Ambition, lack thereof, and why we do anything.

[Oxajil]

Hi SAO, I've read your posts several times, and I don't have a clear idea yet of what the booklet will be about. If I understand correctly, it'll be on how to love, how to be a good person and how to act based on STO principles. That's the general idea I have. It's a tough one. If you want to make it practical, I think it will be a bit tricky as it usually is the situation that determines what is good and a network is often needed for the person to know what is good in that given situation. But giving examples I think could be helpful. I agree with whitecoast and others that it would be a good exercise, and I would be interested to read it.

I have one little note: You mentioned that what motivates STS is the acquisition of wealth, and that being rich is pointless. Do you see the acquisition of wealth as being a bad thing? Of course, as you said, buying a bunch of smartphones and an island and all that is going overboard, and isn't really helping anyone! But is it wrong to buy a house or a car or a TV? (Not multiple, not more than you need). Wealth can mean being able to help your loved ones, the community, freedom from the low-pay 9 to 5 system, it can mean room for doing what you enjoy, and so much more. Laura once wrote a very interesting and inspiring post on this topic and how we are programmed to think that money or being successful is not "spiritual". I highly recommend it and it may also be helpful for your booklet (and I recommend it for anyone who is interested, especially in these difficult (financial) times): Let's talk money. FWIW.

 

[Nem]

After some thought, the idea of composing some sort of simplified guidelines of "How to be an STO manual" seems a really tall order if not impossible altogether.

The first main issue is the fact that we, as humans right now, are still STS. Moving towards or deepening STO candidacy, yes, but nevertheless that kind of booklet would still be "produced" from a STS mindset. And IMO that kind of mindset can't possible show the whole banana in an open way.

Session 28 August 1999
A: (...) You are confused because you seem to think you must be STO to be an STO candidate. You are STS, and you simply cannot be otherwise, until you either reincarnate or transform at realm border crossing.

Session 22 January 2000
Q: So, in our drive to obtain knowledge, we are STS?
A: You are STS, period.
(...)
Q: But, you are always saying that we should seek to gain knowledge. You are supposed to be STO, and we are supposed to be STO candidates, so how does that...
A: While you are in this realm, you are by nature STS. Gaining knowledge is a separate issue.

Basically, imagine an apprentice carpenter, who with the help of an adept carpenter, nailed a few planks to make a functional chair. It holds on nicely and works fine, but making a chair is only a small part of being a professional carpenter. Has the apprentice have enough knowledge already to teach others in the way of carpentry?

Secondly, presenting in a condensed written form some key principles, such as "Give to those who ask", would be really tricky. Distinguishing between asking and manipulation is surely a lifetime task and struggle. And isn't observing objectivly and negating manipulation in our lives one of the most crucial things that we can work on for ourselves and others ? In that kind of booklet, the issue of lies would take a few tomes IMO. Just on this forum the material regarding this topic is enormous. And it ain't the only thing worth describing/learning of course.

Lastly, the question to be answered is the "Is there a point?". Cross referencing with the topic Shouldn't we be fighting this?, are we the ones who should pursue to motivate others for a STO reality? I think the inner STO calling, or pursuing a better world is the individuals decision and lesson. A lot of doors are opened for someone questioning the world around them. The universe would find a way for an asking soul, I'm sure of it.

Anyway, shortly speaking, from my point of view it would be a really difficult project to undertake. But what do I know? ;)

 

[whitecoast]

When you do something to help others, they feel good, and they are also encouraged to be good themselves. At the same time, you feel good, and you also gain more strength to resist your own negative or entropic tendencies. It's technically selfish, but at the point where we call that "selfish" when doing precisely the opposite is "much more selfish", it's saying there is nothing that isn't selfish. That may be the case, but clearly there is a way of thinking, speaking and doing (i.e. being) that is the least selfish we can be. That's the one we go for, because, well, the alternative makes others and you feel bad, and as an ideology, is a literal dead end street.

I think there's definitely something to the idea that to become more STO we are to become less of what our ancestral sin has made of us. There's also cases where we can see either someone martyrs themselves and practices a lot of masochistic self-sacrifice. To me this doesn't seem like it's a movement toward STO, unless you try and reinterpret their actions as a perverse form of selfishness.

I personally dislike the equivocation that all motivated behavior is "selfish" behavior, since some kind of feedback circuit needs to exist in an organism (whether it's dopaminergic or some other mechanical or electrical circuit) in order for its controlling agency to determine if an organized task was fulfilled or not. Unless by "selfish" you mean an act conducted by a self on purpose, in which case it loses all its negative moral connotations and we are no longer faithful to the socially constructed context of how we use the word.

We live in an STS world so we see these entropic activities and so also see the logical and practical conclusions of such a worldview. As a rule on 3D STS earth we are surrounded with many salient BAD examples of how to live in this life. We are surrounded by many good examples as well, but the results of the good are less dramatic than the consequences of the bad. Think of a person who obeys every road sign, wakes up and sleeps at the exact same time every day, never drinks, etc. Doesn't even speed ever. We may make some assumptions about their type of personality. Then contrast this with someone who's more cavalier, drinks and drives, etc, and what that says about them. We are far more likely to see some tragic story on the front page news about the latter than the former. As a result of this in life we are more and more likely to find lessons on what NOT to do in life, and most moral lessons are prohibitions.

The lessons on what to do are around I think, but they require a lot more discernment and sensitivity to really understand or internalize, which is why networking with people who are all equally keen on avoiding the bad is so important. We each may come away with different ideas of what the giving life looks for us in the specific details of it all, but as long as we are minimizing the downsides and negative risks of each of us coming to harm I think eventually we get there.

 

[Deleted member 4320]

After some thought, the idea of composing some sort of simplified guidelines of "How to be an STO manual" seems a really tall order if not impossible altogether.

Of course, as the 3 Density STS beings, I assume that we are not fully aware of the idea of Service to Others in their full meaning. However, because of logical reasoning and inspiration in the information from higher sources, we can make some conclusions that distinguish the difference between the STO and STS objectively and act depending on this knowledge.

General guidelines, in theory, isn't rocket science... The real challenge is to see every our specific behavior, act etc. in terms of the STS and STO and further control ourselves to the point that every energy we generate is utilized in the STO way.

I encourage everyone to read my post that I wrote some time ago. Everyone can do something (if he/she chooses) what makes him closer to the STO state of being (yet as the STS person).

Nobody is condemned to swinging on the water without purpose. I think good will be to stop for the moment and examine the current situation of how we utilize our energy, by directing our attention, thoughts, acts we are doing, and ask self: is energy utilized for my benefit or consumed by other STS, or energy is expressed, released freely, what means the STO way.

If somebody does not know what to do with himself, a good thing would be to find, to create for himself one of the behavior or activity that contain the energy movement where the energy is utilized in the STO way.

I describe a good example in the following post that I wrote in the past. This kind of activity can be used to project your way to utilize energy in the STO way, modeling the structure basing on this description. Of course, this is not one thing. The transcripts with C's and Laura's writings are full of hints of what STO is, as the other people's writing on the forum. However, it always is good to add another brick to build the bigger picture, with every valuable view on the topic.

I have bolded the most important parts.

STO and STS are about the utilization of energy.

STS individuals utilize energy for themselves or others STS vs STO individuals utilize energy expressing that energy toward the Universe, touching and empowered the source of the information that is True and source of creativeness of the Universe.

For instance, first for STS: some John Doe goes to work to earn money which finally spends on food, clothes, entertainment, holiday, car. All of that is for himself individually or family that this individual treats as a "possession", his genes. Let's add to this his employer: this is some corporation that gathers others for whom the motivation is to earn money and the whole corporation's production and service is dictated by the hidden connections to the international institutions, being higher in the hierarchy, that are working strictly in STS principles.

In other words: energy is inserted into working in the job and is ultimately utilized as the form of pleasure and possession by Mr. Doe and empowers STS institutions. And this is STS - energy is generated by some individual and is finally utilized by this STS individual himself or other STS individuals. It doesn't require truth in it or something like that.

Now, STO. The most exemplary way to describe the STO is the process of sharing information with others that are true without any kind of direct benefit for self. So, for instance, you write a post on the forum, you put energy into the writing of that post, you do not get any money for it, you do not get physical pleasure for it, instead of pleasure you get a certain dose of suffering because you have mobilized and focus yourself on writing a post, to all of these, this post represents information which represents truth, and ultimately by that, the post comes to merge with the Being part of the Universe that is True. Inverting it... this post comes to be manifestations of the Being side of the Universe/ Information which is True, come to be the expression of Light, thanks to your energy, thanks to the energy you put into writing and publish the post.

So, summarising. STS is the generation of energy and utilization in the benefits of the STS. The STO is the generation of energy and energy is being liberated or expressed, imagine something like that, let the post of the forum be the lamp. Putting the fuel into the lamp is like generate/insert/put energy [into writing post] and turn light on of the lamp is like publish a post on the forum that represents truth and allows others to see this light see the information that is true.

And success in the more advanced work on the self is to reject all of the STS kind of the energy transformations and replace them by the STO kind, of course, it requires a lot attended observations of how energy is moving, huge assets of knowledge (to answer: what is true?), almost full self-control over themselves to maintaining the entire process. Well, it requires determination and strength in the conscious mind / system 2 (system 2: see the Fast and Slow Thinking book).

This is not one way of improving and working on the self. All the acts of politeness we do to another human being develop us spiritually and give hope to the world and humankind.

Instead of waiting with picking up the package from a parcel machine, just move ass and just do it, make a free place for other packages of other people that they make them happy with the new things they need.

When somebody will force priority on the road, do not be angry, just say to self that everyone makes mistakes and smile to the culprit.

Instead, be angry that somebody hasn't cleaned the crumbs from the table. Be patient and clean by yourself and be forgiving for others.

By the little steps, we can change the world. By the simple acts of kindness, controlling over negative emotions, making life easier to others, caring about the common good, truthfulness, etc...

For most people, this is the most optimal way to do things in order to develop spiritually. The most important thing we need lays in the real and authentic branch of Christianity / PaleoChristianity that the main principle is Love. Read other of my posts and posts of the other people for comparison and learning:

I recommend, if somebody feels stuck (as I recommend it to myself when I feel stuck); there is no better way to exist in such a situation like to find inspiration in the idea of STO, Love, Unity... and act upon this.

 

[ScioAgapeOmnis]

A lot of great food for thought here! I realize this is a bigger undertaking than I initially thought, and I’m definitely not sure the best way to tackle it so I’ll kinda let it flow. I suppose it’s kinda like distilling the lessons of the C’s and the philosophies of G and this forum. I’m not sure how to do it without much being lost in translation but it will at least be a good exercise as some have mentioned.

To me, I think this forum, the C’s sessions, and all the books discovered here serve a dual purpose. One is simply knowledge sharing and acquisition by collinear minds who seek to grow and to also be helpful to others who seek the same. Another is an act of putting into words what is in the heart. Often even if I feel something, an unspoken philosophy or predisposition, it can be tremendously helpful to run into an article or a post by someone who shares the feeling and expounds on it in a detail that my unformed thought has not. So it kinda makes the unconscious or semi-conscious more fleshed out, coherent, and real.

I liken it to finding Laura and her work in the first place. I knew what I was looking for in my heart, I wanted the truth, was very much sick of all the deception I saw everywhere including all the philosophies and religions/belief systems that failed me, but I did not know what form the truth will take, I just recognized it when I saw it. It was literally food for my soul, and I devoured everything on Cassiopaea website when I found it rather voraciously, like I finally found water after almost dying walking through a desert for eons.

What if I never found the website, or the forum, or the C’s channeling? I’d never have the sense of satisfaction that I finally found a place where someone is actually sincerely seeking the truth without a “favorite philosophy” or agenda or a belief or sacred cow.

So while the information is certainly invaluable, it was the act of Laura basically giving words or voice to my soul. It was the way subjects were approached, the pure and simple scientific logic with no assumptions, checking under every rock along the way and then describing the entire mountain to the best of her ability. It basically showed me how to do it - here’s how to navigate reality, how to avoid pitfalls, how to connect dots, how to question yourself, how to work with others, etc etc. And at some level I already knew - it was in my subconscious, so I basically was able to recognize it in written form when I saw it. I learned a lot of new things, but I also learned a lot about myself that I never put into words or coherent thoughts until I read a collinear spirit describing and going through the same process, with words.

So I was thinking of a booklet that when someone reads it, it evokes a similar recognition in their soul - that whole “oh yeah, this makes perfect sense” sensation. And honestly, The Wave series kinda already serves as an extended version of just that. And there’s no way to condense that particular adventure in reality exploration, it must be experienced by reading it just as it is.

But you must already have the internal predisposition to recognize the profound. Otherwise it would be pearls before swine - I know plenty of people who could read The Wave and be bored rather than transfixed. So if you’re not at that point in your learning cycle, no “guide book” would resonate or help you anyway.

 

[Mililea]

I think the ambition or motivation comes naturally. I personally wasted a few years with boring books about crime stories and then for years I didn't read at all. Since I have known this forum I read a lot and it is like a hunger for knowledge. Every time the brain cells reconnect, I ask myself, why have I never seen it like this? And it gives me a feeling of security and there is a feeling of deep joy within me. It is difficult to put into words. It's like when you go to a concert and the music touches you so much that you're incredibly grateful to be in that place right now. And this feeling then spreads throughout my whole body... it's like a chain reaction, I think you radiate this. Maybe that means the change of frequency? And also the motivation. Just an example, I had a very difficult time with a man (psychopath, drugs, alcohol...) I lost myself, but I made the jump and now I am happily married. Before this experience, everyone used to call me by my nickname, which was me... During this time I have become very withdrawn and changed. Then I left him and also started a new job. Everyone there called me by my full name, I didn't even notice that at first. Since I feel as described above and probably also have a different effect on others, my colleagues have started calling me by my old nickname out of the blue. That was a very nice feeling of "I'm back". I just think the motivation is either there and you can feel it or not.... You can't force anything... But I also think that we don't have to worry, because STO will SEE the real motivation in us. None of us can know which behaviour is really right. And finally we are still living on a STS planet at the moment... For me, the most important strategy is not to let myself be taken out of my feeling, no matter what happens. Fortunately I have always had this quality, no matter what happens, first observe, stay calm and then act. Except when I am late or hungry .... Only my 2 cents

 

[Deleted member 4320]

I think the ambition or motivation comes naturally. I personally wasted a few years with boring books about crime stories and then for years I didn't read at all. Since I have known this forum I read a lot and it is like a hunger for knowledge. Every time the brain cells reconnect, I ask myself, why have I never seen it like this? And it gives me a feeling of security and there is a feeling of deep joy within me. It is difficult to put into words. It's like when you go to a concert and the music touches you so much that you're incredibly grateful to be in that place right now. And this feeling then spreads throughout my whole body... it's like a chain reaction, I think you radiate this. Maybe that means the change of frequency? And also the motivation. Just an example, I had a very difficult time with a man (psychopath, drugs, alcohol...) I lost myself, but I made the jump and now I am happily married. Before this experience, everyone used to call me by my nickname, which was me... During this time I have become very withdrawn and changed. Then I left him and also started a new job. Everyone there called me by my full name, I didn't even notice that at first. Since I feel as described above and probably also have a different effect on others, my colleagues have started calling me by my old nickname out of the blue. That was a very nice feeling of "I'm back". I just think the motivation is either there and you can feel it or not.... You can't force anything... But I also think that we don't have to worry, because STO will SEE the real motivation in us. None of us can know which behaviour is really right. And finally we are still living on a STS planet at the moment... For me, the most important strategy is not to let myself be taken out of my feeling, no matter what happens. Fortunately I have always had this quality, no matter what happens, first observe, stay calm and then act. Except when I am late or hungry .... Only my 2 cents

Hello. Thanks for your writing!

Only one notice, you seem to rather rarely write on internet forums, and more spend time being active, than at the computer. Did I guess? Never mind, well in fact, I could be wrong... The matter is that this is very comfortable for others when we do intervals between paragraphs in the text.

 

[Cosmos]

I'm also interested in seeing what might come out of that idea ScioAgapeOmnis even if it might turn out to be quite different to the initial idea. The bottom line is that I always liked to read your contributions here on the forum ScioAgapeOmnis, since they kept striking me as very well thought through, to the point and inspiring. I do think you have quite a talent there that you should use. And this project might be a good idea to get something along those lines started.

 

[whitecoast]

I was just thinking about the concept of ambition - why some people have it, others don't, what does it even mean, how to get it, and why we would even want it.

To put a direct answer to your question, it comes down to what's in our essence. Some people are innately more driven and ambitious than others. Brain chemistry involving dopamine and testosterone and profrontal cortex functioning likely play a role in this. Some drives come from the personality and are artificial, while some come from our essence and are therefore important to explore for the sake of learning our lessons.

Why we would even want it is answered by the fact that there are things our higher STO self can and cannot do on its own.

If you could directly ask your higher STO self what you "should do," its answer (like it was to Laura initially) was "keep doing what comes naturally" or "you will do what you will do." A 6D STO unified thought form does not opinions about how a particular 3D complex of matter and spirit "should" be arranged. Being STO it is totally accepting and impartial to what is going on in the 3D universe (though they may suffer vicariously through empathy). It's like wanting to go for dinner somewhere with a friend who has absolutely no opinions about what they feel like eating. They don't even really want to be asked I think.

The "should" in Gurdjieff's teachings has repeatedly been the purview of the I Am, the I Can, the I Wish, and the I Will. It is the essence, which is sculpted by both genetics and the awareness and karma of the soul as it merges with and tweaks the genetics of the body. Our life lesson profile is structured around the spontaneous functioning of our essence as it interacts with the world more. Life lessons are also structured around any salient developments of artificial personality which can suppress the essence in ways contrary to its proper exercise in the fulfillment of our destiny, up to a point OSIT.

Putting these two ideas together, the higher STO self wants to help you to fulfill your destiny, which is the lesson profile laid out to be executed by the functioning of the essence as it interacts with the world. From a higher STO perspective to want things is to be a bit foolish, but if we actually understood this we would no longer be 3D. The higher STO self helps the essence along and in a sense entertains its illusions (just think of all the times the Cs gave Laura the dates of events even though they say time isn't real) for the purpose of getting the essence to gradually learn on its own what its own illusions and limitations are. This isn't a process that can be artificially expedited by a personality that wants to be STO and so wants to continue to adapt to the external world (which is what all personality is) but just substitutes the 6D STO world for the 3D one. Like I said before, that doesn't work, and it is not a type of communication the 6D STO can work with such that it furthers along the lessons of the essence. That perspective of surrendering one's will instead invites 4D STS forces, which will happily take over the lives of people who surrender their will under the illusion they're giving to a higher being that will make better use of it.

To put this in the context of this forum, the higher STO self wants to help all these essences fulfill their wish of harmonizing with one another. And from what I've experienced and read I think love may be that thing which helps us tap into the essence of one another as we help to mutually reify our own and our greatest wishes for a kind of world which deeply resonates with all of our hearts. This would drastically expedite learning and create strong positive feedback loops toward polarizing toward an STO frequency resonance vibration. All personality acts as dampeners on our ability to resonate, while the essence (to the extent there's resonance) functions all the more strongly. To the extent there is dissonance is when something may simply not be part of our life lesson profile, or indicative of there being some very deeply consequential karma or choices being brought out into the open for examination and possible resolution.

 

[Glenn]

I think if you were to distill the concept of STO (and it's converse, STS), to it's core, you end up at free will. STO embraces it, knowing that without it, there is no chance of gaining true knowledge, no chance for evolution, no freedom, only control, and false knowledge.

Everything springs from that. IMO

Okay. Is there any kind of a fundamental physical law? Well, not physical... Some fundamental law of creation?

A: Free will.

So this being a fundamental law of creation it would apply not only to 3D but to all densities, and things learned here will also apply moving into 4D and beyond.

You can certainly see how STS views free will. And how it has developed very sophisticated strategies to take it away, under the guise of helping you, and making you feel safe, etc.

I think if you can get yourself to the stage where you are not able to be manipulated, and in fact strongly resist it, through knowledge, then maybe you are ready to meet them on a level playing field.

Think of a person who obeys every road sign, wakes up and sleeps at the exact same time every day, never drinks, etc. Doesn't even speed ever.

I think viewing behavior as a judge of STO or STS, is a bit of a red herring, and is fraught with danger. And the virtue angle is used extensively by the STS types. The only thing they fear is knowledge. IMO. Well, I guess knowledge combined with actions, to be more precise.

Anyway, just a few thoughts...

 

[LongCloud]

A lot of great food for thought here! I realize this is a bigger undertaking than I initially thought, and I’m definitely not sure the best way to tackle it so I’ll kinda let it flow. I suppose it’s kinda like distilling the lessons of the C’s and the philosophies of G and this forum. I’m not sure how to do it without much being lost in translation but it will at least be a good exercise as some have mentioned.

To me, I think this forum, the C’s sessions, and all the books discovered here serve a dual purpose. One is simply knowledge sharing and acquisition by collinear minds who seek to grow and to also be helpful to others who seek the same. Another is an act of putting into words what is in the heart. Often even if I feel something, an unspoken philosophy or predisposition, it can be tremendously helpful to run into an article or a post by someone who shares the feeling and expounds on it in a detail that my unformed thought has not. So it kinda makes the unconscious or semi-conscious more fleshed out, coherent, and real.

I liken it to finding Laura and her work in the first place. I knew what I was looking for in my heart, I wanted the truth, was very much sick of all the deception I saw everywhere including all the philosophies and religions/belief systems that failed me, but I did not know what form the truth will take, I just recognized it when I saw it. It was literally food for my soul, and I devoured everything on Cassiopaea website when I found it rather voraciously, like I finally found water after almost dying walking through a desert for eons.

What if I never found the website, or the forum, or the C’s channeling? I’d never have the sense of satisfaction that I finally found a place where someone is actually sincerely seeking the truth without a “favorite philosophy” or agenda or a belief or sacred cow.

So while the information is certainly invaluable, it was the act of Laura basically giving words or voice to my soul. It was the way subjects were approached, the pure and simple scientific logic with no assumptions, checking under every rock along the way and then describing the entire mountain to the best of her ability. It basically showed me how to do it - here’s how to navigate reality, how to avoid pitfalls, how to connect dots, how to question yourself, how to work with others, etc etc. And at some level I already knew - it was in my subconscious, so I basically was able to recognize it in written form when I saw it. I learned a lot of new things, but I also learned a lot about myself that I never put into words or coherent thoughts until I read a collinear spirit describing and going through the same process, with words.

So I was thinking of a booklet that when someone reads it, it evokes a similar recognition in their soul - that whole “oh yeah, this makes perfect sense” sensation. And honestly, The Wave series kinda already serves as an extended version of just that. And there’s no way to condense that particular adventure in reality exploration, it must be experienced by reading it just as it is.

But you must already have the internal predisposition to recognize the profound. Otherwise it would be pearls before swine - I know plenty of people who could read The Wave and be bored rather than transfixed. So if you’re not at that point in your learning cycle, no “guide book” would resonate or help you anyway.

SAO,

You've said and hit on so many things here, many will resonate on this post alone.

I'll share more on my journey here with you all.

Thanks for opening this thread.

 

[luc]

I think if you were to distill the concept of STO (and it's converse, STS), to it's core, you end up at free will. STO embraces it, knowing that without it, there is no chance of gaining true knowledge, no chance for evolution, no freedom, only control, and false knowledge.

Everything springs from that. IMO

I recently thought about free will as a "basic law", and perhaps one way of looking at "evolution" is the increase of free will, and this then leads to the STO/STS distinction, from our perspective? What I mean is that both paths represent an increase of free will in a way. STS increases their power and domination and manipulation, which certainly increases their "free will", they can dictate what others do at a whim, according to their fancy. They gain many resources with which to alter our world, and so on. Of course, ultimately it's a deception - they will always serve a higher master, and they will undo themselves eventually; besides, they are increasingly slaves to their own whims, desires and wishful thinking.

STO on the other hand increase their free will by getting rid of the mechanical reactions, the enslavement to moods and bodily desires, all the addictions humans are normally indulging and so on. However, STO align themselves with something higher, and therefore you could say in a sense that they have less "freedom" than STS. But this alignment is entirely voluntary and based on insight, or as the Cs said it's both the best and the only possible option. On our 3D plane, from an STS point of view, those evolving on the STO path are unfree and weak, yet they increase their free will on a different and higher level.

Those who neither evolve on the STS or STO path are what Gurdjieff called "machines", and they don't achieve anything that lasts beyond death. They have the least free will.

But these are just some musings...

The whole topic of free will is fascinating IMO both philosophically and also in terms of science, such as quantum physics, brain research and so on. I think there are some important things yet to discover.

 

[monotonic]

As I understand STO is a higher density concept that we cannot fully understand. Therefore, when we rid ourselves of STS motivations and concepts that limit us to a linear thought process, we allow inspiration to come in from higher realms. So then maybe instead of following a checklist or guide and essentially trying to be STO through a mechanical process, you will begin to have creative ideas which bring more possibilities to the table than could be found in a checklist.

Follow any mystery deep enough and you will find that not only do you not have the answer, but you do not even have the question. And where do questions come from in their most sincere form? Intuition and inspiration. A good answer may satisfyingly end the question, but a good question leads to discovery and possibilities. And finding questions requires creativity.

If you are trying to understand someone else, good questions are of immense value. When you find a good question you discover things about them you could not have even thought of.

I suppose that when you ask a question, what you receive is often more than just the answer.

This idea of creating questions is something that has been rolling around on the floor of my mind for a few years and as a process I think of it as the art of inquiry. The search for questions as distinct from the search for answers.

Reading a quote from the Cs made me think.

To love you must know. And to know is to have light. And to have light is to love. And to have knowledge is to love.

The use of Light here has baffled me as poetic but hard to decipher. But in a sense, creating a question is like creating a point of light. To find an answer is to find what you want in the illumination (and then often to turn off the light).

Shining the light facilitates discovery, which is to reveal possibilities.

If one makes a discovery in the middle of an emotional program, it can create a path out of the program. Having experienced this I realized a certain kind of spontaneity and insight can be very useful as a way to jump out of a program and do what a machine cannot do. So based on that train of thought, the art of inquiry is a way of generating possibilities. More specifically generating more choices and therefore more free will.

I suppose one way to describe it is as training yourself not to just focus on answers, but to see questions as well. To just notice a mystery creates an opportunity.

Maybe to create a question is to activate one's perception?

This train of thought is in it's primordial stage in my mind so this probably seems really disjointed and unorganized. I hope it has been reasonably coherent.

 

[monotonic]

Hopefully this is not too tiresome already, but in my mind ideas tend to evolve from trite phrases, to metaphors, to poetry, and then maybe to something that can actually be put to work. I'm currently in the trite phrases and metaphors stage. Currently the process sort of looks like this:

mechanical life -> encountered limitation -> Acknowledged unknown -> create question from intuition/inspiration -> perception/illumination -> discovery -> more possibilties -> more choices -> more free will -> escape from programs/mechanicalness

Burning generates light. Mechanical life is the tinder. Intuition is the ember. Perception is the flame which casts the light. Discovery is the reality illuminated. The reality is choices. To utilize those choices is free will. To continually discover and utilize choices while discarding mechanical life as it becomes unnecessary is to escape mechanicalness.

 

[LongCloud]

Don't get caught up in your brain/head. Seems you're trying to "reason" your way out of a mental construct you created from reading some of this material.

There's your body, your brain, your spirit, and your Soul.

The first 3 need the right attention, in the proper measures, as and when it's needed. The 4th smiles at how you choose.

In essence: don't (brain) overthink it.