Albert
http://www.urbanmonk.net/

pointed me in the direction of your site and I
could not be more thrilled that he did.

When I stared to read this post…..
my very first and honest thought…
“Ohhhhhhhhhhhh crap, another test” LOL

Thankfully I did not let that ‘knee JERK’ response
keep me from reading on.

Indeed how often are we imprisoned
by OUR definition of a word. Then we come
to see…….. it was not a locked cell, and we
were only there by choice. ~creak~~~~~~~~

Thank you for this excellent writing on
enligthenment. !

xo xo
Deb

I’ll have to thank Albert. I’m a great fan of his writing, and we’ve been having a fabulous dialog about a host of subjects. Part of what I love about this medium is the ability to create friendships with people across the world. Quite amazing!

I’m glad you read through the ‘test’ part of things. Here I thought I was being all unique — it sounds like you’ve encountered other tests (self-development based? Enlightenment based?) out there! =)

I love the picture you painted in your second-to-last paragraph. These combinations of letters are truly magical things — the power they wield! I often imagine what effects could be created if one stood up in a crowd and simply shouted out some choice words. Regardless of the intention behind them — even if the shouter didn’t know what the sounds meant — powerful effects could be created.

For ourselves, there is something incredible about seeing, as you said, that we’re in a cell of our own devising. If we see the nature of our definitions, what then does the world become for us?

Thanks for the great thoughts!

Sweetwater,
Kenton

The way you set up the transformation ‘test’
was VERY unique. Kudos on the great lead … IN !!!

When I said ‘another test’, I was thinking of online
tests in general….
They come in email and my daughter is all the time
showing me ‘tests’ that are on My Space pages.

I agree with you how amazing it is to meet ‘friends’.
The honest and open sharing reminds me of a
backyard conversation. !

Namaste`
Deb

Great way to put it, Deb — a backyard conversation! Sometimes it’s so easy to take this technology for granted — here we are, sharing thoughts by pressing buttons on a keyboard and looking at a screen . . . how delightfully strange!

Namaste in return,
Kenton

Thanks to Lao tzu, or however it’s written now, Aldous Huxley for ‘Island’ in particular, and Alan Watts for ‘In my own way’. The latter being the most fun to read, for me, ever.

Oh, and you too Kenton!

I’m pretty sure I made a comment on this when this was first posted, but seems it was lost - how the hell do you float?!? And I love the matrix sunglasses haha! Too awesome.

Now, I can’t give away all my mystical secrets, can I? =)
Let’s just say it may or may not be the special hand mudras. But probably not.

Sweetwater,
Kenton

Now you have my curiosity piqued! I’ve read some of Watt’s works, but I haven’t encountered the title you mentioned. Now I see that he has an autobiography, which sounds fascinating! Thanks for turning my attention to it — I’ll be ordering a copy from the local bookstore =)

Sweetwater,

Kenton

I hadn’t directly thought of that when I wrote this, but it’s an interesting point. What if our idea of ‘testing’ had less to do with rote memorization or trying to ‘box’ the tested person into this-or-that category, and more to do with helping us to move our thoughts or minds in certain new patterns or to recognize our current thought patterns? I certainly hope that’s what this article did for people!

Thanks for the insight,

Kenton

Here’s my chance to either confuse things further, or help things get a little more clear. =) Check out this article and have fun!

Sweetwater,
Kenton