MISC. NP. since we have talked about mindfulness here

Mon Jan 26 20:56:01 CST 2015

Ah, Keith, there are other folks who think otherwise. Erik Erikson is one I
regard highly. He says we keep developing throughout life, and that living
in "Just Communities" enhances development. The notion fits quite well with
the idea of the brain getting itself into trim following the adolescent
fattening in that the functional result of the trimming is that it makes it
work better over time, so we learn to ask more questions. I think Erikson
and Gregory Bateson likely got along just fine.

On Mon, Jan 26, 2015 at 10:02 AM, David Ewers <dsewers at comcast.net> wrote:

> Thanks for the links!
>
> On Jan 26, 2015, at 4:58 AM, Keith Davis wrote:
>
> David E., yes, this is what I've been saying about Pynchon for a while, in
> not exactly the same words.
>
> David M., funny, I have this volume of Parabola. It was something
> recommended and referred to in a study group I was involved in.
>
> Here is a book I just borrowed from my cousin, about one of the topics
> we're discussing. I haven't read it yet, but it looks interesting.
>
> http://books.google.com/books/about/The_Brain_that_Changes_Itself.html?id=CfY4AAAAQBAJ
>
> Here is an interesting talk about non-duality:
> http://www.sailorbobadamson.com/introductory-talk/
>
>
>
> On Mon, Jan 26, 2015 at 1:41 AM, David Ewers <dsewers at comcast.net> wrote:
>
>> I agree; good stuff!
>>
>> You read my mind, Mr. Morris.  I was just writing when I saw your post:
>> We've been talking about crossing equators lately in M-&D-.  The human
>> brain also has hemispheres, so it lends itself conveniently to a dualistic
>> viewing (right and left brains, etc.).  But, as Ian Livingston points out,
>> thinking non-dualistically [feels/seems/thinks] good for/to/as the brain.
>> This observation, which I share, reminds me of something I read a long time
>> ago about brain bicamerality (something about the interface between brain
>> hemispheres, changing over time, by way of attention), which makes me
>> wonder about brain physiology.  Could there be electrochemical brain
>> changes resulting from our mental seafaring?  Or (at the risk of sounding
>> even more spaced-out...)  other physical correlations between our - if not
>> conceptual unification, at least 'motion' in its direction -, and the
>> 'outside world'?  So some Brain><Earth symmetry, leading to self-similar
>> processes of unification?  To my mind, Pynchon is a lot about this sort of
>> synthesis.  For me, novels like his are part of a sort of Western
>> non-dualistic tradition.
>>
>> On Jan 25, 2015, at 10:01 PM, David Morris wrote:
>>
>> Meditation usually starts with focusing on the process of breathing, with
>> the goal of slowing down the verbalizing mind, often called the "monkey
>> mind."  Pre-verbal experience is the goal.  It can take you to places that
>> tripping drugs go, but with longer lasting results.
>>
>> Some eastern schools teach about the energy channels of the esoteric
>> body: the left, right, and central channel.  The dominant human-ego channel
>> is the left-brain (right body) side. Meditation seeks to allow the right
>> brain to have its equal place.  And ultimately the two sides meld into a
>> vortex in the central channel. That blend is the Tao.
>>
>> David Morris
>>
>>
>> On Sunday, January 25, 2015, Keith Davis <kbob42 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Great stuff!
>>>
>>>
>>> Www.innergroovemusic.com
>>> Sent from Beyond the Zero
>>>
>>> On Jan 25, 2015, at 11:57 PM, Ian Livingston <igrlivingston at gmail.com>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>> "Mind training" is brain training. Like any other part of the body, the
>>> brain responds well to exercise, and, as with any other part of the body,
>>> where you tether your attention is where you will go. Attention--that's the
>>> key. Selecting a tether is easy, staying at that anchor in the raging
>>> stream of consciousness is another. We Westerners don't really get the
>>> whole non-dual thing. It's a concept for us, but that is not the case for
>>> the native people of the cultures in which non-dual reckoning is a natural
>>> part of being in the world. It ain't the same as oneness with the deity, as
>>> the Catholic monastics seek, nor is emptiness the emptiness of our
>>> conceptualization. We don't have the metaphors that fully convey those
>>> reference points in the non-dual traditions. It's important to flirt with
>>> it, though. It seems to be good for the brain.
>>>
>>> On Sun, Jan 25, 2015 at 8:32 PM, David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> "Awakening" is gaining access to the perspective of oneness, breaking
>>>> through to experiencing it. Satori is a temporary higher state. One can't
>>>> stay there, or one might as well be dead, commit suicide. The trick, higher
>>>> goal, is the bring that unified state back into this dualistic world.
>>>>  "Enlightenment" is the state of living in this world with an awakened
>>>> perspective.
>>>>
>>>> This topic is a BIG playground.  That's why reincarnation is an
>>>> infinite reality.  Buddhism described a multiverse long before theoretical
>>>> quantum physics surmised it.
>>>>
>>>> David Morris
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Sunday, January 25, 2015, Ian Livingston <igrlivingston at gmail.com>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> According to Ken Wilber, Keith, yes, repeated exposure to further
>>>>> stages of development speeds development along. So repeating satori
>>>>> experiences can lead to enlightenment.
>>>>> Theoretically.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> On Sun, Jan 25, 2015 at 11:51 AM, David Ewers <dsewers at comcast.net>
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daigo_(Zen)?  Or were you referring to
>>>>>> something more nameless?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On Jan 25, 2015, at 9:19 AM, Keith Davis wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Trouble is, that satori, like any other state, is temporary. What is
>>>>>> it that lasts?
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Www.innergroovemusic.com
>>>>>> Sent from Beyond the Zero
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On Jan 25, 2015, at 11:56 AM, Ian Livingston <igrlivingston at gmail.com>
>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Buddhism is just another religion. Mahayana is so like the Catholic
>>>>>> church it's no wonder there are so many crossover attendees in both
>>>>>> denominations. Chan resembles Orthodoxy in many ways, and Hinayana and Zen
>>>>>> are like protestant derivatives of their forebears.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> The parallels break down in details, but the overarching themes
>>>>>> remain pretty equivalent. You're as likely to achieve satori in Catholic
>>>>>> mystical practices as in any of Buddhist lineages, depending on the
>>>>>> metaphors that serve you best. Another excellent route to a very similar
>>>>>> experience, I think, is the deep study of any of the physical sciences.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On Sun, Jan 25, 2015 at 7:43 AM, Mark Kohut <mark.kohut at gmail.com>
>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Yeah. Pretty long koan to me, more power to you, less is my
>>>>>>> 'enlightenment'.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> On Sun, Jan 25, 2015 at 10:32 AM, Keith Davis <kbob42 at gmail.com>
>>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>> > Seems very complicated.
>>>>>>> >
>>>>>>> >
>>>>>>> > Www.innergroovemusic.com
>>>>>>> > Sent from Beyond the Zero
>>>>>>> >
>>>>>>> > On Jan 25, 2015, at 10:26 AM, Ian Livingston <
>>>>>>> igrlivingston at gmail.com>
>>>>>>> > wrote:
>>>>>>> >
>>>>>>> > "A very real Zen answer, to me."
>>>>>>> >
>>>>>>> > Hinayana, actually. Zen and Hinayana are Pacific descendants of
>>>>>>> Mahayana.
>>>>>>> > Both evolved out of Chan, the Chinese variety of Buddhism that
>>>>>>> integrates
>>>>>>> > many Taoist elements, especially elements of alchemy and of flow
>>>>>>> being
>>>>>>> > unidirectional. Both follow the premise that the goal of
>>>>>>> enlightenment is is
>>>>>>> > to achieve Nirvana and, well, graduate out of the cycle of
>>>>>>> suffering, death,
>>>>>>> > and rebirth. In Mahayana, the aim is to achieve Nirvana so that the
>>>>>>> > enlightened one can return as a bodhisattva to guide others along
>>>>>>> the path
>>>>>>> > to enlightenment.
>>>>>>> >
>>>>>>> > On Sun, Jan 25, 2015 at 4:59 AM, Mark Kohut <mark.kohut at gmail.com>
>>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>> >>
>>>>>>> >> This morning, while driving to get my pressing news (no NYT
>>>>>>> delivery
>>>>>>> >> where I live), the NPR show ON BEING was on.
>>>>>>> >>
>>>>>>> >> Ms. Tippit interviewed Thich Nhat Hanh, leading Vietnamese
>>>>>>> Buddhist,
>>>>>>> >> and quoted to him from his Meditation Handbook. "these techniques
>>>>>>> will
>>>>>>> >> help you handle the pressing questions in your life"...
>>>>>>> >>
>>>>>>> >> She then asked him "What are Your pressing questions?"...
>>>>>>> >>
>>>>>>> >> He:  "Pressing questions?", reflectively ......."I have no
>>>>>>> >> pressing questions"....
>>>>>>> >>
>>>>>>> >> A very real Zen answer, to me.
>>>>>>> >> -
>>>>>>> >> Pynchon-l / http://www.waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l
>>>>>>> >
>>>>>>> >
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>
>>
>
>
> --
> www.innergroovemusic.com
>
>
>
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