:)

I had been wondering if we as "living afterlifer`s"...(as I must label for purpose reasons.)
have specific duties and responsibilites which we carry?

Understand that I am a virgo and it shows for I am very structured, always seeking for organising something and the greatest gift for me is to "look for a solution to a problem"..lol..be it a puzzle or a lost penny in a calculation amoungst a 1000 stacks of IRS papers..lol.. Ergo: All the wonderful people whom love their Budda, all the wonderful people whom love God, Holy Mary or simply "life without a belief system" and or whatever..

"Do you see any responsibilities coming along with your gained knowledge?
If not then "why"?
If so then "what"?

Or maybe you feel that learning what you are learning is a individual thing specifically designed for your individual growth.

You also believe in an afterlife and obviously you believe in the so called paranormal activity, (which I feel aren`t really "para" normal anyway) or you wouldnt be right here in the forum right now!  

So, whats your purpose in this setting?

Hugs,
Nanner

I guess I see my primary "job" in life as this: get out of my own way.

The more I feel that I know, the more I feel the need to listen internally for guidance. Anything I "know" eventually gets in my way.

I think my duty to others is to "grow in love" as Recoverer likes to say. I think love includes lots of different expressions...such as patience and acceptance, forgiveness and even humor.

It is only when I am very ill, or in meditation, that I realize fully that NONE of the "earthly" responsibilities which I consider so important on a day by day basis actually form the foundation of my life. The foundation is self-observance only.

love, blink :)

Hmmm Blink that was just "beautiful"  :-? You put it so "poetic".
What about the "collective" state of us all?  
Are we responsible collectively or is it an individual thing we are expereincing?
Hugs,
Nanner

I think, Nan, that the more that we each come from the heart of our own existence: simply, patiently, carefully -- we heal, not only ourselves, but others along the way.

When we have separated the knots, and smoothed out the chain, we can, then, not only carry but display the diamond. Sometimes a knot in the chain requires the greatest patience to unravel, and sometimes it falls out like magic.

But, that's life.

love, blink :)

The healing process of the wound requires the "truth" as an ointment though, Blink.

Which basically means that the people whom dare to challenge that which is written by our governments, medicals, science then being displayed as the momentary "truth" are very special indeed, and even more so "collectively".

Is it not the "duty" of spiritual persons to step foward and say: Hey folks - we need to display love on an everyday basis becoming contagious that way, thus making it as normal as combining peanut butter and jelly.

Our greatest enemy is our "own mind", which causes us to judge others, hurt others for superficial things of really no meaning at all - quite quickly. Then on the other hand it can cause us to accept others and love others just the same - quite quickly.

Makes me wonder if the afterlife is simpler than life on earth? Makes me ponder if I`ll ever see a place where theres just nothing but unconditional love? I`m a burnt kid, when it comes to the meaness of this world here.

My afterlife is simpler, but I can't say for anyone else.

Peanut butter and jelly is good. Another combination that I recently discovered is butter and maple syrup...on a hot, toasted crumpet!

Delicious. Wink, wink.

love, blink :)

MMMMMMmmm "butter and maple syrup...on a hot, toasted crumpet".. maple syrip costs me around 7 Bucks for a really small bottel, which is usually used up by the kids so quick when I make pancakes, Blink, so unless you send me  some with a note on it "do not touch the Nanner Syrup" then I dont think I`ll be able to try that combo right yet. Love, Nanner

Ok, in my afterlife, there is a bottle of maple syrup, and it has Nanner's name on it.

Wow, that's getting to be a lot of bottles in that cupboard.....

love, blink :)

wrote on Jan 29^th, 2008 at 11:37am:

Ok, in my afterlife, there is a bottle of maple syrup, and it has Nanner's name on it. love, blink :)

I hope everyone "got that Blink message".. It`s NANNER`s syrup. I`ll share but dont push your luck folks...
Love ya,
Nanner

;) Gee blink. Think you managed to capture with heart (and with syrup on top) in replies 1 and 3 above what it took me half a page to say in 'how to' terms in reply 21 in the 'touchy' thread....

Actually, my favorite is peanut butter and baNanner.

The term "obligation" and the other term "duty" are moral imperatives that tell us that if we fail to accomplish some activity we are morally damaged. This is Bull Scheisse.

There is no moral obligation. None. Moral obligation is a social myth. We are not required to do anything whatsoever for anyone else whatsoever.

People who worry about their moral obligations have problems with imperatives. It is sometimes said that they "should" on themselves, and engage in "must-erbation". This world is bounded by negativity and threat, the danger of forgetting to perform some ritual, or the agony guilt over things not within our control.

In place of obligation and duty we have freedom. To act for the benefit of others is a freedom that we have, and it has a very good payoff in increased happiness for everyone. This world is bounded by rewards and happiness, and the fun of doing good. We do not have anything to force us to do good works, but good works pay off for everyone and bring us "great heaps of merit" (I love that Buddhist expression!)

It is for this reason that the best council to those who wish to change the world is not to go there, but to start with personal work. When we have stopped creating negative karma, and not until then, we are ready to help others to create less negative karma as well. BUT there is no obligation.

dave

dave_a_mbs wrote on Jan 29^th, 2008 at 6:39pm:

Actually, my favorite is peanut butter and baNanner. The term "obligation" and the other term "duty" are moral imperatives that tell us that if we fail to accomplish some activity we are morally damaged. This is Bull Scheisse. There is no moral obligation. None. Moral obligation is a social myth. We are not required to do anything whatsoever for anyone else whatsoever. People who worry about their moral obligations have problems with imperatives. It is sometimes said that they "should" on themselves, and engage in "must-erbation". This world is bounded by negativity and threat, the danger of forgetting to perform some ritual, or the agony guilt over things not within our control. In place of obligation and duty we have freedom. To act for the benefit of others is a freedom that we have, and it has a very good payoff in increased happiness for everyone. This world is bounded by rewards and happiness, and the fun of doing good. We do not have anything to force us to do good works, but good works pay off for everyone and bring us "great heaps of merit" (I love that Buddhist expression!) It is for this reason that the best council to those who wish to change the world is not to go there, but to start with personal work. When we have stopped creating negative karma, and not until then, we are ready to help others to create less negative karma as well. BUT there is no obligation. dave

Nanners just have a way to stick to ya, dont they...

Nix - bull scheisse, Dave...rofl.. ;D. If looking at it from the standpoint of Karma, then "there is an obligation" inorder to clean up the negative. So the "baNanner" might have been a harsh ruling politician at some point behind her, and thus decided to incarnate into the others role this go around to see what it feels like and IF beNanner is consciously aware , then she will not respond with anger, but rather with "love und understanding" and thus become contagious to those around her.

I'd say Nanner that it's important to come at this from the right 'view' though, as there are some pitfalls.

It's not taught that ' "there is an obligation" in order to clean up the negative'. To believe that just leaves us stuck  - caught up in more intellectually driven striving based on the presumption of 'self'. It may not at first seem logical, but I'd argue that it's really important that you reflect carefully on the below as it's right at the core of what the spiritual path means.

It's this compulsive mind made urge to 'fix' and 'improve' our lives for our 'self' by refusing to accept the natural flow of events (the Tao as I said before) that keeps us stuck in the mess that is this existence. A mess that flows from the delusion that 'self' exists anywhere except in the ego mind.

It's not about deciding intellectually what to do, or not to do on the basis of some conceptually worked out schema which sets out how things are. i.e. what 'self' must 'do' to offset karma and earn the fabled 'heaps  of merit'. (for 'self')

To do that is to consciously grasp after a mind made objective, and all the resulting attachment to 'mind stuff' and 'self' does is to pull us deeper into the illusory world of the ego.

It's not necessary to do anything to release karma other than to allow this conditioned tendency to get sucked in by thinking mind to fall away and get with the flow. As outlined in 19 and 21 of 'touchy'.

When we release the conditioning this happens naturally. With the result that we come to live naturally from love and wisdom as you describe.

The karma falls away and the merit accumulates but not as a result of any conscious decision to make this happen. 'Accumulate' is in one way not a very appropriate figure of speech as it implies 'doing', which in turn requires 'self'. What actually happens is that by allowing that aspect of 'self' to fall away karma is deprived of anything to get its hooks into, to get traction on. So it no longer influences us),

This is a really important distinction....

oh okay I get it - Thank you V.  :-* I guess I was walking the wrong thought process. I love it when I get a little help from my friends. So I take that back Dave..es ist bull scheisse..lol..
Humbly stand corrected,
Hugs,
nanner

8-)  :-* :-* Please pardon if i was too direct Nanner...

Oh - no - no - no Vajra - I love and respect  it when someone just says it the way they feel, ya didnt say anything nasty to hurt my feelings. Honesty and perspective: Perfect grounds for discussion - its exactly the way you do it.

Even though thanks for the many kisses, they felt goooooooood!
Hugs,
Nanner

Actually, once we get rid of the "obligation" and replace it with the "opportunity" - a shift in empowerment and purpose - then we're free to eat our favorite munchies, to love one another, to be joyful and to gain in wisdom.

The obligation thing would attempt to force this - "Floggings will continue until morale improves."
or limit it - "No laughing on Company Time."
and would tend to direct us impersonally - "All things not prohibited are mandatory."

I prefer to sit around with Vajra and the gang and have an avocado salad and glass of palm wine.

dave

I realize I'm not qualified to comment, but

'peanut butter, bananner... avocado salad, and palm wine' ---!!!

I'm sending you a cholesterol counter, Dave!  Airmail!

Bets

betson wrote on Jan 31^st, 2008 at 12:49pm:

I realize I'm not qualified to comment, but 'peanut butter, bananner... avocado salad, and palm wine' ---!!! I'm sending you a cholesterol counter, Dave!  Airmail! Bets

ROFL
I dare you to send em one, just for poops and grins..  ;D That would be sooooo funny Bets!
and...if you can "think" then your qualified. Obviously you can think quite well  ;)

Hugs,
Nanner

Hi Bets -

Doesn't your chef remove the calories while preparing the meal?

My recollection of balmy days in the tropics sipping palm wine and eating the bountiful fruits of nature also reminds me that with an adequate amount of palm wine, things don't stay in the system long enough to worry about calories.

However, if you add a slab of fresh fish to that menu, turn the banana and peanut butter into a nice Indonesian style sauce, and maybe substitute a nice Riesling, toss in a couple candles, and a moonlit setting - It'd be more on the order of a population counter than a calorie counter, I'd wager.
;-)
dave

;) You're a bad influence Dave, I'm too fat already....

Nanna,

I believe the only obligation in life is to live life to the full without harming others.

alan