01) Putting pain in its place and keeping it there is a matter of seeing what we can get by with and being able to take "No" for an answer. I've been on cutches because of arthritic knees for 10 years, and allowing pain tell me what I can do and cannot do--and being fine with whatever that is. I take this to be what the Buddha expressed as, "Peaceful abiding, here, now." That is being fine with whatever is, here, now. And being able to play the handicap card is a great asset in the service of silence and stillness.
02) I cannot concur more! Our body is the vehicle of our intuition--is the physical essence of our intuition. IS our intuition visibly present in the world. Those who know,know what their body knows. And the old Taoists knew that "Those who know don't say, and those who say, don't know." Because what is known cannot be said/thought/explained/intellectualized. Only known.
03) When we are our own soulmate we trust ourselves to know what's what and what is called for to the point where we don't think about it, but just respond spontaneously, naturally, "as one thus come," "peaceful abiding, here, now," trusting that our action as a "mutual arising" (Mutual with the circumstances as they arise "of themselves," so we arise "from ourselves," in doing what needs to be done, when, where, and how it needs to be done, automatically, "from the heart" in each situation as it arises (And there is "a whole lot of arising" going on). Let it be so!
04) We are nourished by the present moment the way the here, now produces peaceful abiding. The present moment is our comfort and consolation. Our liberation from the realization of suffering with the realization of peaceful abiding, here, now.
05) We aren't here for the impact we have, or for the outcomes we arrange. We are here to do what is called for in each situation as it arises, using the gifts we have to share of our original nature, our innate virtues--the things we do best and enjoy doing most--our inherent imagination and our intrinsic intuition. And, to let that be that, or as the Tao te Ching puts it, "Do your work and step back, let nature take its course." We might alter that a bit by adding, "and enter peaceful abiding, here, now."
06) Our life is amazing. Life is amazing. Your/our stories are amazing. I see us all as being "the moved" in relation to "the mover," with "the mover" being who we also are. And we are who we are and who we also are. And that, too, is amazing. And it means we are never alone. Never without "the other I--the one who moves us to do what is called for "anyway, nevertheless, even so." All our life long. "Two Women Go Into A Bar--the moved with the mover!" Always and forever how it is and how it must be. Throughly amazing all of the way!
07) We are born with everything we need to find what we need to do what is called for in each situation as it arises. What did the Buddha find that the Buddha did not already have when he started looking for the way to enlightenment? What did Jesus find that he did not have from birth. D.T. Suzuki said that enlightenment is equivalent to "habitual intuition." Who is not born with that already in place? Babies know what nipples are for! No need to tell them! Stay out of their way! It is amazing what we know/realize just by being silent and waiting "for the mud to settle and the water to clear." Clarity is the mother of all things. If you are worried about not seeing, be quieter longer.
08) Those who know, know the same things. The Buddha and Jesus and Lao Tzu were/are attuned and in sync with each other, and all others who know what's what and what is called for. Who was the Buddha's teacher? Who instructed Jesus in the Way? Who lectured Lao Tzu in the flow of the Tao? Heinrich Zimmer said, that the best things cannot be said, and the second-best things create confusion because they try to say what cannot be said and people do not agree about the terminology, leaving us to talk about the third-best things, news, weather, sports, gossip, politics and religion (Or words to that effect).
09) Responding to here, now by doing what is called for, when, where and how it is called for, will lead us to the Wailing Wall when that is an appropriate response to the situation as it arises. Saying "yes" to life just as it is implies saying "yes" to "no," and grieving what is to be grieved, mourning what is to be mourned and acknowledging our loss, sorrow and anguish when the occasion calls those emotions forth. No denial. No pretense. No kidding ourselves. No playing the game of not playing a game (R.D. Laing). In order to please our idea (Or someone else's idea) of how our life ought to be lived. Knowing what's what and doing what is called for in each situation as it arises means responding to the moment as the moment needs to be responded to, without judgment, opinion, expectation getting in the way--but intuitively responding to the moment, spontaneously, naturally, in the moment, and letting nature take its course, no matter what.
10) Beautifully said! The old (Classic) Taoists (And where does Taoism end and Zen begin?) spoke of "Turning the light around." Which can be interpreted/understood/applied on several different levels. I like to think of turning the light around to be not only from outer to inner, but also from "Now I see it this way, and now I see it that way, and now I see it like that over there..." No matter how we see things, we can also see in in several different ways--like a really good optical illusion, so that sitting (in the emptiness, stillness, silence--which can be "seen" as one thing, not three) and seeing how we see in all ways possible, opens up the world around us in endlessly amazing ways. "It only takes looking (again) to be able to see!
11) Thanks for this confirmation of our presence in the world of normal, apparent, reality, being just one "reality" among who knows how many might be available to us, as FM and AM pose different possibilities and VHS offers yet another, and how many are there "really"? Buddhism and Christianity come replete with "realities." Death and life offer others. And our place, it appears to me, is to make our place as "Peaceful abiding, here, now," insofar as we are able, doing what is called for in each situation as it arises, and letting that be that--with our awareness of how things are and also are, and our comprehension of what is and how it can be left for another time, a different place.
12) I take refuge within via emptiness/stillness/silence (One thing, not three), and assume silence, etc. to be a universal language (like a periodic chart) of whatever it is that we call "soul," which I think of as universal knowing. I take refuge in the knowing. And assume everyone else does as well.
13) All the talk about joy and happiness has to come to terms with "Peaceful abiding, here, now." The end of suffering is "Peaceful abiding, here, now." To think that it should be better than that is to miss the point of that. External circumstances have no place to play in the end of suffering. The end of suffering is recognizing, realizing, that here, now, is nothing more or less than "Peaceful abiding," no matter what else here, now consists of. Step into each situation as it arises and meet it with "Peaceful abiding," and you have attained liberation, and have realized the end of suffering.
Jim Dollar's Published Works 