impaul99, I recognize your frustration. I knew you were in for trouble when I saw your “armwrestling scenario” question. It’s like you’re trying to pigeonhole Steve into answering ONE way, so you can feel like “ah-ha, I get it now.” But no matter how you try to pin him down, he evades you every time.
What are you trying to do? To me, it looks like you’re trying to fit Steve’s ideas into your own belief system. You sound like you’ve read a ton of material, and you’re trying to weave it all together into some masterpiece.
Think of Bruce Lee’s thing about the cups. If you want to fill your cup with Steve’s cup, you must first empty yours. Stop trying to fit EVERYTHING into your cup. You can’t! Does that help?
I agree that it sounds like Steve has reduced his beliefs to “Everyone is a droplet in the ocean of consciousness. You’re both an ocean and a droplet, get it?” I find that very under-whelming. But it doesn’t matter. I like reading Steve’s writing.
Here, try this perspective: Can you read Steve’s blog and just enjoy it? Stop trying to understand everything and sort everything out. You’re only entangling yourself worse in a web of logic. Do you see that more logic is not going to help you?
I’m certain Angela was being authentic in her last post, but as a passive-aggressive argument, it’s a stunning work of art. She appears to ignore the heated discussion in the thread, but compliments Steve on the exact points you are missing! “I also enjoy the tone you manage -- I'm not sure exactly how you do it -- of confiding in your reader, "this is what works for me, and I'm happy to talk about it with you, AND you are free to take it or leave it." It's a friendly tone! And it contrasts starkly with a "This is The Truth" approach.” Zing!
If you understand Angela’s post, then you’ll see that taking a “This is The Truth” or even a “What is The Truth” approach with Steve will always fail. Take it from me!
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