tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post8563354800363674897..comments2024-03-28T12:10:26.197-07:00Comments on One Cʘsmos: Truth: What is it Good For?Gagdad Bobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comBlogger31125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-22374330654688064832008-03-13T09:32:00.000-07:002008-03-13T09:32:00.000-07:00I swear on Toots' grave that two days ago I stumbl...I swear on Toots' grave that two days ago I stumbled upon this <A HREF="http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20071023220226AAyaAbe" REL="nofollow">feline factoid</A> in the course of an entirely unrelated search. And no, it wasn't what you're thinking....Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-82774721482439389302008-03-13T09:13:00.000-07:002008-03-13T09:13:00.000-07:00Will, thanks for opening up the discussion to the ...Will, thanks for opening up the discussion to the realm of the bathroom. I was unsure of how to incorporate this bizarre news item into this thread but it simply cannot be missed. I don't think any extra jokes are really even necessary here. But in any event, it makes Fergus' behavior seem a little more normal...It's all relative, eh?<BR/><BR/>http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080312/ap_on_re_us/woman_in_bathroomLisahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04969685296436358865noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-50776377645534119762008-03-13T08:48:00.000-07:002008-03-13T08:48:00.000-07:00Hm. If the active, Alzheimer's-preventing ingredie...Hm. If the active, Alzheimer's-preventing ingredient in beer is silicon, does this mean silicone implants are actually healthy for women? <BR/>Wonders never cease... <BR/>(yes, that was a joke)juliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15975754287030568726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-19692690640588844242008-03-13T08:15:00.000-07:002008-03-13T08:15:00.000-07:00Preventive medicine is a good thing!Preventive medicine is a good thing!walthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01388218390016612051noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-58130852922853675932008-03-13T08:00:00.000-07:002008-03-13T08:00:00.000-07:00Beer. Is there anything it can't do?<A HREF="http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/WBL02079/Beer-Helps-Prevent-Alzheimers.html" REL="nofollow">Beer</A>. Is there anything it can't do?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-85670935840642820732008-03-13T05:32:00.000-07:002008-03-13T05:32:00.000-07:00Compare Balaam indeed. He saw the vertical and pre...Compare Balaam indeed. He saw the vertical and preferred the horizontal. It is a constant danger with which some of us are all too familiar. Being a prophet does not make one bulletproof to temptation.<BR/><BR/>PS: Get well soon.Magnus Itlandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18445902788427523461noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-59715161039491662292008-03-13T05:10:00.000-07:002008-03-13T05:10:00.000-07:00you know, it really isn't such a complicated thing...you know, it really isn't such a complicated thing you're writing about here, bob. its almost like you had to pad it out to make a post of respectable length. be aware, though, that it invites overthinking. <BR/><BR/>as far as what one gets out of the awareness and immersion in the 'vertical', i'd say pretty much nothing. maybe a degree of suffering. <BR/><BR/>not much of a sales pitch, i know. but see ruth, jonah, job, et al., and compare balaam.<BR/><BR/>ps - sorry for lower cases; broken elbow/one-handedurthshuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08345449473467415176noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-80217150975811038902008-03-13T03:50:00.000-07:002008-03-13T03:50:00.000-07:00I shall heed the advise to not take the angel crea...I shall heed the advise to not take the angel creation literally. After all, experience shows that the real flow is generally from higher, more primal, pre-existent worlds to new, emerging worlds (such as ours).<BR/><BR/>That we can bring angels "into existence" is however quite real, at least as far as we mean our existence, our world, our plane of reality. The Christian mystics that instructed me when I was young, spoke of certain actions and corresponding attitudes creating an atmosphere where angels could stay. (Hospitality probably being the most obvious case, by which some have entertained angels unaware.) Conversively, some things are inimical to angels and makes it hard for them to come to our assistance.<BR/><BR/>Of course, for the Christian there is only one Mediator. But I believe angels may assist in various practical ways. Perhaps they have a holy aura that strengthens creatures aligned with good and weakens creatures aligned with evil... In that case, there seem to be some of them even in the emerging world of cyberspace.Magnus Itlandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18445902788427523461noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-33163774459661799382008-03-13T03:01:00.000-07:002008-03-13T03:01:00.000-07:00...just as there are evil beings, there are evil w...<I>...just as there are evil beings, there are evil worlds. These are simply the "space" inhabited by the evil beings.</I><BR/><BR/>Aha. I *knew* there was a reason why MySpace gave me the creeps.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-81509488235359294132008-03-12T23:39:00.000-07:002008-03-12T23:39:00.000-07:00Usually I comment on a topic(s) raised in Bob's po...Usually I comment on a topic(s) raised in Bob's post or the commentary of others, but tonight I must comment on a weird phenomenon occurring in my own domicile:<BR/><BR/>My cat Fergus has taken to going into the second bathroom at various times, getting into the bathtub, and sitting on his stomach with his head under the trickling faucet. (the faucet has been broken)<BR/><BR/>I've known something was up for a while now. His gleaming wet head was the giveaway. The warm water tended to make the fur on his head somewhat spiked as if he has jelled it.In any event, tonight I finally caught him in the act. Ah ha, caught you, I said. Fergus gave me a baleful look, but did not rise from the tub.<BR/><BR/>Obviously, he enjoys this strange activity. Personally, I am inclined to think it perverse and maybe a bit unnatural, but who am I to really say? Do your thing, find your bliss, etc. <BR/><BR/>Still, one must ask, why now? Fergus is 17 years of age. Suddenly he discovers he actually likes water splashing on him? Is this some improvised self-therapy? Some version of a cat massage? A form of meditation? (buddhist monks will occasionally meditate while lotusing under small waterfalls)<BR/><BR/>Fergus has always prided himself on being the very essence of a cat archetype, and this activity runs, I believe, quite counter to the Tyger Tyger Burning Bright ideal. Perhaps, I am thinking, it is a validation of Schuon's theory (via Bob) re: the end of the kali yuga age in which time-honored archetypes began to break down.<BR/><BR/>On the other hand, maybe Fergus is simply getting senile. <BR/><BR/>Or craftier. <BR/><BR/>Of the above possible reasons that might account for this odd behavior, I don't know which is more frightening.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-68274357069812635652008-03-12T21:24:00.000-07:002008-03-12T21:24:00.000-07:00I'll take mine with some favre beans and a nice ch...I'll take mine with some favre beans and a nice chianti...<BR/>OK, skip the liver and the beans.NoMohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01100042056270224683noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-15265275724863473752008-03-12T21:23:00.000-07:002008-03-12T21:23:00.000-07:00Mmmm meat good, liver not good.Mmmm meat good, liver not good.Jimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16202441664961886198noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-47662222798128463722008-03-12T20:52:00.000-07:002008-03-12T20:52:00.000-07:00Ximeze said:Me me me! Yumm yumm, nice & pink insid...Ximeze said:<BR/><I>Me me me! Yumm yumm, nice & pink inside, with a big pile of brussel sprouts & a side of beets....</I><BR/><BR/>If you served that to anyone under 25 years of age it would warrant a call to Child Protective Services. You could do serious time on a rap like that.<BR/>;)<BR/><BR/>Damn. There is much I'd like to add, but I'm so tired I'm crosseyed. (By the way, Ximeze I like liver just fine. But it<B> must</B> be served with onions, canned (not fresh) green beans, and a big pile of buttered noodles)<BR/><BR/>JWMAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-37351179501738446782008-03-12T19:20:00.000-07:002008-03-12T19:20:00.000-07:00You can have my share, too XimezeYou can have my share, too Ximezejuliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15975754287030568726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-77568063135466245312008-03-12T19:15:00.000-07:002008-03-12T19:15:00.000-07:00"For the record, I don't care for Liver.Who wants ..."For the record, I don't care for Liver.<BR/>Who wants my share?"<BR/><BR/>Me me me! Yumm yumm, nice & pink inside, with a big pile of brussel sprouts & a side of beets....<BR/><BR/>Ahw crap, now I'm really really hungry!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-33656831600117015462008-03-12T16:46:00.000-07:002008-03-12T16:46:00.000-07:00Will-"...the oppositional forces will increase in ...Will-<BR/>"...<I>the oppositional forces will increase in intensity and persistence.</I>"<BR/><BR/>Sweet! We don't even have to order out now!<BR/>A steady diet of fresh meat.<BR/><BR/>De-livered!!!<BR/>Mmmnnn...<BR/><BR/>For the record, I don't care for Liver.<BR/>Who wants my share?Dougmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08468871451814828157noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-21022484988566869632008-03-12T15:57:00.000-07:002008-03-12T15:57:00.000-07:00>> . . . a holy act creates an angel, a new spiri...>> . . . a holy act creates an angel, a new spiritual reality that will then go on to have its own vertical life and influence<<<BR/><BR/>I once had an idea about writing a book, the theme of which would be something along the lines of "live the adventurous life, how every life is essentially an adventure," that sort of thing. In other words, something to inspire the "ordinary" individual or even those whose fate has cast them into seemingly "unimportant" or non-roles in life. <BR/><BR/>I couldn't bring it off, I found, without coming across as too hokey and rah-rah - still, the idea obtains, and anybody who grasps the basic idea should find reason to endure the hardships of life with a sense that they, too, are frontline warriors and that their personal lives, no matter how obscure, are really cosmic dramas. <BR/><BR/>I think at this juncture in history, it's not a matter, really, of choosing to be involved in the cosmic drama. It's only a matter of choosing what side we will represent.<BR/><BR/>>>I try to create angels with this blog. I don't know if I am successful, but I do know that I attract demons<<<BR/><BR/>Speaking of this juncture in history, I think it should be expected that the oppositional forces will increase in intensity and persistence.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-65330920696146992172008-03-12T15:12:00.000-07:002008-03-12T15:12:00.000-07:00One Cosmos: good for ... ??When I first stumbled i...One Cosmos: good for ... ??<BR/><BR/>When I first stumbled in here 500 posts ago, I recall excitedly telling my wife, "He (Bob) knows about vertical and horizontal!" This idea exists in various sources, but you have repeatedly returned to it as a "tool" to frame your points. And what a useful symbol it has been!<BR/><BR/>If Steinsaltz is correct, even metaphorically, then you have, over time, created something of a vertical Way for your readers, helping us access higher realms, that we might not enter by ourselves. I once wrote that I have felt daily "nudged upward." Or so it has seemed.<BR/><BR/>A couple of days ago I commented that the posts have been valuable because they are <I>generative,</I> not replacing what I have otherwise known (speaking personally), but enhancing and <I>illuminating</I> them through greater understanding, and leading in all sorts of tangential directions. You wrote several posts discussing how language can help us "colonize" parts of consciousness, thus inhabiting and full-filling its potential.<BR/><BR/>None of that would likely impress epi, but I found it useful.<BR/><BR/>But the <I>main</I> "fruit" of stopping by here regularly is akin to a "physical" sensation of being <I>drawn upward,</I> of being incessantly beckoned to the Higher.<BR/>There is a corollary in the body, that occurs in various yogas, or prayer:<BR/><BR/>One "...gradually and quite spontaneously feel as if it is being gently elongated and stretched upward and outward. In human beings this force can be felt as a source of extension or radiation. Sometimes it may almost feel as if you are being drawn up by some mysterious force analogous to the force of gravity, yet opposite to it in its direction of pull and influence."<BR/><BR/>Personally, and consistently, this is the effect (fruit) that OC has on me -- the "angels" that Bob creates, i.e. that <I>upward pull.</I> <BR/><BR/>I take such things simply, as I do aesthetics (Beauty), and illumination (Truth), and the <I>elegance of the potential</I> that is expressed here. Performance trumps theory, and opinion.<BR/><BR/>Good jokes, too!<BR/><BR/>None of that is here nor there to other folks, who are working along their own lines. But Bob asked, "What is it good for?" and it doesn't hurt to formulate such answers.walthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01388218390016612051noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-22415436032232299652008-03-12T14:59:00.000-07:002008-03-12T14:59:00.000-07:00"spiritual war that crosses realms"I'm finally at ..."spiritual war that crosses realms"<BR/><BR/>I'm finally at peace with my spirit.<BR/><BR/>It was a <I>Nasty</I> One I tell ya'!<BR/><I>Always twistin' this way and that way and slithering here and there and to and fro</I>.<BR/>Oh LOOK! There's <I>another</I> One!!!<BR/><BR/>~ ~ ~<BR/><BR/>Mmmnn.. If feel a rumbly in my tumbly :^/Dougmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08468871451814828157noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-72028807552569804132008-03-12T14:26:00.000-07:002008-03-12T14:26:00.000-07:00Perhaps our vertical acts, both upward and downwar...Perhaps our vertical acts, both upward and downward, "feed" the angels, both good and bad - another way we participate in the spiritual war that crosses realms.NoMohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01100042056270224683noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-9832170586890789172008-03-12T14:17:00.000-07:002008-03-12T14:17:00.000-07:00Whew, angels. Rich subject. Obviously, the Bible i...Whew, angels. Rich subject. Obviously, the Bible is loaded with 'em from <A HREF="http://www.biblegateway.com/keyword/?search=angel&version1=72&searchtype=all" REL="nofollow">start to finish</A>. On the whole, they appear to be created spiritual beings/persons with wills and purpose. Anyway, its a subject worth exploring. Bob's view is definitely a leap for me, but hey, its not the first time.NoMohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01100042056270224683noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-25452547007171202242008-03-12T13:47:00.000-07:002008-03-12T13:47:00.000-07:00Five stars for this one Bob!BTW, some angels have ...Five stars for this one Bob!<BR/><BR/>BTW, some angels have been working overtime:<BR/><BR/>A Hollywood film director has seen the light! David Mamet, writing today in the <A HREF="http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0811,374064,374064,1.html/1" REL="nofollow">Village Voice</A>, even names Thomas Sowell “our greatest contemporary philosopher.” <BR/><BR/>The piece is getting a lot of traffic. Over 240 comments.QPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15827536245376441948noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-12846477983720710712008-03-12T13:39:00.000-07:002008-03-12T13:39:00.000-07:00"The "logos" might be thought of as the model of a..."The "logos" might be thought of as the model of all things, the nexus between the divine mind above and the creation here below. <BR/><BR/>Looked at in this manner, the inexplicable beauty of the world is not somehow the outcome of horizontal cause and effect. <BR/><BR/>Rather beauty is the cause of the cosmos (among other nonlocal causes, such as Love and Truth)."<BR/><BR/><BR/>Aaaaaaaahhh.....<BR/><BR/>Simply BeautifulAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-56655531953097951152008-03-12T13:21:00.000-07:002008-03-12T13:21:00.000-07:00"Wisdom is a space, or "mansion." So too, creativi..."Wisdom is a space, or "mansion." So too, creativity, love, beauty, peace. You can sense it when you enter one of those mansions."<BR/><BR/>I had just that experience at least once: in the early Sixties I worked after school as a delivery boy for a small grocery store; around dinner time one Saturday I made a delivery to the apartment of a building superintendent (basically a janitor) who didn't usually have stuff delivered. When I brought the small box of groceries into the apartment the family was sitting at the table in the kitchen. There was a palpable feeling of warmth and love in that house; it felt so good I didn't want to leave. I knew the man from seeing him around the neighborhood; he gave off an aura of happiness (how's that for weird)and always had a smile for you as you passed by.<BR/>Usually I delivered to the 'rich' people, who owned their own houses and such. I never felt that same sense of happiness and well-being as in the apartment of the guy who cleaned the stairs and took out the garbage.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-87610630199398790782008-03-12T12:37:00.000-07:002008-03-12T12:37:00.000-07:00Bob->>. . . a holy act creates an angel, a new spi...Bob->>. . . <I>a holy act creates an angel, a new spiritual reality that will then go on to have its own vertical life and influence</I><< <BR/><BR/>Will-"<I>I think most don't comprehend the power they actually wield, this power being rooted in everyday life, even in the most so-called mundane of activities and thoughts</I>."<BR/><BR/>Struck a cord there Bob and Will.<BR/>For some reason I thought of the Good Samaritan and the robbed man on the side of the road.<BR/>Both in need of each other to create something Holy.Dougmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08468871451814828157noreply@blogger.com