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    <title>Gaia: Questions &amp; Reflections: The Group - Creative Questions and Reflections</title>
    <id>tag:gaia.com,2008,:Gaia</id>
    <link>http://groups.gaia.com/qar/discussions/feeds/board/8574</link>
    <language>en-us</language>
    <ttl>20</ttl>
    <pubDate>Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:05:11 GMT</pubDate>
    <description>Gaia: Questions &amp; Reflections: The Group - Creative Questions and Reflections</description>
    <item>
      <title>Re: If earth could speak</title>
      <author>http://eccentric.gaia.com</author>
      <dc:creator>Andrew</dc:creator>
      <guid>tag:gaia.com,2009:Gaia-500645</guid>
      <pubDate>Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:05:11 GMT</pubDate>
      <link>http://groups.gaia.com/qar/conversations/view/406549#500645</link>
      <description>


&lt;p&gt;      From my dust you were formed, to dust you will return.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Now what were your priorities again? &lt;/p&gt;

      </description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Re: If earth could speak</title>
      <author>http://herbalcathy64.gaia.com</author>
      <dc:creator>herbalcathy64</dc:creator>
      <guid>tag:gaia.com,2009:Gaia-500634</guid>
      <pubDate>Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:49:41 GMT</pubDate>
      <link>http://groups.gaia.com/qar/conversations/view/406549#500634</link>
      <description>


&lt;p&gt;      She is speaking.The question should be......Are we listening to what she&amp;#39;s saying. &lt;/p&gt;

      </description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Re: What is your soul? </title>
      <author>http://addresstofollow.gaia.com</author>
      <dc:creator>Zephyr</dc:creator>
      <guid>tag:gaia.com,2009:Gaia-500560</guid>
      <pubDate>Mon, 16 Nov 2009 08:49:52 GMT</pubDate>
      <link>http://groups.gaia.com/qar/conversations/view/445254#500560</link>
      <description>


&lt;p&gt;      The soul, for me is that which I know in my heart as apposed to my head, the animating etherial part of me that is divine, and leaves the body on NDE&amp;#39;s and death, and returns to oneness, in all life it is one divine energy. In agreement with Liza about the bare feet, and also talking to animals, communicating with them, and with insects too, bumblebees buzz me dragonflies alight to commune. &lt;/p&gt;

      </description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Re: What is your soul? </title>
      <author>http://eccentric.gaia.com</author>
      <dc:creator>Andrew</dc:creator>
      <guid>tag:gaia.com,2009:Gaia-500508</guid>
      <pubDate>Mon, 16 Nov 2009 04:09:09 GMT</pubDate>
      <link>http://groups.gaia.com/qar/conversations/view/445254#500508</link>
      <description>


&lt;p&gt;      My soul is the calalyst of my being which&amp;nbsp;conveys the life force (spirit) to my body through which I express myself to the physical world. &lt;/p&gt;

      </description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Re: What is your soul? </title>
      <author>http://Rbee.gaia.com</author>
      <dc:creator>Rbee</dc:creator>
      <guid>tag:gaia.com,2009:Gaia-500489</guid>
      <pubDate>Mon, 16 Nov 2009 02:56:43 GMT</pubDate>
      <link>http://groups.gaia.com/qar/conversations/view/445254#500489</link>
      <description>


&lt;p&gt;      It is our contact with God and each other. It allows me to explore and learn. &amp;nbsp; &lt;/p&gt;

      </description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Re: The Rosette Blog</title>
      <author>http://fastdarter.gaia.com</author>
      <dc:creator>FastDart</dc:creator>
      <guid>tag:gaia.com,2009:Gaia-496292</guid>
      <pubDate>Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:53:20 GMT</pubDate>
      <link>http://groups.gaia.com/qar/conversations/view/495109#496292</link>
      <description>


&lt;p&gt;      This took me to that place where dreams are born...&lt;br /&gt; Have your ever seen A.I. ? If you haven&amp;#39;t you should.&lt;br /&gt;Thanks for opening the door to this memory. &lt;/p&gt;

      </description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Re: The Rosette Blog</title>
      <author>http://singerseeker.gaia.com</author>
      <dc:creator>Nicole</dc:creator>
      <guid>tag:gaia.com,2009:Gaia-495199</guid>
      <pubDate>Mon, 02 Nov 2009 11:05:29 GMT</pubDate>
      <link>http://groups.gaia.com/qar/conversations/view/495109#495199</link>
      <description>


&lt;p&gt;      It is a fascinating thought, my dear heart. What will others learn from all this that we are creating here on Gaia?&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Loving you so much, eternally,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Nicole &lt;/p&gt;

      </description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>The Rosette Blog</title>
      <author>http://usandthem.gaia.com</author>
      <dc:creator>Just Me</dc:creator>
      <guid>tag:gaia.com,2009:Gaia-495109</guid>
      <pubDate>Mon, 02 Nov 2009 04:42:16 GMT</pubDate>
      <link>http://groups.gaia.com/qar/conversations/view/495109</link>
      <description>


&lt;p&gt;      In a thousand years or so what would a techno- anthropologist discover from the blogs here and now. What might they see that we do not . Will they see a piece of themselves or an image they attempt to forget. Will they be able to reach from how&amp;nbsp;we have stretched. Will they observe&amp;nbsp;from a distance or face to face with us as we are.&lt;br /&gt;What artistic message are we sending forward in these combined thoughts. What frame-filled, frame-less&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;picture of innocence&amp;nbsp;are we drawing as children&amp;nbsp;in this&amp;nbsp;new way of communicating, What&amp;nbsp;searching will they see us to have been doing. What&amp;nbsp;relearning, reinventing will we be showing upon these walls. What wheels of transport&amp;nbsp;are we beginning to carve in this&amp;nbsp;stone age&amp;nbsp;that&amp;nbsp;roll forward.&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;What restrictons, what freedoms, what commandments,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;what declarations,&amp;nbsp;what cave writtings&amp;nbsp;are we etching in this&amp;nbsp;sheltered space of the mind. Will they inspire, will they be an&amp;nbsp;echo&amp;nbsp;of&amp;nbsp; future history&amp;#39;s&amp;nbsp;from what&amp;nbsp;we, you and I are all&amp;nbsp;posting today.&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;Thanks.&lt;br /&gt;Just me &lt;/p&gt;

      </description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Re: What is your soul? </title>
      <author>http://JustPadric.gaia.com</author>
      <dc:creator>JustPadric</dc:creator>
      <guid>tag:gaia.com,2009:Gaia-490810</guid>
      <pubDate>Tue, 20 Oct 2009 03:19:26 GMT</pubDate>
      <link>http://groups.gaia.com/qar/conversations/view/445254#490810</link>
      <description>


&lt;p&gt;      My soul is a piece of my&amp;nbsp;consciousness&amp;nbsp;that&amp;nbsp;exists&amp;nbsp;in the fourth dimension, exploring the wonder that is the many parts of the third dimension.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Some people believe that the fourth dimension is time. I disagree. I think it is complete perspective and inclusion of everything over the third dimension.&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Just as we have complete creative control over the second dimension, via writing, music, movies, and art. The expression comes from the total whole of who we are, an expression of the things we know and are, playing out to provide&amp;nbsp;entertainment&amp;nbsp;and enjoy the act of creating.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So to have I been created, just as I might create a character in a book. The character does not know what it&amp;#39;s creator is ultimately, just as I do not. As we create in the second dimension, choosing guides and themes, such as art styles, music tempos or story genre, there is also an element of pure&amp;nbsp;creativity, we&amp;nbsp;perceive&amp;nbsp;as randomness, the art&amp;#39;s own free will. Just as it is so for me in the third dimension.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;My soul is the purposefully forgetful&amp;nbsp;consciousness&amp;nbsp;of my fourth dimensional self, sent here to explore, seemingly for the first time, every piece and part of the whole that I am, in&amp;nbsp;relativity. In truth there is no&amp;nbsp;separation&amp;nbsp;from what you ultimately know, just as you can&amp;#39;t write anything you don&amp;#39;t know, or draw anything you can&amp;#39;t envision or have the talent to make, the creation, just a small piece of the over all. An expression.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;My soul is God&amp;#39;s art. &lt;/p&gt;

      </description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Re: If earth could speak</title>
      <author>http://DryadofLight.gaia.com</author>
      <dc:creator>Liza</dc:creator>
      <guid>tag:gaia.com,2009:Gaia-490728</guid>
      <pubDate>Mon, 19 Oct 2009 20:39:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <link>http://groups.gaia.com/qar/conversations/view/406549#490728</link>
      <description>


&lt;p&gt;      Listen. &lt;/p&gt;

      </description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Re: What is your soul? </title>
      <author>http://ShadowFlame.gaia.com</author>
      <dc:creator>ShadowFlame</dc:creator>
      <guid>tag:gaia.com,2009:Gaia-485564</guid>
      <pubDate>Fri, 02 Oct 2009 22:44:04 GMT</pubDate>
      <link>http://groups.gaia.com/qar/conversations/view/445254#485564</link>
      <description>


&lt;p&gt;      I&amp;#39;ve thought about this quite a bit, and I feel it can be easily explained with simple science. Energy cannot be created or destroyed, only transformed. What some may call the soul or spirit seems to me just our energetic body. A formless mirror of infinity reflected upon itself perhaps, but who knows? My guess is just as good as any other :) &lt;/p&gt;

      </description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Re: What is your soul? </title>
      <author>http://DryadofLight.gaia.com</author>
      <dc:creator>Liza</dc:creator>
      <guid>tag:gaia.com,2009:Gaia-482741</guid>
      <pubDate>Wed, 23 Sep 2009 10:15:54 GMT</pubDate>
      <link>http://groups.gaia.com/qar/conversations/view/445254#482741</link>
      <description>


&lt;p&gt;      Thank you for taking the time to explain this to me. I respect your beliefs. I became concerned because I feel in spirituality it is important to be grounded and when I heard Peacehunter say something about losing the &amp;quot;I&amp;quot;.......well I just thought that it is really important to be ourselves and not lose our-self or our identity.&lt;br /&gt;There are very positive teachings in Buddhism. I do not recollect if Quan Yin is a deity in Buddhism, but I know her beauty calls to my heart.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Thank you for your understanding. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;One Light Many Windows:)&lt;br /&gt;Much Love to you all&lt;br /&gt;Liza &lt;/p&gt;

      </description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Re: What is your soul? </title>
      <author>http://anuradha.gaia.com</author>
      <dc:creator>HummingBird</dc:creator>
      <guid>tag:gaia.com,2009:Gaia-482734</guid>
      <pubDate>Wed, 23 Sep 2009 08:31:27 GMT</pubDate>
      <link>http://groups.gaia.com/qar/conversations/view/445254#482734</link>
      <description>


&lt;p&gt;      Back after the precious 9.09 prayer meditation time. My path is Buddhism and also I&amp;nbsp; cherish the fact that there are many paths and that for each being there is a perfect path &amp;#39;tailor made&amp;#39; for them. All paths merge on the highway, how wondrous! I feel our group &lt;a href="http://groups.gaia.com/one_light/"&gt;One light Many Windows&lt;/a&gt; in Gaia beautifully illustrates this.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold"&gt;To this very day I hardly wear shoes:) I still talk to the wild animals:)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;ooh I love this, Liza!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;love and hugs &lt;/p&gt;

      </description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Re: What is your soul? </title>
      <author>http://anuradha.gaia.com</author>
      <dc:creator>HummingBird</dc:creator>
      <guid>tag:gaia.com,2009:Gaia-482728</guid>
      <pubDate>Wed, 23 Sep 2009 07:11:09 GMT</pubDate>
      <link>http://groups.gaia.com/qar/conversations/view/445254#482728</link>
      <description>


&lt;p&gt;      &lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold"&gt;&#8220;Buddhism sees human beings as verbs rather than nouns, as process rather than static entities.&#8221;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;beautifully said! I was thinking about this discussion while I was driving back from taking Nev to school today. It can feel uncomfortable to have the notion of soul questioned. When one deeply investigates how Buddhists see &amp;#39;continuity&amp;#39; of &amp;#39;self&amp;#39; one finds there is no reason for discomfort. The investigation canstart too with an investigation of Emptiness as spoken about in Buddhism - the group One light Many Windows has posts on this subject. I&amp;#39;m going to meditate now - it&amp;#39;s 9.09 South African time, love to all beings! &lt;/p&gt;

      </description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Re: What is your soul? </title>
      <author>http://Shuva.gaia.com</author>
      <dc:creator>Peacehunter </dc:creator>
      <guid>tag:gaia.com,2009:Gaia-482718</guid>
      <pubDate>Wed, 23 Sep 2009 05:35:42 GMT</pubDate>
      <link>http://groups.gaia.com/qar/conversations/view/445254#482718</link>
      <description>


&lt;p&gt;      Thank you, Liza, for presenting such a nice impressive idea and of course we need personality in order to live in this world (rather i would say material world). Here, I would like to pay attention the question you have put forth, where does &#8220;Buddhism&#8221; leave room for a personality? Buddhism rejecting &amp;quot;soul&amp;quot; means that it does not leave room for personality. Buddhism specially talks about the individual personality, rather then personality through integrity. Why? Because personality through integrity comes because of individual personality. That&amp;#39;s why, Buddhism emphasizes self cultivation mostly by which one does not lack understanding for himself and has the ability to direct people to the right path. So, it can be noted here that Buddhism talks about both individual personality as well as personality through integrity.&lt;br /&gt;What Buddhism meant by &amp;quot;No Soul&amp;quot;, is that &amp;quot;Buddhism sees human beings as verbs rather than nouns, as process rather than static entities.&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;With Metta &lt;/p&gt;

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    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Re: What is your soul? </title>
      <author>http://DryadofLight.gaia.com</author>
      <dc:creator>Liza</dc:creator>
      <guid>tag:gaia.com,2009:Gaia-482500</guid>
      <pubDate>Tue, 22 Sep 2009 11:47:54 GMT</pubDate>
      <link>http://groups.gaia.com/qar/conversations/view/445254#482500</link>
      <description>


&lt;p&gt;      The concept of Buddhism for me is not reality. We live in this world for a reason to have, to appreciate, to teach and to learn, to live a thriving life. I feel that while spirituality in it&amp;#39;s different venues all have many positive things that people can learn. Primarily it&amp;#39;s what our own soul is called to that must be honored. The reason for the &amp;quot;I&amp;quot; is because we are individuals and we are created as such. The concept of having to go through life and be stripped away from our own &amp;quot;self&amp;quot; and meld into oneness is not what we are created to do in my opinion. It is in being ourselves that we have much to offer the world and finding those things which does call to your spirit and allows for your &amp;quot;Highest Self to come Forth&amp;quot;. I question where does &amp;quot;Buddhism&amp;quot; leave room for a personality? BUT at the same time I do believe we can work together for the greater good, no matter what our personal beliefs are and yes part of that is being aware and kinder to each other, accepting without being &amp;quot;like&amp;quot;, doing the right thing.&lt;br /&gt;Spirit? Spirit is our connection on earth to our &amp;quot;Higher Power.&amp;quot; I think that the old religions and beliefs were great for their time to be there for the various different societies and what they experienced on their part of the planet back &lt;span style="font-style: italic"&gt;then&lt;/span&gt;. In my observation because we have grown in intellect and in science so too we must look at what happened &lt;span style="font-style: italic"&gt;then&lt;/span&gt; is not &lt;span style="font-style: italic"&gt;now&lt;/span&gt;. There are miracles happening in this today. &lt;br /&gt;When we were first born our temperament and personality was already established, what called to our hearts we already knew, in our innocence we held knowledge and joy. In our innocence we held wonder and love. There was nothing we could not do.&amp;nbsp; Our spirits were connected all the time in the present moment. There was only joy and a knowing. There was no religion, only connection. I remember this most of all. I also remember having a definite personality back then and it was ok. Things were simple and beautiful. &amp;quot;I want that, I dont want that&amp;quot; We even knew what we did or did not want.&lt;br /&gt;To this very day I hardly wear shoes:) I still talk to the wild animals:)&lt;br /&gt;Our experiences shaped who we are today and what matters to us. Still I can say what I have loved, I have always loved and that is because of my &amp;quot;Source&amp;quot; who has nurtured me. I can not say what is right for another person or what feels right to them. What I can say is what I have learned in my personal experience with my &amp;quot;Higher Power&amp;quot;.&lt;br /&gt;Material world? yes we do live in a society filled with excess. But what I want is for a good reason, a positive purpose and I know this with all of my being.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Liza:) &lt;/p&gt;

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    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Re: What is your soul? </title>
      <author>http://anuradha.gaia.com</author>
      <dc:creator>HummingBird</dc:creator>
      <guid>tag:gaia.com,2009:Gaia-482457</guid>
      <pubDate>Tue, 22 Sep 2009 06:27:46 GMT</pubDate>
      <link>http://groups.gaia.com/qar/conversations/view/445254#482457</link>
      <description>


&lt;p&gt;      &lt;a href="http://Shuva.gaia.com"&gt;Peacehunter&lt;/a&gt; thank you for calling me here. It is wonderful to read the different interpretations and sense of soul from different beings, religions and paths. I deeply embrace what each person has written here and so love seeing the integrity with which each has delved deeply and brought forth what they sense within at this stage of their journey. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The word &amp;#39;soul&amp;#39; for me has brought about interesting exploration. Buddhism does not see a soul in the way many other paths do and &lt;span style="font-weight: bold"&gt;Peacehunter&lt;/span&gt; has described this perspective. Having said that, so many use the word soul, inferring the essence of something, &amp;#39;that piece of music has &lt;span style="font-style: italic"&gt;soul&amp;#39;&lt;/span&gt;, &amp;#39;this is &lt;span style="font-style: italic"&gt;soul&lt;/span&gt; food&amp;#39;, &amp;#39;he is such a beautiful &lt;span style="font-style: italic"&gt;soul&amp;#39;,&lt;/span&gt; and so on. The word soul instantly brings to mind the subtle, energetic reality which in this material orientated world is so often outside of the awareness.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;love &lt;/p&gt;

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    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Re: What is your soul? </title>
      <author>http://Shuva.gaia.com</author>
      <dc:creator>Peacehunter </dc:creator>
      <guid>tag:gaia.com,2009:Gaia-482401</guid>
      <pubDate>Tue, 22 Sep 2009 02:15:08 GMT</pubDate>
      <link>http://groups.gaia.com/qar/conversations/view/445254#482401</link>
      <description>


&lt;p&gt;      What is Soul, is called/known as &amp;quot;I&amp;quot;. The &amp;quot;I&amp;quot; is made up of 5 things known as &amp;quot;five aggregates&amp;quot; (Pancakkhanda), they are, rupa (form), vedana (feeling), Sanna (perception), sankhara (condition) and&amp;nbsp; vinnana (consciousness). At the end of life/death, these five aggregates get breaking up and there is no such called &amp;quot;I&amp;quot;. It is similar to a cart that is made up of many parts and when breaking up those into many then it is no more called as &amp;quot;cart&amp;quot;. Therefore, there is no permanent entity in &amp;quot;I&amp;quot; or &amp;quot;I&amp;quot; has no permanent entity. So, when &amp;quot;I&amp;quot; has no permanent entity, what is the use of claiming/considering myself as &amp;quot;I&amp;quot;. Owing to the concept of &amp;quot;I&amp;quot; the following terms come to be, &amp;quot;my&amp;quot; &amp;quot;mine&amp;quot; due to which we are constantly facing problems. Therefore, if myself doesn&amp;#39;t exist forever, why should i claim to be me/I am. If i can not be owner of myself why should i be owner of things that too don&amp;#39;t exist permanently.&amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &lt;/p&gt;

      </description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Re: How do you measure what can't be counted?</title>
      <author>#</author>
      <dc:creator>master-architect</dc:creator>
      <guid>tag:gaia.com,2009:Gaia-477208</guid>
      <pubDate>Sun, 06 Sep 2009 15:11:39 GMT</pubDate>
      <link>http://groups.gaia.com/qar/conversations/view/440021#477208</link>
      <description>


&lt;p&gt;      Why, you can count it. Absolute certainty is a privilege of uneducated minds - and fanatics. Don&amp;#39;t you know every number has a soul? Everything is relative, we are all one, Source potential, Source manifestation. Gratitude is a tool for balancing the scales and if used for benefit is a fear-based module. How do you measure compassion or love? You measure them by your heart. You measure them by confirming them to be True with your Higher Self. If they are genuine, then they will continue. A wise man once said to me, &amp;quot;You can lie to everyone here, but you can&amp;#39;t lie to yourself.&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;Honesty, modesty, comprehension, harmlessness, compromise, constructive criticism are great ways to know that you are on the Right Path. :)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Blessings,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Calvin &lt;/p&gt;

      </description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Re: What is your soul? </title>
      <author>http://sophianature.gaia.com</author>
      <dc:creator>bensoph</dc:creator>
      <guid>tag:gaia.com,2009:Gaia-472156</guid>
      <pubDate>Sat, 22 Aug 2009 10:11:41 GMT</pubDate>
      <link>http://groups.gaia.com/qar/conversations/view/445254#472156</link>
      <description>


&lt;p&gt;      Unspeakble, forever unmanifest but continually bearing this manifest....Beyond me.....the cosmic Self.....the place where my Nature and Universal Nature merge as one.....the looking glass of the Gods....the place from where I flow....transcendent of me, yet one....beyond thought and conception....the unborn in me that is forever birthing me.&amp;nbsp; &lt;/p&gt;

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