In my study, I have been led to the fact that by labeling or defining things, I am cutting myself off from experiencing the wholeness of that person, idea, or situation. Therefore, to truly live in the Now (as Eckhart says), one must die to the past (definitions/ways of knowing) every moment.

I don't think letting go of definitions is of any importance....they are just words. I think what is of importantce is 1) recognizing they are just words 2) the ability to translate them into our own "language".

Words are just a form of communication. If words don't have a meaning, or all the same meaning...what's the purpose of communicating?

I see a lot of people throughing everything into one bucket. They still didn't "get it".

These people look at a flower and see God...it's easy to see God in beauty. But when asked to look at those suffering, in pain, they look away, ignor it, explain it away.

There is no pleasure without pain.
Seeing that God is neither in pleasure nor pain, knowing that God has no part in either of it, will set one free...will lift one up above the appearance of things.

The importance of letting go of old definitions is that you get empty enough to see and know things in a new light. All original insights are the gift of such emptying.

Hi Todd,

Letting go of old definitions is all-important. Maybe omni-important. Why? Because it reflects inner resilience, inner fluidity. If we are stuck in ego's stubborn rigidity our mental definitions and our emotional responses stay the same It's like old age that brings with it stiffness of joints and clogged arteries...because one could not and would not let go of old definitions and make room for the new that is waiting to be born. Life flow is alive and moving! Am I? Are you? Are we?

I asked my 3-year old grandson last night on the phone: "Are you letting your light shine?" "What?" he responds. "Are you letting your light shine?" Another "What?" I then asked, "Did you know that you are a light that shines?" "Yes," he says. It looks like I opened the door to some new dialogue with him. I hadn't planned to give him the "shining light" talk but there it was out of my mouth. That talk should take place before the "birds and bees" talk.

Defintions shape our lives. Who is present to do the new defining? I am. You are. We are!

Trish~~

Hi Todd,

I think it is more about not entertaining fictions. Rock, plant, water are not going to cause much problem and are useful "can I have a drink of.."

The definitions God, liberal, conservative, are loaded with fictions that can be used to divide.

That is why I favor liberty and wisdom rather than liberal and conservative. There is no conflict between them, yet we find with the terms liberal and conservative an illusionary framework leading to division and confusion.

Labels divide, which is why it is best to use them sparingly for purposes of identifying objects in the environment, indicating intention or natural knowledge.

Not knowledge fabricated by man which is often pure fiction, I think there is a distinction between so called knowledge created by man and natural knowledge.

I am thinking for me though it is time to be letting go of the world and it's problems, why bother, maybe there is a nice island somewhere I can simply enjoy nature in Peace or maybe I will just leave the world altogether, not sure what happens when we give up all attachment to it I am simply not happy with my current creation.

How else can One renew itself?

Dear Todd,

In my "world" :) :

The labyrinth is a path of peace
it gives meander, reflection and release

I walk this labyrinth regularly, both virtually on my computer and in the woods at my female friends place, where we built a seven path labyrinth of stones.

When able to give it back to the All
Total surrender will break any wall

And by letting go of both joy and pain
New inspiration is received once again

Love, Mieke

Your body of mine
Two synchronistic events
Vision of scabies and deformations

I conclude in a thought or an idea
That I am seeing myself in your pain
Two synchronistic events

---

A life to call our own
That is ours alone
Is as hard as hell to come by these days
Time that I took whats mine, took it now

Things arent what they where, theyre what they are
Theres no time of our own

And the devil you know is the only one

Is time too fast for us to grasp something of our own?
The ghost of the past has its arms around me
It moves everywhere in all I hear and see

And the devil you know is the only one

Look at you now, look at you then, see how you will be
All of your life belongs to me

Things arent what they where, theyre what they are
Theres no time of our own

And the devil you know is the only one...

Hey Richard,

“I am thinking for me though it is time to be letting go of the world and it's problems, why bother, maybe there is a nice island somewhere I can simply enjoy nature in Peace or maybe I will just leave the world altogether, not sure what happens when we give up all attachment to it I am simply not happy with my current creation.”

What I see from your writing lately, and here is a person who is ready to do what it takes for liberation, even if it means the annihilation of that person. That is a good platform to start from by negating it all, is a direct attack on the ego (mind) by distancing yourself from creation. Because with all your external desires squashed you have nothing to loose now and you use meditation as your weapon to finish it off. Remember you can leave the continent and the world (I presume you mean death), but the mind and its predispositions goes with you. The path is to give up on the outside world and the chattering mind by going in and taking away its energy, which it feeds on. By continually withdrawing your attention away from the mind you deplete its resources and it eventually it gives up trying.
Shun everything that is moving before you and only except Stillness as your identity, by looking away from movement and stabilize before it. If you force it or repress it just adds fuel (energy) to the fire, so it is done by being what you already are, and that will release you from its tyranny. ~Kurt~

Before we discuss the importance of letting old definitions go, maybe we should know a bit more about what they mean?

For example, too many people assign the wrong definition to “ignorance”; ignorance is simply the absence of knowledge or education.

Don't let go of your definitions, they may come in useful to your understanding of another.
Pick them all up, old and new and juggle with them to your hearts content.
Do I hear a phone ringing from the Labyrinth?
I can't always hear straight ;)

Yeah Edmund :)

That's why you have to always walk the labyrinth slowly lol

In the middle you will receive the message from the heartphone :)

Love, Mieke

Before answering I'd like to know the definition of importance.

Hey there, Ed! How do you reconcile #2 in OT with what you said here in #11?

.

Like everything else, L7, definitions follow a natural law. As in--

The word of the year is "green". It now has a new meaning

that it never had before. To be "green" is to be environmentally sensitive.

In Earth-time, words become more complex, then eventually in sets entropy.

May we then say, "We shall leave no definition behind." And make it a law?

Can anyone describe the color green, or is it relative to blue and yellow?

"ONE" is this blogs favorite word, I bet! Look how we use and abuse it!

I mean really! Me2 included! Good God! What does good or God mean for that matter?

Strange question, Todd. Good to see you again, tho! Believe me?

We must unlearn what we have learned; to begin to learn anew, without definition, limits or condition.

Love,
North

#14 Nice, Keith, superimposition, I call it.

Bugger it, now I've got to go and look see what you are talking about :)

Ah I see, Keith. Trying to the extreme! It could be that I don't always hear straight
But let me say, my juggling balls may be a little tattered but that doesn't stop me juggling with them!

But enough of this banter, we'll be up-setting the resident definition. Hey, and don't you go upsetting the author of this visible thread.

You'll do, sign here please..... ....

Letting go of old definitions is EXTREMELY important. Yes, it is true that words are part of the illusion that we create as residents of this plane of existence. Nonetheless, words carry images which imprint the psyche, and therefore affect our world.

It is essential to examine the meaning of words and begin to change our vocabulary, for instance it is better to access than to judge. It is better to assess and respond than to judge and react.

We must also remember, that the word is dual, the Universe is NOT, therefore LIFE IS.