silent thunder

This is rather stunning to me... Francis speaks more like a monk and gnostic than one indoctrinated into and currently leading the army of Christ known as Catholicism. I hope he's got a trustworthy group around him as this sort of behavior is usually, historically very bad for ones' longevity.

Currently Opening the Dragon Gate Roadside PIcnic by the Strugatsky Brothers. (my favorite sci fi movie Stalker by Tarkovsky was based on this book) The Hobbit (quick revisit before seeing the final film) The Root of Chinese Qi Gong

this is beginning to remind me of an aikido match with words...

I don't think so... before phones, she would have likely just had her nose buried in a few magazines. Our distractible nature hasn't changed, just the gadgets available to feed the process.

I was a classical stage actor for 13 years. On the side of that I was a solo stand up comic, and a writer/performer for a three man sketch comedy troupe for a few years, as well as one of the founding members of the Minnesota Shakespeare Co. which is still going strong some 25 years later. I worked as a bartender for 3 years in NYC, that was intense. I was a sculptor for a firm that built casinos.... my work is literally plastered all over Mohecan Sun, Atlantis in the Bahamas and Cesar's in Atlantic City. For the last 16 years I've been building scenery and making props for Broadway and the Hollywood machine. Recently, I'm in a position to start investing in real estate. Mostly, I spend my considerable free time, writing poetry and reading and writing philosophy based on my work cultivating and being a father. We wear so many hats in life. We are verbs, not things.

Incredible!

This one hums with Qi. It's one of the few that I've encountered and it thrums with energy. They are not readily available. Yeh Ming Zhu, or The Dragon's Pearl, is the only type of flourite known to glow from standard light, not UV. This particular stone has been glowing steadily for three years, under my care. It requires just an hour or so in the sun and then glows for days. My cousin, who also has several pieces, recently moved to Hawaii. She placed her pieces in the moving crate with all their other belongings. She said, after three weeks in the silk in the crate, it was still glowing softly when she opened it. I received mine from a monk who smuggled a dozen or so pieces out of China at some personal risk. The last deposit was found in the late 80's. It's exceedingly rare and since its discovery was not made available to peasants. Only recently have these begun to creep quietly out.

For me, recently every emotional storm is potential healing. Each annoyance is a gift. They're like a great big finger pointing out to my awareness... where I have blockage. My practice and cultivation has a design to foster heightened awareness in the present, which like Chang alluded to in his post, brings me from unconscious to conscious, which like alchemy, utterly transforms the experience and often the result. Being Taoist, Buddhist, or any other 'ist' name we can call ourselves is not a claim of success and a proclamation of 'mission accomplished' in my opinion, or at least in my case. Rather, it's a declaration of my intent to get beyond the point where these clouds control my experience of life and a descriptor of the path I am attempting said intent with...

This is how I picture it. It's like a wagon wheel. The 'human experience' and 'waking life' is the outer ring. There are myriad spokes that extend from 'normal' life into the depths and heights of essence, awareness, etc... all ultimately leading to Source. We have all sorts of different names for the spokes and the paths. None are right or wrong, (indeed nothing like that exists). There is just what is... and at the center of the wheel is...

There is no secret to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work and learning from failure. ~Colin Powell

Recently I'm feeling the flow of only eating in an 8 hour window, usually from about 2-10 pm. Some days this extends into an entire day, or several of not needing fuel. I don't go in with a set goal. It's just about flow. Being present. It was really striking when I got into fasting, the realization of how often I ate just out of boredom...

one of my all time favorites

refining awareness

Just watched this last night again for about the umpteenth time... http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108630/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

Nice, going to check that out later...

embodying 'be the change you want to see in the world' reinforcing 'focus on what you want to create, not what you want to oppose...'

Inertia. Multiple teachers have stressed this concept heavily to me and I begin to sense why. Mirroring this sentiment: "You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the old model obsolete." ~ Bucky Fuller. This, to me implies what you are talking about, focusing on the traits you want to embody to increase their inertia and presence in your being and decreasing focus/reducing yield on those you wish to release. Patient, steady practice builds inertia. Small, well timed increments will yield much... What you give energy to, you foster, you become. Where attention goes, energy flows. What am I attending to? What do I want to embody? This is paramount to me. Water, dripping on stone, yields sand. Patient, dedicated practice. Like Tesla's Oscillator, small increments of practice yields growth.

this whole conversation is wonderfully, horrifyingly, informative and depressing... until i pull my awareness out and see that it's all playing out on a wet mote of dust, spinning through inky blackness, accompanied by tiny points of light...

I've had similar sensations. Water flowing out the feet under the skin. Hot, crackling, electrical like sparks along the entire souls of the feet. The sensation of wind flowing across the surface of the skin on the souls of the feet... We live in a constant flux and flow of energies. Unless you're experiencing an illness, I'd say this is related to cultivation and your sensations are linked to rooting/opening the Lao Gong point and will bring much benefit. Though if you are concerned, I'd check with a Dr of TCM to be sure.

yea, I've been around some discussions where this angle is taken and it makes the bile rise in my throat... but then, I guess, sick, abusive folks will use whatever tools available, to express their sick, abusive desires...

My son and I love that series. We re-watch it regularly. Some solid theory mixed with some great story telling... Top notch.

For all the seeming power we wield, we are so fragile. Thank you for being aware... prepared... and capable Manitou! That is just incredibly cool.

My son will be the same age when this comes out as I was when the original screened. To be able to experience that with him in the theater...

when my mind starts churning in anxiety or gains inertia that makes me uncomfortable... I use mantra. works great, every time.

wow... just wow.