I think it’s ultimately about territory. I’ve dedicated my life to injecting what I find to be clarity about nonduality, and now I have to contend with somebody that I feel is doing the opposite, as an authority, on what is ostensibly my turf.
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Yeah. Then it’s a great opportunity for you to relax, engage lightly w life. “in between sessions, be a child of illusion.” How would you feel if this were happening in a dream you were having, once you realized it was a dream?
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I don’t buy the life’s a dream trope. Life is about paying bills, whether it’s an amoeba finding bacteria to graze on or me having to pay rent. In order to continue to do that, I have to endure the travail of dealing with somebody who teaches from the folk theory.
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You’re insistent that people who are, in your view, deluded shouldn’t teach or act from their view. If you try and foist your view on them - make a stand - aren’t you just another proselytizing believer?
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I would not make the attempt to proselytize anyone here. As I said, very few believe I have the experiential standing to do so. But you are correct to observe I’m uptight about it and perhaps need to find room for other views, deluded as I may find them to be.
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I dig the conversation you are having with folks on here about this. As I see it, the room I make is not so much for other views, as for other people. I have come to respect other people's need for their beliefs, however delusional.
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The more rigid and delusional a belief, the greater the need for that belief. And the greater the need for a belief, the greater risk to that person's integrity if that belief is challenged. I respect that need, and not the belief, which is often quite silly without the need.
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A delusional belief can be likened unto a knife that is plugging up a wound in someone. If you are going to pull a knife out, are you prepared to attend to the person when they are bleeding out? Do you have the skills and time to manage a breakdown?
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That is a very succinct way to put it, though I would add that not all delusions are necessarily even harmful (unless you're a hardcore Platonic) - further complicating the sitch.
Like you, I tend just to leave it alone. Until I have a chance to complain on Twitter, anyway.
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Ha! Yes. Twitter is a place for us to hash stuff out. And yes, delusion is also a form of creativity, and it may be the best that a person has gotten to. In fact, preserving another person's delusions may be a form of care for them. You break it; you own it.
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To that last line: Indeed. I was speaking from experience.
Very unpleasant experience.
Oh yes. I know from experience as well. I'm careful with people now.
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I appreciate all this excellent input. I’m certainly not about converting anyone, and I’m sure there will be room to opt out. There is the question of how much damage to my standing it may cause, which admittedly, already kind of sucks anyway.
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