The idea of “answers” in life at all may be largely a confidence game.
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To me, “spirituality” is about your basic stance towards life.
That’s all. Nothing to get all bent up about.
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The four/five elements (or ‘phases’ or ‘styles of movement’):
Earth
Air
Water
Fire
(Space/Spirit/Void)
An arc has three main stages. If you toss a ball in the air, you can see the three stages. There’s the ascent, the balanced poise in the middle, and the descent. Or we could call them the Establishment stage, the Maintenance stage, and the Transformational stage.
In the first stage, that style of energy is being established. This stage is characterized by enthusiasm, commitment, focus, and single-mindedness or singleness of purpose. There’s a force to it; because to put something new here, to establish something where it was previously not existent, requires force.
In the second stage, the force has reached its fruition. The condition has been established. Now there is a sense of peace, and of poise. Of fully embodying what has been established. There is no longer a fight to exist. Now there is an equanimous, even generous, sensing, “inhabiting of” or even luxuriating in, the existence of this condition. In skateboarding, this is the time after you’ve kicked and are rolling forward, but you still have not lost momentum. You’re just enjoying the feeling of being "here rolling on a skateboard". This is the centerpoint of the process.
In the third stage, the condition is in the process of dissolving, of becoming something else. On the skateboard, for example, Movement is in the process of transforming into Stillness; Speed into Slowness. At this point, the rider has the option to push with force to generate more movement, or to allow the transformation to become complete; that is to stop moving. The transformational stage gives insight into what lies beyond the stage that we are currently in. “Where it came from” and “where it’s going”. This is similar to the dying stage of a living being. (But it’s also similar to Sickness or even to just Sleeping.)
These are the three stages of a Phenomenon. And these three stages also apply to the Elements listed above.
Fire bursts explosively onto the scene (Aries). Fire luxuriates and radiates in satisfied Presence as itself. (Leo). Fire transforms and in transforming reveals insights into its nature (Sagittarius).
Earth is established with determined intention (Capricorn). Earth (aka ‘The Dude’) calmly abides; luxuriating in substance and materiality; unbothered and at peace in Being (Taurus). Earth transforms, spending itself; offering its stability and solidity as a gift to the world around it (Virgo).
Water insists on the primacy of Flow and Feeling (Cancer). Water is confident in its place at the very heart of things and experience (Scorpio). Water connects and confers insight into the felt connections and connectedness of all things; and as it connects it is dissolved (Pisces).
Air unequivocally establishes and insists upon the Space and the Forum (air) for reason, regard, and understanding (Libra). Air enjoys and exists within this Clear Space, seeing truly and without distortion (Aquarius). Air is spent in the form of Communication, transforming as it shares its treasured awareness as Information (Gemini).
These are the four elements: Fire, Earth, Air, Water. Moving through their three stages. Arriving, Tarrying, Departing. Arriving is also called Cardinal. Tarrying is also called Fixed. Departing is also called Mutable.
The 12 signs of the Zodiac are mnemonic representations of these Four Elements and their Three Stages. Easy symbolic imagery to help us remember.
All phenomena move through these elemental phases and through these stages.
We use astrological symbolism and imagery as a convenient way to keep track of these basic (and complex) movements.
When you first burst onto the scene as an independent human being, at your birth, there were particular elemental conditions going on around you. Your development is attuned to and synchronized with these elements. Not so strange. There were languages going on around you too, and you attuned those as well, right? You also adapted to and reflected the climatic and geographical conditions around you, yes? So this is just a more fundamental version of the same thing. We grow out of the conditions and the environments that produce us. If you’re sitting on a train that is moving at 90 kilometers per hour, then you are moving at 90 kilometers per hour. Not a big deal.
Anyway, all of this contextualizes my earlier statement about my birth chart and the elements in my natal astrological horoscope. These elemental combinations form my resources, my challenges, and my trajectories throughout life.
This is not a belief per se. It’s a provisional understanding. If I find out tomorrow that goats can fly and that the Earth is actually a cosmic bowling ball being played with by immortal taxi drivers; then I’ll update my understanding. For now, however, I have my current view and understanding of things, and I’m rolling with that for the time being.
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Thank you, love it
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Happened again last night. The first time 7 days ago, I cleared off two shelves that had been stubbornly cluttered for a very long time before. My two bedroom bookshelves.
Last night, I found myself spontaneously clearing up another cluttered area in our bedroom. It was just over a 15 to 20 minute period, and it felt effortless and I could immediately begin to see a difference.
So, two small expressions of Organization Perfected. So far, so good.
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Must have worked hard and long under the surface before coming out externally, organization is beautiful and calming
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Day 7 of what looks like it will probably be a 5-week washout.
Today’s meditation from 4 pm to 5 pm.
Going for the next run in the cycle now. Hopefully followed by bench press.
Thought: Yesterday’s Innovation becomes Today’s Common-place.
This includes ‘spiritual’ practices and realizations. For example, the ‘no-self’ of buddha dharma. 2600 years ago what was it? And how does that compare to what it is now?
Of course, it’s true that the average person has not encountered the concept of no-self in any experiential way. Yet, I think that today this concept is extremely accessible. Our technology and tools of computation and cognition are making it easier to conceptualize consciousness as a phenomenon other than ‘the ghost in the machine’.
Just the capacity to approach consciousness and mentality as objects at all is a very big deal. They have a physicality and tangibleness that seems to have been inaccessible in previous eras.
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Did my run. I can feel the physical systems gradually adapting to it. That is nice; though the injuries still nag me. After the 4+mile run, changed my shirt; and then did bench press. Got to 210 on the last set. Pushed it up 1.5 times. So 225 is within seeing distance. Once I’m lifting 225 pounds again, I’ll feel like I’ve entered the front door. What can I say, we all have our silly fixations. This is one of mine.
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The most I ever pressed was 270. That was years ago. Can’t even quite remember when it was, to be honest. All I know is that it was about 2 iPhones ago. haha.
My goal was to press 285 pounds, but I never quite got there. To be honest, I was pretty happy with 270.
I remember exactly how I messed things up. I’d gotten to the point where 270 was feeling very doable. And I thought, ‘Let me get by biceps curls all the way up too!’ I was a member of a corny but well-set-up gym at the time, and they had dumbbells going up to 75 or 85 pounds, I think. I decided to try to push it with 65 pounds dumbbell curls. I put my arms over the curl station thing.
This thing:
The one that forces you to use proper form. I did 1 rep, then 2 reps and slowly lowered my arms all the way down. At the full extension, I felt this wrongness, like something was stretching that was not supposed to stretch. Which is precisely what had happened.
And thus began my long vacation.
By the time I came back, things were looking a little different. hahaha.
Well, the moral of the story is…some s**t or another.
Anyway, I wouldn’t curl 65 pounds if I could go back now. I was actually doing great at lower weights. Okay, guess that’s the moral.
Don’t go chasing waterfalls?
And now here we are, chasing 225. And happy about it.
Would be nice to play Spartan to make all of this even more effective. But I’ve no room for it. And, I did all of that without subliminals last time.
My cheat code back then was just eating lots and lots of macronutrients. That makes it much easier. But then you end up with more mass than you know what to do with.
So, slow and gradual this time. And we’ll be glad for what we get.
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Also, left knee has been having pain, and I’m thinking that leg press may help with that. Building strength to add support and take some of the stress off of the joint.
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I feel you, this is NOT an age thing. It has to do with joints and tendons being overshadowed by sheer muscular strength that catches up on you. “Bulletproof your knees” videos on YouTube and the like will help build everything all together at once. I’ve had a knee injury before and I was surprised to find that the modern fitness scene has evolved so hard that only 6 years ago the consensus was “take care of your knees and joints and such because they’re this fragile thing you guard like a princess in a castle” and now it’s all these 55 year old men doing splits and sissy squats (mind you, weighted) and preaching the truth, which is that we can bulletproof our body! And very impressive bench press numbers!!
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That’s inspirational. I’ll try to slowly research and put it into practice.
Thanks.
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You are Consciousness.
The power of consciousness is to generate forms and contents of experiencing and perception
This power–this capacity–is expressed automatically at first and similar to all automatic functions it conforms to default, predictable, lowest-common-denominator patterns and principles.
A person in this condition will experience all of “reality” as originating from the outside. There will be no recognition of the role one is playing in the process.
But you can learn and practice to be more involved with it
The more that you recognize your involvement with the generation of forms in consciousness, the more you will sense that there is also an interiority to the generation of so-called external reality.
This is Alchemy.
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As with any power, some will push the envelope and see how far they can go with the development of this one.
They will do amazing things, and they will also crash, spin out, and make spectacular messes.
And it all comes back to this domain of exploration: the powers and the processes of Consciousness.
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How do you want to explore and apply Consciousness?
The Consciousness that is you.
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Here’s how someone plays you.
They use what you cannot do to distract you from what you can do.
Does that sound like you? Always thinking of what you cannot do; and ignoring what you can do?
If so, you are currently a sucker
You fell for it
Don’t let that happen to you
‘What You Can Do’ is your Circle of Power. Start from that circle of power, then expand outwards.
Value your Circle of Power. Value it highly and fiercely.
It’s one of the most valuable things you have.
Do not give it away.
The way you get played is to convince you that your treasure is worthless and to then convince you that taking your treasure from you is actually doing you a favor.
Don’t let anyone fool you like this.
Not even yourself.
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Processing a lot of sh*t these days.
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I am running an extremely dense stack, I guess.
But:
- I’m willing to play it for a very long time
- I’ve started thinking that by working with a very dense stack like this over a long period of time, I may also be developing my capacity to process subs more effectively. Sort of like doing gradual, patient heavy-weight work.
I’m now six months into my overall stack, and I got the intuitive push to do a washout. I’m almost 2 weeks into the washout. It feels organic.
Actually, even though my current stack is heavy. When I consider, my overall subliminal journey taken as a whole, there is actually a trend towards gradual lightening. I think that this phase that I’m in right now is the crux-point between my running denser stacks and my moving into lighter ones.
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Another thing is that I actually have to remind myself that my stack may be heavy or dense because subjectively it feels extremely comfortable. I tend to enjoy my listening sessions as well as the days after them.
I think this is probably a testament to that gradual trend of lightening. In some ways, my stacks in the past were heavier. Possibly.
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Don’t worry about being confident.
Do it before you’re confident.
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