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Thanks for stating your agreement John!

No one else has affirmed my radical statement that we are making everything up, and I have said it many times. Some have agreed that we manipulate a part of our appearing reality sometimes in some ways, but no one has agreed to the extent that you have!

Of course it is nice to no longer be the lone voice in the wilderness.

But, perhaps there is something I like about being the lone voice in the wilderness, and I will just have to deal with that change!

I wonder why!

Sean

There are no weekends in my life
Though I thank you for the weekend wishes
I live alone on a mountain
I do not work
I have no rhythm in my life
Today I found myself
Wondering what day it was.
"Thank God It's Friday"
Is a very distant memory

We make 'weekends' up too!

Oh Sean - you may not always be a lone voice in the wilderness but you will always be a unique one.
Leonard Cohen once said 'we are all, only children when we sleep' - that may not be a perfect quote, but I think it's close.
Those 10 syllables say so many things all at once.

Hello Cate

Happy Saturday

Uniqueness can be a very dangerous human quality or attitude; I know it well!

There is an analogy that I love in Budddhism regarding the ideal attitude to have towards others. It is said that we have a tendency to regard our being, our person, as special, unique, and different from others without any valid reason. If we are on top of one mountain looking at another mountain saying "I am on this mountain looking at that mountain" and we climb down, cross the valley, and head to the top of the other mountain we can then still say: "I am on this mountain looking at that mountain" so 'this' has changed to 'that' and vice versa. If we can apply that analogy to human relationships we can solve all human problems.

You know it ain't easy!

AGT

Sean

Why thank you Sean, I am in fact having a very happy Saturday.

A happy, some day in the season of Spring, to you!

I think we are all unique and we are all the same.
I like that people are unique because it makes them interesting and allows you to see things in a different way, I like that people are the same because it means that I am not alone in my experience - I find comfort in that. I think that we become unique the moment we are separated from our Mothers bodies and I think many of us look for others to unite with so that we can once again have that feeling of being a part of one.
Maybe this is what people are looking for from god.
I like your analogy of the mountains - you would have made a good teacher, you always adjust your style to match who you're speaking with.

Question for you Sean - Do you feel that your uniqueness has been dangerous to you or has it been a gift - albeit a heavy one?

BTW - I agree with you - if we could clearly see things from each others perspectives and realize that we are not so different, our problems would be greatly diminished.

All the best

Cate

Hi Cate

re your question:

.. Question for you Sean - Do you feel that your uniqueness has been dangerous to you or has it been a gift - albeit a heavy one?

One of the exquisite sufferings in 'samsara' is that we are usually caught between a rock and a hard place. Everything is useful and lovely and useless and dangerous. I can look back at ex-wives, holidays, new jobs, new children, new houses, new cars, new friends and I can see this. maybe it is an example of the 'cracks' that Leonard talks about.

Back to uniqueness. Civilization loves unique people and it kills them: Jesus, Ghandi, Martin Luther King (I still can't believe that no one ever assassinated Muhammed Ali!.. now there is a unique man!)... maybe it's the luck of the Irish!... Did you know he is part Irish? That explains his poetry, his pugilism and his handsomeness.

Back to uniqueness... my uniqueness... I refer you back to the analogy of the mountains...they are all different but what sense is there in acknowledging the particular uniquenesses of each mountain?... they are all mountains

My second ex wife talked me into going with her to a Blue Jays baseball game in that new 'Dome' in Toronto in 1991. I went reluctantly. There was a 'wave' that started going around the stadium and when it got to me I refused to get up to be a part of that wave. I was horrified at the thought. It felt like some kind of suicide, if I got up, and it was simply unthinkable. My daily life in the suburbs began feeling like that wave in the stadium, I felt like I was dying, and I had to extricate myself.

Back to uniqueness, whether it is dangerous or a gift: Leonard once described his relationship with his 'Roshi' during an interview in 'I'm Your Man'. When describing Roshi he said".... someone who deeply didn't care about who I was, and therefore who I was began to wither and the less I was of who I was, the better I felt". The moral of this story is that the more we care about who we are the more we suffer.

I think uniqueness
is mostly dangerous
especially if it is
in any way
intentional
because civilization
or your inflated ego
may just
turn you to dust
Accidental uniqueness
is maybe OK
as long as we pay
some attention to
the volunteer vigilantes
that secret squad
of uniqueness police.

Sean
AGT

Happy Sunday

they are all different but what sense is there in acknowledging the particular uniquenesses of each mountain?... they are all mountains

I buried my stash of winter food on this mountain, not that one. This mountain - the one with the three trees that stand in a row at the bottom, and the stream that comes down in a zig zag. Not that mountain with the little grove of five trees and no stream.

I buried

my stash

Hi Manna

The point of the analogy relates to the 'nature' of the phenomena being the same; people, mountains, etc. All of the suffering in the world comes from the mistaken mind that believes my happiness is more important than other people's happiness. It is called self-cherishing or self-centredness, or selfishness or egoism.

Of course there are conventional differences in each mountain. My mountain here in Spain doesn't kill me often. Everest would. But when the mountains are washed to the sea, and are mixed with the sand we see that the nature is the same. In the same way the waves on the ocean look very different, some large, suitable for surf boards, and some small, but they are all ocean, are all impermanent, and are all dependent on the apprehending consciousness to even be imputed, in order to come into existence. The wave analogy, and the mountain analogy work well for human beings too. Our drama of intense suffering in samsara is fueled by the mistaken and unsupportable belief in our 'uniqueness', our specialness, and we work hard for our own happiness at the expense of others = manipulation, resentment, abuse, war. Sometimes this self-cherishing is gross and easy to see but most often it is extremely subtle and pervasive and we are unaware of it. We sometimes have a rare opportunity to perceive it in contrast, when we contemplate the beings who seem to have conquered the fault, people like Mother Teresa, people whose kindness and generosity and complete lack of self-seeking indicate that they have conquered self-cherishing.

Leonard seems to me to have arrived at that state of grace.

"The holy dove, she will be caught again
and bought and sold and caught again...
the dove is never free"

Self-cherishing is the reason why the dove is never free.

AGT

Sean

Hi Sean, Manna and John if your back from the weekend.
BTW it's Monday Sean - Happy Monday

I agree that happiness at the expense of others is not a good thing but as long as your cherishing others you should cherish yourself as well.
Believe me I'm a big fan of being submissive but it's important that we don't get lost entirely. My happiness is not more important then the happiness of others, but it is important that all of us take our own happiness into consideration. Self love and appreciation is almost as important as loving others - not more important - almost as important.
I'm trying to think of what your saying - maybe for the holiest men - who can gives their 'selves' completely what you say may be true but for the average person -for me - my 'self' isn't just mine anymore so I could never completely give it away. I guess I'm a mountain that's part of a mountain range.

Cate

You're right, wanting to live through the winter is a self-centered thing. But if I can't find my stash, I cannot eat it, nor share it, nor give it away. I'm f*cked, and probably going to ride a sine wave hell.

Hi Cate...

Just saying Hi back - nothing really to add : )

Oh.. I did remember another poem that I did - I wrote it for my wife on our 5th wedding anniversary back in '96 - I was 28. I wrote the poem on a painting of a flower that I did. I don't recall all of the words - I'll check the painting and post it tomorrow. Have Fun!

The poem I mentioned in yesterday's post.....


Chrissy,


You are my Dream,

which has come true

You are my Life,

Born anew

You are my strength,

which never dies

You are my courage,

always answering my cries

You are my Wisdom,

teaching them to be kind

You are my Faith,

in all of mankind

You are my Friend,

Our spirits they soar

You are my Love,

Forevermore

You are my Light,

which will always shine

You are my Wife,

I pray until the end of Time

Love
- John

Good morning John

This would make a nice vow.
What a wonderful anniversary gift!
Very romantic.

You married young - it's nice to grow with someone.
I think it makes for a strong bond if it's a good match.

I hope you have a good day,

Cate

Cate wrote:

I think we are all unique and we are all the same.
I like that people are unique because it makes them interesting and allows you to see things in a different way, I like that people are the same because it means that I am not alone in my experience - I find comfort in that.

What a tremendous insight into humanity!

God bless,
William

Cate: Good morning John

This would make a nice vow.
What a wonderful anniversary gift!
Very romantic.

You married young - it's nice to grow with someone.
I think it makes for a strong bond if it's a good match.

I hope you have a good day,

Cate

Hi Cate…. Tanks!

Yes, I was 23 and Chrissy was 22 – very young indeed.
You think you love someone when you get married – but if that love remains over time it only grows and strengthens – The love I felt for her then is nothing compared to the love I feel now… how foolish are the young : )

Hope you have a great day my friend!