March meeting

Viewed noarmsnolegs to show regardless of disability life is still worthwhile. Then we viewed STOP IT. A funny video followed by a longer video about breathing advising less breathing is best.

Then we read the following and gave our opinions

What's the difference between an ego and a soul? Egos are our self-importance; they’re the part of us that tells us we matter. The bigger or more intense our egos, the more important we believe ourselves to be. Without egos, human beings cease to be individuals. They cease to have a reason for being. Egos give us the ability to have purpose – a purpose that is, in a large sense, selfish. Being partially selfish is only natural for people and, I'd argue, entirely necessary. If no one were selfish, then no one would care enough about anything enough to create change in the world. This is the complexity of life that all living things inevitably discover. All animals need some variety of an ego in order to be moved to do anything; however, because we all need each other to continue to live on, having an ego alone is not enough. We can't just care about ourselves, and ourselves alone, because if we do, then we will end up hurting ourselves – something that the ego itself doesn't want to allow for. We not only need other people, but other living things in order to stay alive, our egos require a counterpart. They need an accomplice that will help them stay balanced. And so we have a soul. While our egos allow us to focus on us and us alone, our souls allow us to keep more balanced. No human being can survive alone. Therefore, our egos don't want us to be alone. They recognize the fact that we need other people and other living things in order to survive. This – as many of you have surely experienced – can cause us to fall into confusion. We feel opposing urges and have trouble sorting ourselves out. This only really happens when our egos overpower our souls. Our souls, in opposition to our egos, are our ability to connect with other living things – with the rest of the world. Our souls are what allow us to feel we are part of something else, something bigger than ourselves. More precisely, a soul is what allows us to connect with other living creatures. It's what allows us to understand the importance of life itself and is what keeps our egos from tearing us apart. The human soul is what tells the human brain that other people matter just as much as you do. It is vital that all individuals nurture both their ego and their souls, as without one, the other only harms us. You can't live entirely for other people just as you can't live entirely for yourself. You need to keep your ego and your soul in balance. Most individuals lead unbalanced lives. Many will delve into their souls and lose themselves and their egos. However, most don't have a problem limiting their soul exploration, but rather have a problem with curbing their egos. Truth be told, the trick isn't to focus on curbing your ego, but getting back in touch with your soul – well, not so much your own soul, as such a soul I don't believe to exist. What you can do is tap into the soul of the universe and become a part of all that exists. Your ego is your very own, but your soul is the essence of life itself – a river that flows through every living thing. Tapping into the soul of life isn't quite as difficult as it seems; we all do it to some degree or another. Most of us simply don't do it often enough. Here are a few ways to help you help yourself get back in touch with the rest of the world: Interact with others in a positive way. If you're going to be part of something bigger than yourself, then you need to interact with people other than yourself. The real trick is to leave your ego out of it as much as possible. Of course, this is incredibly difficult. Especially for those who listen only in order to respond. If you want to get in touch with your soul, then you're going to need to care about people other than yourself. You may never be able to feel deeply for others, but you have to be capable of seeing things from their perspective. Have a conversation. Help a random stranger. Reach out to people who seem like they need it. Go out and become a part of other peoples' lives. Understand the state your planet is actually in. Planet earth is our life support. It is our home. It is our history, our legacy, our only way to survive. Planet earth is only good to us as long as it is inhabitable. Once it can no longer sustain life, it will become just another rock floating to space. Many people believe many different things about the state of the environment and the ecosystem. You can have whatever opinion you want, but make sure you first have the facts. Yes, facts can be hard to find even in this day and age, but if you search, you will eventually find what you're looking for. Do your best to interact with nature and figure out ways you can help maintain it. You may not feel like you yourself hold any responsibility, but keep in mind that everyone having exactly that mindset is what is damaging the planet as we speak. If no one cares, but instead we allow egos to take over, then we will all suffer. Having a soul means having an appreciation for all living things. Period. Make your purpose in life something that benefits both others and yourself. We are designed in such a way as to have our egos and souls balance each other. If either gets the upper hand, the other diminishes and we suffer. If we are too egotistical, then we lose sight of life. If we are too selfless and spend too much time being a part of something bigger than ourselves, then we lose ourselves and cease to exist. We need to be both selfish and selfless in order to live correctly. We all need to find a purpose in life as our egos demand it. However, as many have already come to learn the hard way, that purpose can't be entirely selfish. Our egos, as stubborn as they are, recognize that while we matter, we are not all that matters. Our purpose in life must reflect this. We must pursue things that benefit both us and other living things. This is the ideal that we must all try and aspire to. Anything short of this is plain wrong.

Autotheism At the most mundane level it is the belief that we are responsible for our own reality. The belief that the way we think and interpret the world has a profound effect on what our reality becomes. At the most mystical level, it is the development of the understanding that we are our own God and always have been. That we are the creators of our own Universe. That the still small voice which speaks to us in the darkness comes from within, and is not only God but Us at the same time. Autotheism is not Solipsism. The difference is primarily in so much that although Autotheism recognizes that that we project our own unconscious onto everyone and everything around us, and our relationship with it is for the most part a relationship with a part of ourselves, Autotheism asserts there are in actuality other minds behind these projections which do have their own independent existence.

Autotheism recognizes belief as the foundational element of any subjective reality. In so much as belief is acceptance, the very acceptance of one conviction over another modifies our own worldview and interpretation of it's events. This in turn effects our emotions, attitude, actions and our deliberate inaction... and ultimately our realities.Considering this for a while can lead one to a sense of selflessness. This is not a selflessness that is self-deprecating, but neither is it one that places one self over another... it can also be described as a sense of equality with those around you. Equally free to be whomever they feel driven to be.

There is so much space in an atom that if you make a golf ball the size of the nucleus in an atom, the electron cloud would be 1.5 miles away.

January meeting

Eight of us on a sunny but cold morning. Viewed two video one about the theory that we live in a simulation. The other Susan Blackmore on no Self not even a self. Susan believes we live in a physical world and is reconciled that there can be no transcendent  spiritual life. 

Then suddenly they all left (see below)

Life Is: All of a Sudden Brian Thompson

Everything—absolutely everything—happens all of a sudden.

Investigate into the nature of your own experiences. Find out what is true, for you.

In truth, nothing truly is, since all things are merely transitioning from nothing to something, from here to there, between this and that, and back to nothing.

The nature of all things is spontaneous, inevitable, and impermanent; including every thought, every emotion, every sensation, every perception, every experience, every memory, and every moment.

All things are done and undone, all of a sudden.

Your spontaneous aware presence that is cognizing these very words is also mysteriously happening, here and now. However, it alone is the only unchanging aspect throughout your entire life. Every experience registers within this field of unbroken awareness, as it alone is the illuminating light behind all that becomes known to you. In fact, "your" awareness is not separate from you; it IS "you"—impersonally.

All that seems to be happening, all of a sudden, is revealed to you—as an aspect of pure awareness—within your unmoving, unchanging, infinite presence of spontaneous knowing.

All of a sudden, a thought appeared to you. All of a sudden, you were thirsty. All of a sudden, you sneezed. All of a sudden, you got up and stretched. All of a sudden, your arm was itchy. All of a sudden, there was a knock on the door. All of a sudden, a gust of wind blew the gate open. All of a sudden, the phone rang. All of a sudden, it started to rain. All of a sudden, a new opportunity presented itself. All of a sudden, a car came out of nowhere. All of a sudden, you found yourself overreacting to an unexpected situation. All of a sudden, you felt grumpy. All of a sudden, you found yourself smiling as you gazed out the window. All of a sudden, you were talking with a stranger. All of a sudden, you were forty-five years old. All of a sudden, you have a bad back. All of a sudden, you no longer enjoy what you used to love. All of a sudden, your childhood hero died. All of a sudden, the world isn't how it used to seem.

No matter how cautious or prepared you might be, nothing can ever prevent whatever spontaneously happens all of a sudden. What is, is. You cannot argue with what already is, so why bother? Allow, accept, embrace, and be fully present with whatever is, here and now.

Hang on to nothing, as nothing truly is. And this is true freedom—being free from the mind's desire to control the uncontrollable.

To integrate this understanding into our lives, you must inquire deeper into the temporary nature of being. You must first see through life's illusion before you can free yourself from its false drama. You must realize that nothing is as it seems.

What does it mean, "to be"? Does it not also mean, "to not be"? Being and non-being are interdependent. Similarly, every moment bleeds into the next, blurring the lines of what is, and what is not. In other words, you can only know what is, by its relativity to what is not. The two seemingly separate states are forever entangled. In truth, the two—being and non-being—are one.

From nothing, comes the appearance of something.

The appearance of any thing's is-ness, however, is not what it seems. What is, is never constant, nor permanent. What is, is nothing but a brief appearance—an image arising within awareness.

Indeed, some things do appear to last longer than others, which creates an impression of permanence, consistency, stability, durability, and reliability, but this remains as nothing but an illusion, thanks to the mind's dualistic concept of space and time. Regardless, what is has no foundation for permanence outside of the awareness that perceives it.

What is, cannot be without your awareness to distinguish it from what isn't. Therefore, the underlying essence of all that is, is what isn’t—and what isn't, is nothing but the emptiness of unfettered consciousness.

What can we deduct from this? Spontaneity is the river of life!

Embodying this undeniable truth is to awaken from the dream of egoic delusion.

If you resist what is inherently spontaneous (which is everything), you cause yourself to suffer, which is why "letting go of attachments" is one of the most important spiritual teachings there is. To cling to anything is to suffer—regardless of whether it's your possessions, your relationships, your sense of self, your career, your beliefs, your thoughts, or even your emotions. To be truly free in life you must liberate yourself from the illusion of how the world appears.

Rely only upon the Self, pure Awareness. Any safety, comfort, or security that is conceptualised outside of your Self—in the world of physical or mental form—is a delusion. You, as you believe yourself to be, do not exist. You are a Presence, for sure, but you are not the personalized body or mind—this is a misperception created by the mind's duality. There is nothing personal whatsoever, which means there is nothing you need to protect or defend. You only need to stop believing yourself to be something that you are not.

You are the totality of every experience—not you, the person; you, the presence. All of sudden, every experience happens, of which you are aware. You are indivisible from any experience as every experience consists of the very same thing as you—awareness. You and what you perceive are one—Awareness—this is the non-duality of being. You are the calm presence beneath all that appears, all of a sudden.

You are this Awareness, here and now. Liberate yourself from believing yourself to be an individual that is somehow separate from the world, from others, and from every experience. No longer believe yourself to be limited to the body and mind.

Become unbound. Simplify. Abide in your natural inner stillness, the aware silence of Self. Know yourself as Presence, as a field of infinite, non-discriminating present-knowingness, through which all things come and go, all of a sudden. Rejoice in the freeing realization that all you once thought or believed is an illusion!

Abide only in the truth—and you are That. You, this present-moment Presence of Awareness, is True—nothing else. The entire cosmos arise within you, as you.

You are Now and now is all you.

You are the emptiness in which all things come and go, rise and fall, appear and disappear. You are nothing but That—the infinite space into which the entire universe expands.

And this is the final, ultimate understanding into which you must surrender all discontent, anxiety, fear, stress, sadness, discomfort and suffering.

What once was, is no more. In truth, what once was, never actually was. All that is, is you.

You are not a thing; you are nothing but Now. You are the spontaneous bliss of Being. You are the effervescent flow of awareness, continually refreshed and renewed.

You are, all of a sudden, spontaneously, here and now—empty, aware, blissful, loving, peaceful, compassionate, and calm—at one with the world, as the world.

December meeting2016

Nine of us today. First 10 minute video illustrates how our knowledge of the "outside" world is only sensory input within our brains. Either that or this is it, valid without being an objective world. It met a lot of resistance.
The other video described how to find happiness and ended with you can't find it by seeking . You attain it when you stop looking for it like a baby who is happy most of the time and in most cases feels loved.

Then we looked at this which they thought was helpful.

We all want serenity, that elusive state of calm that seems to belong solely to Tibetan monks and yoga instructors. People with serenity are better equipped to enjoy life. Their small problems remain small and don’t become magnified into huge catastrophes. And when real crises arise, they react with steady, clear thinking.
However, serenity isn’t achieved without effort. Just as we need proper exercise habits to have healthy bodies, we need good mental habits to have peaceful minds. To that end, here are some daily habits to get you on your own path to serenity.
1. Give Thanks Continually. When your alarm goes off, before you even get out of bed, close your eyes and think about the ways in which you’ve been blessed. Consider the most basic gifts that you have: a job, good relationships, your home, your clothing, your health. Then continue to give thanks throughout the day. If someone lets you in their lane when you are driving, give thanks. When your paycheck is deposited into your account, give thanks. . Make a point of acknowledging every good thing that happens to you.
2. As Soon As Your Mind Wanders Off in The Wrong Direction, Get It Back on Course. We know when we are getting mentally off course. We get irritated over minor things. We decide it’s our job to correct other people’s bad behavior. We obsess over past slights. These are all symptoms of the mind going down a path toward wrong thinking. Like a car that has shifted into a lane with on-coming traffic, our minds also can shift into the wrong lane. As soon as that happens, stop what you are doing. Walk away from the person who isn’t acting properly. Then do whatever it is that helps you get your mind back on track. For me, it’s reading something spiritual. For others, it may be listening to inspiring music or talking to a good friend. By re-directing your mind, you can more easily return to clear thinking.
3. Practice Acceptance. Practicing acceptance doesn’t mean that you allow yourself to be treated poorly by others. It means that you accept others for who they are. If someone is a jerk or manipulative, that is who they are. It’s your choice whether or not to spend time with them, but accept that you can’t change them. Likewise, practicing acceptance doesn’t mean that you don’t try to improve your life. For instance, you may not like your current job or home. Accept your situation for what it is today. Do your best at your job, and make your home as beautiful as possible. Appreciate that you have work and a place to live. Then do what you can each day to get your dream job or home in the future. Acceptance isn’t stagnation. Acceptance is understanding what you can and cannot change.
4. Be Kind To Others. There is no scenario in which being unkind to others will benefit you. So be careful how you operate. The ugly things that you say and do to other people may affect them, but those actions will poison you. If you are unhappy, take a long, hard look at your behavior. If you spew mean comments or take advantage of people, you will be miserable. I can’t sugarcoat that. Instead, be consistently kind. Build others up. Be helpful. You will find that by doing those three things, you’ll be at peace with yourself because you will actually like yourself.
5. Be Careful What You Drink. Some things we drink can affect our minds. Coffee, tea and some soft drinks have caffeine. Caffeine affects each person differently. Evaluate how it affects you. If it makes you jumpy or irritable, then either reduce your consumption or eliminate it altogether. Alcohol affects people differently as well. If drinking wine, beer or hard liquor makes you anxious or depressed, again, limit your drinking or cut alcohol out of your life altogether. Being happy is more important than your Starbucks or your nightly glass of wine.
6. Get Enough Sleep. Our minds cannot think clearly if they aren’t rested. Small children need copious amounts of sleep in order to be happy. Adults are no different. While we may not throw ourselves on the floor and scream if we haven’t had a nap, we function only slightly better without sleep. Develop good sleep habits. Go to bed early. There is nothing wrong with going to bed at 9 p.m. The television shows you are missing aren’t nearly as important as your serenity.
7. Watch and Read the Right Kind of Books, Movies and Television. What we watch and read affects how we think. Choose your entertainment carefully. There is a lot of violent, pointless junk out there which is deemed to be “avant-garde” or “creative.” If you want to have a relaxed mind, spend your time watching and reading things that have a positive message or that educate. Don’t spend your valuable free time filling your mind with garbage just because it’s popular.
8. Keep a Clean, Uncluttered Home. There is a reason why spas don’t have dirty towels on the floors and shelves covered with knickknacks. You can’t relax in a place that is messy. A cluttered home or room is a sign of a cluttered or unstable mind. Make your home a place that is tidy and beautiful. You should breathe a sigh of relief when you enter your home. It should be a refuge for both your mind and your senses.
9. Spend Some Parts of the Day without Noise. There is nothing wrong with television per se, but there is something wrong with the television being on all the time. People tend to turn on the television to avoid being uncomfortable. We are either uncomfortable with our families, or we are uncomfortable with ourselves. So we distract ourselves from that discomfort with a lot of racket. The problem is that noise impedes you from truly relaxing. Make the choice to give your ears and mind a break, and enjoy the silence.
10. Spend Time with the Right Kind of People. There are people who can’t help but be a problem. Everywhere they go, they create drama. Someone has always done them wrong, or they are continually upset about something. Or they just can’t say anything nice. Give those people wide berth. You can’t necessarily eliminate those people from your life, but you can limit your contact with them. It is a matter of self-preservation. When you allow people into your life who bring chaos, it is very hard to maintain your serenity. It isn’t your job to make their lives better. It is their job to not spread their brand of drama.
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Carl Jung talks of the collective unconscious as a great pool of consciousness we all share filled with extremely potent symbols and archetypes that guide much of our lives. 

Immanuel Kant came to the conclusion that consciousness creates mind as a way of experiencing itself. Ervin Laslzo talks of the quantum vacuum, which is a field from which everything is created and to which everything returns. He proposes that this field is actually conscious in itself and is thus the ground of all being. Our human brain has evolved to the point where it can link into this great universal consciousness and experience it in time and space through our lives. We become this strange mix of being separate beings living our individual lives, while at the same time we are all one intensely interacting synergistic experience. 

November meeting just 7 of us.

We watched a video by a lady who claimed to have died and come back who explained all the known universe is in a circle. The creator is in the middle and can access anywhere in the circumference but we track it in a straight line from the past to the future. She was quite engaging and we all enjoyed her presentation that came to an end when her kitten went got too playful.
Next a 4 minute Alan Watts video after that we discussed the following.

The Father’s Kingdom is Here

If God is forever and everywhere, and if God is sovereign — the ruler over all things for all time — then God’s kingdom is forever and everywhere. God’s kingdom would not only exist in a distant heaven and in another dimension. God’s kingdom would have to exist here and now, in this place and time. Even if the Earth and our lives and material reality seem very far from God, God is still king.

Two kingdoms, one life: the rabbitduck

Living with the kingdom of God while we are also living in the kingdom of the world can be a little like this classic optical illusion. Do you first notice the rabbit (with its nose to the right and ears to the left) or a duck (with its bill to the left)?  If you get stuck seeing just one or the other, a friend who can see both can help point out the details of the other.

Both the duck and the rabbit are really there, even if you can only see one of them. They are both there. It is the same with the kingdom of God and the kingdom of the world. Both are really here, right now. We have to learn to see both, to live in the reality of both.

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Optimism 
“How do you do it?” my friend asked me one day over coffee. “You’ve had some awful stuff happen to you over the years, but you’re still so cheerful. What gives? My friend was right, my life had been rough at times. I’d gotten divorced and I’d been laid off a couple of times within a five-year period. I should have been angry and bitter, but I wasn’t. I was still looking forward to each new day and the possibilities ahead of me. While this was normal for me, my friend’s comment made me realize that not everybody felt the way I did. Why was I so optimistic, anyway?

The Definition of Optimism 
Optimism comes from the Latin word optimus, meaning "best," which describes how an optimistic person is always looking for the best in any situation and expecting good things to happen. Optimism is the tendency to believe, expect or hope that things will turn out well. Even if something bad happens, like the loss of a job, an optimist sees the silver lining. For me, getting laid off was the catalyst that allowed me to start my own business. As I packed up my office, my mind was already whirling with the possibilities ahead. Without that push, I may never have made the leap to self-employment. Losing my job was a good thing after all. The emerging field of positive psychology studies the positive impact that optimism has on mental health. Other research shows that optimism may be good for my physical health too—optimists are sick less and live longer than pessimists.

Apparently, a positive outlook on life strengthens the immune system (and the body's defenses against illness), cardiovascular system (optimists have fewer heart attacks), and the body's ability to handle stress. Happiness through Positive Thinking Being an optimist or a pessimist boils down to the way you talk to yourself. Optimists believe that their own actions result in positive things happening, that they are responsible for their own happiness, and that they can expect more good things to happen in the future. Optimists don’t blame themselves when bad things happen. They view bad events as results of something outside of themselves. I didn’t blame myself for losing my job, but saw it as a business decision that had nothing to do with me personally. Pessimists think the opposite way, however. They blame themselves for the bad things that happen in their lives and think that one mistake means more will inevitably come.

Pessimists see positive events as flukes that are outside of their control—a lucky streak that probably won’t happen again. Because of their thought processes, optimists have much brighter futures. A bad circumstance or event is taken in stride, viewed as a temporary setback—not a permanent way of life. Even if something bad happens today, a positive thinker believes that good things will come again in the future. Optimists tend to share several other positive characteristics that increase overall happiness and promote health, while reducing depression and chronic stress: They think about, reflect on, and emphasize the good things in life. They are grateful and thankful for all their blessings. They don’t complain when something bad happens. They feel that nothing can hold them back from achieving success and reaching their goals. They believe in abundance. They are confident that the world offers plenty of opportunities for everyone to succeed.

The Power of Positive Thinking: 

Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life Luckily, you can change your thinking patterns over time. Even a pessimist can become an optimist with enough practice! All you need to do is to reframe how you define events. Instead of dwelling on the bad experience, analyze it to figure out what good can come of it. Even if a project at work is deemed a failure, think about what you learned during the process. What strengths did you discover within yourself, and when can you use those talents again? Instead of blaming yourself for the failure, think about the outside influences that may have affected your project. Maybe you were delayed by outside vendors, so you couldn’t meet a deadline; or management decided to go in another direction, making your project redundant. Virtually any failure can be turned into a learning experience, which increases your potential for success in the future. Optimism is a skill of emotional intelligence, which translates to a better career and greater success in life. Life is too short to be miserable, so start turning your thinking around! The power of positive thinking can advance your prospects for work, relationships and other life experiences.

• A person who thinks all the time has nothing to think about except thoughts. So he loses touch with reality, and lives in a world of illusion.