Path, volition, and resolve

Practice
To choose a practice is a volition. No matter what path one chooses volition is involved; to carry out the practice or practices involved in whatever path that may be. The path one chooses is not only religious in nature but also one of knowledge or study for vocation. When one chooses a religious practice and the study of it for vocation then that leads to a life of volition dedicated to both the life of the path and the practice there of in gaining knowledge of it... fruition of these various paths found in life when taking them as a volition to act; carry with them a cause and effect cycle having taken it up as a volition. Hopping around on various paths of picking and choosing here and there is the life path or choice of the philosopher... do not expect such a path to end as it is the continual picking and choosing of conceptual fruit from various baskets... such a path could be concidered a path of knowledge for knowledge' sake.

Of course we cannot speak of the volition and the choosing of a path; without speaking of resolve. There is a duty to each path and fulfilling the duty of that path chosen? Is to stay on it no matter what until fruition or the complete culmination of effort applied. A good question to ask oneself and others is "What does it mean to be ________?" One will see in asking this question of oneself; what one's preconcieved concepts and nptions are about whatever that thing is or what it entails; whether what does it mean to be Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Janist, Muslim etc. to what does it mean to be an Ox herd, Carpenter, Brahman etc. ask oneself those questions even if you have already chosen a path... that volition is still going onward in the unconscious even if not consciously aware of it. Like the Atheist still getting involved in religious conversation, discussion and debate about deities. So not really an Atheist except in name and more of a philosopher.

By getting into such contemplations and conversations with oneself and others about what the path one is on actually is; then of course walking it becomes much easier. One may discover that they were on a path or walking one and had absolutely no idea that they were. The mind may seem as if it were roaming around aimlessly and just doing meaningless tasks in sustanance to empty phenomina or some powers that be, that are out of their hands and control. Well the description for such as that is this: Lost. Sure you have a path everyone does, of course getting off of the path and distracted is easy... what seemed like a nice walk through the woods has somehow to your suprise become a escape from a wicked witches oven with a chicken bone... like in the Hansel and Gretle fable. Of course I picked that fable as a duo to mention because once one realizes they have had a path and then see they are way of course from it... they will want to blame someone other than themselves.

Not to knock paths that exhalt the ego in all it's wallowing glory, but blaming another for being off a path in life one has chosen... is no one's falut but their own. The addage knock and it shall be opened does not apply to just one door. Thinking only one door existed in that addage is short sighted... it meant keep the same knock on every door, and the ONE holding that opportunity to adavance on your chosen path is actually the one that opens. This goes back to resolve, the effort applied towards that chosen path and volition once chosen. All the energy out there for it to suceed is still waiting for you to knock on that right door growing old and gray... has he or she given up? Is he or she fickle? He or she must not really have known what they really wanted to do when choosing. This means all paths to all choices one has ever wanted to make are still out there and open to success and fruition in them, so it is never too late to find the right doors for them.

So after asking oneself, whatever it is... then ask others, this is the door knocking. Treating it like a sample in a grocery store to see if one wants to buy into it is not suggested. That is an impulse, and anything enetered upon as impulse is usually later regretted after more wisdom of whatever it is grows. Like the man or woman at the bar seemed like a great person and yet the walk of shame still gets walked after the dawn, reality and sobriety strike in the magical three. So the two legs and a self crawls away back to the hole of emptiness without fulfillment yet again. Sad that many many people live this way, and like many birds of prey such as vultures circle such people to prey and feed off of them like a walking corpse of a feast. This is where the danger of naivety rests, lack of experience, then one beats oneself up for; a should have known better, stance... well, that knowledge was rote grasping and understanding. Wisdom and knowing came at the price of the actual experience. So trying to tell oneself or others anything else, is a falsehood and untruth... walking down such a path as that after the other? Only leads to even a worse destination than before.

So path, volition, and the resolve to follow it to the end of fruition whatever that path may be; whether known or unknown, chosen or not... you and all others are on one and even if it goes by the same name as millions does not mean it is or has ever been the same one. So knowing the path itself as one grasps it and as all others grasp it even those not on the same one grasp it, becomes a valuable assessment in wisdom about defining the path chosen or one that will be in the future.

Sticking to the path chosen is the resolve that it will lead to Rome instead of roam. Roaming of course will naturally take place the less resolve one has, but with each choice there is a volition, the same as the volition generated on the path choice. If the second and successive volitions clash with eachother then the first or main one chosen becomes obscured or lost in the shuffle of all of those footsteps and choices not the goal itself. Be aware that there is good volition and bad volition set in motion with everything... the wave is created at it's very inception, meaning all of the players to that path start lining up or riding that wave of energy generated to play their various roles along it.

So be wise, strong, and fearless in your journey whatever and wherever they may lead... hopefully, this has helped make the destination and the road there that is chosen much clearer and straighter for many, in the same way a fletcher makes an arrow straight. Also be aware of these found on all paths no matter what it is; those that know but do not teach, those that teach but do not know, those that know and teach and those that neither know nor teach.

Take care and watch your step.

a reply to: BEBOG

Can you be more specific with examples. Thanks.

a reply to: dfnj2015


Without being specific on exactly what you would like me to elaborate on other than "examples" you've given a difficult request... unless you mean the specific paths mentioned as possibilities that can be taken.

If that is the case then that would require myself to take on the role of teacher of all religions and all world professions; then describe them succinctly to you.

If you mean the examples of path that is the one you are on to become a master and teacher of it no matter who lay it down, a god, goddess, a buddha, a man, or a woman, animals have a path as well but that is shamanism/animist(Hindu past) such as Hanuman being the betwixt state from our evolution into human from the so called missing link that of course being hanuman

Volition; volition is kamma/cause and effect energy, yin and yang, chi, the force, there are three types that of body borne from mind whether speaking about it to others or not? Then that of speech as well. That energy produced in volition of merely thinking of doing creates the first wave it travels much faster than a gross body could, so the ethereal bodies(deva, asura, gods, titans etc) go to work to get there first to watch and help even what seems as not help helps as the deva and gods would love to do the work for you but no longer have bodies they can inhabit them as others known and as form but they cannot dwell there if they did dwell in another that violates the guest and host relationship where one then becomes an asura or titan trying to possess the form as theirs which is a big no no so that becomes a lesson for not only you when they impede but them as well. Then after those have taken their places or roles as the precious human body takes countless aeons to attain as human birth for a chance at freedom not born into the other realms or bardos of becoming which is why the asura and titans try to inhabit them as long as possible as if it were their form and not the humans property not being moral in character in drugs or drink is the easiest door that allows them entry as well as other extreme attachments/passions. So having placed volition in mind to choose a path then it is up to body to study the path and walk the path... following another is not walking the path sure it helps but it only goes so far as they went then one becomes of one mind but cannot be THEM so then the great fall comes how well do you know the path walked if one has walked it all the way to fruition then the rise occurs... what people call ascension or rapture occurs all the time such a thing does not take place in large groups it is an individual coming and going based on individual kamma or lol volition. Of course profession does not always mean the religious sort as a path but that of a householder to maintain their houses/families or dwellings, basic care of their bodies food, shelter, and the removal of waste seeking is the same and it in mindfulness can be just as fruitful and fulfilling as a religious one in life, of course humility is important or else pride as the cliche goes will put one to the fall and fire to test their metal... the same way people succeed in business pursuits or do not goes with what they do and have done with their body speech and mind as it is always in someone elses body speech or mind that knows exactly what they have been up too that could witness or hold them accountable where others are concerned in having to deal with them... oneself as a witness must maintain honesty above all else for it to be a profitable path in both manners, spiritual or material or both to support a community.

Resolve well that is the energy to fulfill all of the above that one has set into motion... that means not only all of the good kamma but the bad in misteps and wayward walking toward other things as a distraction as well. There are fast paths like the newborn that dies whoa born human meant for heaven I am out of here and like water leave the cup, as a mis step on their path of course those they were born too they now have kamma from their early exit in regards to that family. If positive the task will be to help watch over them as their other duties to that heaven occur in learning and if they do not, then the heaven realm will be tedious and the kamma to get there burned up and then they will in the bardo of becoming decend.

So of course all three of these mean fruition is the goal the culmination of the path(s) one has a seed already continually digging it up to keep planting that seed in various fields and soils over and over produces only the fruit of kamma volition not the eventual tree not the care to grow and foster it and certinaly in in the picking of any fruit except from that of others... when it does come to fruition you will know it, as all the gods deva asura and titans then fight over it and you the tree/gardener are then tested with patience as it feels like an axe against the neck when others come chopping at your tree felling it but hey fruition it has a life of its own and well all of those that took the fruit carried your seed off so nothing to worry about your job and duty is over,

you can lay there like a log rotting and festering or think of it as feeding the world as all peck and eat as a corpse or remain a log and melt into the earth be a home for grubs or you can stand as a hollow log empty and devoid of heart and let those animals crawl about in you instead of being angry love them as they are looking for home or when cut down be the stump that stumps, or the stump that teaches by affording a wearly traveler a place to sit then you both learn at the same time.

So hey perspective if it is only yours then you are already blind, and there is no justice in that as it is like pin the tail on the donkey stay out of the way of justice everyone he or she has a sword!

Hopefully this has helped clarify and hopefully the lightheartedness infects and spreads out like those seeds carried off

a reply to: BEBOG

I do not know your gender.. but sir and or madam,

what is your current path?

what treasure do you guard?

or have you given up treasure?

do you gather treasure for others?

do you exist?

do others exist?

What exists, and how do you determine what is real?

Westerners generally do better with such questions,
the few that seek such a path at all..

Here in the USA at least, many "spiritual people"
follow the chaos of the "new age", which in fact
originally was cooked up by HP Blavatsky and
similar occultists, and in fact is not a spiritual
path at all..

but of course some Brahmin's see god when
viewing an Ox turd.. so any notion, no matter
how deluded can make a useful too.

Kev

a reply to: KellyPrettyBear


If you are standing wait or walk, if you are sitting then you are sitting, if laying down are you still asleep?

a reply to: BEBOG

In a still pond, does a ripple cause disturbance?

a reply to: KellyPrettyBear


The moon shimmers as a monkey falls into it and yet how many reflections now wave beyond the monkeys grasp?

a reply to: BEBOG

A man was sleeping, while dreaming that he was a butterfly, then awoke.
Was he in fact a butterfly dreaming that he was a man?

a reply to: KellyPrettyBear


As a cold wind pecks at bones frozen worms gnaw on the marrow.

So how has it been having Dokusan from a Theravadin? As my teeth tear into fruit, seeds gather and disperse in the wind... it is not my path as the monkey grasps only for air.

originally posted by: BEBOG
a reply to: KellyPrettyBear


As a cold wind pecks at bones frozen worms gnaw on the marrow.

So how has it been having Dokusan from a Theravadin? As my teeth tear into fruit, seeds gather and disperse in the wind... it is not my path as the monkey grasps only for air.

It was a pleasure.

Dokusan is not my path either, but to survive the rigors of the left hand path of the body,
I had to learn to ride the Ox, or to be completely ripped apart by the foolishness i had
unleashed upon myself, to rip the doors open wide without proper preparation.

One can prepare for many years.. when the door opens, there is not even a breeze upon the face.
One can rip the door open like a mad monkey, then roll around in utter madness.

Both paths take the same amount of time - it takes what it takes.
There is no race.

I've spent my life alone.. I never had a real teacher.. life has been my only teacher,
and my own foolishness has propelled me to where I had to learn to swim.

I love the beauty of the silence.

Kev

a reply to: KellyPrettyBear


I set you in the footsteps of the patriarchs and you are back on the ox... stop drawing circles, zen is tired of you pissing on Joshus tree.

originally posted by: BEBOG
a reply to: KellyPrettyBear


I set you in the footsteps of the patriarchs and you are back on the ox... stop drawing circles, zen is tired of you pissing on Joshus tree.

For a Buddha the Ox is tame.

The tree likes the noble attention.

There is no wheel to break.

There are no worlds to escape.

The Ox is not meant to be dismounted.

The pure lands are a daydream, while you til the soil.

a reply to: KellyPrettyBear


"No God, no Brahma, can be called the maker of this wheel of life; Empty phenomena roll on, Dependent on conditions all." ~Visuddimagga


Keep going into Nirodha Sammapatti or kill the rest so you can see the dead man and not ask sleeping or awake. Past is the dead one dragging that corpse forward is a yoke best to place the plow in front of the ox and if mind moves be aware of the planting of volition going on.

Thanks for the Dokusan; a head monk at the monastery was nudging me back towards Zen knowing that is my spiritual lineage recognizing my true face... it's typically hell it is so deep and vast and so many clamoring at the roots? Very painful; yet thats where grace and nobility arise as fruition continues onward.

Sure the world needs it but way too many rounds away from my true home to get back to here... those from my pure abode and their ever growing presence only seems only a blink away from here and there. Lol which means I understand your feeling of being pulled by those in the other world tired of seeing you suffer here... not sure who you incarnated here to help and be an unyielding strength for but perhaps you do... in that coming and going arising and passing of beings. It's ok to place trust or faith in them as some are being that unyielding strength for you too.

eh.

Nirvikalpa Samahdi is overhyped.

(that's what it's called in another tradition).

I'm not big on traditions though.. they apparently ALL went off the rails.

Dokusan is beautiful.. but it's just a tool.. one of many. But one of the
most beautiful. Well, when you aren't getting whacked on the back
of the head.

You act like i'm a Boddhisattva..

i'm a fat, dying old man that visits UFO forums.

Kev

a reply to: KellyPrettyBear


lol all of them bear the same fruition... and everyone is a Bodhisattva unless you renounce. I renounced to move forward and all those past lives came flooding back down to single cell business and that was enough to be nothing more to see going backwards. Niroddha is being the corpse and yet the world goes on and picks up pretty much where it left off as it is for resolving kamma the mind ceases to move at all and yet aware of others thoughts but looking into them theres nothing there just more concept grasping and a temptation to abuse a siddha for personal gain on the dark path business you mentioned.

Closing the eyes it is like sitting on top of a world with a blue field stretching flat across the distance like a slightly curved horizon... black below and black above and directly above my head a very bright white light that if I look up to see it directly lol it follows the movement of my head... thats where I sit for peace.

Every so often theres a large vibration at my feet that goes up the legs it seems to circle out at some distance like it is trying to hone in on me and perform a lock... I know it is that huge wave of unending joy or rapture of final nibanna, I'm not chasing it though; it'll connect proper when the kamma is ripe to do so... as after stream entry it's an inevitability much more so with more practice. Being somewhere around anigami and arhat although other realms have said differently but flowing through other beings? Whos to say it was about me at all? lol

a reply to: BEBOG

At the heart of all your words you did share an important truth.

But if you want people to understand you, you might work on your presentation.

It just takes time.

Kev

a reply to: KellyPrettyBear


I like being a hermit it is rare that I find like minded company to be able to sit and enjoy the silence with, so many have that inner tension that twists and twists as if they are trying to wring all the water out of a towel... and all one can do is exhale not even aware of the in breath occurring being pre-occupied from all that tension.

It's silly business, but life has a way of touching us all in the head... human or animal.

a reply to: BEBOG

Well said.

My lifemate and I are both silent inside. She's not a (knowing)
mystic, but she's simply amazing.

You've got the excitement that I had back 30 years ago... it's
cute. But I still have excitement about the wonderful gift
of being alive.. and aware.. and able to see.

It's a precious gift.

There may never be an end to learning.. but there is an end to
foolish striving.

And that end is peaceful.

a reply to: KellyPrettyBear


Good to know thanks for the fore sight from hind sight.

a reply to: BEBOG

I'd answer *any* question from someone pure of heart.. but at the
time of my choosing, not theirs.

However I have never studied any "enlightenment system", never had
a 'real' teacher, so my personal experience might not fit into what
you have come to expect from years of indoctrination.

Frankly, any of the 5 or so "buddhas" who were conflated to be
"the Buddha" would probably be horrified at what has been done
in their name(s).

i do like Zen.. it might be missing 90% of the big picture, but at
least it is pure and free of intellectual debris.

Kev