Christ Consciousness...

Here is an example of the value of suffering in a life of an intelligent, accomplished, already compassionate writer (in regards to 12th house issues, as I think it's still relevent to this post.) Oscar Wilde was a beloved playwrite in his time who had a wide circle of friends and lived according to his principles and brought a lot of joy to people both personally and professionally.
Late in his career, he had a consensual relationship with a young man (who was the inspiration for Dorian Gray) that ended very badly with his lover's father intervening which resulted in Wilde's imprisonment....i can't remember for how many years. While this was all unfolding, almost every last one of his "devoted" friends completely abandoned him, he was reviled and villified publicly, his entire life was in shambles. While he was in prison, he wrote De Profundis...which I think is the most interesting thing he evr wrote....it's all about his time in prison (which he utimately was deeply grateful for) and the internal transormation he underwent as his life fell apart...he found himself and true compassion. My point is that you can lead a valuable, accomplished life and accquire all that you could desire in terms of career and standing, family and friends...but what it is all built on is in the invisible realm of the 12th. Wilde realised that all of his very Libran accomplishments were illusory and quite easily lost, he then found something that could never be taken from him...this type of scenario is always possible for any of us in life....maybe we get sick, or something happens which wipes our slate clean....so what's left? Then it is up the the individual and no one else to align themselves with their true path, to forgive and surrender and make peace with that reality of life. Anyway, I think it's a useful illustration of these themes...
 

piercethevale

Well-known member
Ruka...I haven't read all the posts here...but, I did note the Sabian Symbol for your Part of Fortune:

[Rudhyar's definitions]
" (ARIES 20°): A YOUNG GIRL FEEDING BIRDS IN WINTER.

KEYNOTE: Overcoming crises through compassion.

Nature's seasonal rhythms imply an oscillation between living and dying. Through creative imagination man can "fly over" the cycle, and discover means not only to escape from the fatality of seasonal decay or deprivation, but to assist other living entities to survive through crises. Migrating birds fly south (cf. symbol of Aries 12°), but by establishing a partnership with other creatures unable to escape wintry deprivation or death, man can maintain the life of the spirit (symbolized by birds) steady through all crises if, like a "young girl," he is widely open to the promptings of love and sympathy.

At this fifth stage of the symbolic sequence we witness human activity motivated by sympathy overcoming the seasonal phase of impotency. Life potency in nature spirits reaches a higher level in the human being. The theme is THE TRANSMUTATION OF LIFE INTO LOVE."

...This is an 'embodiment' of much of what I would call 'Christ Consciousness'...compare this to the Sabian Symbol for my Neptune in my 11th house @ the 22nd of Libra:
" (LIBRA 22°): A CHILD GIVING BIRDS A DRINK AT A FOUNTAIN.

KEYNOTE: The concern of simple souls for the welfare and happiness of less-evolved beings who thirst for life renewal."


Read my thread in the 'degree Symbols' sub-forum on my proposed birth chart of Jesus/Yeshua for more about this.

Christ Consciousness is possible to all...one has to become completely absorbed into the 'Word and the Light' [Samyama {Sanskrit}]
 

Ruka_5

Banned
Here is an example of the value of suffering in a life of an intelligent, accomplished, already compassionate writer (in regards to 12th house issues, as I think it's still relevent to this post.) Oscar Wilde was a beloved playwrite in his time who had a wide circle of friends and lived according to his principles and brought a lot of joy to people both personally and professionally.
Late in his career, he had a consensual relationship with a young man (who was the inspiration for Dorian Gray) that ended very badly with his lover's father intervening which resulted in Wilde's imprisonment....i can't remember for how many years. While this was all unfolding, almost every last one of his "devoted" friends completely abandoned him, he was reviled and villified publicly, his entire life was in shambles. While he was in prison, he wrote De Profundis...which I think is the most interesting thing he evr wrote....it's all about his time in prison (which he utimately was deeply grateful for) and the internal transormation he underwent as his life fell apart...he found himself and true compassion. My point is that you can lead a valuable, accomplished life and accquire all that you could desire in terms of career and standing, family and friends...but what it is all built on is in the invisible realm of the 12th. Wilde realised that all of his very Libran accomplishments were illusory and quite easily lost, he then found something that could never be taken from him...this type of scenario is always possible for any of us in life....maybe we get sick, or something happens which wipes our slate clean....so what's left? Then it is up the the individual and no one else to align themselves with their true path, to forgive and surrender and make peace with that reality of life. Anyway, I think it's a useful illustration of these themes...



...Well written, but I still don't really get it or agree because again, I've never seen anybody that suddenly developed empathy after suffering. The vast majority of humans come out of the womb empathetic to begin with. I've seen little kids who were well taken care of, loved and haven't suffered in any way shape or form, start crying when they see other kids crying, or animals in distress.

And the few people who weren't born with empathy, never develop it, no matter what happens to them or what anyone says or does; there's no cure for sociopathy. Albert Fish killed kids and even sent messages to their families mocking them, describing murdering their children and eating them, if I'm remembering correctly. They sent him to prison where as far as I can remember, he expressed no remorse and actually eagerly anticipated his electrocution because he got off on feeling physical pain; I think his words were that it'd be the 'supreme thrill' of his life or something. And we all know how there are tons of inmates who express no remorse about any of their crimes and then go back out and re-offend.

Imprisonment or suffering doesn't bestow empathy.
 

Ruka_5

Banned
Ruka...I haven't read all the posts here...but, I did note the Sabian Symbol for your Part of Fortune:

[Rudhyar's definitions]
" (ARIES 20°): A YOUNG GIRL FEEDING BIRDS IN WINTER.

KEYNOTE: Overcoming crises through compassion.

Nature's seasonal rhythms imply an oscillation between living and dying. Through creative imagination man can "fly over" the cycle, and discover means not only to escape from the fatality of seasonal decay or deprivation, but to assist other living entities to survive through crises. Migrating birds fly south (cf. symbol of Aries 12°), but by establishing a partnership with other creatures unable to escape wintry deprivation or death, man can maintain the life of the spirit (symbolized by birds) steady through all crises if, like a "young girl," he is widely open to the promptings of love and sympathy.

At this fifth stage of the symbolic sequence we witness human activity motivated by sympathy overcoming the seasonal phase of impotency. Life potency in nature spirits reaches a higher level in the human being. The theme is THE TRANSMUTATION OF LIFE INTO LOVE."

...This is an 'embodiment' of much of what I would call 'Christ Consciousness'...compare this to the Sabian Symbol for my Neptune in my 11th house @ the 22nd of Libra:
" (LIBRA 22°): A CHILD GIVING BIRDS A DRINK AT A FOUNTAIN.

KEYNOTE: The concern of simple souls for the welfare and happiness of less-evolved beings who thirst for life renewal."


Read my thread in the 'degree Symbols' sub-forum on my proposed birth chart of Jesus/Yeshua for more about this.

Christ Consciousness is possible to all...one has to become completely absorbed into the 'Word and the Light' [Samyama {Sanskrit}]


Thanks. This, I didn't know about - while I've looked up the Sabian Symbols for my chart placements before, oddly enough it never occurred to me to check the Sabian for the Part of Fortune.

Your Sabian actually sounds pretty noble to me though - the planet of compassion and the highest form of love on a degree that emphasizes caring about others and their well-being. I don't see any bad in that. I'm pretty sure it's right near Arcturus and Spica too.

I'm headed over to that thread to look around a bit.
 

piercethevale

Well-known member
Cool...I just looked at the symbol for your 12 house cusp [Pacidus] it is symbolicallyt the answer you have for the world as to its problem.

[note that what I have for Yeshua/Jesus is the 4th of Virgo {by Rudhyar's definition}..." (VIRGO 4°): BLACK AND WHITE CHILDREN PLAY TOGETHER HAPPILY.

KEYNOTE: The overcoming of socio-cultural prejudices.

Freedom from all the forms, biases and idiosyncrasies of the particular culture and class in which one has been born and educated is a sine qua non of the consciousness truly "on the Path." The ideal of universal brotherhood underlies all great spiritual teachings, for they all are like branches of the One Tree, Man, in his divine state. This does not mean there are no racial differences, but rather that these differences have a functional value in terms of the whole organism of Man — and of the planet Earth.

At this fourth stage the basic technique which applies to all truly spiritual progress is clearly stated. Every human being should be seen, approached and warmly met as a "child of God," or in less religious terms as an exemplar of Man. Such a status gives to every social and interpersonal group the character of a BROTHERHOOD."




Your's [Rudhyar's def.]

"(CAPRICORN 13°): A FIRE WORSHIPER MEDITATES ON THE ULTIMATE REALITIES OF EXISTENCE.

KEYNOTE: The subjective quest for ultimates beyond the interplay of life and death processes.


Beyond cultural enjoyment and the passion for accumulation of often-unusable data of sense knowledge stands the willful and determined "adventure in consciousness" of the occultist, the yogi, the mystic. The mystery of fire has always captured man's imagination because it is the mystery of all transformations wrapped in the enigma of death. In times when collective, perhaps total, death could be in store for mankind, the process of subjective meditation is fascinating an ever-greater number of people.

This is the third symbol in the fifty-seventh sequence. It brings us to a stage beyond life itself. Are we ready to take this step which the masters of yoga claim to have taken: to experience death and return to the same body? Are we ready to demonstrate man's WILL TO TRANSCENDENCE?"
 

piercethevale

Well-known member
...and of further substantiation of the Sabians...My Saturn is at 22* Libra 16' conj. my Neptune at, 21* Libra 52' which gives me the ability to meditate like "I was born to do it"...and the Sabian for my Saturn is

" (LIBRA 23°): CHANTICLEER'S VOICE HERALDS SUNRISE."

...note, I've been doing Sun Pujas for a number of years...allegedly I'm supposed to be the reincarnation of 'Parsival'...the Knight of the Sun...every Planetary Sabian I have is 'Spot Right On'...yes, these Sabians are the ****!
 
"Imprissonment or suffering doesn't bestow empathy"

You are right, but it's a more delicate point I am making....

Personally, I have known many people who are kind and empathetic who do experience something horrific and then gain a deeper empathy. a friend comes to mind who was brutally attacked. She spent years recovering emotionally....during that time, this strong, accomplished woman found herself totally lost in day to day life....she now says she has much more empathy (certainly NOT for criminals or violence) but for someone she may come across in life who seems "broken" -because she now knows that it is a normal part of the healing process. It's not the same as the empathy we are born with...it is experiential. I was not speaking about violent criminals who go to prision and then either do or do not gain empathy...that's another story...
 
Just to clarify, it's not that I think suffering is "good" or some sort of goal, but that it is inevitable...everyone will experience tragic loss beyond their control (death of a loved one, etc) at some point. My point is how we handle it....but then again, my progreesed moon is in late scorpio, so perhaps I will lighten up in a few months....:innocent:
 

piercethevale

Well-known member
Thanks. This, I didn't know about - while I've looked up the Sabian Symbols for my chart placements before, oddly enough it never occurred to me to check the Sabian for the Part of Fortune.

Your Sabian actually sounds pretty noble to me though - the planet of compassion and the highest form of love on a degree that emphasizes caring about others and their well-being. I don't see any bad in that. I'm pretty sure it's right near Arcturus and Spica too.

I'm headed over to that thread to look around a bit.

...it is balanced y my Moon and nadir...conj at Nadir 24* Aquarius 21'...my Moon @ 24* Aquarius 03'...the Nadir represents 'How' we accomplish our Dharma by 'Involutionary Esoteric Astrology' or it is the 'WHY' of the Dharma by 'Evolutionary' chart axis analysis through Sabian Symbology. Also, my Moon is so powerfully placed it is the most influential 'Celestial Body' in my Natal Chart...making me the 'Odd Male' that is more attuned to the Moon rather than the Sun...I have been mistakenly called 'Gay' in my life many times...as I am an very sensitive person...I cry at chick flicks...
The 25th degree of Aquarius by Rudhyar's book..
": A BUTTERFLY WITH THE RIGHT WING MORE PERFECTLY FORMED.

KEYNOTE: The capacity to develop the rational and fully conscious aspect of the mind ahead of normal evolution.


What seems implied is a kind of mutation, and more specifically the special development of whatever is symbolized by the "right side" of the organism. Here, however, the spiritual body (the butterfly) is what the Image represents. A strong process of conscious individualization is suggested, perhaps at the expense of the instinctual-emotional aspect of the personality (its "left side").

This last symbol fittingly concludes this sixty-fifth sequence, which began with "A disappointed woman . . ." The five-fold set deals with the management of human energies at the emotional level; here management means overcoming — this, on the basis of negative or ego-challenging experiences. This fifth symbol refers thus to the results of a TRANSMUTATION OF EMOTIONAL ENERGIES."

..The Aquarian Moon is one of emotional empathy for the Human condition but this degree takes the 'emotional' and "Transmutates" it...the resultant is a sort of attitude of compassionate aloofness...bringing to mind an old tune by Shawn Phillips that said "...out in space not mouths to feed just searching questing minds...and while they are searching they do find...that they are coldly kind...."
[a Boddhisatva temperament...if you please...
 
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Ruka_5

Banned
Cool...I just looked at the symbol for your 12 house cusp [Pacidus] it is symbolicallyt the answer you have for the world as to its problem.

[note that what I have for Yeshua/Jesus is the 4th of Virgo {by Rudhyar's definition}..." (VIRGO 4°): BLACK AND WHITE CHILDREN PLAY TOGETHER HAPPILY.

KEYNOTE: The overcoming of socio-cultural prejudices.

Freedom from all the forms, biases and idiosyncrasies of the particular culture and class in which one has been born and educated is a sine qua non of the consciousness truly "on the Path." The ideal of universal brotherhood underlies all great spiritual teachings, for they all are like branches of the One Tree, Man, in his divine state. This does not mean there are no racial differences, but rather that these differences have a functional value in terms of the whole organism of Man — and of the planet Earth.

At this fourth stage the basic technique which applies to all truly spiritual progress is clearly stated. Every human being should be seen, approached and warmly met as a "child of God," or in less religious terms as an exemplar of Man. Such a status gives to every social and interpersonal group the character of a BROTHERHOOD."




Your's [Rudhyar's def.]

"(CAPRICORN 13°): A FIRE WORSHIPER MEDITATES ON THE ULTIMATE REALITIES OF EXISTENCE.

KEYNOTE: The subjective quest for ultimates beyond the interplay of life and death processes.


Beyond cultural enjoyment and the passion for accumulation of often-unusable data of sense knowledge stands the willful and determined "adventure in consciousness" of the occultist, the yogi, the mystic. The mystery of fire has always captured man's imagination because it is the mystery of all transformations wrapped in the enigma of death. In times when collective, perhaps total, death could be in store for mankind, the process of subjective meditation is fascinating an ever-greater number of people.

This is the third symbol in the fifty-seventh sequence. It brings us to a stage beyond life itself. Are we ready to take this step which the masters of yoga claim to have taken: to experience death and return to the same body? Are we ready to demonstrate man's WILL TO TRANSCENDENCE?"



The Jesus one fits what we know of his life to the point that it's almost eerie.

I can't even make sense of mine though. I read it twice and I'm sitting here doing the blank stare...
 

Ruka_5

Banned
Just to clarify, it's not that I think suffering is "good" or some sort of goal, but that it is inevitable...everyone will experience tragic loss beyond their control (death of a loved one, etc) at some point. My point is how we handle it....but then again, my progreesed moon is in late scorpio, so perhaps I will lighten up in a few months....:innocent:


Yeah, we all know that at some point in life there's going to be some kind of misfortune or pain.

But I'm talking specifically about how spiritual people always mention empathy and/or growth and pain in life in the same breath as a pair, like you need pain in order to possess or experience the first two, which doesn't hold up when you take the time to really think about it, like I stated a few posts back.
 

Mark

Well-known member
divine g: You prove my point by stating that you're still hung up on the problem of excess evil (as a philosopher would call it). Your observations are only problematic if you are thinking like an human. If pain and death are bad, then God is unfair. If you would only identify yourself as a soul, think as though you were Infinite instead of finite and broken, it would all make much more sense. Is this one life that important to you? If it is, you have a problem. The body thinks pain and death are grievous. Well, the body is going to experience those things no matter what, so get used to it. The soul is above and beyond those things. Can you not think bigger than your current surroundings? Let's refer to your statement.

divine g said:
Nothing separates us from the rest of the universe spiritually, but trapped in our physical forms, we're puny. Humans serve a purpose in the unity of all things, but the higher consciousness which put all the stars and planets in their places, is something that will most likely be way out of human comprehension, until the soul inside the human returns to the source."

Your only mistake here happens to be a really big one. Your mistake is thinking about "the soul inside the human." This statement presumes that the body is more fundamental and is host to the soul. In fact, the soul is Infinite and the body is only a temporary expression of it. If the soul is Infinite and the body is finite, how could something Infinite possibly be "contained inside" something finite? At least the fact that the body is finite is directly observable.

Your mistake is in thinking that what happens to you right now is important. Everyone wants to feel that their own pain and disappointments are important, but letting go of that is the only way to escape the depression that comes with it. That one I've felt for a long time myself. I have come to understand that what has no form is more real than the things that can be seen. Perhaps your body would hate to be born in a third world country, but how else could we meet ourselves (the karma that we've built for ourselves) if we don't use all these bodily vehicles? Your soul wants to work off or transcend the karma so that it can move on, but all your body wants is to preserve and please itself. The body thinks in terms of pleasure and pain. The soul thinks of what works and what doesn't.

If you knew and were immediately aware of your own inalienable, Infinite existence and you had to make a choice as to how you would correct the things you've wrongly built into yourself, how afraid of pain and misery would you be? The body faints, but the soul cannot. Your real problem is mistaking the immediate, finite you for being the real you. The real you is the one that won't stop existing when your body dies. When all the dust has been settled, you will still exist. I advocate Jesus and His teachings because He will help you through the process of "soul building." If you want to do it on your own, good luck. Left to your own devices, you'll likely end up just as you are now over and over again. The mortal body cannot escape pain and death. If escaping pain and death is that important to you, then it behooves you to recognise your own immortal being that you already are.
 

piercethevale

Well-known member
The Jesus one fits what we know of his life to the point that it's almost eerie.

I can't even make sense of mine though. I read it twice and I'm sitting here doing the blank stare...

...It's about focusing on the higher realm...eternity...eternal life...heaven...
 

Ruka_5

Banned
While I noticed someone asking seemingly curious questions in regards to info on the pineal gland n christ consciousness, all "new age stuff" btw, I was under the assumption that the person may be experiencing some kind of spiritual breakthrough as ive been continuously experiencing. Apparently, thats not the case.

Ruka_5, just curious, what got u interested in these "new age" matters? Ur last paragragh there attacking spirituality perfectly illustrates the spiritual decline and the degree of separation a large portion of humanity have manifested which is guilt n fear ridden. Try to see beyond what is obvious n dont be so quick to respond in defense of ur ego.

Since being on this path, I managee to take a few out of their comfort zones, family members included cuz of their refusal to relinquish their material identity.

Life continues to be a game to me n im lovin it. I dont get pissed outta control or feel sorry for myself when I watched something sad happening on the news. Oh wait, I dun watch television. U can continue with ur attacks by calling it apathy or whatever. I know where my heart is..

But ive learned not to intervene on someones soul path. afterall, no one knows u more than u.


...I'm asking because of strange phenomena that's been happening to me for while, that I got curious about and Googled. That's where I saw Christ Consciousness mentioned - which, I had no idea about. So then I came here to ask about it.

Having said that - everything else you've said, you're entitled to, by all means, but you should know that the way in which you express your views on your religious beliefs to others, does more to alienate people and make them go in the opposite direction, than to draw them closer to it. If you re-read what you said above, it's very inflammatory in the sense that you basically imply all kinds of negative things about people who don't share your belief system.

How do you know for sure that your way is The Right Way enough to be able to make sweeping statements like that? It's possible that you're wrong, or that any of us in here is wrong, or that we're all right and there's more than one way to get to a specific destination. I'm inclined to think the latter is the case, especially when apparently lots of people, not just myself, seem to be developing this Christ Consciousness or whatever it is, without meditation or believing in and adhering to your specific spiritual practices.

...I'm not sure where the reference to the news fits into the discussion, but I will say that yes, I do feel concern for myself personally and for others I actually know, but at the same time I do feel concern for people I hear about suffering in natural disasters, famine, war zones, etc, and it's possible to do so and at the same time be fully aware that you're actually very lucky and there's others who have much more immediate, serious problems to contend with. It's possible to feel all those things at once, they aren't necessarily mutually exclusive.

I expressed my views on new-age 'spirituality', I didn't attack you personally. If an atheist is in a discussion with a Baptist and tells them they don't believe in God, is that a personal attack against the Baptist?

And in regard to those beliefs, I stand by I said. That's a belief system that makes it easy for people to feel a sense of apathy when they see others suffer because it essentially tells them that those people deserve it or asked for it. For all the talk about love in new-age spirituality, it reads more like trying to teach people how not to love and feel any sense of empathy toward other human beings - a lesson in developing sociopathy. All head, no heart. No matter what anyone says, I will never agree with or participate in that.

I don't watch tv either.
 

Mark

Well-known member
myst1calz said:
But ive learned not to intervene on someones soul path. afterall, no one knows u more than u.
I've seen that written a few times lately and I must say that I completely disagree. Most people don't know themselves at all. Everyone has a pieced-together montage sort of image of themselves that they carry in their heads everyday. Most people assume that image is accurate, then, after getting old, slow, and feeble, start to think back and examine the person that they actually were. No one really is who they think they are. A few people think that way when young, instead waiting until they are old and full of regrets, but those people know even more acutely that they are not who they appear to be at any one time. Can you ever judge something without knowing the ending of it? If your life isn't over, how could you know all of you at any one time? What's more, doesn't that question demonstrate that we change over time and thus are many different people throughout our lives? Many psychologists and philosophers are already keenly aware that no one is who they appear.

Many troubles come from a root problem of misidentification, including the desire that a Buddhist would say binds one to Earth through reincarnation. If you identify yourself as your body, then changes are bad. The self (lower case 's'), ego, body, or whatever you want to call it, always wants to preserve itself just as it is, always trying to increase pleasure and limit pain, always fearing what it already knows is inevitable (such as pain and death). If you identify yourself as a soul that is Infinite, these concerns of the body are nothing but scenery for a day. If you identify yourself correctly, acknowledging that your existence never ceases, the whole world looks different. You're no longer concerned with all the little things you thought you were; all the jokes, talents, knowledge, hard-won lessons, friends, enemies, jobs. The qualities of a person do not make you what you are. What you are is already much bigger!

The Path is not so much about learning nor changing to become anything. It's about realising what already is.
 

Ruka_5

Banned
I've seen that written a few times lately and I must say that I completely disagree. Most people don't know themselves at all. Everyone has a pieced-together montage sort of image of themselves that they carry in their heads everyday. Most people assume that image is accurate, then, after getting old, slow, and feeble, start to think back and examine the person that they actually were. No one really is who they think they are. A few people think that way when young, instead waiting until they are old and full of regrets, but those people know even more acutely that they are not who they appear to be at any one time. Can you ever judge something without knowing the ending of it? If your life isn't over, how could you know all of you at any one time? What's more, doesn't that question demonstrate that we change over time and thus are many different people throughout our lives? Many psychologists and philosophers are already keenly aware that no one is who they appear.

Many troubles come from a root problem of misidentification, including the desire that a Buddhist would say binds one to Earth through reincarnation. If you identify yourself as your body, then changes are bad. The self (lower case 's'), ego, body, or whatever you want to call it, always wants to preserve itself just as it is, always trying to increase pleasure and limit pain, always fearing what it already knows is inevitable (such as pain and death). If you identify yourself as a soul that is Infinite, these concerns of the body are nothing but scenery for a day. If you identify yourself correctly, acknowledging that your existence never ceases, the whole world looks different. You're no longer concerned with all the little things you thought you were; all the jokes, talents, knowledge, hard-won lessons, friends, enemies, jobs. The qualities of a person do not make you what you are. What you are is already much bigger!

The Path is not so much about learning nor changing to become anything. It's about realising what already is.


Really? That's the one thing I do agree with mystical on.

When it comes to others, no matter how long we've known them, we're always on the outside looking in. And even then, what we see is colored by our own 'lens', so to speak.
 

lazarusx

Well-known member
I've seen that written a few times lately and I must say that I completely disagree. Most people don't know themselves at all. Everyone has a pieced-together montage sort of image of themselves that they carry in their heads everyday. Most people assume that image is accurate, then, after getting old, slow, and feeble, start to think back and examine the person that they actually were. No one really is who they think they are. A few people think that way when young, instead waiting until they are old and full of regrets, but those people know even more acutely that they are not who they appear to be at any one time. Can you ever judge something without knowing the ending of it? If your life isn't over, how could you know all of you at any one time? What's more, doesn't that question demonstrate that we change over time and thus are many different people throughout our lives? Many psychologists and philosophers are already keenly aware that no one is who they appear.

Many troubles come from a root problem of misidentification, including the desire that a Buddhist would say binds one to Earth through reincarnation. If you identify yourself as your body, then changes are bad. The self (lower case 's'), ego, body, or whatever you want to call it, always wants to preserve itself just as it is, always trying to increase pleasure and limit pain, always fearing what it already knows is inevitable (such as pain and death). If you identify yourself as a soul that is Infinite, these concerns of the body are nothing but scenery for a day. If you identify yourself correctly, acknowledging that your existence never ceases, the whole world looks different. You're no longer concerned with all the little things you thought you were; all the jokes, talents, knowledge, hard-won lessons, friends, enemies, jobs. The qualities of a person do not make you what you are. What you are is already much bigger!

The Path is not so much about learning nor changing to become anything. It's about realising what already is.

Well said.
 

Mark

Well-known member
Ruka_5: Yes, I agree with you. We always see through a glass darkly. The only point where I disagree with you is the idea that a man knows himself any better than he does anyone else. I think most of us are wrong most of the time about most people, especially ourselves.
 
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