[MD] Intellectual Level

[118]

Hi Marsha,
I don't know about the wise old men part, maybe half of that is right.
 The news over reports all these things, most of us are doing fine in
SoCal.  I was just up in Ojai, wonderful place if one is into all the
spiritual stuff, lots of it is very commercial, but there is a Zen
monastery which allows visitors with questions, which is interesting.
There is also a big Theosophy library, which has everything from
Blavatsky to Jung.  It is fun to browse through the strange books.

I have heard that living in Emptiness provides freedom and extreme
compassion.  The notion of reincarnation makes sense to me, and
provides much more insight to my present incarnation than does a
mechanistic world since such a thing does not explain the sense of
self.  If belief is a choice, then we are very free.  I like that.  I
do not come to this without some questioning and pain, luckily I never
had to be hospitalized, although there were some dark times.

I agree with your interpretation of Mozart in an awareness.  I shy
away from rigidly defining something like the intellectual level,
because it is kind of like a finger pointing towards itself.  So
stories suit me fine.  Much of what I read in terms of Buddhism are
more like paintings, indescribable feelings.  As you probably know, my
interpretation of Quality comes from ZMM, and I do not necessarily
agree with what Lila is stating, as a truth.  I treat it all as an
analogy which is meant to impart an inner concept.  It does not work
literally for me, but does provide areas for exploration.

For me, Quality implies creation or creativity.  Our intellectual
level is one of high creativity, at least for us humans, and that is
enough...more than enough.  To subscribe to truths as ultimate leaves
one quite empty (at least me).  The intellectual level begins with our
personal sense of awareness.  We can differentiate that from the cells
that make up our bodies (at least intellectually), and conceive that
it arrises as the sum total of our bodies.   There is no reason to
deny that there are not other conscious levels that exist through a
similar group mechanism.  We can only conjecture or extrapolate such
things and never experience them as we do our intellectual level.  I
certainly do not believe that our intellectual level is simply
focussed thoughts, that would make it way too simple, and leave a lot
out.  That was basically the story I was telling in my previous post.

Cheers,
Mark

On Thu, Dec 30, 2010 at 2:09 AM, MarshaV <valkyr at att.net> wrote:
>
>
> Hi Mark,
>
> It is good to hear from you.  I was a little concerned with the damage reported from Southern California's deluge of rain.  I'm happy you are okay.  I have fond memories of hiking in the hills behind Malibu after a rainy season: lush and beautiful; I could almost accept the absence of "real" trees.  And there are the many hours I've spent on Ojai's little Main Street visiting the very expensive gift shops and galleries, and then around the corner for a delicious taco and almond milk.
>
> My little definition of the Intellectual Level is like a Mozart sonata: perfect.  No truth behind it, only beauty.  I don't think I've ever spent so much time crafting a single paragraph.  It represents my heart as much as my struggle for intellectual understanding and is based on experience.  It works for me.  But the goal is to move beyond the entire MoQ structure.  Isn't it?  Don't get me wrong, it is seductive with its evolutionary (modern) and hierarchical (Western) attraction, yet behind it I sense a large beating heart.  It is a beautiful platform, and attracted my attention as much as those first rising red-winged blackbirds.   Art, all the way down and all the way back up.
>
> My approach to Quality has always been meditation and mindfulness, but that was from experiences received long before my exposure to ZMM.  -  Buddhism was a gift from this MD forum, and is where I was first introduced to the Platform Sutra, which lead to the Diamond Sutra and the Heart Sutra.  How fortunate!!!  Between the discussions in this forum and my reading Buddhist wisdom, they can no longer be separated and are pointing together.  Quality - Emptiness, they are not different.  And aren't heart, head and hands suggesting the 'skillful means?'   Using heart, head and hands, there are no inappropriate tools.
>
> Dancing from one stepping stone to the next, shedding this and that from the heavy collection of ego I carry.
>
> Don't go away for too long.  I am very grateful to the wise old men in this forum who have so much to offer.  -  And I miss Bo.
>
>
>
> Marsha
>
>
>
>

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