TAT Forum

A reader wrote that what would make the Forum more interesting would be:

Hearing from people who are searching—and have questions instead of those providing endless advice and "answers." What challenges they are facing. What their doubts and questions are. How they perceive their path is going. What they are doing in their lives. Where they think they will end up. Etc., etc.

Can you help make the Forum more interesting?

Last month we put together an anonymous online survey composed of 10 self-assessment questions for readers, with an option to add additional items they felt strongly about. Results of the survey follow. How objective are we about ourselves and others?

1. 53 readers participated. 52 responded to the first question, which was "How self-honest are you?" with a scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high). 25% (13) of the respondents rated themselves below the midpoint and 75% (39) rated themselves above the midpoint. Hopefully that's accurate for our readers, but it brings to mind Lake Wobegone where, according to Garrison Keillor: "all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average." :-)
2. The second item was the conviction "Life will work out." 6 of 52 (15%) respondents disagreed, 6 were neutral, 31 (60%) agreed ... indicating a strong preponderance of optimism. 9 folks had other responses
3. Third was the question: "How often do you ask for help from a higher power?" 53% (28) of the 53 responders said more than once per week while 19% (10) said less than once per week. The remainder had various comments.
4. Then came "My attitude about death is": 16 of the 53 (30%) responders said "curiosity," 15 (28%) said "acceptance," 7 (14%) said "fear," and the rest had other answers.
5. Fifth was the conviction "Being happy is important." 4 of the 53 responders disagreed, 11 were neutral and 28 (53%) agreed, while 10 had other comments.
6. Item six was the opinion "I am worthy of love exactly as I am right now." 5 of the 53 responses disagreed, 9 were neutral, 34 (71%) agreed, and 5 had varying statements.
7. Seventh was the statement "I expect to die with regrets." 71% (37) disageed; 29% (15) agreed.
8. Number eight was the quetion: "How comfortable are you with uncertainty?" 19 people (36%) said they were uncomfortable with uncertainty while 34 (64%) were okay with it.
9. Item nine: "I trust myself more than any teaching or teacher." 9 folks of 53 (16%) disagreed, 9 were neutral, 29 (55%) agreed and 4 had other responses.
10. Tenth was: "I know what I want out of life." 26 of 52 (50%) of the respondents answered "yes," 15 answered "no," and 11 had varying comments.

There were 17 responses to the option of: "What other question would you add? What's your answer?"

• What question would render me self-realised? Possibly any true question that touched my feelings.
• What is the most self-less act that you recognize? Helping others and being totally self-less.
• How long have you been aware of reality? I'm tired and unsure what this survey is trying to achieve. My answer is - actually I really don't know.
• Is life living as you through direct experience or are you living life through a blind faith or doctrine? Answer: Life lives as me through direct experience.
• Are you a what or a who?
• What informs your answers to the above questions the most, what you think, feel or do? My answer is what I do.
• How much capacity for tension/discomfort do you currently have? My answer – moderate.
• Gawd. I know of nothing for certain. Even death, of what that will be to me. Is all this seeking of the truth just another way we want to distinguish ourselves from everyone else? A side effect of consciousness? The new way to accessorise our ego?
• Do you have any regrets from today? Yes.
• Is what we call life a probe?
• What was the hardest question to answer and why? Being happy is important … because on one hand, I see it as the one thing of value in experience - more real than the worries that have my attention usually – but yet it’s also just experience, and so it has no lasting value :( :( :( And then an other hand, if being happy is at all important, how come I'm not ecstatic all the time?
• Do you feel you are on your plumb line? Generally yes, but I sway off it slightly from day to day, mostly in dishonesty (i.e., people pleasing)?
• Do you use life for your 'gain' or to be in relationship with life. I.e., do you exercise/take vitamins/eat healthy/spiritually search for some kind of ego gain, or to be in relationship with your self/body/life? I'm in the middle here.
• What is your greatest motivator? The relief and groundedness of truth/honesty without pretense.
• Do you believe that you currently have a responsive guru? Yes.
• How close are you to enlightenment? A: Not close enough.
• How comfortable with accepting loss (of things, people, identity, relationships, etc.)?

Image above by Miikka Luotio on Unsplash.

You may be interested in seeing the results of the previous anonymous survey we did, in 2019. We seeded that survey with some beliefs that had come from self-inquiry discussions, asking TAT Forum readers to rate how strongly they aligned with those beliefs on a scale of 0 (not a belief) to 10 (very strongly believed). And we included the option to add any other strongly-held beliefs with their associated strength ratings.

Q: What are your thoughts on this month's reader commentary? Please your feedback.

Richard Rose described a spiritual path as living one's life aimed at finding the meaning of that life. Did you find anything relevant to your life or search in this month's TAT Forum?

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Founder's Wisdom

Richard Rose (1917-2005) established the TAT Foundation
in 1973 to encourage people to work together on what
he considered to be the "grand project" of spiritual work.

Jacob's Ladder © 2001 Richard Rose. See this transcript of a talk on the topic by Rose.

Homing Ground Update … A spot on earth where people can do retreats and hold meetings; where the emphasis is on friendship and the search. February 2023: As promised below is a list of needs and goals for the TAT Center for 2023. I expect fine-tuning of this list as the weeks progress, but this gives you an idea of the many small, and not so small improvements in the works. Some of these can be accomplished by stopping by the TAT Center and lending our caretaker a hand. Others need funding. Speaking of, our fundraising goal for 2023 stands at $15,750, which is primarily the remainder of 2022's goal plus a small addition for new items. Sand and refinish back porch. Build roof over back porch and steps on the West side. Install 4 additional posts ground to ceiling for more support for the 3-season room above. Additional electrical circuit installed for the Rose Room. Additional gravel on driveways. Repair and preventive maintenance of one 3-season room sky light. Improve chimney flashing on roof. Add/improve insulation above the end 1-person bedroom and the wall separating it from the 1-car garage. Install media filter capability for first floor furnace which should help all allergy suffers. $450 estimate on 3/22. Some kind of AC for all three rooms on the third floor. At least three space heaters for the third floor. A window AC and a space heater for the 3-season room. A stick vac to vacuum the stairs. Potential Future Projects (i.e aspirations!) A cabin for isolation retreats The "octa-pavilion"—a large, detached meeting room located in the woods behind the house A covered patio extending off of the house Thanks to all of you for making TAT the extraordinary organization it is. Sincerely, Shawn Nevins PS: Monthly contributions are a great way to support the TAT Center if making a larger one-time donation seems too much. If you're so inspired, click the Donate button below, then check the box for "Make this a monthly donation" as in the example below: Let's bring this to life! "The job is upon us," Richard Rose said, "and it is worthwhile." To contribute to the TAT Center, mail a check made out to the TAT Foundation to: TAT Foundation PO Box 3402 Roxboro, NC 27573 Big checks, little checks, all are welcome. Or use the PayPal link above (though we lose 2.2% of your donation to PayPal fees). * See photos and more on the Homing Ground page. * In friendship, Shawn Nevins on behalf of the TAT Trustees

Did you enjoy the Forum? Then buy the book!
Readers' favorite selections from seven years of issues.
Beyond Mind, Beyond Death is available at Amazon.com.

 

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