Have you guys ever had an epiphany?

[Platapus]

Can't say I have ever had an epiphany, but I have had a Satori.

Congratulations. The next question you need to answer for yourself is: what are you going to do about it?

How will you make your sphere of influence better?

[Castout]

Satori? Umm what's the difference of that to epiphany?

It's not about losing a girl for me. It never was at least in the long term. IT'S MORE ABOUT A BATTLE OF IDEOLOGY FOR ME. Besides it' better to not marry than marrying the wrong person imo and haven't seen a worthy girl in a very long time. It's just that people with beautiful heart are usually ugly on the outside while beautiful people are ugly in the inside. The most beautiful heart that ever felt was that of a Catholic nun while she was praying..but on the outside well she was not much on the outside. Her shell really protected her. I would not have guessed such a beautiful heart could exist inside her shell. Like I said better to stay single than marrying an ugly(in the inside) woman. And most people that I encounter if not all, are ugly and to certain extend stupid(without wisdom) and it doesn't take a spiritual contact to notice that, the bests are still untried too, pretty much untested. It takes a flood to test the foundation of a house until then you can't really tell.

I know now money is not my main goal in life. I've realized money is just not my cheese. I've accepted all that I've gone through. As for what I'm going to do next I'm going to LIVE eager to experience the next big thing to await what life has in store for me. To not be afraid of life. To see more possibilities in impossibilities. 2009 has been a barren year for me but then again it's not about the experience but the journey itself. I hope when my time is due I would die with the same feeling I felt three days ago when I had that epiphany. But I'm struggling whether to tell what came to me or to keep them myself, the ethics and consequences are not to be taken lightly though they are far in between. I've been pretty much silent in the past and afraid somebody would take advantage of my silence or even take credits for them(these people are low). I'm not crazy over recognition but I feel a little humiliation to those that put me down and persecute me would be somewhat an eye opener. Right now they are playing a broken song of victory over me. A fake smugness sort to say, ignorance and insult are their main weapons. To break free is my goal I guess.

[Skybird]

Originally Posted by Castout

Satori? Umm what's the difference of that to epiphany?

Satori (big time enlightenment of top grade in gold with oak leaves, plus fanfares and fireworks in the background ), Kensho (a brief moment of insight and understanding into one's own nature) or just Makyo (hallucination and fantasizing during meditation) - don't let yourself be concerned by these, its just technical terms and labels, and if you pay attention to it, it leads you back to where you were before the "event".

It's all too much thinking, that flatters the ego and keeps the intellect humming around in circles - and that makes focussing on such things and even craving for them a problem in itself, and it makes you running around and telling everybody what a clever Dick you are. I do not judge the specific claims in this thread (how could I, and why should I?), but by experience with dealing with a lot of people investing time and energy into what they considered to be a gaining of spiritual fitness I say that many people claim to have had this or that experience, and they followed specific practices and thought that to raise them any spiritual merits, and the more such merits, the closer to Nirvana they thought to be - and in reality they just had fallen for their own ego's mental creations. Don't step into that trap.

You can gain nothing that is not already inside you, and always has been, there is nothing additional from the outside that you must search for or can find and add to "yourself". So if you find out - why the fuss you make about it? Whether you call it Kensho or epiphany, means nothing, and only distracts you from the things you are actually doing. Meditation and having spiritual experiences, is no martial arts. There are no coloured belts to be gained, nor any badges you can wear on your jacket. Be focussed on what you do, don't rush ahead or lag behind with your mind, be aware of how your thoughts are working and form the image of your world. That is better than having a thousand clever thoughts about Satori. Instead of asking questions about Nirvana or Satori or epiphanies of feelings of God filling yourself, you should ask yourself just one question: "Who am I?".

I wasn't making it up it suddenly came to me clearly that chasing after money or financial success is not my life calling.

So you have accepted that you will be a financial failure. Congratulations! You will be living with your parents until they die, no interweb @ $8.25/ hr. No new clothes, Rhaman noodles three times a day...etc...etc...

Let me guess, European, or Obama Democrat. Kudos for your experience.

[Skybird]

Originally Posted by CastleBravo

So you have accepted that you will be a financial failure. Congratulations!

Let me guess, European, or Obama Democrat. Kudos for your experience.

Damn materialist!

If enough is not enough, then it never will be enough. That's what usually is called "chasing the money".

But what he actually says is that he has understood that if you have enough, then it is enough - and that there must be more in a life than just gaining possessions that sooner or later wane again.

And seeing it like this, is wise.

Originally Posted by Skybird

Damn materialist!

If enough is not enough, then it never will be enough. That's what usually is called "chasing the money".

But what he actually says it that he has understood that if you have enough, then it is enough - and that there must be more in a life than just gaining possessions that sooner or later wane again.

And seeing it like this, is wise.

I guess for folks without ambition and wish to complain about other's success this is a wise course. But making something of ones self is hardly without reward. in a fair world we call that making money and capitalism. The alternative is mediocracy at best. Who wants to be known as mediocre, or worse?

[Skybird]

Are you aware that you need to put it to extreme interpretations in order to make your point on mediocrity? If somebody lives his life in a way where he can support himself and those next to him, does not depend on the money of others, and says that instead of raising himself a monument or building a big company he prefers to invest the rest of his free time for something he sees as more valuable to him, may it be for example family, or arts, or charity, or whatever - I fail to see what makes that "mediocre" a way to spend one's life. You define "ambitions" purely materialistically, and that is the essence of materialism/capitalism: that there is nothing of value in life that goes beyond material gains, possessions and money.

But that is simply not true, but indeed a very poor way to see life. If you were right, people should be the happier the more money and business succees they have. But that is not true, and especially very successful people in banking, medicine, big business, often pay a physical price for their excessice work overload, in becoming ill, physically or/and mentally.

Man does not live by bread alone. There must be more.

And just for the record, Castout has not complained about people being successful.

And finally, what is "success". Is it to be defined by just the level of admiration for you by others, as you express above? I would not necessarily call that "successful" beyond a purely statistical statement. To me it has more to do with being "fremdbestimmt" (nonautonomous). And to me somebody is the more unsuccessful in his life the more he is depending on others, both materialistically or intellectually and psychologically. Autonomy - is an alternative to a purely financial description of success. You may have let'S say some idealistic intentions, for which to realise you need to raise money. Okay, fine with me. But here the material aspect does not become the decisive criterion to judge success, but is just a tool. Success is to what degree that idealistic vision gets realised - whether it be by raising the needed money, or realising it in another legal manner.

Money as a tool is one thing. Declaring it the meaning of life - is something different. And the admiration of others - sorry, I am beyond that, really. I only really care for the opinion of people about me whom I really know and to whom I have a relation that I consider to be valuable to me. To know that there is a million of people knowing that I exist and just did this or that - means nothing to me.

[Castout]

Originally Posted by CastleBravo

So you have accepted that you will be a financial failure. Congratulations! You will be living with your parents until they die, no interweb @ $8.25/ hr. No new clothes, Rhaman noodles three times a day...etc...etc...

Let me guess, European, or Obama Democrat. Kudos for your experience.

Hmm not exactly like that it means my ambition is not money.
I was worried about financial success before but I've realized money is not my ambition and not my goal in life.

it doesn't mean I will be a bum either it merely means money is not my ambition. It means I'm grateful with whatever money I get and not wanting more. Whatever work I do it will not be merely because I'm wanting more money it will simply because either I like the work or because I need the money or both.It doesn't exclude the possibilities that I will be rich or even extremely rich either but it merely means money is not my ambition.

it means it's okay if I didn't end up with a big house with luxury cars or a high position in job. It doesn't exclude those possibilities but they no longer be a part of my dream or ambition.

There's a verse in the bible telling one cannot serve two masters mammon and God(mammon being money). I was always worrying and had ambition to become financially successful that it became a sort of goal to me but not anymore. I've realized chasing after money is just not my calling.

But then you may ask how could one be rich if he doesn't have ambition to accumulate wealth? That's a question which answer I'd like to keep to myself. The poorest works the hardest yet they are still the poorest at most they become mediocre, the very wealthy work less yet they are even becoming even wealthier. Anyway I don't aim becoming wealthy but that doesn't exclude me from the possibility.

Skybird got the most of my point ;D

The accumilation of wealth isn't important. But please do something to make yourself happy. For me it was aviation. I still love the feel of a Piper Cub. I can make it sh1t little green apples.

[Castout]

Originally Posted by CastleBravo

The accumilation of wealth isn't important. But please do something to make yourself happy. For me it was aviation. I still love the feel of a Piper Cub. I can make it sh1t little green apples.

of course we all should strive for our own happiness. MUST INDEED