Nnonnth

Heya .f –

>>thanks for your posts – I’m enjoying reading them very much, you seem to have a similar agnostic outlook on things as me.<<

Don't mention it, enjoying yours also and everyone's actually. This is a great board.

On the "merit" thing… Michael is right, somehow this idea of being born to make up for past mistakes must have…[Read more]

Michael: >>I believe this notion of Merit is embedded in a particular karmic view of humanity, i.e. that we are born because of past bad deeds and have to work them off by acquiring merit until we are released from this physical purgatory/hell/less plane. If you don’t accept that, then this presentation of Merit will not make sense.<<

Michael…[Read more]

Hey .f –

>>So if Shipman felt good about what he did, does that mean he got good merit?<>it seems to me that the merit thing cant operate without this ‘objective’ measure<<

Then it can't operate!

Still too simplistic I suppose. But I'm beginning to feel discussing it doesn't help! When I sit and meditate about it things seem alot…[Read more]

>>>”If you don’t have desire, my advice is to force yourself to do good deeds until the merit from doing them will open your heart and then you will be doing it from your inner calling.”< (Max)<<

Boy, did he really say that?

In my opinion that is a very bad idea indeed. If you are "forcing yourself" how can you possibly see the good? You are…[Read more]

Heya .f –

dual-thread monstrosities on this “merit” business!

Just wanted to say that the use of the word “virtue” reminded me of herbal healing practices and I find the analogy helpful.

Every plant that has a medicinal use has exactly that – a virtue. It is the plant’s own. Its way of singing. It doesn’t need rules. It has a certain…[Read more]

Heya Rex –

>>The idea that the spiritual state and intention of the pharmacologists while making the remedies could also be an important factor wasn’t considered<<

Oh boy don't get me started on the mechanistical attitude of modern medicine.

But this isn't a new phenomenon at all. Blue Lobelia used to be used as a cure for syphilis in the…[Read more]

Heya .f –

>>I’d like to know how it really works. baba, your way of doing it seems very different with the way Max (for example) seems to think of it<<

I'm no expert by any means, but I would say this: if you have to *think* about it at all, this isn't what is meant by "merit" as I understand it – or "goodness" would be my term.

The…[Read more]

Heya Golden Sun,

There is a definitely a sense in which some merit-wrangling can be a bit hypocritical, because it could build up your ego. You could sit at home at night going, “Aren’t I wonderful? Look what I did!” It reminds me of that little bon mot – was it C.S.Lewis? – “She’s the sort of woman who lives for others, you can tell the others…[Read more]

Heya .f –

>>and if you decide, as described above, to invoke a specific quality to the food – then it feels as if over billions of years the entire universe has conspired to bring this specific item of food/drink saturated with this specific quality to You, right here and now! – very powerfull stuff indeed!<<

I can only applaud!

Yes I…[Read more]

Heya Rex –

>>What about using wine or brandy instead of water? This is getting into alchemy!<<

Yes you've got the idea. And not only liquids – also breaths and also food (Obviously with a few changes to the nature of the practice, but the principle is the same). You can see the catholic church was onto something with its communion service -…[Read more]

heya Michael –

>>NN: if magic spells can instantly transform someone to unfold the potential of who they truly are, please be my guest and CAST non stop<<

Ooh you big kidder you! best NN

Heya Baba –

>>For clarity sake I didn’t quite follow the ritual. Are you saying to take one glass of liquid, imbue it with a felt quality and then pour part of that into another cup? And then what?<>I think the essence of Emoto’s work for me is that we are composed of water on a water planet so the inner smile isn’t only a fond intention but a…[Read more]

Hey Mat –

>>Just letting go creates the opening………………………. <<

Yes and there is a deeper thing here too, because the three ways to let go of that experience are mental astral or physical. You did the mental one – trying to think about it. Also disturbing could have been trying to see how you felt about it, or suddenly finding…[Read more]

Ciao Pietro –

>>your immortal spirit descends from one and only one<<

You have to be careful here my friend, the situation is not quite as you describe it I think and is more complicated. This immortal individual self is only one level of "you", and is descended from other things that can sprout, as it were many individual selves. But I'd…[Read more]

:-} NN

Heya Tumoessence,

>>Is there no one answering phones or emails at the healing tao fulfillment center? I have had bad luck reaching anyone or in getting a reply<<

I think possibly they've all been co-opted to the task of erasing e-mails from this board!

j/k.

Michael if you want to reconsider the whole thing of me casting spells on…[Read more]

Michael >>So “safest” strategy, given that it is hard to tell from earthly perspective where a given lineage leads, is to get into direct relationship with the Life Force.<<

Absolutely, and there is no mystical or magical tradition that would disagree with that idea.

"It all began with the great and gaping void. Voluspa and prose Edda agree…[Read more]

sorry, NN

I may be making a fool of myself here, but in the shower I couldn’t stop thinking about it so I’m going to come back and type.

What misled me in your 1st post, Trunk, was your use of the word “secular”. I was wondering whether our western days of the week provided any answer? Eg., “Tiw” is the Norse war god of our “Tuesday”, “Mars” of French…[Read more]

Heya Trunk –

>>What I was referring to is, primarily, a celestial lineage. That is, in a “heavenly” realm, a group of beings maintaining an enlightened configuration<<

Sorry, I completely misunderstood here. I would love to know the answer. NN