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James Allen Daily

Discussion in 'Self Improvement' started by 虎穴に入らずんば虎子を得ず, Dec 23, 2016.

  1. [​IMG]

    Self Improvement Update:

    It's not about me, ultimately.

    The Ancient One: Arrogance and fear still keep you from learning the simplest and most significant lesson of all.

    Dr. Stephen Strange: Which is?

    The Ancient One: It's not about you.

    Who said comics aren't a secular phenomenon hehehhehehhehhehhe :p

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    I'm learning something new with each post. This is great. Spontaneity can be more fruitful than forced efforts sometimes. Not saying a strong sense of purpose isn't fruitful, no it's downright necessary, just saying relax, don't force it, let if flow but not without an intentional direction. At least I am beginning to see it's not my ego that is in control, as much as a sense of entitlement or arrogant state of mind that arises would lead me to believe. Alan Watts (not a reader or follower of him but I like much of his work) and Lao Tzu. Both secular, IN MY EYES. Maybe not yours. I think this thread needs more from these two during the secular period.

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    "So I always ask the question: What would you like to do if money were no object? How would you really enjoy spending your life? Well it's so amazing as the result of our kind of educational system, crowds of students say 'Well, we'd like to be painters, we'd like to be poets, we'd like to be writers' But as everybody knows you can't earn any money that way! Another person says 'Well I'd like to live an out-of-door's life and ride horses.' I said 'You wanna teach in a riding school?'

    Let's go through with it. What do you want to do? When we finally got down to something which the individual says he really wants to do I will say to him 'You do that! And forget the money!' Because if you say that getting the money is the most important thing you will spend your life completely wasting your time! You'll be doing things you don't like doing in order to go on living - that is to go on doing things you don't like doing! Which is stupid! Better to have a short life that is full of which you like doing."

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  3. [​IMG]

    I don't plan on forever posting images here.

    I think images are beautiful and make posts colorful both visually and cerebrally.

    But I'm a minimalist at heart and too much clutter can cause loss of focus, lack of clarity, and scatter one's thoughts.

    I feel the images I am posting at present are medicinal. In a way, it's kind of like the exact opposite of viewing pornography or erotic material. I mean when we use porn we are flooding our consciousness with downright poisonous and toxic content that damages us in more ways than we may ever be aware of. Or perhaps we are completely aware of what it does to our entire being. I think the toll it takes on my brain is insignificant in comparison to how it warps my mind and eats my spirit like some kind of sulfuric soul acid.

    Now if you don't resonate with this thread, there's no point in reading it. We're all here on this forum to make progress obviously. Progress means something different for everyone. Many share a common view of what progress is, but we all can't be in the same boat here, obviously. We can still get along though. Act maturely. Be kind. Be understanding.

    If you want to jump on this ship let us set our minds on the same target. We all have to walk our own paths which may look very different from one another's. But our target can be essentially the same thing. It would be ideal if we all had the same target. This is just not the way our world works though. We can certainly view everyone having a common aim here however and extend our light to every single user on this forum regardless of what their aims are.
     
    Last edited: Jan 11, 2017
  4. What kind of courage is more fierce than a pack of lions?

    The New Courage.

    The lion is still a great symbol of courage in my eyes, what a majestic beast, albeit a predatory killer and doler of intense torment for lesser beasts but such is the nature of the animal realm.

    What an enigmatic author this fellow is, all that is known about him seems to be his writing alias Truthseeker and short pieces here: www.jamesallenlibrary.com/authors/truthseeker

    This is he who, felled by foes,
    Sprung harmless up, refreshed by blows;
    He to captivity was sold,
    But him no prison bars would hold;
    Though they sealed him in a rock,
    Mountain chains he can unlock;
    Thrown to lions for their meat,
    The crouching lion kissed his feet.
    — Emerson
     
  5. I'm thinking about making a new habit of reading in the mornings, everyday. I stumbled upon an article touting the benefits of doing this a while back, not sure what the specific benefit was. I mean it's well known that reading daily has numerous benefits but I don't remember if there was something specific to reading every morning for a certain amount of time. Will look into this.

    Renew your resolution daily, and in the hour of temptation do not depart from the right path.

    January Twelfth.

    THE days are lengthening. Each day now the sun rises a little higher, and the light lingers a little longer. So each day we can strengthen our character; each day we can open our heart a little more to the light of Truth, and allow the Sun of Righteousness to shine more highly in our mind. The sun does not increase in volume or intensity, but the earth turns towards it, and receives more as it turns. All that there is of Truth and Good is now. It does not increase or diminish, but as we turn towards it we receive of its radiance and beneficence in ever-increasing abundance and power.

    As the artisan acquires skill in fashioning the articles of his craft by daily and diligent practice with his tools, so do you acquire skill in fashioning good deeds by daily and diligent practice of the Truth.

    You can acquire Truth only by practice.

    Twelfth Morning

    Every man reaps the results of his own
    thoughts and deeds, and suffers for his
    own wrong.

    He who begins right, and continues
    right, does not need to desire, and search
    for felicitous results; they are already at
    hand; they follow as consequences; they
    are the certainties, the realities, of life.

    Sweet is the rest and deep is the bliss
    of him who has freed his heart from its
    lusts and hatreds and dark desires.

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    Twelfth Evening

    You are the creator of your own shadows;
    you desire, and then you grieve; renounce,
    and then you shall rejoice.

    Of all the beautiful truths pertaining
    to the soul, . . . none is more gladdening
    or fruitful of divine promise and confidence
    than this-that man is the master of
    thought, the moulder of character, and
    the maker and shaper of character,
    environment, and destiny.
     
  6. The Ancient One: You think you know how the world works? You think that this material universe is all there is? What is real? What mysteries lie beyond the reach of your senses? At the root of existence, mind and matter meet. Thoughts form reality. This universe is only one of an infinite number. Worlds without end; some benevolent and life-giving, others filled with malice and hunger. Dark places where powers older than time lie, ravenous and waiting. Who are you in this vast multiverse, Mr. Strange?

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    I want to explore music during the secular period. Yes. I made some comments about music earlier in the thread but I feel compelled to go deeper. What I commented was just my biased opinion really. Let's get some research in here.



    This Is Your Brain On Music - daniellevitin.com

     
  7. "The Matrix is everywhere. It is all around us, even now in this very room. You can see it when you look out your window or when you turn on your television. You can feel it when you go to work, when you go to church, when you pay your taxes; it is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth."
    Morpheus to Neo

    Holy shit lol. AsapSCIENCE basically called music a drug in the video above and said it may very well turn you into an addict. Hahaha. I like the video below it and that book, contrasts the drug/addiction ranting nicely.

    Everybody's an expert these days? Who needs a teacher or Master when you have Google and YouTube? How many self-help/improvement channels are on YouTube? Do you think the creator of the channel is always a legitimate 'expert'? Are scientists the most brilliant people in our world? Do they know all there is to know about life and existence? Question for the ages....well if you even have to ask and get stuck on it that is..........................................

    Ahhh. Music. Is a natural drug AsapSCIENCE says. You can get addicted they said. Need more and more and more they said...well we will keep any song selections in this thread to a very minimal number and only share ones with profound lyrics or just beautiful sounds.



    Please share anything you want in this thread if you feel it resonates with anything in the thread. You don't need my permission HAHA! We're all one big Tribe of Light. Brothers and Sisters of Limitless Light. Jedi. The Resistance. Ok I'm getting carried away there and kind of just being a clown. Mindful humans. Compassionate people. I'm just saying don't feel left out or view this thread as a one person conversation BAHAHHAHAHA!

     






  8. "Your album along with a few others from the bay are gettin me through college and motivating to improve my writing and music. Much love from IA!!!!"
    ~ [​IMG] Dylan Pieper
     
    Last edited: Jan 12, 2017
  9. I got news for ya if ya didn't hear it yet.

    ANYTHING CAN BE A 'DRUG' (in the way AsapSCIENCE called music a drug). People can be 'addicted' to quite literally anything.

    I was just speaking with an internationally acclaimed psychologist yesterday and she was basically spilling the beans on 'addiction'. I think I covered what was in the same can of beans earlier in this thread or in a video thread around the forum...

    Nah I don't need to post references to peer reviewed research. Spit in my face if you wanna argue haha it'll be quicker for us both.
     
  10. [​IMG]

    Everyone can be a teacher to us. Sometimes our deepest lessons are given to us by our worst enemies.



    Self is the only prison that can ever bind the soul;
    Truth is the only angel that can bid the gates unroll;
    And when he comes to call thee, arise and follow fast;
    His way may lie through darkness, but it leads to light at last.
    —Henry van Dyke

    As far as I know poetry is secular regardless of topic.

    O come, weary brother! thy struggling and striving
    End thou in the heart of the Master of Truth;
    Across self's drear desert why wilt thou be driving,
    Athirst for the quickening waters of Truth
    When here, by the path of thy searching and sinning,
    Flows Life's gladsome stream, lies Love's oasis green?
    Come, turn thou and rest; know the end and beginning,
    The sought and the searcher, the seer and seen.
    Thy Master sits not in the unapproached mountains,
    Nor dwells in the mirage which floats on the air,
    Nor shalt thou discover His magical fountains
    In pathways of sand that encircle despair.
    In selfhood's dark desert cease wearily seeking
    The odorous tracks of the feet of thy King;
    And if thou wouldst hear the sweet sound of His speaking,
    Be deaf to all voices that emptily sing.
    Flee the vanishing places; renounce all thou hast;
    Leave all that thou lovest, and, naked and bare,
    Thyself at the shrine of the Innermost cast;
    The Highest, the Holiest, the Changeless is there.
    Within, in the heart of the Silence He dwelleth;
    Leave sorrow and sin, leave thy wanderings sore;
    Come bathe in His Joy, whilst He, whispering, telleth
    Thy soul what it seeketh, and wander no more.
    Then cease, weary brother, thy struggling and striving;
    Find peace in the heart of the Master of Truth.
    Across self's dark desert cease wearily driving;
    Come; drink at the beautiful waters of Truth.

    "His (James Allen) strict definition of self and truth leave no space for compromise. They (self and truth) can exist in harmony (in moderation), side-by-side -- as do all the shades of light and darkness, good and evil, etc."
     
    Last edited: Jan 12, 2017
  11. ALRIGHT LET'S NOT KID OURSELVES. NONE OF US ARE CLOSE TO ENLIGHTENMENT.

    WE NEED TO IMPLEMENT ALL KINDS OF STRATEGIES WHILE WALKING THE PATH OF TRUTH TOWARDS THE ULTIMATE (WHATEVER YOU ENVISION THAT BEING) IN WHATEVER FORM THAT PATH MAY TAKE FOR YOU.

    THIS PEN IS HERE TO HELP US. I THINK ANYONE ON THIS FORUM CAN BENEFIT FROM IT GIVEN THE NATURE OF OUR HANDS SOMETIMES FIDGETING IN NAUGHTY WAYS.



    think-ink-pen.myshopify.com/products/think-ink-pen-fidget-for-focus

    Think Ink Fidget Pen for Idle Hands Review » The Gadget Flow
     
  12. Lol I just shared this publicly on Facebook in a post:

    The world needs more good men, if you have sons raise them right, for virtue in this world is perishing as materialism and selfishness become the all important matters. Don't raise beasts of humans who will do nothing for this world other than contribute to its demise and cause suffering for others through their ignorant mindless self-indulgent ways. If you're a laddie reading this, I hope you stand bravely among the ignorance that surrounds you and rise above that which you know is wrong.

    The wise purify their thoughts.

    January Thirteenth.

    EVERYday is a new birth in time, holding out new beginnings, new possibilities, new achievements. The ages have witnessed the stars in their orbits, but this day hath no age witnessed. It is a new appearance, a new reality. It heralds a new life—yea, a new order, a new society, a new age. It holds out new hopes, new opportunities, to all men. In it you can become a new man, a new woman. For you it can be the day of regeneration, renewal, rebirth. From the old past with its mistakes, failures, and sorrows, you can rise a new being, endued with power and purpose, and radiant with the inspiration of a new ideal.

    Be chaste in mind and body. Abandon sensual pleasures. Purge the mind of selfishness, and live a life of exalted purity.

    Be upright, gentle, and pure-hearted.

    Thirteenth Morning

    As darkness is a passing shadow, and light
    is a substance that remains, so sorrow is
    fleeting, but joy abides for ever. No true
    thing can pass away and become lost; no
    false thing can remain and be preserved.
    Sorrow is false, and it cannot live; joy is
    true, and it cannot die. Joy may become
    hidden for a time, but it can always be
    recovered; sorrow may remain for a period,
    but it can be transcended and dispersed.

    Do not think your sorrow will remain;
    it will pass away like a cloud. Do not
    believe that the torments of sin are ever
    your portion; they will vanish like a
    hideous nightmare. Awake! Arise! Be holy
    and joyful.

    Thirteenth Evening

    Tribulation lasts only so long as there
    remains some chaff of self which needs to
    be removed. The tribulum, or threshing
    machine, ceases to work when all the
    grain is separated from the chaff;
    and when the last impurities are
    blown away from the soul,
    tribulation has completed its work,
    and there is no more need for it;
    then abiding joy is realized.

    The sole and supreme use of suffering
    is to purify, to burn out all that is useless
    and impure. Suffering ceases for him
    who is pure. There could be no object
    in burning gold after the dross had
    been removed.
     
  13. The Health Benefits of Classical Music:
    5 Scientifically Proven Benefits of Classical Music

    1. Increase physical performance. Several studies have linked the benefits of music to getting the most out of your workout. Music makes you cycle harder, run faster, boosted endurance, and improved overall motivation about exercise. Choosing a favorite selection of songs makes it easier to “get into the zone” and focus on the music rather than the exertion.

    2. Get the quality sleep your body needs. One benefit of classical music is that it helps to relax your body physically while calming your mind. College students affected by insomnia showed improvement when they substituted random sleep aids with 45 minutes of classical music therapy.

    3. Ease chronic pain naturally. For those in recovery from surgery, dealing with disability, or affected by the ravages of aging, music helps to reprogram the brain to focus on the music rather than the physical pain. It has also been shown to speed healing of damaged tissue.

    4. Improve mood and lower stress. If you are feeling anxious, sad, or out of control, take a few minutes to stop for a little while and listen to music. Studies have found that it has the same physiological effect of a massage. This simple therapy technique causes positive chemical reactions within your brain that help with symptoms of stress and depression.


    Avoid listening to hard music or club beats if your emotions are in chaos since science has proven that they can make a bad situation worse emotionally. In Germany, they are testing the use of Mozart to lower driver aggression on the nation’s highways.

    5. Boost brainpower. Many researchers have discovered that students test far better when listening to classical music. It’s so well documented that it is known as the “Mozart Effect.” Though they aren’t certain of the logistics, those who listen to music take less time to complete tests, get more answers right overall, and gradually improve their IQ.

     
    Last edited: Jan 13, 2017
  14. Shin Iu

    Shin Iu Fapstronaut

    A lot of actors or actress had mental illness, and the more you watch and imitate, the higher chance you get a mental illness like depression.
    Walk away from sexual stuff like a pastor, Shall God Award you and improve your destiny! Don't get driven by your thoughts, but control them. You are the owner of your thoughts instead of the slave.
     
  15. BAHAHHAHA.

    LIKE A PASTOR! I sure as shit ain't no angel buddy nor am I joining the clergy.

    I'm no Abrahamic man but thanks Shin!
     
    Last edited: Jan 13, 2017
  16. Lest I have to repeat myself over and over and over as the thread will be interpreted in many different ways, DO NOT BITE OFF MORE THAN YOU CAN CHEW.

     
  17. Cute site: http://taoism.net/tao/wu-wei/



    About Lao Tzu

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    [​IMG]Lao Tzu was the ancient Chinese philosopher who wrote the Tao Te Ching more than 2,500 years ago. The name is an honorific title, meaning “Old Master.” Its two characters have been spelled in many different ways depending on the romanization system used. Some possibilities are as below:

    • Lao Tze
    • Lao Tse
    • Lao Tsu
    Also depending on the system, there may or may not be a dash between the two words, and the second word may or may not be capitalized.

    In the future, all the above variations will be unified by the Pinyin romanization system into one standard: Laozi. For now, the important thing to keep in mind is that no matter how the name is written, it refers to one person — the author of the Tao Te Ching.

    Some Western authors assert that the name “Lao Tzu” has another meaning that can be translated as something like “Old Son” or “Ancient Child.” This is absolutely incorrect.

    Historical documents tell us the person behind the Lao Tzu title was a man by the name of Li Er. Legend has it that King Wu of Zhou appointed him Head Librarian of the royal archives at Luoyang. In that capacity, Li Er dealt with numerous ancient scrolls and manuscripts. He was able to immerse himself in the study of history, philosophy and literature, gaining understanding and insights along the way. In time, he won much acclaim for the wisdom he had cultivated — and thereby his honorific title, the Old Master.

    According to another legend, Confucius visited with Lao Tzu and came away in awe of Lao Tzu. Confucius recognized in Lao Tzu a deep understanding about the world that was well beyond his own, and went so far as to liken Lao Tzu to the mysterious dragon. Many in later generations would regard Confucius as Lao Tzu’s disciple.

    Lao Tzu decided to leave civilization behind when the House of Zhao began its decline. He departed Luoyang and headed for the Hangu Pass, intending to go far beyond it to some destination in the West.

    While at Hangu Pass, Lao Tzu was recognized by the commander, who was a student of the Tao. He realized immediately that Lao Tzu’s departure would mean a great loss to all who wished to further their studies, so he asked Lao Tzu to write down a summary of his teachings for posterity. Lao Tzu agreed, and wrote a small book in two parts, expressing his accumulated learnings in brief, concise yet profound language. The first part became known as the Tao Ching, meaning Tao Classic; the second part was the Te Ching, meaning Virtue Classic. Together, the two parts form Tao Te Ching, the Tao and Virtue Classic.
     
    Last edited: Jan 13, 2017
  18. Shin Iu

    Shin Iu Fapstronaut

    they are from Chinese "Nofap" website, I felt chilled after I read these lines! Hope they would help you in the future!
     

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