Are we all just veiled masters?

[I_Am_The_One]

I think each entity different, but for the most part, lean with you on this one lighthead.

[Adonai One]

Positive abilities are invoked for the purpose of helping or assisting others.  If that is not first and foremost in one's thinking about 'power', then you are straying into other territory.

Martyrdom. Self-sacrifice. Denial of attachments within the self that are not emptied.

Power is of its own sake as there is nothing without unity within the all-self; Power is all; Powerlessness is all; Both empty.

The use of power towards greater ends beyond the present moment is endless battle, for good or bad; This fighting is the vice of excess compassion that destroys philosophy, destroys worlds; No wisdom, no food, no water, no service to perform as all power has been used towards a battle one had no chance of winning: Empty triumphs as all triumph will be.

Power towards more compassion than one can bear while not taking care of the self is the same will that brings the negative polarity to deny all: Unable to cope with its compassion unfulfilled towards either self or other.

Martyrs beware! Martyrs beware! Martyrs beware!

[anagogy]

Do we potentially have the abilities of a master, but just that are held back by the veil?
Can we potentially create any being simply with our thoughts?

Yes.  Prior to the veil, magical potential was at a maximum.  However, there was no desire to use it.

Now, we (I mean most of humanity in general) have no idea how magic works, but the desire for this kind of power is massive.

I think that anything is possible.  It's just no one, save rare humans in the backwoods of Tibet, really allows their thoughts the same degree of reality they do everything else in the physical world.  If they did, they could perform miracles, I have no doubt.

[Adonai One]

The only miracle that can be performed is the teaching of the realization that the self need not seek beyond its inherent unity of all, it need not stretch itself to potential and will that is inherently endowed by oneness. In this is no true teaching but inherent sight of one's original nature: Emptiness.

[Plenum]

Nah I don't believe anyone attains such a level without considerable seclusion. This busy illusion dissuades from such focus if one were to also interact with it. Maybe it's my limited knowledge of adepthood but I just can't see a way to be both in this illusion and attain such a level.

I think that that's actually a myth. I actually think that real life situations provide so much catalyst that a person can use that catalyst to become an adept that much faster. I think that if you're alone in a cave somewhere, you are living "without mirrors," as Ra would say.

I can see both your points being relevant.

Real life definitely provides an abundance of catalyst to demonstrate one's imbalances.  But working a full time job with a family usually does not provide enough time in which to process that catalyst.  Without the processing of catalyst, it is like stocking up on food items (fresh vege's for example), but not having the means ('the time') to prepare and cook the ingredients.  That catalyst, if not utilised, just ends up rotting, untransformed by the consciousness.

people end up repeating the same patterns over and over.

[APeacefulWarrior]

This reminds me of Socrates' claim that "An unexamined life is not worth living."

I think the key\solution to this puzzle largely relies on self-awareness. If someone recognizes the positive/beneficial nature of self-reflection on their actions in context of their lives, then this should inspire them to seek out opportunities for reflection, even in busy lives. The morning commute, a long car ride, the evening shower... Very few people are so busy or entrapped in 3D existence that truly NO opportunities for self-reflection present themselves.

A lot of it, I believe, largely involves resisting the temptation for DISTRACTION as a substitute for reflection. It's so much easier to turn on the TV and seek out a program largely revolving around other people making fools of themselves. This can even provide a false sense of reassurance, in the form of "Well, I must be OK - just look at that idiot on YouTube!"

Of course, feeling better about one's self only in comparison to the worst among humanity is a rather Pyrrhic victory, as self-reflection goes. It's inherently reductive and, basically, encourages people to lower their own standards.

But by getting past that impulse to simply find someone worse than one's self to laugh at, I believe a person would rather quickly see the benefits in honest self-analysis. Seeing those benefits, they'll see opportunities to engage in reflection rather than distraction, even if those opportunities -at first- seem to be few and far between.

(Or at least so I hope. )

[Billy]

This reminds me of Socrates' claim that "An unexamined life is not worth living."

I think the key\solution to this puzzle largely relies on self-awareness.  If someone recognizes the positive/beneficial nature of self-reflection on their actions in context of their lives, then this should inspire them to seek out opportunities for reflection, even in busy lives.  The morning commute, a long car ride, the evening shower...  Very few people are so busy or entrapped in 3D existence that truly NO opportunities for self-reflection present themselves.

A lot of it, I believe, largely involves resisting the temptation for DISTRACTION as a substitute for reflection.  It's so much easier to turn on the TV and seek out a program largely revolving around other people making fools of themselves.  This can even provide a false sense of reassurance, in the form of "Well, I must be OK - just look at that idiot on YouTube!"

Of course, feeling better about one's self only in comparison to the worst among humanity is a rather Pyrrhic victory, as self-reflection goes.  It's inherently reductive and, basically, encourages people to lower their own standards.

But by getting past that impulse to simply find someone worse than one's self to laugh at, I believe a person would rather quickly see the benefits in honest self-analysis.  Seeing those benefits, they'll see opportunities to engage in reflection rather than distraction, even if those opportunities -at first- seem to be few and far between.

(Or at least so I hope.  )

You make a lot of sense.  I sometimes get stuck on how to best examine and analyse my life, and this anxiety sometimes prevents me from doing anything at all.  Man, how many times I've instead looked at other peoples failures as a way of masking my own.  It is indeed quite an unhealthy and ineffective practice.  

I try to question my actions, intentions and feelings, and through this process of questioning go as far as I can go until I reach the deepest and fullest answer.  But it can be so frustrating at times trying to figure out what the correct questions are to ask and how to truly get a firm grasp and understanding on what it is that I am feeling and thinking.  Self inquiry is quite often painful.  

What is your practice?  

[APeacefulWarrior]

My practice is... nebulous. Haha. Basically, it boils down to "Take what opportunities I can when they present themselves."

Personally, I spent a decade or more wrestling with a problem of being too introspective, to the point of self-analyzing even during action\work, which is also a very self-defeating process at the end of the day. You can DO or you can ANALYZE, but you really can't do both at once. At least not without doing both poorly.

(Do or do not, there is no try. )

And this isn't even necessarily a call to abandon distraction but, perhaps, to be more careful in choosing the form of distraction. It's known to be common among high level / creative / philosophical people to engage in hobbies specifically because they help free the mind. A person knitting or whittling, for example, can often achieve a very good level of "active meditation" that allows them to think clearly while their hands are busy doing something relatively menial\repetitive.

And yeah, the voyage of self-discovery can be painful at times. That's the unfortunate part, and another reason it's easy to turn towards unhelpful distractions. Looking for helpful distractions also helps ease that pain, at least in my experience, by channeling the energies into something productive. Plus, taking up a hobby of some sort provides a concrete externalized illustration of self-improvement: You demonstrably get better at that hobby alongside your less-tangible mental improvements.

Oh, and just as a tip: I found myself that ideas like "the deepest and fullest answer" can be self-defeating because there's no such thing. The answers are boundless. I suggest focusing instead on simply finding NEW answers, or further revisions to those answers, and then mediating on how those discoveries alter your self-perception.

That way you're not chasing an unobtainable goal, but instead looking at it as a step-by-step-by-step evolutionary process.

[Billy]

Those are some really good points, particularly about separating action from analysis, which can be quite disorientating as I'm sure you know.  I sometimes think that I've figured something out in it's entirety only to then realise that is in fact not the case.  Keep u the good work peaceful warrior

[AnthroHeart]

That way you're not chasing an unobtainable goal, but instead looking at it as a step-by-step-by-step evolutionary process.

Is that like opening up to intelligent infinity? It seems so far away.
But things are as we believe them to be.
So I want to believe it's near.

[Lighthead]

Nah I don't believe anyone attains such a level without considerable seclusion. This busy illusion dissuades from such focus if one were to also interact with it. Maybe it's my limited knowledge of adepthood but I just can't see a way to be both in this illusion and attain such a level.

I think that that's actually a myth. I actually think that real life situations provide so much catalyst that a person can use that catalyst to become an adept that much faster. I think that if you're alone in a cave somewhere, you are living "without mirrors," as Ra would say.

I can see both your points being relevant.

Real life definitely provides an abundance of catalyst to demonstrate one's imbalances.  But working a full time job with a family usually does not provide enough time in which to process that catalyst.  Without the processing of catalyst, it is like stocking up on food items (fresh vege's for example), but not having the means ('the time') to prepare and cook the ingredients.  That catalyst, if not utilised, just ends up rotting, untransformed by the consciousness.

people end up repeating the same patterns over and over.

You make a very excellent point, Plenum. Thanks!