XPost: alt.philosophy.taoism, alt.philosophy.zen   
   From: nottony.nokingsbury@ngmail.com   
      
   On 11/10/2016 2:13 AM, {:-]))) wrote:   
   > Ummmmmmm wrote:   
   >> {:-]))) had responded:   
   >>> Ummmmmmm wrote:   
   >>>   
   >>>> Sensible might be to go where the food is.   
   >>>   
   >>> Naturally.   
   >>>   
   >>> But if the name of the group was, alt.deciphering.tomb.inscriptions.   
   >>> on.the.coffins.of.long-dead.chefs, then it's a different story.   
   >>>   
   >>> Unless you have a living Master transmitting living Knowledge to you   
   >>> right now, assuming you are a living student, you, right now,   
   >>> might be in a wine cellar with a flash-light.   
   >>>   
   >>> Unless, by the term, living Master, you mean a non-physical one.   
   >>   
   >> I mean a real one.   
   >   
   > But not present, right now, right here.   
   >   
   >> One who can transmit Knowledge. Self-Knowledge.   
   >   
   > And, by Knowledge. Self-Knowledge.   
   > You have referred to the hub, the axis, the pivot of Tao.   
   > The center, so to speak. An awareness, I would assume.   
   >   
   > That you received. From someone. At some time. In the past.   
   > And it brought you great joy. To have found. Yourself.   
   > Your own secret room you didn't know existed.   
   > Someone handed you a key.   
   >   
   >> Not Knowledge of the Master, not Knowledge of the way things were in   
   >> China 3000 years ago. Knowledge of me.   
      
   My mistake. I should've guessed you'd take it literally.   
   Instead of "Knowledge of me" I should have written "Knowledge of the   
   Self as it exists in the present moment"   
      
   >   
   > Okay. So you are speaking of yourself. Of your story.   
   >   
   > Your very own story. Not anyone else.   
      
   No, I'm speaking of every "self" that exists here and now. Myself,   
   yourself, ourselves. All the selves that pass the wine bottle around in   
   the bamboo grove.   
      
   >   
   >> So he hands me a mirror, in which I see myself as I really am. Does he   
   >> have to keep handing me a mirror every minute of every day? Of course not.   
   >   
   > That's good for you.   
   > It's nice that someone handed you a mirror.   
   >   
   > If you'd seen your reflection in a still, quiet, lake   
   > then you might have become attached to lakes.   
      
   The point isn't the mirror or the lake - the point is the reflection   
   that shines back at you. "Ah! so that's what I really am"   
   or   
   more simply   
   "Wow! That's me?"   
      
   >   
   > And then, it might appear as if you were saying, everyone   
   > needs to go find a lake. Because that is what worked, for you.   
   >   
   > Is that what you're saying?   
      
   All I'm saying is that anyone who finds a way to see past their history   
   and conditioning to their own inner beauty and clarity is going to be   
   agreeably surprised.   
   To become addicted to the mirror would be stupid. To be grateful to the   
   person who lent it to you would be courteous.   
      
   To become addicted to the lake would be to risk drowning, if a storm   
   brewed up.   
      
   >   
   > Or. No. It can'be be found in a lake.   
   > It can't be found in a book.   
   >   
   > It can't be found by taking a look.   
   > In a mirror. No. No.   
   >   
   > It can only be given by the brook.   
   > And not by hook nor by crook.   
   >   
   > It needs to be cooked by a cook.   
   > A living Chef. And you need to be spoon fed.   
   >   
   > And by you, I mean, in the past. You. Personally.   
   >   
   > That's your story.   
   >   
   > It's a good story. I like it.   
   > It's just not everyone's story.   
   >   
   > Maybe you can appreciate that.   
      
   I can appreciate that you almost desperately want it to be not your story.   
      
   I can't quite understand why. After all - all you're going to see in the   
   mirror is your self. Yourself. Is that such a frightening prospect?   
      
   >   
   > Some folks are quite happy by a lake.   
   > Some are very happy with what they take   
   > and give as they merrily stroll along, or row,   
   > row, row their boat, gently, down the stream.   
   >   
   > - of thoughts, in various bamboo groves   
   >   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)