Claudio, I understand that you are not directly posting to the forum until Brandon's return, but I think that it is important to keep this conversation in the open. I trust that you are comfortable with me adding your PM here.
soprano wrote:
Justin wrote:
Claudio, something to consider is that with you and Brandon not posting, the forum may likely settle and return to more respectful interaction. I don't mean this to be an insult or to place blame on you or Brandon only. It is just an observation and surly something worth considering if your ultimate goal is growth. There would seem to be a great deal of feedback in this. Despite what my good intentions are and regardless of how polite my words might be... If I walk into a room and the mood of the room shifts in a negative direction, then I must consider this feedback yes?
The key limiting factor in understanding and uncovering of truth is self, but self is the only way though which truth and knowing can be found. It is our ego, fears, and beliefs that prevent us from seeing the truth... and our ego, fears, and beliefs that also prevent us from seeing our ego, fears, and beliefs. The burden of proof (truth) is on self in this way. As I see it, it is not even a matter of uncovering truth so much. The truth is not hiding really... it is more that our limitations prevent us from seeing and understanding it properly. I would say though that it is no accident that we have these limitations, but the fact remains that the burden is on self to deal with and grow out of these limitations. Do you see that this makes the correctness of Tom's model, the hospital study, and the double slit experiment less relevant to finding your personal truths? These things can only serve as guidepost but not the actual foundation. That foundation is built up through self and your direct experience.
I can say "look, Tom's model does not line up with mine, or study X is meaningless". This is to put the burden of truth on other as apposed to self. It will only lead in circles it seems.
It's clear your view is self-centered and limited. I don't just care about me like you just care about you.
Claudio
Claudio,
Maybe you are misunderstanding what I mean. Think about it, I am the only one that is in charge of my own growth. It does not make sense to look to other. I am no better or worse than you. We all make choices and we get feedback from those choices. Why turn your back on the feedback? I'm not talking about feedback as in what I am writing or what somebody else might post to you. I'm talking about the current situation you are in with regards to the forum. Is it not because of other, is is because of self... no matter how to look at it. You are the common denominator in every one or your situations, in the same way that I am the common denominator in every one of my situations. If I am angry, depressed, sad, mad, jealous, it is self,
not other.
To focus on self is not to be self centered. It is to say with humility:
"I am not perfect and have many limitations (such as ego and fear).. some of those limitations I can see but have yet to overcome. Many limitations I have yet to even consider. For this reason, I must assume that my perspective of truth and all things is skewed based on these limitations. Therefor to see things more as they actually are, I must work on self."
This is why truth and experience are so subjective. This is why we must taste the pudding ourselves. This is why the double slit and hospital stay study are not all that important in the big picture. Are either one going to change who you are at the being level? Will either one help you to let go of some ego? On the other hand, will honest introspection as to the why of your actions and reactions create being level changes or support removal of some ego. Yes, it is much more likely this way. This is what I mean when I say that we must look to self to find truth.
The beauty is that as we peel away some of those layers of ego and fear, we begin to see that we are in fact our higher self, our higher self's higher self... we are AUO, we are all that is... we are already what which we are growing toward. You, me, Brandon, Ted, Tom, Bette, Frank, Jill, Sally, Bernard, Joe, everybody... we are all the same. The difference is that we each have a unique set of limitations from which to grow. The process of growing
back to that state (so to speak) is the evolutionary experience that causes all to grow. In this way each of our paths is unique, but each leads to the same place. So to turn to self is to admit our limitations and then focus our attention on growing out of those limitations (that is why we exist as Claudio and Justin!). In this way we are not being self centered, but are growing to become better, more loving, more caring, more compassionate. One cannot set out to be more loving and then expect to grow as a result. It happens the other way around. We grow by working on our own limitations and then by default become a little bit better, more loving, more compassionate, etc. And so on...
I truly mean no harm Claudio. I claim to be no better or worse. The homeless drunk on the street corner may be 1000 times wiser than any of us here. There is no way to know for sure. It is irrelevant to my or your growth. Many, many, many times I have been standing in a thick fog and the system through various means lets me know this. Maybe it is through a post from Ted or you. Maybe it is a song on the radio, a dream, a book, a NPMR experience. The point is that, from my current perspective, you are standing in a patch of fog. Again my own perspective is skewed by my limitations, but I don't now Claudio... you are sure getting a lot of the same feedback. The only way to know for sure is to turn to self... listen to your thoughts honestly and with a great deal of humility. This is what I mean when I say truth is found through self.