I certainly agree. But I have a condition (as in ailment). I have to be careful of grandiosity. I mean I think Ihave been pretty successful in dealing with it for quite a few years now. But I just as well stay away from anything too high minded, even if to others it may seem to be a very normal vow.
--- In [email protected], Mark Landau <m@...> wrote: > > Just one proviso, I don't think entertaining the possibility of having taken the Boddhisattva vow need feed ones ego. I think, over the millennia, millions of souls, many of whom were not necessarily that advanced, took those vows out a simple desire to be of service and, perhaps, for more than a few of us, it may explain a bit of our current "predicament." > > On Oct 25, 2011, at 9:06 PM, seventhray1 wrote: > > > > > Yea, that's all interesting. I think I am in the second camp that you speak of. Okay, I just looked up Boddhisatva vow. Really, I am reluctant to buy into that because I am afraid it would feed my ego. But I can't help but come to the conclusion that we did, at some time, make a committment to making a positive contribution to others. And thankfully I think it is generally done anonymously, and with no recognition. One of my favorite stories in this regard is Thom Hartmann's mentor Herr Muller in "The Last Rays of Ancient Sunlight" (I believe). Thom relates that Herr Muller was in the "in between" period and in a large room with other "advanced" souls. > > > > Some luminary asked for voluteers to "go back" to help with problems on earth. The luminary said there would be no penalty for not volunteering. Herr Muller volunteered and in the next instant he was being spanked on his backside as he was taking his first breath on being born again. Thom tells if better of course, but somehow that story resonated with me. > > > > > > --- In [email protected], Mark Landau <m@...> wrote: > > > > > > Yes, I agree, and also feel that many are linked but have not fully consciously perceived or accepted it. But, simultaneously, many seem to have been but have now been "liberated" from that connection and are quite glad of it, feeling much lighter, freer, clearer, etc., that we no longer need to be carrying such a weight for the collective. One the one hand, I would love for that to happen to me. On the other, I also feel that if, in some small way I am still somehow helping, that I will willingly continue, even unto death. This all gets mixed up for me with the Boddhisattva vow, which I think, at some point or other, I must have made. > > > > > > On Oct 25, 2011, at 6:07 PM, seventhray1 wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > --- In [email protected], Mark Landau <m@...> wrote: > > > > the world which I somehow still seem to be inextricably linked to (one, on some experiential level, with the collective). > > > > > > > > I think many of us feel this way. Of course you can open yourself to some subtle ridicule here, but I have felt this way, I think pretty much all my life. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > On Oct 24, 2011, at 9:44 PM, seventhray1 wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Mark, > > > > > > > > > > > > I can relate to how you feel in many ways. One thing I have noticed is that financial worries can really put a crimper on things. I mean you may be healthy. You may have some degree of refined awareness. You may generally have a good dispostion. But when you have to confront financial issues, it can bring you down. > > > > > > > > > > > > But let me also say, my daughter is reading Julies Caesar for her ninth grade lit class and we are having fun comparing notes. But I can't help but notice the cadence and flavor of Shakespere's* writing with your own. > > > > > > > > > > > > (*okay, whoever the real author was) > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > --- In [email protected], Mark Landau <m@...> wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Why thank you, Ravi. You do surprise me. So many emails, so much mind-stuff, so little life force/time seemingly left in/to me. Maybe that will change. Maybe I'll finally free myself of these would-be rakshasa parasites (and/or my very own debilitating conditioning/ego-mind) and learn to revel in (FF)L again. I really do seem to feel like Grey's "Despair" character all too much of the time. (Sorry for the maudlin self-pity. Though there is a bit of that here, just, also, trying to tell it like it is.) Part of me thinks I need to refind my deep discipline and do an intense "cave experience," working on all aspects of my being again (let's call it some kind of neo-rounding), or, perhaps, throw myself into sacred activism, a la Andrew Harvey. But also, I can't help but directly feel the something rotten in the state of the world/me/the world's pain right down to the roots of my soul and the totality of my viscera. It almost always seems to have been that way, and still is, for me, though maybe I continually romanticize and self-perpetuate this as well. Hmm, wonder why I'm dumping/wallowing/spilling my guts like this in this public forum at this time in my/world history. Ah self-indulgence, self-centeredness, the me generation--might some of us be beyond inclusion? Will our rebirth ever really happen? > > > > > > > > > > > > > > On Oct 23, 2011, at 11:30 PM, Ravi Yogi wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Please just stay... > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > --- In [email protected], Mark Landau <m@...> wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > LOL... I actually might give it a few more days, or even more. No promises on this one. Some good things have been coming through lately. I loved that Eisenstein article. A good friend tried to get me to go see him when he was here in Santa Fe, but I wasn't able to at the time, due to that job I finally got myself fired from. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > On Oct 23, 2011, at 9:31 PM, seventhray1 wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Hey Mark, I like your posting here, but didn't you forget to tell us when you'd be unsubscribing again. Like we're down to one day, and 32 minutes. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > --- In [email protected], Mark Landau <m@...> wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Hey Robin, > > > > > > > > > > > Have you read this? > > > > > > > > > > > I thought it might interest you. > > > > > > > > > > > http://www.realitysandwich.com/Alex_Grey_Mind_Parasites > > > > > > > > > > > Perhaps others, as well. > > > > > > > > > > > Sorry if it's already been posted here, I haven't been keeping up. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
