Maybe you're right, Dude. Glad to see you, was thinking of you a few days ago, then here you are.

Can you tell us about some of your experiences you had while you have been away?

Thanks Dude, good points and perfect timing.

Recoverer, sure there are good conversations and helping out. Also there is "helping" out a board and the world when one's ample initiative is needed for helping and letting the respective self grow.

BobMoenroe:

I don't understand what you mean by your last sentence.




Quote:

Dude:

I don't agree with much of what you said. I am not going to make the mistake of judging how spiritually deep others are by whether or not they take part on a spiritual forum. I believe you are being an extremist. Ego this,  ego that, blah, blah, blah.

If you want to claim to be spiritually advanced while you at the same time put others down, that is your choice.

Hah, hah!  Look at how many posts I have written. I must be the least spiritually developed person on this forum.

That's all I have to say. I don't want waste a bunch of time talking about your measurement system.

Seagull

I am glad that you were able to grasp my message without letting your ego interfere.  It is not everyone who can so easily objectively scrutinize one's own thoughts and actions.  It requires confidence and the willingness to grow and change. 

Recoverer

It seems you have taken what I said personally.  It was not my intention to offend you.  It was not meant to be a critique and I was not coming from a place of judgement, but rather of discernment.  I am not condemning anyone for their behaviors or tendencies, nor am I putting myself on a pedestal, as you have also falsely perceived.  Never have I said that I was spiritually advanced, nor have I put others down.  Perhaps your own feelings are clouding your own discernment.  I will clarify my message and purpose once more for the sake of those who may have been thrown off by your short-sighted conclusions:

What I wrote was based on my own personal experiences of using the forum setting as a playground for my ego's desires and attachments.  It was not based on anyone else.  As I have learned the error of my ways through a reliable and repeatable system of meditative practices, I simply shared what I have learned and the methods by which I have gained personal benefit with those that may have a similar interest in one day overcoming the delusions and defilements that plague us humans that generally go unnoticed.   

If you had truly grasped what I said, you would understand that it is not the forum activity itself, but rather it is the underlying desires and intent that generate the activity which should be evaluated.  This goes for all activity in all areas of one's life.  Everyone can be more mindful, aside from maybe those who claim to be fully liberated, and I have learned by experience that the dedicated pursuit of this process of in-depth mindfulness and related meditative practices affords innumerable benefits which has personally liberated me from the seeking of approval, the seeking of establishment and confirmation of my beliefs, the seeking of gaining more and more information, and the seeking of establishing my identity to others that was largely driving my past activities here.

Although I notice behavior similar to my own past ego-driven behaviors that I can draw comparisons to, my intent is not to imply that the forum members here are guilty of being ego-maniacs, but rather to encourage everyone to be more mindful of their thoughts and actions, as there can be no spiritual growth if one does not know one's self, and to offer my knowledge of a practice that has verifiably liberated many of it's practitioners from many of the defilements and suffering that we so eagerly seek to escape from.  My intent was to warn those who may be unaware of the underlying source of illusory desires and attachments that drives us to partake in unwholesome mental and physical actions, and to point to a way that I have experientially discovered to allow for the development of clarity from such delusions.

If you see any judgement or superiority in what I have said, it may do you some benefit to reevaluation your perceptions and the possible cause of the negativity that you have cast over what I have written.  My friend Seagull has benefited from what I have said, and I hope that you and others may as well.

Dude:

The system won't let me edit my last post now, so here's an addition to my last post. Below is an example of what you wrote. Can you see why somebody might interpret it in a negative way?

"If we look closely at our motivations for activity such expressing personal beliefs, debating the validity of concepts, and trying to change the viewpoints of others, we may find a nasty mixture of ego, attachment, and identification issues at play underlying the surface conviction of "liberating" others or providing them a service.  We may find ourselves wasting hours on end trying to make others see things our way, or looking to others to provide the answers to questions of which we are ignorant to, all the while stunting our own personal growth, neglecting the true source of wisdom within."

Dude:

Going by an email I received I'm not the only person who interpreted your posts as I did. I don't know if there are other people who interpreted as I did.

Of course this doesn't absolutely mean that we put one and two together in a correct way.

It is true that part of my response was reactive.  Not everyone on this forum is a fan of some of my past posts. It can be challenging when you try to be helpful and in return you receive negative feedback.

If by "some of my advice" you mean not wasting time on a forum and not writing posts that are based on ego, then it seems as if my interpretation of what you initially said is accurate.

Whether you believe my forum participation is based on the reasons I stated on my next to last post, that is up to you.

Hello Seagull:

I'm not certain of what you mean by "not making a mistake." It is hard for me to remember everything I've written on this forum (I've written so much  ), but I believe you are referring about when I allow myself to get stressed by the things I am responsible for at work.  It is true, there isn't much room for making mistakes. I don't stress out too much, but sometimes I falter.

Regarding changing jobs, I don't know. I'll be 56 next month. I hope to retire in about 9 years.  When you're older it isn't always easy to find a new job.

Plus if I change jobs the same thing might happen at the next place I work.  I won't match up with the people who work there. Plus, the job I have does have some advantages.

Some of the people at my work know that I communicate with spirits. I don't know how uneasy this makes them.  If you knew me in person you'd see that I'm a really nice person and basically likeable.  But if people don't make an energetic connection, relationships don't tend to form.

Regarding volunteer work, the way I help with retrievals I help much of the time.  I help when I'm just sitting there.  If I get up and move around I can't help in the same way. So I give retrievals first priority. Sometimes I choose to not do something like go to a musical performance so I can sit at home and help with retrievals.

I'm going to the New Living Expo in San Mateo California this weekend. Maybe I'll meet someone there.

If not, well it isn't as if it's really hurting me being alone most of the time. But because I am, sometimes I feel inclined to visit a place like this forum. I don't believe it is a waste of time.

Did it sound like I made some excuses?