BootsnAll Travel Community

As I look back on over 40 years as a seeker, I have found that there are topics or questions that had to be addressed, in order to see the whole, or big picture.

Just like a jigsaw puzzle piece, each of these topics can stand alone, [a part from], or add something to seeing the big picture, [a part of].

It seems that one of the first of these topics or pieces that a seeker may find on the road to finding out, is the truth that is found in the following statement:

"The only consistency we will ever really know in life, is change."

Whenever someone asks me, does a universal truth really exist, I ask them to study that statement and tell me what they think.

I'm curious to what topics, questions or concerns you are currently encountering in your personal search...and to see if starting a new post, or topic to be discussed, may be worthwhile...as there may be others who can relate to it?

Here is a random list of topics to possibly prime the pump...or simply create one of your own:

Understanding/addressing, the full concept known as: God.

Life and death, yin and yang, up and down, easy/hard, in and out, hot and cold, north and south...etc. etc...understanding the full role dualism has in life.

Life Cycles...or cycles in life: observable clues to the true nature found of life.

Can order actually come out of what appears to be caios?

The infinite and finite. The limited and The unlimited...Why can't you have one without the other?

Control vs. letting go. "white knuckling it through life"...or "going with the flow".

Growth Plateaus...we have all hit them..."those flat spots our personal growth"...have you noticed?

Life...and our life in it...what is the story here?

We all have both thoughts and feelings...but what links us together...or keeps us apart?

Pain suffering loss...Why me?

Good and evil...totally seperate concpts, or part of the same?

Undersatanding the law of cause and effect, and change

Karma...what goes around, comes around...really?

"Choice"...and your freedom of it!

"Attitude"...life is what you make it?

"Beliefs"...you are only really limited by your beliefs!

"Perception"...limited vs unlimited...or how you see things may be different than what is..

Why life?...why death? ...Is there actually reason or meaning to be found here?

There are tons more topics...but as the saying goes...I'd need a monkey...a typewriter, and infinity to list them all!

So...What topic interests you, right now?

"Control vs. letting go. "white knuckling it through life"...or "going with the flow"."

Is the one I, and a good portion of my intimate friends as well, are dealing with the most lately. I think that question could pertain to travel easily and all the dilemmas it brings up as well.

I've really brooded over several of those topics at one time or another, but currently I'm preoccupied with my being in a "flat spot in my personal growth" - or rather, I'm stuck in a flat spot, with the knowledge that I need, and am ready, to climb out of it, but I haven't found my path yet.

Earlier in the year I was struggling with being angry at the world (angry at the masses), and angry at people I find completely in the wrong, but I've left the anger behind me -- mainly by my old thought of: "I think I'm right. I have good reasons for thinking I'm right. But other people believe just as strongly that they are in the right. Therefore how can I justify my rightness?" -- *kind* of the perception concept that was mentioned.

Also, I think a lot about the cyclic nature of everything -- you can view cycles in your own personal life (relationships, emotions, beliefs), you can see cycles throughout history, throughout religion, throughout politics, philosophies cycle throughout time...this helps one be more accepting and "ok" with the current state of affairs.

Lynn

re:
sisuphile's post on control/letting go.

The best quote I've heard on this issue, may be called the serenity prayer:

"God grant me the serenity to accept those things I cannot change...the courage to change those things that I can...and the wisdom to know the difference".

What issues make this topic a current hit with you & your friends?

re:
eowyn218's post on flat spots on the road to growth.

A few thoughts and sayings on your current situation:

remember...."Everything happens in its own time".

Riddle:

"What is the only time we can ever truly master?

[answer is at the end of this post]

If something is ment to be...then "you will" do something about it...but if it is just a fantasy, and not really a life priority...remember, this too will pass...and don't chew your ass over it!

Frustration can actually be used as a fuel to expedite change.

I highly recommend keeping a journal to write through any issues or personal topics of concern.

Start with: identifing the primary feeling, you are feeling at the moment...and then use your imagination, [an excellent personal growth tool], to offer possible clues as to why you are feeling what you do.

keep taking jabs at it until, you feel it starting to break up, or break thru, and your writings turn into more of a flow.

format example:

I feel "frustated"...I feel "frustrated because"...

[list the primary, secondary and any and all other possible reasons, for feeling the way that you do, right now]

Then trace it back to its possible causes...and use your imagination for positive steps or action you can take, to working through it...step by step.

If you then choose to do nothing...accept that it is just not a high enough priority in your life...or you can make it one, by willing to risk it all to make it a reality!

Mastery of life, is the ability to manifest our chosen destiny!

Riddle Answer: "Right now"

I've always been a big fan of that quote...

quote:

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What issues make this topic a current hit with you & your friends?

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For me it is whether or not I should try to control my mental disease (I'm bipolar). I used to just let it go, because there's really no possible way I can conquer it (I refuse to be on meds for the rest of my life, too unnatural for me), unfortunately, that led to some actions that had consequences that I could've lived without. So lately, as in the last 4 months or so, I've been trying to control my emotions and have actively tried to take myself out of situations which I would've loved to have been in before, and now I'm bored and missing the spontaneity and adventure of months past. So the dilemma mainly is if I let myself go I enjoy my life more but have many negative consequences, and if I try to control it the only consequence I find is that I do not enjoy my life at all and am perpetually bored.

For my friends, it basically revolves around relationships. Almost all of us went to college last September (except me, I leave for my South America trip in two days) and left a boyfriend/girlfriend behind at home. Though I find it petty, they're all struggling with whether or not they should let themselves date freely and take full advantage of the college situation (let go) or stay with their sigoths which they supposedly love and try to deal with the situation (control).

But all I really say is that we should follow the model that 'Y Tu Mama Tambien' set for us and just do whatever makes us feel the most free, even though I do feel like a hypocrite when I say it because I can't even do it myself anymore.

In short.

The thing that's been milling about my brain quite a bit lately is my 'return of saturn.'

I'm just about to turn 27, and this is when Saturn returns to the same house that it occupied when you're born. I've heard it can bring huge changes and I guess I'm ready for them. I'm looking forward in anticipation of what's to come.

I suppose part of this comes from not being completely happy with where I am. I'm already making some of the changes that will bring me closer to where I want to be, but I'm wondering about the cosmic shakeup waiting on the horizon.

My 27th birthday should find me 1 month into my RTW trip...so I can only imagine what's in store for me.

I guess what I'm really thinking about is the potential for change, the ability to create what I want in life, and focusing any energy/help I get from the stars in the right direction.

All of this is very far from my usual, rather pragmatic self. But I think maybe I feel Saturn coming already...and I'm bubbling inside. If I reach out my hands, with the very tips of my fingers I can almost touch my dreams...I just need to stretch a little further...it's all out there waiting for me.

quote:

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Originally posted by Sisuphile:
"Control vs. letting go. "white knuckling it through life"...or "going with the flow"."

Is the one I, and a good portion of my intimate friends as well, are dealing with the most lately. I think that question could pertain to travel easily and all the dilemmas it brings up as well.

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'If everything is under control, you're not going fast enough.'
Mario Andretti, Formula One Driver

'Bite off more than you can chew, and chew like hell.'
Peter Brock, Touring Car Driver

The thing I always end up doing is comparing myself and the society I live in with the Golden ages of times past - the Greeks, the Rennaissance etc. And I wish we lived in a time where philosophers, artists, thinkers and scientists were the superstars instead of footballers, pop singers and billionaires.

And why do I hang out with people who never talk about anything more meaningful than real estate investment, partying and reality tv?

Then I realized, heck I'm not doing anything about it, so I dragged my ass over to the spiritual Traveller forum for a looksee :-)

hm.. there's one topic that has always intrigued me. does god have a purpose? can we know it?

descartes says yes god does have a purpose, but no we could never know it. he made us imperfect for some reason, but since god is so above and beyond us, we could never hope to understand what that reason is.

spinoza says yes we know it; god doesn't have a purpose. things necessarily follow the prior event, like a domino effect. it was his hope that by understanding it, we could be more at peace with the world.

i'm leaning more towards spinoza's point of view, especially since i choose to not believe in the bible's teachings. but then there's one thing that i strongly believe in, that bothers me about his point of view, and it's summarized by a quote:

'the world keeps sliding towards entropy and degradation and what do you do? .. everyday you sit behind your desk and you learn a little more how to accept the world the way it is. well, here's the rub - heroes don't do that. heroes don't accept the world the way it is. they fight it.'

'the world keeps sliding towards entropy and degradation and what do you do? .. everyday you sit behind your desk and you learn a little more how to accept the world the way it is. well, here's the rub - heroes don't do that. heroes don't accept the world the way it is. they fight it.'

From a human point of view this is right. But from the rest of nature's POV, if humans were to disappear through their own foolishness then mother nature would breathe a sigh of relief. No biological weapons. No nuclear deterents. No overfishing of the oceans. No factories pouring poison into the rivers and air. In a thousand years the skies would all be blue again, the forests could regrow, the animals endangered by hunting, deforestation and encroaching civilization could repopulate. Heck, it'd be the garden of Eden all over :-)

yeah.. well what i meant with that last quote was more like how people shouldn't just sit back and let atrocities happen.. that these events were 'meant to be' is a bullshit reason for people to remain apathetic.

speaking of garden of eden.. i was talking with a friend about what it could have meant and she said that maybe when adam ate the apple, it was symbolic. something about the people still living in small villages and tribes is something like what eden used to be.

sorry if i'm incoherent lol i'm running off two hours of sleep.

You're right aobut people sitting back, or just cncerning themselves with their own wellbeing and not the good of everyone. And since 99.5% of the population is like that, the few heroes have to work an awful lot harder to make up some of the difference.
I don't think most of us can be a hero all the time. But if all of us were doing something positive for only 5% of the time, most of our problems would be greatly reduced.

HAving said which, I called up Greenpeace and offered to help with fundraising. I have a meeting next Wednesday to see if I have the 'right stuff'.

borderland, you're dope.

Liz, seeing as how you seemed to be interested in Astrology, I was wondering what you think of the Mayan Calander end date.(For those who dont know, the mayans had the most advanced astrologocal science of their time. in fact, their calendar, which was devoloped in like 600 AD, was more accurate than the rest of the world until something like the 1900's.)

Just out of curiosity, has anyone ever read anything by David Icke? I don't mean heard of or someone told me about either. If you have read anything by him, then you would understand why I ask if you've read him personally.

quote:

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Originally posted by Sisuphile:
"Control vs. letting go. "white knuckling it through life"...or "going with the flow"."

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Yes, I've been a "go with the flow" type preson for a long time. It aggravates others - i.e. those who are obsessed with pre-planning everything in their lives (usually family members) - to no end. I say, "Tough."

--
Bubbha - currently in Bangkok

"Sui liu er xing" ("Go with the flow") - an ancient Chinese proverb I just made up.