posted July 25, 2016 06:19 AM            

quote:

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Originally posted by Kannon McAfee:
Sulkyarcher,

I've seen suppositions on this, but nothing that passes basic muster for me. There are a number of concepts and possible presumptions involved in these types of questions.

While I do not dispute the notion that souls as human beings can become mired in karma and cycles of life on Earth with all its challenges and suffering, in my view it is unquestioned that we first enter this realm [b]by choice, thus we leave it by choice.

Just because you graduated from school does not mean you can never set foot on campus again. When you are liberated you are free to do as you choose -- again.

Our thinking process seems to me to have inherited such myopic vision on the entire matter, that the suffering of Earthly life is a kind of punishment for leaving heaven or paradise or God and until we do proper penance for all our sins we are imprisoned here and cannot leave. I just do not see it that way.

We are adventurers. We are brave, daring souls who chose to experience awareness in this dimension and who wandered far from home to do it. Not all souls do this.

The desire to go back home I totally understand. But we are here as creators, little 'c.' We came to create. What will we create?

So many folks have moaned about the difficulty of life and that they think this is their last lifetime. I doubt it. That's the spiritual version of "F.U. guys, I'm going home!"

Each time we die, we are cleansed, and go rest awhile, then come back full of the zeal of Spirit to have another go, because we love the Earth and our family here. We rest on the other side with family, and we come back to adventure land -- to family.

The Bodhisattva is a liberated being whose enlightenment is Compassion - unity with all beings - and who comes back to Earth school to teach and minister to the needs of others, like my namesake Kannon (Quan Yin).

We can ponder a greener pasture of nirvana, but that is a state of consciousness that can be carried in any realm. The Universal field of Compassion. I was privileged to experience it once. It is right here with us.

[/B]

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Yes! This is right along the lines how I've felt about the concept for awhile now. Almost reminds me of the thread we had about school actually lol..

Didn't HAVE to be there some of the years I was, but, to me it was an opportunity given to me where I could learn and enjoy myself if I so desired to continue.

posted July 25, 2016 10:24 AM            

What does it entail...what are the signs that someone is enlightened? Honest question.

Just wanting to draw attention to the smaller ways "enlightenment" can manifest...since most of us only experience these...

When I was little I used to stare at the Christmas lights and love the colors so much I would be in tears. It's really hard for me to describe what exactly I was seeing...maybe I was homesick for heaven, which glows like that?

Later I read Aldoux Huxley's Doors of Perception where he talks about taking mescaline and seeing color come alive. And comparisons are made between that state of being where color is alive, and what sounds like a kind of enlightenment. You can read about it here:
http://transmissionsmedia.com/the-mescaline-phenomena/

Well, I didn't need training to know the colors on a spiritual level...as that excerpt says:

quote:

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Visual impressions are greatly intensified and the eye recovers some of the perceptual innocence of childhood, when the sensum was not immediately and automatically subordinated to the concept.

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"perceptual innocence"

Possibly enhanced by all the Neptune influence in my chart.

Speaking of that, the other morning, when the moon was transiting in Pisces, my son came down for breakfast and described the most wonderful dream he had, where colors were floating in spheres around him, and would become part of him if he touched them, and there was a "magical song" and speaking without speaking (he didn't know the word 'telepathy'.) He looked completely enthralled and as if he had really been to that place. Well I've learned a lot from dreams myself. They can be initiations.

But we usually equate enlightenment with training and discipline. I'm not sure that's always the way we need to go?

Plus...the most unassuming people can shine so bright sometimes.

I don't mean to downplay formal, rigorous training. I just mean to say, life makes itself known in many ways. There can be epiphanies all the time. I think awareness is more accessible and immediately possible than we are led to believe.

"Enlightenment" is a destination but now we're taught to stay focused on the journey. You know?

posted July 25, 2016 10:58 AM            

Perhaps this girl was born enlightened?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akiane_Kramarik
http://www.astrotheme.com/astrology/Akiane_Kramarik

posted July 25, 2016 11:46 AM            

Q: "What will you reincarnate as next?"
A: "I think it's a bit too early to tell."

Q: "How many times will you come back?"
A: "As long as there is space & suffering, I will return to serve."

I know of no better definition of enlightenment.

posted July 25, 2016 11:59 AM            

Awwwwwwwww.....

Loove this story, you are adorable.

Speaking of childhood, yesterday I was thinking of mine and posted this on facebook "Thanks to all those who made my childhood good including those who have passed away, you will forever be imprinted in my soul."

I went out for a long hike yesterday I climbed up to Eagle's Nest Rock, nothing like a long hike and climbing up a mountain to make you feel connected to everything and make you feel grateful.

posted July 25, 2016 04:30 PM            

So enlightenment, what is to you? Is it TAO? The balancing out of all the chakra's? And then? Be of service? Enjoying in the now, creating, being, shining your own little/huge light? Yes! This is it! But is it enlightenment? There are people trying so hard to train themselves to get to enlightenment. Are being taught to get rid of their ego's and meditate and be in their higher minds. They forget all the beauty of the lower chakra's, the body, the earth, the beauty, the embodiment of our souls spark right here, in the NOW. To set their base in the soil on mother earth. To enjoy (2nd chakra) etc..

posted July 25, 2016 05:06 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by Sylven:
Enlightenment. To me? It's in those small things. It is in the NOW. Nothing to be seeked out for, for this is not in the now. There is only NOW. I feel we are here to embody stuff. Constantly. Creating and walking our paths. Exactly along the lines Kannon explained. We are creators and it's AWeSOME!!! Enlightenment like people talk about feels as if there is a higher and a lower, a good and bad but this is all an illusion. To me there is no such thing as last life. It's an ongoing process. Like nature. And everywhere different yet the same (other planes). Earth life get's more exciting every day when I grow older!!

So enlightenment, what is to you? Is it TAO? The balancing out of all the chakra's? And then? Be of service? Enjoying in the now, creating, being, shining your own little/huge light? Yes! This is it! But is it enlightenment? There are people trying so hard to train themselves to get to enlightenment. Are being taught to get rid of their ego's and meditate and be in their higher minds. They forget all the beauty of the lower chakra's, the body, the earth, the beauty, the embodiment of our souls spark right here, in the NOW. To set their base in the soil on mother earth. To enjoy (2nd chakra) etc..

I hope I do not sound too vague. Just wrote it out like it came.

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Love your energy. No, you did not sound vague, I think you hit the spot!

posted July 25, 2016 06:31 PM            

http://jackkornfield.com/meditation-gratitude-joy/

“If we cannot be happy in spite of our difficulties, what good is our spiritual practice?”

~Maha Ghosananda

Buddhist monks begin each day with a chant of gratitude for the blessings of their life. Native American elders begin each ceremony with grateful prayers to mother earth and father sky, to the four directions, to the animal, plant, and mineral brothers and sisters who share our earth and support our life. In Tibet, the monks and nuns even offer prayers of gratitude for the suffering they have been given: “Grant that I might have enough suffering to awaken in the deepest possible compassion and wisdom.”

The aim of spiritual life is to awaken a joyful freedom, a benevolent and compassionate heart in spite of everything.

Gratitude is a gracious acknowledgment of all that sustains us, a bow to our blessings, great and small, an appreciation of the moments of good fortune that sustain our life every day. We have so much to be grateful for.

Gratitude is confidence in life itself. It is not sentimental, not jealous, nor judgmental. Gratitude does not envy or compare. Gratitude receives in wonder the myriad offerings of the rain and the earth, the care that supports every single life.

As gratitude grows it gives rise to joy. We experience the courage to rejoice in our own good fortune and in the good fortune of others.

Joy is natural to an open heart. In it, we are not afraid of pleasure. We do not mistakenly believe it is disloyal to the suffering of the world to honor the happiness we have been given.

Like gratitude, joy gladdens the heart. We can be joyful for people we love, for moments of goodness, for sunlight and trees, and for the breath within our breast. And as our joy grows we finally discover a happiness without cause. Like an innocent child who does not have to do anything to be happy, we can rejoice in life itself, in being alive.

Let yourself sit quietly and at ease. Allow your body to be relaxed and open, your breath natural, your heart easy. Begin the practice of gratitude by feeling how year after year you have cared for your own life. Now let yourself begin to acknowledge all that has supported you in this care:

With gratitude I remember the people, animals, plants, insects, creatures of the sky and sea, air and water, fire and earth, all whose joyful exertion blesses my life every day.

With gratitude I remember the care and labor of a thousand generations of elders and ancestors who came before me.

I offer my gratitude for the safety and well-being I have been given.

I offer my gratitude for the blessing of this earth I have been given.

I offer my gratitude for the measure of health I have been given.

I offer my gratitude for the family and friends I have been given.

I offer my gratitude for the community I have been given.

I offer my gratitude for the teachings and lessons I have been given.

I offer my gratitude for the life I have been given.

Just as we are grateful for our blessings, so we can be grateful for the blessings of others.

Continue to breathe gently. Bring to mind someone you care about, someone it is easy to rejoice for. Picture them and feel the natural joy you have for their well-being, for their happiness and success. With each breath, offer them your grateful, heartfelt wishes:

May you be joyful.

May your happiness increase.

May you not be separated from great happiness.

May your good fortune and the causes for your joy and happiness increase.

Sense the sympathetic joy and caring in each phrase. When you feel some degree of natural gratitude for the happiness of this loved one, extend this practice to another person you care about. Recite the same simple phrases that express your heart’s intention.

Then gradually open the meditation to include neutral people, difficult people, and even enemies- until you extend sympathetic joy to all beings everywhere, young and old, near and far.

posted July 25, 2016 08:04 PM            

hypatia, that is SUCH A MAGNIFICENT PICTURE!

Lucky, lucky you to be close to such a place!

Thanks for your kind words, and thoughts.

You, too, Sylven!

The Power of Now is one of my favorite books ever. My own philosophy is aligned with Now-ism.

posted July 25, 2016 08:21 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by Faith:

hypatia, that is SUCH A MAGNIFICENT PICTURE!

Lucky, lucky you to be close to such a place!

Thanks for your kind words, and thoughts.

You, too, Sylven!

The Power of Now is one of my favorite books ever. My own philosophy is aligned with Now-ism.

I'm glad we all see some of the grandeur of "the little things"...no such thing as little things.

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Thanks, photography is my new hobby and coping skill along with hiking.

I am loving this thread, it's filled with so much love and positive energy.

posted July 26, 2016 11:55 PM            

I have Saturn in the 12th along with Uranus and Neptune. I am seeing, more and more, as I get older, how the "real world" is just an illusion. Saturn in the 12th is the "everything is temporary and fleeting" position which can be crushing and disillusioning until true maturity is reached. Then it gives you a feeling of great inner strength even though it can still get hard. It opens your eyes to many great mysteries and deeper truths.

posted July 26, 2016 11:58 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by hypatia238:
"When I was little I used to stare at the Christmas lights and love the colors so much I would be in tears. It's really hard for me to describe what exactly I was seeing...maybe I was homesick for heaven, which glows like that?"

Awwwwwwwww.....

Loove this story, you are adorable.

Speaking of childhood, yesterday I was thinking of mine and posted this on facebook "Thanks to all those who made my childhood good including those who have passed away, you will forever be imprinted in my soul."

I went out for a long hike yesterday I climbed up to Eagle's Nest Rock, nothing like a long hike and climbing up a mountain to make you feel connected to everything and make you feel grateful.

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posted July 27, 2016 12:32 AM            

quote:

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Originally posted by Sulkyarcher:
That's you?

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posted July 27, 2016 01:05 AM            

quote:

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Originally posted by hypatia238:
No lol, that is my partner but I took the pic.
This is me today at work: http://imgur.com/UrMBS3l

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posted July 27, 2016 09:19 AM            

And your photography is amazing!!!!

posted July 27, 2016 02:44 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by Sulkyarcher:
Yup, Sagittarius or 9th house, may be a seeker, or searcher.

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posted July 27, 2016 02:47 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by LittleBlackCat:
Yes there are quite a few different plAcements / combinations; however as I skim through many of the responses it seems people automatically associated "enlightened" with a plethora of things such as artistic talent, "humility", or some other thing we've been taught to be awed by. Honestly to be enlightened is simply the ability to see what others can't, as in putting light on that which was in the dark. Look at the etymology of the word. The most average seeming / untalented person can be extremely enlightened. It's just a matter of whether or not they can see what is really going on even if many are blind. Also, a person can be enlightened and use it for total evil. Being good and being enlightened are two different things. That's my PSA for today.

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I like this way of seeing the word's definition. People often like to associate the word with certain physical and personality traits that act as if they are superior in some sort of way to the others, in which they can then be classified as "enlightened". It's like saying, "You must act this way in order to be considered an 'enlightened' individual", which is something that amuses me.

posted July 27, 2016 03:16 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by Faith:
You are SO, so pretty hypatia! With the kindest eyes! I'm all creepily staring at you because I feel understood just looking at you.

And your photography is amazing!!!!

I would want a copy of that one above on my wall. Love the huge sky especially.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Sylven:
I second that Faith! Hypatia you have a very sweet aura!

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Awwwwww thank you guys for the lovely compliments, truly appreciated!

posted July 27, 2016 03:18 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by LittleBlackCat:
Yes there are quite a few different placements / combinations; however as I skim through many of the responses it seems people automatically associate "enlightened" with a plethora of things Tanta 're really.neither here nor there. Honestly to be enlightened is simply the ability to see what is hidden, as in putting light on that which was in the dark. Look at the etymology of the word. The most average seeming / untalented person can be extremely enlightened. It's just a matter of whether or not they can see what is really going on even if many are blind. Also, a person can be enlightened and use it for total evil. Being good and being enlightened are two different things (but you would have to be somewhat enlightened to even see that). That's my PSA for today.

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