British tabloids are like the National Enquirer, only more low-brow and more lowest common denominator. I love to read them to...uh...stay in touch with reality. One does *not* IMO get a very clear picture of reality by reading the high-brow or intellectual papers, but one gets a *very* clear picture of it by read- ing the tabloids. Given their circulation figures, these publications are read by more people on the planet than any other, and thus reflect what they're really thinking about and interested in -- where they're at, state of attention-wise. I sit there sipping my fruit juice or bubbly water and chuckle myself silly at the "Aliens ate my baby" and "Conservative MP found naked in WC with naked Liberal MP" and "Sylvia Famousforfiveminutes gets new boob job" articles. Keeps me grounded in reality. :-) What I realized today, after scanning through several of these tabloids, is that this is exactly why I enjoy FFL as well. Given the decidedly low-brow, unhip nature of the TMO in today's spiritual marketplace, reading a forum on which most have paid their dues in such a pop movement (and I cheerfully include myself in that description) is often more of a "wake-up" than my morning coffee. Take the things that FFL has been fascinated with lately. Endless posts about "spiritual celebrities," *not* IMO all that different than the tabloid fascination with more mundane celebrities. Endless musings on wingnut theories (or claims that they're fact) from the Right, Left, and Middle Way. Endless trotting out of "science" to "prove" something that has in no way been proved by the "science" cited. Endless political squabbles. Endless ego contests and personality clashes. Reality. I find that entertaining, especially on a forum whose own "lowest common denominator" is that most of the people on it once believed (or still believe) that the technique they practice (or practiced) is the bestest, most effective form of spiritual development on the frickin' planet, and that this makes them "special," less lowest common denominator. As my favorite saying these days says so well, "In theory there is no difference between theory and practice, but in practice there is." In theory, a group of folks who have practiced "the best" form of meditation available for 30 to 40+ years should represent by the things they focus on and show interest in the professed goals or claimed results of such a meditation. In practice, they're just folks, as stuck in the lowest common denominator as anyone else. Some might find that dismaying. I find it entertaining.
