Debt Rattle October 7 2022

[John Day]

Michael reid specified his horse dewormer:
“Eqvalan (ivermectin) Oral Paste for Horses”

That’s good stuff and you can use it for rabbits too, by just dividing the dose by the proportional difference in weight. 100 times lighter gets 100 times less. It’s remarkably non-toxic though, so you won’t kill a bunny if it gets 100 times as much, but it might get sick, and that’s wasteful.
Tastes like “apple” they say.

[John Day]

@upstate NYer: Words like “detach from negative emotions” are sort-of correct, but mainly helpful to those who already drilled on the techniques for a long time.

A good techniques is to observe your own mind thinking, spotting things, reacting to things, to watch your mind working away, without really engaging, without latching on to thoughts and getting angry at somebody, for instance.
That provides “detachment” sort of. It’s a useful practice, and you can learn about your mind.

I read The Power of Now by Ekhart Tolle in the late 1990s, and found some specific tricks, like seeing something as “beautiful” turned out to be really helpful.

[Susmarie108]

Hey upstateNYer. So many great questions.

In my experience, the best way to understand detachment is to start by examining your attachments. It’s amazing what/how/when/why we hold on to “things” (like stories, POVs, relationships/people, jobs, our perception of self, The Beatles, kids, pets, home). To make progress you have to be completely honest with yourself. In depth exploration leads to awareness. With awareness you can make changes, like letting go of the “things” that don’t serve you and or resetting your relationship to what does serve you.

Notice how Tolle expands the condition of non-attachment by including non-judgment and non-resistance. These “things” deserve a look! What we resist persists.

RE: “I’m just tossing out random thoughts about the “detach from the negative and all will be right in the world” philosophy. I find it lacking.”

Because it sounds too simple to be true? Peace/LOVE/Unity is an inside job, they are at hand. It starts with you/me.

Thanks for engaging conversation. Appreciate you.

[Doc Robinson]

upstateNYer: “What is this state of ‘non-attachment’? We don’t attach to … what? All emotional feelings? Only the feelings we’ve deemed ‘negative’?… My question is, when I ‘detach’ from negative emotions, should I also ‘detach’ from what we define as positive emotions (ie, love) as well?”

Reminds me of “equanimity,” which involves not getting caught up in either extreme: where dislikes turn into negativity, and likes turn into grasping. Love is great, but grasping at what we love can cause additional suffering when faced with its loss.

The English word equanimity refers to a state of being calm and balanced, especially in the midst of difficulty. In Buddhism, equanimity (in Pali, upekkha; in Sanskrit, upeksha)… in the past has been mistranslated as “indifference,” which has caused many in the West to believe, mistakenly, that Buddhists are supposed to be detached and unconcerned with other beings. What it really means is to not be ruled by passions, desires, likes, and dislikes….

It is evenness of mind, unshakeable freedom of mind, a state of inner equipoise that cannot be upset by gain and loss, honor and dishonor, praise and blame, pleasure and pain. Upekkha is freedom from all points of self-reference; it is indifference only to the demands of the ego-self with its craving for pleasure and position, not to the well-being of one’s fellow human beings…

In her book Comfortable with Uncertainty, Tibetan Kagyu teacher Pema Chodron said, “To cultivate equanimity we practice catching ourselves when we feel attraction or aversion before it hardens into grasping or negativity.”

https://www.learnreligions.com/buddhism-and-equanimity-449701

[V. Arnold]

Well, it was only a matter of time until the Crimean bridge was attacked; which it was…this is getting very dangerous for the whole planet…

[V. Arnold]

Here’s a link to the bridge attack story;
https://smoothiex12.blogspot.com/

[Susmarie108]

VP – thank you.

Well said and worth repeating:

“I arrived at spiritual awakening after a period of EG0 deflation at depth, couple with inescapable, self-inflicted pain…

I imagine that’s the same path for most of humanity, albeit there are exceptions, perhaps during this self-imposed destruction that “civilization” has brought upon itself there will be many that abandon EG0 as their reality & embrace the Infinite reality within.”

@Doc Robinson – yours is an important contribution to the discussion. Worth repeating:

“What it really means is to not be ruled by passions, desires, likes, and dislikes….
It is evenness of mind, unshakeable freedom of mind, a state of inner equipoise that cannot be upset by gain and loss, honor and dishonor, praise and blame, pleasure and pain. Upekkha is freedom from all points of self-reference; it is indifference only to the demands of the ego-self with its craving for pleasure and position, not to the well-being of one’s fellow human beings…”

One can hold the center in “equanimity” when practiced mindfully – as part of the journey of life. What is so wonderful about the practices discussed above is that they can BE EXPERIENCED. Yes study and converstaion is good, but what good is it if it is never put into practice?

Om Shanti Friends.

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