On The Ride

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AugustLeo, modified 9 Years ago at 2/10/15 3:15 PM
Created 9 Years ago at 2/10/15 2:28 PM

On The Ride

Posts: 40 Join Date: 11/18/09 Recent Posts
This thread was sparked by Jenny’s post in the “Q&A with Kenneth Folk #2” thread, which pointed to my current perspective, which is : after many years of seeking, I’m still on the ride.
 
It seems there may be three basic states of post-biological development: "Never on the Ride",  “On the Ride” , “Off the Ride”. 
 
For me, “on the ride” is all about a search for “something that’s missing or expected or needed to feel whole, or to feel that the dissonance of life has a corresponding consonance,or to feel 'I don't know what' ”, and hopefully at some follow-on point in one’s life, the missing or expected “something” is understood.  “Off the ride” is simply “I found it” and life goes on with an inherent understanding of embodied existence.
 
I welcome sincere on-topic responses from serious “riders”, those "still on the ride", and those who have managed to find their way "off the ride". 

Trolls, please go elsewhere.
 
Michael

Edits:  typos
Dave sdfsdf, modified 9 Years ago at 2/10/15 6:11 PM
Created 9 Years ago at 2/10/15 6:11 PM

RE: On The Ride

Posts: 216 Join Date: 11/4/14 Recent Posts
Id like to add a step, finding a ride. or maybe thats loop. For years Ive been searching for a ride, christian mysticism, gnosticism, sufism, being atheist those nvr really stuck with me, zen was my first encounter when I was a kid, hinduism(ramana maharashi, nisgartthja, poonja etc), most often returning to Zen later to Chan. Though the practice nvr stuck, I fell of the wagon so to speak. Tibetan buddhism escaped me for years. I only really found that ride last year and it seems to suit me strangely enough. Hopefully I will stick with it. At least Im trying to hold on for dear life, although sometimes I fell off but I catch up to it again.

There ends my analogy train =).
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Jake , modified 9 Years ago at 2/10/15 7:33 PM
Created 9 Years ago at 2/10/15 7:32 PM

RE: On The Ride

Posts: 695 Join Date: 5/22/10 Recent Posts
Hmm, upon reflection, I would say for me so far it's been more like
--not being on the ride
--being on the ride and trying various things to get off
--it gradually/suddenly dawning on me that there is just the ride, and it isn't coming from anywhere or going anywhere, it's just-- a ride. 

And yet, and yet... as Issa wrote:

'this dewdrop world
is but a dewdrop world;
and yet...'

on the one year anniversary of his young son's death.

http://mudandlotus.blogspot.com/2010/01/dewdrop-world.html

So there has to be a poignancy of the reality of our human life, alongside the timelessness, beginningnessless, deathlessness of 'the ride' (conditioned flow of 'world')
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Jake , modified 9 Years ago at 2/10/15 7:37 PM
Created 9 Years ago at 2/10/15 7:37 PM

RE: On The Ride

Posts: 695 Join Date: 5/22/10 Recent Posts
In fact, this is probably why I like vajrayana so much: 'method' is basically about closing the illusory gap between awareness/being, and life/conditioned experiencing. 

Thanks for prompting me to reflect, Michael! 
Small Steps, modified 9 Years ago at 2/11/15 4:18 PM
Created 9 Years ago at 2/11/15 3:48 PM

RE: On The Ride

Posts: 246 Join Date: 2/12/14 Recent Posts
Michael (Augustleo):
 
For me, “on the ride” is all about a search for “something that’s missing or expected or needed to feel whole, or to feel that the dissonance of life has a corresponding consonance,or to feel 'I don't know what' ”, and hopefully at some follow-on point in one’s life, the missing or expected “something” is understood.  “Off the ride” is simply “I found it” and life goes on with an inherent understanding of embodied existence.
 
Hi Michael,
I think I agree with Jake's assertion that there is just this ride.

If you find your analogy of "on" or "off" this ride useful however, perhaps you might also add the state, "on the ride, with occasional stops," which is often what it feels like to me emoticon

All analogies, comparisons and models necessarily fall apart, however. If one looks around to figure out whether one is on or off the bus, the bus may morph into a fetter in and of itself (becoming a prison bus, rather than a hop-on/hop-off tourist bus). The same with the 4 path model. You can waste a lot of time wondering if you got to stream entry, why your sakadagami moment doesn't line up with others', why you feel like you're somewhere between paths, etc. My personal experience is that it's very distracting from real practice.

Ultimately, I prefer this model:
1. Alive
2. Dead

While alive, keep practicing, because you never know how much time you have left. When you die, maybe you will get off the wheel, maybe not. Maybe there was no wheel. Dead men tell no tales, they say ;)

edited: typo. I misspelled Ailve emoticon
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Jake , modified 9 Years ago at 2/11/15 4:16 PM
Created 9 Years ago at 2/11/15 4:16 PM

RE: On The Ride

Posts: 695 Join Date: 5/22/10 Recent Posts
[quote=Small Steps
 ]
Ultimately, I prefer this model:
1. Ailve
2. Dead

While alive, keep practicing, because you never know how much time you have left. When you die, maybe you will get off the wheel, maybe not. Maybe there was no wheel. Dead men tell no tales, they say ;)
Boom! Talk about a 'simple model' lol! I love it. Whatever else we find or lose along the way, this is probly gonna be true to the big picture