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It all reminds me of a line from an animated film Kung Fu Panda III, in a scene where master Shifu is rummaging through the stacks of scrolls complaining: "There's so much wisdom in here I can't find anything!" :)

Lewis Black is an American humorist who comments on politics and the social condition. He's known for his angry rants that make people laugh at what is normally a sad situation. I understand he's been quite busy lately processing all this material. Years ago I listened to a pastor that taught...

Completely agree. Though, not to be disrespectful or flippant, I did read this sentence in the voice of Lewis Black. (emphasis mine)

Since we are in a Buddhist forum here, I guess the answer would be that of the first Noble Truth, the truth of suffering. There are those who can choose to turn the suffering they are already dealing with into a vehicle for awakening. Suffering as we do, despite our best efforts to avoid it...

No, nothing like that. It's something I read once, and it hit me the same way. It isn't a profound truth, just a contextual one. A personal one. I wouldn't quote it to any one as any kind of profound thing to be considered.

I think I understand now what is meant by the saying "suffering is grace".

I think maybe, just sharing our experiences with meditation might be more helpful than giving advice. I think I've learned more just listening to people talk about their inner landscape, than from many of my studies. Listening to people like Ram Dass for example is enriching, especially because...

Long you live, and high you fly. :)

Yes, it's hard to understand why people would romanticize getting shredded until there's nothing left. I really don't recommend it, though I didn't have any choice in the matter really. You know, holding on to a tether while in the midst of it probably saved my life. It got bad, real bad. I...

There are those people who wish to take up the spiritual life, yet are afraid of what they may uncover. For example, in the last ten years I learned that much of my suffering came from things buried and forgotten long ago. When those things rose to the surface it caused great havoc and grief. I...

Unfortunately here in the States, we rarely if ever get to see the "...healthy and fruitful dialogue" part. Mostly, the public face of religion and debate is at a very low level, one that many turn away from. It often grieves me that what religion has to offer is discarded and forgotten while...

Totally with you on that. I think that there are those whose personality or learning style is geared more toward a bottom up approach to spirituality. My wife is very much like that because she is an introverted thinker and a sensing more than an intuitive type. Of course, the downside is that...

When I was very young and in the military I began to really understand my own culture when I was suddenly plopped into other countries and other cultures. It was the same for the religion I was born into. Christianity began to make more sense when I started to study other ideas, like Buddhism...

Well, you know, it's a funny thing. Turns out the jackass and I are one and the same.

I think it's pretty cool this thread was started by someone named Sun Wukong, since the monkey king was such a trickster. I understand he caused quite an uproar in Heaven. :)

Thank you. Most comprehensive! Nick, how has the understanding of the Tao influenced your life? Have you found ways to implement your learning? For me, simply watching the flow of things around me can be very enjoyable. Studying Taoism in literature and in practice has given me a better way of...

Yeah I know :) We were just goofing around. Just wanted to say Hi

Awareness, pure awareness is the only thing. When we talk about relative and absolute it's easy to get confused and create misunderstandings. What I'm saying in so many words is that there is a raw open experience of life that can only happen right now. Taoism is a map of reality in a way, the...

My Mandarin is even worse than my Spanish, but I think we may view it the same. One day I realized that the me I thought was me was just a construct in the same way I can construct a fictional character when writing. It then occurred to me that if there isn't really a me then there is only...

I think we understand each other. That is essentially what I want to get across, there really is only one thing. It's just that when people begin to discuss systems of philosophical thought it is easy to get lost and forget that everything that is or was or will be is now. Getting lost in the...