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Man Seeks God (calming the monkey mind)
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TibetanMonkey, the Beach Cruiser Philosopher
Jan 26, 2012, 9:33:16 AM1/26/12
to
On Jan 26, 7:27 am, 無心 <mu_s...@rocketmail.com> wrote:
> On Jan 24, 9:21 am, "TibetanMonkey, the Beach Cruiser Philosopher"
>
> <comandante.ban...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> > Then you know that democracy makes you an idiot, and nobody has an
> > answer to anything and nobody is to blame.
>
> Are you unaware that the first Tibetan monkey had to compromise his
> principles
> in order to save the land from disaster?
No, tell me about it.
I learned yesterday that Buddhism talks about the "monkey mind" being
constantly distracted, "jumping all over the place," and that the
purpose of meditation is to calm it, all common sense. But the monkey
mind better be focused by riding a bicycle or motorcycle because
movement is natural. That's the TibetanMonkey way. Tell you what, all
I need to be in Nirvana now is to ride a motorcycle to the Florida
Keys. For the time being though I'm happy with my bicycle. It's not
having space that bothers me. You could argue the advantages and
disadvantages of each vehicle, but the bicycle is more democratic,
healthy and practical. Hey, somewhere in between is the scooter. The
big thing about my way though is that THE MONKEY GOT TO HAVE FUN!
Is this a recipe for the world? Yes, of course!
You may want to listen to 'Man Seeks God'...
(they talk about the monkey mind at minute 18)
http://www.wlrn.org/radio/programs/topical-currents/archive/
***
You know what, I'll make it a goal to lie in my hammock after my
bicycle ride. Nothing like it. That's Nirvana today.
Hey, you may choose to ignore me, in which case you may want to buy
the book and shop around.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
http://webspawner.com/users/BANANAREVOLUTION
> On Jan 24, 9:21 am, "TibetanMonkey, the Beach Cruiser Philosopher"
>
> <comandante.ban...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> > Then you know that democracy makes you an idiot, and nobody has an
> > answer to anything and nobody is to blame.
>
> Are you unaware that the first Tibetan monkey had to compromise his
> principles
> in order to save the land from disaster?
No, tell me about it.
I learned yesterday that Buddhism talks about the "monkey mind" being
constantly distracted, "jumping all over the place," and that the
purpose of meditation is to calm it, all common sense. But the monkey
mind better be focused by riding a bicycle or motorcycle because
movement is natural. That's the TibetanMonkey way. Tell you what, all
I need to be in Nirvana now is to ride a motorcycle to the Florida
Keys. For the time being though I'm happy with my bicycle. It's not
having space that bothers me. You could argue the advantages and
disadvantages of each vehicle, but the bicycle is more democratic,
healthy and practical. Hey, somewhere in between is the scooter. The
big thing about my way though is that THE MONKEY GOT TO HAVE FUN!
Is this a recipe for the world? Yes, of course!
You may want to listen to 'Man Seeks God'...
(they talk about the monkey mind at minute 18)
http://www.wlrn.org/radio/programs/topical-currents/archive/
***
You know what, I'll make it a goal to lie in my hammock after my
bicycle ride. Nothing like it. That's Nirvana today.
Hey, you may choose to ignore me, in which case you may want to buy
the book and shop around.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
http://webspawner.com/users/BANANAREVOLUTION
TibetanMonkey, the Beach Cruiser Philosopher
Jan 26, 2012, 4:39:04 PM1/26/12
to
On Jan 26, 11:20 am, 無心 <mu_s...@rocketmail.com> wrote:
> On Jan 26, 6:30 am, "TibetanMonkey, the Beach Cruiser Philosopher"
> union of an ogress and a monkey. One day a monkey came into a cave in
> Yarlung River valley and began to cultivate himself to attain
> immortality. Later, an ogress came to him and tried to tempt him with
> tricks. She said to the monkey: “Will you marry me?” “No, I am a
> disciple of Mother Buddha. I am instructed to come here to cultivate
> myself. If I marry with you, it will violate the religious
> discipline,” replied the monkey. The ogress proceeded: “If you don’t
> marry me, I will have to commit suicide because I am destined in my
> previous incarnation to be degraded into a devil. Then you and I
> cannot become affectionate couple. Days later, I will become the wife
> of a devil and give birth to countless sons and grandsons. At that
> time, the plateau will be plunged into a world filled with devils and
> thousands of people will be killed. So please do as I told you.” Stuck
> in the dilemma and puzzled, the monkey had to return to Putuo Hill to
> seek instruction from Mother Buddha. She said: “This is destiny and
> this is an auspicious sign. It is a deed of great kindness to marry
> her and reproduce offspring for the plateau. As a Buddha, you should
> not hesitate to conduct kind deeds. Hurry back to marry the ogress.”
>
> They got married and brought six baby monkeys into the world. They had
> different hobbies and different dispositions. They looked for food in
> the forest by themselves. Three years later, their father went to the
> forest and found out that the number of monkey had expanded to 500 by
> the way of reproduction. And they had eaten up the fruits in the
> forest and suffered from food shortage. Again the old monkey went to
> Mother Buddha for help. Mother Buddha took the seeds of five types of
> grains from Xumi Mountain and distributed them across the land. Crops
> sprung up in the vast land without being cultivated. Hence monkeys got
> sufficient food. After some time, their tails became shortened and
> they could speak language. Gradually they became humans, the ancestors
> of the Tibetan people.
It sounds like a pretty story centered around evolution. Who wants a
tail when it became redundant? Isn't that why we lost the tail?
>
> > I learned yesterday that Buddhism talks about the "monkey mind" being
> > constantly distracted, "jumping all over the place," and that the
> > purpose of meditation is to calm it, all common sense.
>
> You are gradually becoming enlightened.
>
> Enlightenment doesn't take place all at once, it occurs one lesson at
> a time, and sometimes the results of those lesson are won at great
> personal cost or one learns the lesson accidentally, through
> serendipity.
>
> Master Gautama's teaching examples were aimed at the intellectual
> capacity of his disciples. Some were smarter than others and were on a
> "fast track" to enlightenment.
>
> Others were duller and he used examples from life which they might be
> expected to understand.
>
> For instance, Master Gautama spoke of seeing "the moon" during
> meditation.
>
> No actual moon is seen, but the counter-image of the round visual
> meditation object is seen within seconds after the meditator closes
> his eyes.
>
> Then he progresses through *seeing* various images which are *actually
> transmitted by the optic nerve to the brain*.
>
> Back to the *manas*, the so-called "monkey mind," referred to by the
> teachers of yoga.
>
> One of its primary functions is to perceive the subjective position of
> the store consciousness and erroneously regard it as one's own ego,
> thereby creating ego attachment.
>
> Some yogis speak of eight levels of conciousness, other speak of four
> levels, which are easier to understand.
>
> They are consciouness, unconciousness, sleep, and a fourth state which
> is neither consciousness nor sleep.
>
> The fourth state is lucid dream, in which you know that you are
> dreaming, but you are directing the dream. You can program your mind
> to lucidly dream about what you want to ponder in your *wisdom
> meditation."
>
> One of the teaching models that Buddhists and Hindus use is that of a
> calm, crystal clear pond in the forest.
>
> The undisturbed mind is the crystal clear pond, and the undisturbed
> mind sees clearly, not worrying about the past or the future.
>
> The monkey mind causes waves on the surface of the pond by grasping at
> ideas.
>
> These thoughts stir up the pond, raising settled debris from the
> bottom.
>
> The pond becomes turgid and the meditator has so many thoughts
> swirling in his mind he might as well give up and make a booty call or
> order a pizza or go online and post to a newsgroup of total strangers.
>
> The meditator must learn to recognize thoughts as they arise and
> reject the thoughts in order to go into more rarified levels of
> consciousness.
>
> Pirsig was upset over his failure, years before, to get a PhD. His
> philosophy thesis was rejected at the University of Montana by a
> professor who disagreed with the proposition that abstract quality pre-
> existed the object to which it was attached by the viewer's
> perception.
>
> Pirsig was headed back to Bozeman on a Honda motorcycle with his
> alienated son and the way he avoided thinking about his youthful
> failure was to concentrate on motorcycle maintenance in the Zen style.
I do with my bicycles. I've become an "expert" at remodeling bicycles.
An "ape-hanger" makes the monkey happy. Same idea for motorcycles.
Isn't that something?
>
> He would have thought, "Now I'm going to adjust the valves, that's all
> I'm going to do is concentrate on adjusting the valves. Now I'm
> picking up the spanner, that's what I'm doing, I'm picking up the
> spanner."
You gotta know your machine. The motorcycle is too complex for my
monkey brain though. The beach cruiser is the simplest machine ever
invented that saves energy.
>
> You know perfectly well that you cannot concentrate totally on riding
> your motorcycle, there are too many lions in the jungle, and they are
> just waiting to make a meal of a monkey.
They go, "Look, the monkey is having fun!" And they come and attack! :
(
>
> > Tell you what, all
> > I need to be in Nirvana now is to ride a motorcycle to the Florida
> > Keys.
>
> Again, nirvana is NOT utopia, it's not a place, it's a state of mind.
I went through a sad city last night and still I was happy to be
riding my bicycle. It gets to you if you lived in it though.
>
> You don't have to go anywhere to experience nirvana.
>
> All you have to do is sit somewhere quiet and clear you mind of all
> the thoughts that are stirring up debris from the bottom.
>
> You need to ignore the past and avoid speculating about the future and
> *enter the moment fully*, without emotion and having no internal
> discourse rattling around in your monkey mind.
Oh no, I'm having fun but also being involved in the fate of the
planet. Should I not worry about Climate Change or nuclear war when
they can be prevented?
>
> > For the time being though I'm happy with my bicycle. It's not
> > having space that bothers me. You could argue the advantages and
> > disadvantages of each vehicle, but the bicycle is more democratic,
> > healthy and practical. Hey, somewhere in between is the scooter. The
> > big thing about my way though is that THE MONKEY GOT TO HAVE FUN!
>
> The monkey mind seeks sensual pleasure. The yogi who seeks nirvana,
> and takes a manifold vow to avoid sensuality.
How about the Tantric approach? Is there something wrong with
pleasure? I bet the banana is a good draw for the monkeys who want to
enjoy simple pleasures in the jungle. Did anyone say banana? Or did
they say jungle? THEY ARE MADE FOR EACH OTHER!
>
> > Is this a recipe for the world? Yes, of course!
>
> You imagine yourself to be a teacher, but you are not a teacher, you
> are engaged in self-serving egotism.
> the sun spoken of in there.
Well, the purpose is not that you learn but that you buy the book! ;)
"Nirvana with banana"... it sounds so catchy! ;)
>
> > Hey, you may choose to ignore me, in which case you may want to buy
> > the book and shop around.
>
> Everything I need to know is freely available on line.
>
> However, if you accept what nirvana actually is, as I've told you
> several times, the first thing you need to do is stop typing and start
> listening (or reading the readily available texts on the subject).
>
> You need to do what the wise woman of the Na'vi told Jake Scully in
> "Avatar."
>
> You need to empty your mind so you can learn to *see*.
I'm listening and learning. Now, what do you think of riding a beach
cruiser along beach --no traffic, no dog or cat poop-- as opposed to
planting ideas into the Internet that go around and germinate?
How about if my monkey mind, not only wants to stay focus, but wants
to simplify? Why ignore the sensual path to seek the difficult path?
How about if I empty my mind and become an idiot?
> On Jan 26, 6:30 am, "TibetanMonkey, the Beach Cruiser Philosopher"
>
> <comandante.ban...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> > On Jan 26, 7:27 am, 無心 <mu_s...@rocketmail.com> wrote:
> > > Are you unaware that the first Tibetan monkey had to compromise his
> > > principles in order to save the land from disaster?
>
> > No, tell me about it.
>
> According to myth, the Tibetan people attribute their existence to the
> <comandante.ban...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> > On Jan 26, 7:27 am, 無心 <mu_s...@rocketmail.com> wrote:
> > > Are you unaware that the first Tibetan monkey had to compromise his
> > > principles in order to save the land from disaster?
>
> > No, tell me about it.
>
> union of an ogress and a monkey. One day a monkey came into a cave in
> Yarlung River valley and began to cultivate himself to attain
> immortality. Later, an ogress came to him and tried to tempt him with
> tricks. She said to the monkey: “Will you marry me?” “No, I am a
> disciple of Mother Buddha. I am instructed to come here to cultivate
> myself. If I marry with you, it will violate the religious
> discipline,” replied the monkey. The ogress proceeded: “If you don’t
> marry me, I will have to commit suicide because I am destined in my
> previous incarnation to be degraded into a devil. Then you and I
> cannot become affectionate couple. Days later, I will become the wife
> of a devil and give birth to countless sons and grandsons. At that
> time, the plateau will be plunged into a world filled with devils and
> thousands of people will be killed. So please do as I told you.” Stuck
> in the dilemma and puzzled, the monkey had to return to Putuo Hill to
> seek instruction from Mother Buddha. She said: “This is destiny and
> this is an auspicious sign. It is a deed of great kindness to marry
> her and reproduce offspring for the plateau. As a Buddha, you should
> not hesitate to conduct kind deeds. Hurry back to marry the ogress.”
>
> They got married and brought six baby monkeys into the world. They had
> different hobbies and different dispositions. They looked for food in
> the forest by themselves. Three years later, their father went to the
> forest and found out that the number of monkey had expanded to 500 by
> the way of reproduction. And they had eaten up the fruits in the
> forest and suffered from food shortage. Again the old monkey went to
> Mother Buddha for help. Mother Buddha took the seeds of five types of
> grains from Xumi Mountain and distributed them across the land. Crops
> sprung up in the vast land without being cultivated. Hence monkeys got
> sufficient food. After some time, their tails became shortened and
> they could speak language. Gradually they became humans, the ancestors
> of the Tibetan people.
It sounds like a pretty story centered around evolution. Who wants a
tail when it became redundant? Isn't that why we lost the tail?
>
> > I learned yesterday that Buddhism talks about the "monkey mind" being
> > constantly distracted, "jumping all over the place," and that the
> > purpose of meditation is to calm it, all common sense.
>
>
> Enlightenment doesn't take place all at once, it occurs one lesson at
> a time, and sometimes the results of those lesson are won at great
> personal cost or one learns the lesson accidentally, through
> serendipity.
>
> Master Gautama's teaching examples were aimed at the intellectual
> capacity of his disciples. Some were smarter than others and were on a
> "fast track" to enlightenment.
>
> Others were duller and he used examples from life which they might be
> expected to understand.
>
> For instance, Master Gautama spoke of seeing "the moon" during
> meditation.
>
> No actual moon is seen, but the counter-image of the round visual
> meditation object is seen within seconds after the meditator closes
> his eyes.
>
> Then he progresses through *seeing* various images which are *actually
> transmitted by the optic nerve to the brain*.
>
> Back to the *manas*, the so-called "monkey mind," referred to by the
> teachers of yoga.
>
> One of its primary functions is to perceive the subjective position of
> the store consciousness and erroneously regard it as one's own ego,
> thereby creating ego attachment.
>
> Some yogis speak of eight levels of conciousness, other speak of four
> levels, which are easier to understand.
>
> They are consciouness, unconciousness, sleep, and a fourth state which
> is neither consciousness nor sleep.
>
> The fourth state is lucid dream, in which you know that you are
> dreaming, but you are directing the dream. You can program your mind
> to lucidly dream about what you want to ponder in your *wisdom
> meditation."
>
> One of the teaching models that Buddhists and Hindus use is that of a
> calm, crystal clear pond in the forest.
>
> The undisturbed mind is the crystal clear pond, and the undisturbed
> mind sees clearly, not worrying about the past or the future.
>
> The monkey mind causes waves on the surface of the pond by grasping at
> ideas.
>
> These thoughts stir up the pond, raising settled debris from the
> bottom.
>
> The pond becomes turgid and the meditator has so many thoughts
> swirling in his mind he might as well give up and make a booty call or
> order a pizza or go online and post to a newsgroup of total strangers.
>
> The meditator must learn to recognize thoughts as they arise and
> reject the thoughts in order to go into more rarified levels of
> consciousness.
>
> > But the monkey
> > mind better be focused by riding a bicycle or motorcycle because
> > movement is natural.
>
> Read Robert Pirsig's "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance."
> > But the monkey
> > mind better be focused by riding a bicycle or motorcycle because
> > movement is natural.
>
>
> Pirsig was upset over his failure, years before, to get a PhD. His
> philosophy thesis was rejected at the University of Montana by a
> professor who disagreed with the proposition that abstract quality pre-
> existed the object to which it was attached by the viewer's
> perception.
>
> Pirsig was headed back to Bozeman on a Honda motorcycle with his
> alienated son and the way he avoided thinking about his youthful
> failure was to concentrate on motorcycle maintenance in the Zen style.
I do with my bicycles. I've become an "expert" at remodeling bicycles.
An "ape-hanger" makes the monkey happy. Same idea for motorcycles.
Isn't that something?
>
> He would have thought, "Now I'm going to adjust the valves, that's all
> I'm going to do is concentrate on adjusting the valves. Now I'm
> picking up the spanner, that's what I'm doing, I'm picking up the
> spanner."
You gotta know your machine. The motorcycle is too complex for my
monkey brain though. The beach cruiser is the simplest machine ever
invented that saves energy.
>
> You know perfectly well that you cannot concentrate totally on riding
> your motorcycle, there are too many lions in the jungle, and they are
> just waiting to make a meal of a monkey.
They go, "Look, the monkey is having fun!" And they come and attack! :
(
>
> > Tell you what, all
> > I need to be in Nirvana now is to ride a motorcycle to the Florida
> > Keys.
>
I went through a sad city last night and still I was happy to be
riding my bicycle. It gets to you if you lived in it though.
>
> You don't have to go anywhere to experience nirvana.
>
> All you have to do is sit somewhere quiet and clear you mind of all
> the thoughts that are stirring up debris from the bottom.
>
> You need to ignore the past and avoid speculating about the future and
> *enter the moment fully*, without emotion and having no internal
> discourse rattling around in your monkey mind.
Oh no, I'm having fun but also being involved in the fate of the
planet. Should I not worry about Climate Change or nuclear war when
they can be prevented?
>
> > For the time being though I'm happy with my bicycle. It's not
> > having space that bothers me. You could argue the advantages and
> > disadvantages of each vehicle, but the bicycle is more democratic,
> > healthy and practical. Hey, somewhere in between is the scooter. The
> > big thing about my way though is that THE MONKEY GOT TO HAVE FUN!
>
> and takes a manifold vow to avoid sensuality.
How about the Tantric approach? Is there something wrong with
pleasure? I bet the banana is a good draw for the monkeys who want to
enjoy simple pleasures in the jungle. Did anyone say banana? Or did
they say jungle? THEY ARE MADE FOR EACH OTHER!
>
> > Is this a recipe for the world? Yes, of course!
>
> are engaged in self-serving egotism.
>
> > You may want to listen to 'Man Seeks God'...
>
> Takes too long to download and I doubt if there's anything new under
> > You may want to listen to 'Man Seeks God'...
>
> the sun spoken of in there.
Well, the purpose is not that you learn but that you buy the book! ;)
>
>
>
> > (they talk about the monkey mind at minute 18)
>
>
> > (they talk about the monkey mind at minute 18)
> > You know what, I'll make it a goal to lie in my hammock after my
> > bicycle ride. Nothing like it. That's Nirvana today.
>
> No, that's still not nirvana, it's sensuality.
> > bicycle ride. Nothing like it. That's Nirvana today.
>
"Nirvana with banana"... it sounds so catchy! ;)
>
> > Hey, you may choose to ignore me, in which case you may want to buy
> > the book and shop around.
>
>
> However, if you accept what nirvana actually is, as I've told you
> several times, the first thing you need to do is stop typing and start
> listening (or reading the readily available texts on the subject).
>
> You need to do what the wise woman of the Na'vi told Jake Scully in
> "Avatar."
>
> You need to empty your mind so you can learn to *see*.
I'm listening and learning. Now, what do you think of riding a beach
cruiser along beach --no traffic, no dog or cat poop-- as opposed to
planting ideas into the Internet that go around and germinate?
How about if my monkey mind, not only wants to stay focus, but wants
to simplify? Why ignore the sensual path to seek the difficult path?
How about if I empty my mind and become an idiot?
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