silent thunder

When I die, give what's left of me away to children and old men that wait to die. And if you need to cry, cry for your brother walking the street beside you. And when you need me, put your arms around anyone and give them what you need to give me. I want to leave you something, something better than words or sounds. Look for me in the people I've known or loved, and if you cannot give me away, at least let me live in your eyes and not in your mind. You can love me best my letting hands touch hands, and by letting go of children that need to be free. Love doesn't die, people do. So, when all that's left of me is love, give me away. Merritt Malloy

Helen: It sounds like a boy Garry's age needs a man around the house. Tod: Well, it depends on the man. I had a man around. He used to wake me up every morning by flicking lit cigarettes at my head. He'd say, "Hey, asshole, get up and make me breakfast." You know, Mrs. Buckman, you need a license to buy a dog, or drive a car. Hell, you need a license to catch a fish! But they'll let any butt-reaming asshole be a father. From the 80's film: Parenthood

Druggie!

Good Sir, can you tell us... in your own words, how you feel about this? well... I'm not sure to be honest. I keep using the same words most everyone else does... but I'll try. eek fleel bumbass dillyum floobucker

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life is the only drug... and I'm deep into it my friend. she'll tried to pry me out on January 12-14th but I'm dug in deep and not ready to relinquish one... iota.

yet no forcing and no effort

like and don't like? which is true, which hides truth and which reveals?

do without forcing allow space for that which has already aligned in phenomena do not constrict that which abides in noumena do without forcing

never had any desire to try that particular substance... though I've meandered and set up camp with several others. some things just do not resonate.

to every season... turn, turn. to every rule... an exception.

With no desire to convince you of anything, right or wrong... I share with you that my mum and dad raised me in this tradition in the subzero temperatures of Minnesota as an infant and all through my childhood and I am a hearty and healthy 49. Thriving with my own son who knows and continues to thrive with this same tradition.

An old man, shouts truths from a corner on a busy street. Who will pay for such? One who whispers truth to a friend, giggling and free at heart, away under a tree in the park... looks up to see a small crowd gathered, straining to hear the secret being shared such... Who pays what for what? where is value? where is usefulness? who determines what is what?

Alchemical Walrus... Coo Coo CaChoo! Welcome to the Bums mate. The Hermetics and Daoists still sing songs of deep resilience, abiding vitality and great challenge. I dearly appreciate them all.

Well said mate! Your authentic sharing is as welcome to me right now as a breeze on a muggy afternoon! I'm grateful for this. Who can determine to you, what has value? Are there a string of words that I, or anyone, or any book, could deliver to you to alter your sense of this sutra's value? I can not consider your reaction to these words wrong, or misguided in any way. You are absolutely correct in your assessment. I can't imagine desiring to find a collection of words that would sway the unswayable truth of your sense of it. Though it seems you desire the words to reflect for you in a manner other than they currently do... or you seem to desire that this sutra not be exalted the way it is, by others who find immense value in it? who determines the value and usefulness of a thing? Maybe allow the words, ineffective and obtruse as they are... to just settle for now. Be as they are. If something is not useful, why carry it along on your journey? Release it and let it be as it is. No need to struggle with an unnecessary burden... Perhaps, if still drawn... revisit it in a few cycles of the seasons and see how they resonate then? I have experienced considerable angst over many of the old writings. Sometimes the very wrongness of it, was what the teaching was... for in the experience of the wrongness... truth was revealed through the experience of what truth was not. Perhaps that which this sutra speaks to, is not a place of usefulness and value to you now... is this improper? Is it improper that this sutra is of immense value to me and many others? In all the many resonances of phenomena and noumena... who determines what is valuable, useful, right and wrong? Thanks again for nudging me into these ponderings... such questions are an unimaginable joy to me.

I find the word usefulness may be substituted for the word value and vice versa in my previous statement... to interesting effect.

what has value? what is valuable... what is value? A cup with no hollow may have great value (made of gold, or gifted by a loved one to express connection and love), but having no hollow, it would be of little use... being useless, would this diminish its value? who determines what value exists? who determines when value is extinguished? who is the arbiter of how much and for how long value exists? is value universal? is what has value for you now, what you valued when you were an infant? a toddler? a student? a parent/teacher? what is value?

hmm... no interest in swaying, teaching, cajoling or changing you, or you mind. though your sharing has prompted my offer of these words from my experience, heart and mind: finger points to moon finger is not moon yet finger and moon, unseparate

@Bud Jetsun Thanks for sharing as you do. Gems and pearls you offer with such boundless joy and love! Your words (and all words) though incapable of carrying the ineffible, uncarriable, yet resonate with the intention to reach out, connect and share the truth of the experiential. Truly gems! This indescribable then dances with the described through the sympathetic vibration of experiential understanding. Perhaps not today, but as with all emanations, the resonance carries on, back and forward from this now, through all and with love. To one who has not swam in the river, are there words possible to lend skin the experience of being wet? to all who demand words I would offer these: the river flows... here, now... jump in and be

The cold is comforting now where it used to be a challenge. I know my body feels cold the way it always has, but how I respond to the sensation has shifted over time. My mind responds to the sensations with a familiar sense of comfort and the vitality generated is always welcome. edit to add: I usually start warm/hot and finish cold. That makes a real difference for palatability, particularly when beginning.

And I'm over here in 'there are no accidents' land... In my take on the universe, there has never been an accident anywhere, at anytime. Only the natural results of causation within existing conditions playing out as they do, that folks didn't intend, or want... one action leads to another... causation From the inception of actions in phenomena, causation determines results, determines conditions which then shape the next causation of phenomena. Be it emotional, chemical, intellectual or otherwise... As I experience it... nothing is accidental, but rather all phenomena are the natural result of existing conditions playing out naturally. To me what most describe as accidental, are the utterly natural results of causation, that were unintended, or unwanted.

It's so beautiful. Invigorating yet grounding. Here's another one that will utterly baffle many of my American and Southern Climate friends... infants, sleeping in the cold. Scandanavia/Russia, this is common practice.

Cold exposure? Absolutely. Regularly. It's brilliant! My Norwegian ancestors experienced, understood and handed down the benefits of regular snow/ice bathing with and without sauna preamble. Introduced my son to the practice when he was the age of these hearty Russian boys n girls and he loves it... talks about it every time we are heading up to stay in the cabin in the mountains. It's a ritual for us, though I have yet to convince my gal of the beauty of it lol. But for Connor and I, snow bath first thing in the morning and again in the evening after dinner. Every shower ends full cold for a few minutes.

Daemon mate... calibrate your radar bud. Lima is a personal friend and has been for some time. I welcome his messages as one smiles when greeting cards arrive in the mail from a friend.

Master Zhou has lived in Southern California and had a clinic in Santa Monica for many years. I first met and began studying with him at a weekend retreat up in Santa Cruz, near San Francisco in 2011 around his 80th birthday. A few years ago, he founded his permanent school and clinic (complete with rooms for students to stay in, who travel to study) in El Monte which is a bit further inland from Santa Monica, but still local, only an hour from me in the South Bay. He now travels regularly between China and the US and is in no place for too long these days. His school though, is run full time by his second Master Linda Wu and another teacher whom I haven't met. Master Wu is an incredibly powerful woman and his second for 18 years or more... I have had healing from her several years ago and it was subsequently her from whom I learned the second form in the system when the practice was still located in Santa Monica. Master Wang lives in China, I do not recall which city, though he and Master Liao, (his second and translator), make several trips a year, offering retreats in various cities around the globe. When I met and studied with Master Wang, the retreat was local here, in Diamond Bar just a few towns over from El Monte and a short 45 minute drive from my home.