--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Share Long <sharelong60@...> wrote: > > Hi Steve, nice to talk with you too. I've been thinking about what you write here. Do you know, in the later chapters of the Gita, Krishna talks about situations that begin well and end badly and situations that begin badly and end well? Of course He says it much more eloquently and thoroughly (-:
I always liked this song in regards to that. (-: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uheHQ23dTw4 <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uheHQ23dTw4> > > I think for me it has to do with being what I'll call hyper positive and having unrealistic expectations. Then life is bound to boot me in the tukas so that I cease looking for happiness in the new romance, new job, new town, new car, new body (many women have unrealistic expectations with regards to losing weight), etc. I find I get swept up overly optimistic projections about things as well. Fortunately. Fortunately after 57 yrs. (at least on April 19th), I've learned to temper that. Not so much as to be an pessimist. (could never be that), but just more of a realist. I like the sound of that. And of course as a parent, I have to temper some of those same tendencies in my kids. I mean, one great example of this, which I may have shared, was last summer the kids agreed to take on an arduous hike in Colo. that they had shunned before. I was real excited and had about two months to lose about ten pounds, cut back on sodas, get on an exerciese regime in order to get in shape. At the outset, I said, "no problem, I can do this. looking forward to it, in fact". But it didn't happen. I managed to complete the hike anyway. What saved me was drinking a lot of fluids on the way up. In the past, I would just keep hiking, wanting to get to the destination. So, I did a little better on the way up. What killed me was going down. I just couldn't move. > Are you saying that you think Robin's core enlightenment is still present? I have no idea. No idea whether he reached that milestone to begin with, or had it and lost it or had it and then deconstructed it. If he says he had it, that's good enough for me. Whole affair is pretty much a mystery for me. > Vertigo made a 24 hour drive by a few days ago and is gone again. A friend explained that it did the same when her son had it. > > What did you think of the 9 yr old boy philosopher? I enjoyed it. He seems like quite a deep thinker, and still very childlike. I liked that. > Share > > > > ________________________________ > From: seventhray27 steve.sundur@... > To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com > Sent: Saturday, March 30, 2013 8:25 PM > Subject: [FairfieldLife] Career As Path (was Re: Majorca Spain to turq) > > >  > Hi Share, > Thanks for your comments. > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Share Long sharelong60@ wrote: > > > > Steve, thank you for your insight. It helps me to understand a little more. And your idea that the core of enlightenment was still there, very intriguing. > Well, my understanding has always been that enlightenment is something permanent. Exception being perhaps the "Strange Case of RWC" May have to put an asterisk on my understanding of the big "E"  there. >  I mean, even just the idea that enlightenment has a core. Did you read what turq wrote about all this?  He has written of hubris and I'm still grappling with that one. > One feature of my personality, which I would call a flaw is that often my initial impression of something is often overly positive or enthusiastic. Having said that, as I mentioned before, I found myself very impressed with Fred Lenz's interviews. I thought he presented ideas of spiritual growth and enlightnment in clearer terms than I had ever heard before.  > It is a pretty popular thing here to ridicule Fred, and many of Barry's recollections. I really have nothing on which to base much of an opinion about Lenz, other than the little I've read about him. > On the other hand, there seems to be plenty on instances of the so called "enlightened", backsliding in some ways. Maybe the temptation of riches, power and sexual opportunties are just too much to resist. I likely would have difficulty with all three if I found myself in such a position. But I think I still maintain that "core" enlightenment remains. It's just that it can get pretty dirty, and unseemly. >   I'd be interested in your thoughts on that.àSince I read what turq wrote and even what Judy wrote today about Robin, I've been wondering why genuine enlightenment doesn't have a built in protection against hubris. > But I'd like to think that I could avoid this pitfall. Ego, or at least the negative attributes of ego is something of which I try to stay keenly aware. It has caused me so many problems that I'm careful not to give it any fuel. The negative attributes of ego, that is. >  I know my life certainly has that:àmaybe a friend gets upset with me or IRS says I owe them money or I wake up one morning with vertigo.àPresto, any hubris that was creeping in is gone and I'm once again clearly part of flawed humanity.à> How is your vertigo? So nice to talk to you.(-: > > >  >
