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plum
United Kingdom
641 Posts |
 Posted - 02/13/2013 : 15:37:34
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quote:
Originally posted by shawnsmith
So you are a toker eh Plum?
More rolling than stoned these days but yes, even though I can't remember the last time.
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Ace1
USA
1040 Posts |
Posted - 02/13/2013 : 19:15:54
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| It is best not to use psychotropics to help us feel good. They are counterproductive to recovery. Actually, I cannot recall one healthy person who is a toker. As a doctor I see a lot of them. |
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shawnsmith
Czech Republic
2048 Posts |
Posted - 02/13/2013 : 20:02:03
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| I have not toked it up in over 30 years. |
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plum
United Kingdom
641 Posts |
Posted - 02/14/2013 : 06:08:39
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Ace1, you and I live in very different worlds. Or maybe I exist on the edge of yours, sitting quietly with fellow fringe-dwellers while the profoundly lost deliver themselves to your door. I respect your opinion and your experience even though it does not describe mine.
"Before we commit ourselved irrevocably to the chimera of a drug-free culture purchased at the price of a complete jettisoning of the ideals of a free and democratic planetary society, we must ask hard questions: Why, as a species, are we so fascinated by altered states of consciousness? What has been their impact on our esthetic and spiritual aspirations? What have we lost by denying the legitimacy of each individual's drive to use substances to experience personally the transcendental and the sacred? My hope is that answering these questions will force us to confront the consequences of denying nature's spiritual dimension, of seeing nature as nothing more than a 'resource' to be fought over and plundered. Informed discussion of these issues will give no comfort to the control-obsessed, no comfort to know-nothing religious fundamentalism, no comfort to beige fascism of whatever form."
Terence McKenna. |
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balto
839 Posts |
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shawnsmith
Czech Republic
2048 Posts |
Posted - 02/14/2013 : 09:02:50
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I want to write more about this "strain" that ACE1 refers to because I think it is important. Forgive my ramblings as I seek to write this out, for I do so with a view to gaining my own personal understanding -- both at an intellectual level as well as an emotional / experiential level -- of what this strain means.
In my humble opinion, any good writer worth his or her salt will resort to repetition with a view to getting across a certain message. If one method or statement does not sink into the minds of the reader, perhaps another one will. For what is the purpose of writing other than to convey an idea or concept to the reader? Any good spiritual or mindfulness master, for example, resorts to a lot of repetition to say essentially the same thing. Some people pick up things quickly while others are a little slower at arriving at an understanding because we don't all think or process information the same way. This is why many people don't do well scholastically because, in schools and universities, we are expected to process information using a certain method or way of thinking and some people think outside this academic box. Such people may actually be more brilliant than someone with several PhDs, but they think and process in their own unique way. I have personally met many genius type people who have not even completed high-school and they could talk circles around any professor on a variety of topics. Anyway, I digress.
One effective method of communication, and which we all resort to on a daily basis, is the use of analogies in which the similarity between two things are highlighted. The use of analogies is a form of reasoning in which one thing is inferred to be similar to another thing in a certain respect, on the basis of the known similarity between the things in other respects. For example, we use the phrase, " He is like a rock," to refer to someone who is steadfast and strong. Or we say, " She was as quiet as a mouse," to refer to someone who is very quiet and not literally a mouse. I am sure you get what I am trying to say. Here is an example of the use of an analogy from one of my poems:
A Cloud
by Shawn Smith - written August 22, 2006
At one moment a thick formation
then dissipation
At one moment presumably so permanent
then a distant memory
At one moment taking on one shape
then another
At one moment a promise of things to come
then a reminiscence of things past
At one moment the ability to capture the imagination
then a forgotten memory
At one moment the illusion of strength
then nothingness
At one moment I thought I was a man
when in fact I am a cloud
Well, I think that one can resort to analogies when explaining this strain that we are all currently experiencing. This, I feel, is important, because it may be the case that some of us may not always understand what is meant by the term and that analogies, it is hoped, will bring the meaning of the term into focus.
While out for my morning walk and repeating my personal affirmations, I was reflecting on these issues out loud. If someone had have saw me they would have crossed the street as they would come to the conclusion that I was crazy. But the fact of the matter is, whether we verbalize it or not, these conversations are going on in our heads 24/7 and is referred to as mind chatter. Mindfulness / spiritual teachers seek to guide us to become more aware of this chatter with a view to quieting the mind and gaining inner peace. It is not always easy to gain this awareness because, as I stated in previous posts, it is so habitual. And anything that becomes habitual in our lives actually, as strange as it may seem, can be overlooked. We are too close to it, as it were.
I was thinking how a person could be working around the house doing various chores and have the radio playing at a very low level. A song comes on and they start humming or singing it but, because the radio is on so low, they don't initially know why they are humming that particular song. Why was it, at that moment, that song came to them? It came to them because they just heard it on the radio, but because the volume was so low they were not aware that is was playing until they came to the realization that the radio was on. It either had to be pointed out to them by someone else, or they stopped for a moment and then noticed that the radio was on.
Well, in my mind, that is like strain. The song being played in our bodies is the strain and, like the person who cannot hear the radio even though it is on, does not know where that song is coming from until it is pointed out to them. Do you understand my analogy? The symptom is like the song on the low playing radio but we don't know where the song is coming from and we scratch our heads in bewilderment. Where, oh where, is that song coming from? But pay attention, close attention, because the radio is on and the song is being played. |
Edited by - shawnsmith on 02/14/2013 09:09:54 |
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jegol71
USA
78 Posts |
Posted - 02/14/2013 : 09:21:31
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Beautiful on all counts, Shawn.
Writers have it hard, and so the explanation comes easy. To deconstruct the song, down to its rhythm, you could even call the strain the metronome, keeping the beat we first struck in childhood. Fortunately for us, we've learned that we don't have to keep getting better at it.
To unlearn the piano, you know what they say:
"Practice, practice, practice." |
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Ace1
USA
1040 Posts |
Posted - 02/14/2013 : 10:49:50
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| Dear plum, I care about you. I want you to get better. I only speak the truth to the best that I know it. I don't mean to offend anyone or "rock their world". I think later as you come along with your progress ( which you will). You will be able better to see what I'm talking about. |
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plum
United Kingdom
641 Posts |
Posted - 02/14/2013 : 13:21:11
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quote:
Originally posted by Ace1
Dear plum, I care about you. I want you to get better. I only speak the truth to the best that I know it. I don't mean to offend anyone or "rock their world". I think later as you come along with your progress ( which you will). You will be able better to see what I'm talking about.
Thank you Ace1, I know you mean well honey.
Thing is, if I'd said once or twice a year I enjoy a glass of wine would it elicit the same response?
As for crystal meths, could anything be farther from nature?
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balto
839 Posts |
Posted - 02/14/2013 : 14:43:41
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Plum, a lots of stuff from nature can kill or harm us. There are poison mushrooms every where. Fugu fish that Japanese people love to eat as sushi can kill in minutes.
Here are a few things from nature that can harm or kill us:
http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/food-and-drink/news-edible-poisons
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No, I don't know everything. I'm just here to share my experience. |
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plum
United Kingdom
641 Posts |
Posted - 02/14/2013 : 15:10:51
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| Balto love, I am touched by your concern but fret not I have no plans to play with sharks or challenge the laws of gravity any time soon. As for plantlore, there are mediating principles: what heals can also harm. The difference resides in intention and dose. Think homeopathically. |
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Ace of the Day - Day 23
