Lotus

I see what you did there. 🤠 This body comes and goes, and you have the awesome opportunity to walk in it for a while, allowing you to experience the universe/the world. The body decays, you don’t. The notion of dying/disappearing along with the body is a belief unchecked. When you look through your eyes, you see creation. Without a body to look through, there is no universe and no experience of it. The impermanence/finitude of this experience makes life precious. If it is one thing, it‘s an opportunity to co-create along with the universe. Go to work, have a good time with friends, enjoy tasty meals, paint a picture, build stuff if you‘re a builder, garden if you love gardening, find activites you enjoy, plan how you want to go about paying the bills. Play the game of life.

Try to find yourself without utilizing thoughts. In the impossibility of it does it become clearer, that self is being constructed by thought - and you, in your essence, are not thought - how could you be something which you observe?

Been noticing this with my memory, too. There's way less backwards thinking, e.g. thinking of the past, and way more focus on the now. Sometimes I gotta think real hard to remember what I did yesterday or the day before. However, when I do more of 'backwards thinking', say, by keeping a journal of what I did throughout the day, my smushy brain's memory is way better. But I find forwards thinking (what I wanna do)/being focussed in the now more enjoyable. Sometimes it's a mystery for me that my brain has the capacity to remember anything at all.

@Phil Wow, that’s good advice. Thank you.🙏

@Phil Any perfectly ‚random’ advice you‘d like to give?

Yes. Yes. I don‘t see how it‘s perfectly working out now, though. 😂 To be free of illusion, is to….?

I‘m sorry, I still don‘t hear what‘s being said. So the answer to any question is already apparent? If so, how can I hear the answer in a way that I understand it? Kinda catapults me to the now. What happens now leads to the next thing. That gives me a sense of anticipation, which feels good. But I‘ve also had moments of good feeling anticipation without the expected outcome, which made me really sad at times. Which led to me not wanting to anticipate things anymore, in order to not get hurt, which resulted in a slightly pessimistic worldview.

What‘s the difference? The first seems to be more static in comparison to the latter. I love the dual nature of it. It‘s amazing to see how one can‘t exist without the other, and vice versa. Or how there can only be a problem when a solution is sought. Or how, for the big questions à la „What Is Life about?“, the questions burn away and the answers become illuminated, when the questioner disappears. Sometimes it seems like one asks a question and can’t find the answer ‚on the other end‘. If answers arise with the questions, how can a satisfactory ‚answer‘ be found/illuminated quickly and with certainty that the answer is correct? I have a hunch that the ‚how‘ lies somewhere in listening and intuition. Only in retrospect could I see that the timing was always right and everything had to be the way it was. In retrospect I can glimpse the divine timing of everything that happened and how one thing led to another. Yet, I still sometimes blame the universe for not giving me what I want sooner. And then I sometimes blame myself for not getting ready to receive. Because deep down I know, if I were ready (emotionally/vibrationally speaking), what I want would appear.

Why do you say that everything is working out perfectly? It often seems that things are not perfect the way they are, and that they could be better, which leads to the next question. What's meant by "perfect"? How does appearance work in terms of attraction? And what is divine timing? It reminds me of the saying that when the student is ready, the teacher will appear. "The Law of Relativity points to the ineffable actuality & acuity of there being no absolute truth of luck, randomness, chance or coincidence. This applies to everything from the current state of the planet and all of it’s ongoings, to a single text, phone call or email you receive."

Can you elaborate? How can answers to an AMA be given when there‘s no one to know them?

What does that mean? And how do you know? Does it make a sound, though?

AMA? Ask who anything? If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?

You‘re free to do whatever. This is freedom. Life is very much like a theatre play and we are very much like amazing actors. Meditation reveals that we are not the actors, but the ‚essence behind them‘. And in that freeing of conditioning lies the opportunity to co-create along with life. Life is play. ▶️🙂

On the other hand, it's nice to have the opportunity to be around here, ask questions and engage a bit, if it's wanted. Lotta goodness flowing here. 🙂

I could never feel bad enough to make someone else feel good.

@Phil Okay, gotcha. Literally never thought about how space for myself is also space for him. Feels good to think about it like that! Now I remember why the distance I kept didn't really hold. Whenever I see my family member, I hear the following comment: "I didn't come to talk to you about topic XY because I didn't wanna bother/annoy you. [starts talking about topic XY]" Because of hearing this remark, whenever I saw him, I had a guilty conscience and gave in. Emotional scaling or not, I can't help but feel bad when I hear this comment, and allow the distance to be broken. 😕

Yes, a conversation has finally been had. Not that it wasn't the first time telling that I need distance and am emotionally drained, but I guess this time I addressed it more concretely than before. I thought so too, that I box myself in a nonexistent box when I create boundaries, when really, the root cause needs to be addressed. I also think that it isn't a proper long term solution/resolve. Not only that, but I see how it is conditional (esp. being emotionally drained) and not really free flowing. Yet, I'm a fan of meeting people where they're at. So I asked myself, why shouldn't I meet myself where I'm at and allow some distance? Makes even more sense when I think how it brings me out of a certain condition, thus allowing some space for the conditioned to empty. Kinda like a retreat. We'll get there, eventually. 🙏 Yes, that's what I meant by distancing myself from the thoughts. Same as the frame, the thoughts don't resonate. Perhaps it's not distancing myself from thoughts, but listening even closer to the thoughts and the accompanied feeling? Not getting lost in the context of the thought, but listening to the feeling and taking action - e.g. allowing myself what feels better, in this case, distance? What would be the difference between a frame and a thought? Isn't the thought creating the frame? Anyways, thanks for your response!!

@Phil The replies I love most/most resonate with from you are those, which are practical, with a pinch of non-dual mindbend. So I guess like up to 5? Btw, I really appreciate that you ask this question beforehand! Far too kind. 🙏

@almond Yes, thank you. I appreciate your response. And I agree, communication is definitely the key.

I love your way of thinking! Drawing a line. Brilliant. I wanted to take a reiki class, but never got to it. Nevertheless, simply reading the above quote really really resonated with me. It rings so true, especially that it feels horribly annoying to take the first step, that aligning with the intention feels good, and that it's already available to us. Might sound stupid, but I prayed once, and it seemed to set an impulse in my family member. There's a positive momentum going, but I guess it will take some time to come into fruition. It seems like it's in the very early phases - manifest wise it seems little, but big in vibration. Yes, I do have my own apartment, but we live in the same house, so he's just a knock away, and it's not so easy to keep a distance, nor does it feel natural. A heart to heart conversation will definitely follow. Had a bunch already, but I feel like the next one will really be heard. Yes!! I think it was in February this year when I had a fungal journey. Had to think of him at one point in the trip, and I shed a tear or two for him. It was different, because it was not my "egoistic/selfish" hurt that was heard, but his. It was felt deeply, and there was empathy, and there was also the will/wish to heal the suffering on his end. Not in the sense that I am the healer, but simply, sincerely wishing that he finds his way after suffering so much. Thanks so much for the response, Mandy. 💛

@Mandy Thanks for responding! I think the rudeness is coming from conditioning and past/present not-so-good running relationships I wish I could say different, but no. Lots and lots. That person's been through some rough shit, but there's also a say on self-perpetuated suffering and inflicting it onto others.

When a family member is talking rude to me nearly all the time, how much of it should I accept? Where should I draw the line? When I politely speak up, all I get is even ruder talk from the other side. When I remain silent and 'allow', I suck up all the negative energy. When that person constantly wants to interfere with my life, and I want a life with less interference of that person, should I accept/allow that person to interfere, even when it's not what I want and when it's hurting me mentally? When it is draining me emotionally? I seek distance from that person. Phil might say (idk) that it's the thoughts which don't feel good and which I should distance myself from. But when that rude talking person is like a jackhammer to my wellbeing, even if I try to accept/allow as much as I can, shouldn't I draw the line somewhere? For the sake of my wellbeing? When it's going on since months and years like this?

@Loop 😊🙏🏼

@Phil Thanks Phil! 🙏💦 (that's a bubble bursting)

By hearing them and letting them speak. Not interrupting before they're finished and listening. Being present. Yes, I used to do that too. It was really immaturity on my part - that was when I began discovering spirituality, meditation and personal development. I couldn't stop talking about that stuff, so whenever someone I knew opened themselves, I flooded them with all the theory and "practical help steps". It came from good intention, but was still misguided. Instead of giving them the opportunity to empty, I filled 'em with even more stuff. 😂