And what is the meaning of life?

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bansy

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And what is the meaning of life?

Post11 Feb 2009

Now that you have become ex-BKed, is there an answer ?
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paulkershaw

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Re: And what is the meaning of life

Post12 Feb 2009

Mr Green, can you please read the hops in the liquid spirit sustenance you prefer and let us know? Meantime; I'll consult the onion rings and see what comes through. ;) The Life of Brian also reveals some good processes and I may have to watch it with more open eyes in order to get a final defined answer....

Terry

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Re: And what is the meaning of life

Post12 Feb 2009

bansy wrote:What is the meaning of Life? Now that you have become ex-BKed, is there an answer ?

Only if there's a question.

bansy

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Re: And what is the meaning of life

Post12 Feb 2009

Hey, I've just been assumed to be a "BK supporter" overnight. That's funny, way way back I always hated labels and had it dropped. Someone's putting a label on me here. I like the BKs but I also like the Buddhists and the Christians, I have many friends there. I also like the PBKs but I don't get "PBK supporter." I guess it is becoming a farce, this labelling thing.

But don't worry folks, because I KNOW who is doing this labelling change. And I will send that soul sakash good wishes and pure feeling so over the internet waves :D.

Now back to the thread.
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Mr Green

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Re: And what is the meaning of life

Post14 Feb 2009

Good to see you posting again bansy, :D.

I will give this some thought.
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joel

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Re: And what is the meaning of life

Post14 Feb 2009

bansy wrote:Now that you have become ex-BKed, is there an answer ?

Hi Bansy,

Nice that way you invite people, drawing them out on such questions. I am curious what you think about this, as questioner.

I am discovering that much of my life I had organized around wanting an answer, meaning some formula that would give me advance assurance about outcomes in situations, especially in connecting with others.

Much as my cerebral self would like that assurance, outside of ritual (which has its place in life), to be a living, aware human to me, now means to some extent surrendering any attachment to form or container for the future. Trusting that I can contain the expression of whatever possibilities the moment might lead to.

I recently went to a couple satsangs of Gangaji, who I wrote about elsewhere here. The second time I went with a wise and elderly friend. She and her partner Eli propose a single solution: to let go of one's conditioning, attachment to one's labels for oneself. They sounded much like the BKs, not mentioning the word "soul", but implying that there is one unchanging reality that underlies all that changes. And if you can be aware of that, that your relationships will be better because of being free of expectations toward others. She says it's very challenging, but very simple.

Discussing with my friend afterwards, I could see that taking that path would be framing life in terms of a single problem to be solved and the single solution of seeking the source through relationship with someone who is at that point of evolution, i.e. Gangaji, or maybe her 500W-smiling partner.

No therapy (which in my experience is a kind of creative exploration of the past in the present moment toward a new experience of the self with a larger perspective of one's, uh, multidimensionality.) No, stop, it is all here right now.

Gangaji did not allow her questioners much rope to explore. Eli told the woman who said she wanted to play more that what she wanted could be achieved directly, without intermediate steps. He used the example of his crackly microphone that sputtered and came to life. He said that self-discovery was that quick, does not require years of ascetic practices.

In the presence of my elderly friend, I could see that Gangaji's approach is essentially a renunciate path, that fulfillment is OUTSIDE of everything else in the world, with the one significant exception that it is INSIDE the relationship with an enlightened master.

At this point in my life, I reject the dualism that I perceive in her approach: that self-awareness, enlightenment, whatever you are seeking is an ON/OFF kind of thing. And I reject that there is a single goal and single process for reaching this goal.

The reason we need music and literature and art and dance and relationships with many others is that each awakens and develops a particular facet of ourselves.

At this moment I am reading One Man's Bible by Gao Xingjian, the Nobel Prize winning Chinese writer. I had previously been deeply moved by Soul Mountain, his most famous work. He has a way of observing and loving all of life through his writing. That is something of my direction: embracing all of myself and all of life. When I say it this way, it sounds like an answer, yet it is also a rejecting of all answers.

Answers, by nature are linguistic, semantic cerebral things, whereas our natures have many layers and dimensions that our semantic assessments of ourselves-in-the-world can never full grasp.

Nice to have written a little something before abandoning myself to the self-forgetful embrace of sleep.

Thanks for reading.
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ex-l

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Re: And what is the meaning of life?

Post14 Feb 2009

The need for a "meaning of life" is a sign of imbalance somewhere else in the self that others can use to control and manipulate you if you do not recognise it. "You want one, guess what ... we're selling one ... not just any one ... but the big and brightest and best-est of all Meanings of Life™ in the world ... New and improved! Yes, roll right up folks ..."

There is no need for 'a meaning of life' and there is certainly not 'one' prepackaged meaning of life for all.

Even, "what is the purpose of my life?" is too big a question. Why not just, "what is the next thing I have to do right now and how can I do it at least harmfully and as most efficiently as I can?" might be a fair enough question ... Do folks not recognise a thread through all of this? Its always based on exaggerations. Exaggerated language, exaggerated meaning, exaggerated worth.

The moment one sees that, one's alarm bells ought to start ringing.
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desi_exbk

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Re: And what is the meaning of life?

Post15 Feb 2009

Stop seeking "THE meaning of life". There will be lots of them ... you reach/realize one, you move onto your next one.

Important thing is, never forget to have fun in the process of discovery or your journey.

bansy

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Re: And what is the meaning of life?

Post15 Feb 2009

Que ?

As Manuel in Faulty Towers would phrase it. :D

bkti-pit

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Re: And what is the meaning of life?

Post16 Feb 2009

deccani wrote:Important thing is, never forget to have fun in the process of discovery or your journey.

I like this. Too often BKs forget to have fun. When I saw the faces of the Dadis, etc, doing their annual pilgrimage to the Tower of Peace, etc, in Madhuban on the 18th of January, they all looked so serious and tight. Not a single smile.
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leela

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Re: And what is the meaning of life?

Post17 Feb 2009

Could it be that the meaning of life is to discover Life Itself?

I was recently playing on a beach with a dog, running and throwing a stick. At one point, I heard myself laugh. I was for a moment the observer of myself, and I was deeply touched by the simplicity, the purity, the absolute joy that I heard in the laughter. Just for a moment, I knew that Life is, Life is joy, and I am Life.

Sometimes it seems that the purpose of life is to show me where and how I have separated from that awareness and to point me back to it. Does that sound like a meaning? I have no idea really, but it can make my day to day life feel very meaningful.

Sometimes if seems as though life is one big game of hide and seek. In the moment, I experience meaning. As soon as I conceptualize "meaning" with my head as something to be found, I have lost it again. Once it is lost, I might begin searching for it again. But now I know that searching only serves to compound the sense of loss, and I can more easily return to the experience of meaning in the moment.
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desi_exbk

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Re: And what is the meaning of life?

Post17 Feb 2009

bansy wrote:Que ? As Manuel in Faulty Towers would phrase it. :D

Snobbery, Mr. bansy? Yep, it is almost therapautic when you use it ... especially against BKs (ex, current, or whatever). If you look at my posts, you can see, that is what I indulge in.

Here is one more: My post has more logic and argument than those jewels from Sakar as well as Avyakt Murlis. You may want to read it during Amrit Vela to get the gist of my argument.

For my defence: I guess I am doing pretty good given that Angrezee is my fourth language.

Back to you :D.

bansy

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Re: And what is the meaning of life?

Post17 Feb 2009

Very good.

Also interesting that you expect I do Amrit Vela.

Never mind.

Terry

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Re: And what is the meaning of life?

Post18 Feb 2009

leela wrote:Could it be that the meaning of life is to discover Life Itself?

Got my vote - I'd leave out the words ""to discover"
I was recently playing on a beach with a dog, running and throwing a stick. At one point, I heard myself laugh. I was for a moment the observer of myself, and I was deeply touched by the simplicity, the purity, the absolute joy that I heard in the laughter. Just for a moment, I knew that Life is, Life is joy, and I am Life.

No comment here, just loved the vibe, worth revisiting!
Sometimes if seems as though life is one big game of hide and seek. In the moment, I experience meaning. As soon as I conceptualize "meaning" with my head as something to be found, I have lost it again.

That is the "rise" and "fall" - "Dah" - "ma", the breath of life. No rise and fall, no in and out, no losing and finding, that is stasis. Death. Thank you for a lovely posting.
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paulkershaw

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Re: And what is the meaning of life?

Post18 Feb 2009

And if one adds in the word 'who's' into the equation it changes things. Can I do that Bansy? May I change the thread to read, "... and what is the meaning of who's life' ... as we are all seeming to have different ideals eh? I personally never have the need to ask what the meaning of my life is. More often its a case of asking 'why' or 'how come' something happened - all with the purpose of finding out what I attracted into my space at any given time.
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