silent thunder

As for the projection of the cows and their path... no one can know. As for acting/watching and pretend not affecting us, I disagree. I was a professional actor for many years and while the mind might know it's fake... the affect on the body, mind and emotions is not fake. Even in the audience, although our mind knows it's fake, the affect on the emotional body can resonate for years. Think about some of the performances you've seen that still resonate with you, even a book can do this, but to actually play it out and witness this live? Impacting. I still get emotional resurgences from past performances I participated in and some I just watched. Portraying Hamlet, Edmund, Lear... etc. etc. eight times a week for months... It would take me days or weeks to decompress after some shows ended. Many roles I stopped accepting toward the end, knowing what it would entail to jump into that water. The sub-conscious does not know we are faking it. The toll is very real, it's what made me decide to leave the biz.

Yea, when you add music to the ritual... BOOM. At least for me. Music is one of my big go to's when I'm in a shit mood and just can't, or worse yet, don't want to change it. Although I definitely prefer music without the human voice, or in foreign languages.

Sweeney Todd's Meat Pies?

I trained with traditional free weights for some years as a teen, but shortly after I found Kung Fu, I realized some of the shortfalls of bulking up: weakness at the extension of my muscular actions and lack of flexibility. Switching to body weight lifting maximized strength through the full range of motion and lays a foundation for life long strength. Strength within the fell extension of the muscle action does not impede qi flow in my experience. I don't want to sacrifice either, but I value flexibility over strength.

http://earthweareone.com/awe-inspiring-pictures-of-shaolin-monks-training/

hmm so many boxes... and still... more things to put in boxes... than boxes to put them in.

There is no one path for everyone. Some folks will eat meat and love it and thrive, obviously, just observe them. Others will eat only the veggie life that has no apparent sentience and can't run away and love it and thrive. Some will eat both and not thrive, some will eat one or the other and not thrive... I don't get the desire, or borderline psychotic drive in some people, to take other people who are different from them and try and force them to be like you. Take that energy and put it into your own practice. We are all different and there is no one way for everyone. We all come from source... if you believe eating meat will slow down your process, then don't eat it. But this preachy, demanding, abusive desire to make everyone like you is odd to me... odd that it's so pervasive.

indeed, through agreed conditioned labels we communicate with word symbols...

I think the ritual aspect of particularly the older catholic process is one of the few things they got right. Ritual is a proven way to induce the spiritual and project one out of the mundane.

that hurts my soul

my son laid this one on me: what did the ocean say to the beach? nothing, it just waved

Yea, when you put it that way, I do wonder... what is the benefit? Is the level of, or access to care better, giving them a higher chance of recovery?

Well maybe this is semantics but character shows as a sign of spiritual work to me. Character work takes place for me within challenging situations, usually regarding people, not when lifting stones. I don't claim that this applies to anyone but me, but in my experience, a strong flexible body allows for longer sitting in stillness. Another is the experience of subjective time and altered states, loss of self/expanded sense of self when engaged in intense physical training. The experiences I had in five animal training and no harness/gear rock climbing, opened my awareness to several aspects of my nature I'm not sure I would have found without it. Although I did plenty of spiritual work and had great growth also in the years that I could not walk without a cane. So it's by no means a requirement for spiritual growth. I'm sharing where it's helped me. In the end, all roads start and end with source. In my world, there are no mistakes or accidents, only conditions and awareness in an awesome dance.

no idea who came up with that one... who was it? there are so few original jokes... much like songs, they are heavily recycled.

true enough, although the phrase that comes to mind is 'even a broken clock is right twice a day' (amended: analog that is)

I find strength training to be very conducive to spiritual growth. Having a strong healthy, flexible body is advantageous, even necessary for some work. The condition of the body has pervasive and intense affects on my mind. Balance in all things though... the over worked, puffy and inflexible bodies make much of the work, far more difficult.

aw man

Yea, that one is in my list of films I'm glad I saw, but don't ever need to see again.

Very nice description Gerard thanks. *deep bow*

It doesn't worry me. Media extrapolates the fear angle on any story to ridiculous proportions to maximize affect. I find broadcast news to be laughable in terms of integrity of reporting news as facts any more. So much conjecture and opinion, it's staggering. Print news is controlled by the same machine, but with multiple sources I sometimes feel I get a better picture, but really, it's all so surreal, it reminds me of a paper I wrote in college on the prophetic nature of the movie Brazil... some of the things I am concerned about: forgive me if this is hijacking... if so, I'll edit it at your request and start a new thread. I'm far more concerned about the lack of awareness of the people driving cars weighing tons on the roads around me everyday. I live in Cali and it's staggering... applying makeup, reading the newspaper, texting is everywhere on the freeways, trimming nails, having sex I'm concerned about the insane amounts of resources Americans spend on military engagement and medical costs vs the rest of the world. Spending astronomical amounts of money on violence as opposed to educating, feeding and investing in long term viable avenues of social growth. Medical costs so prohibitive, we have healthcare more akin to a second world nation than a world leader. I'm concerned by the insane polarization that has been getting more extreme in America since 1998ish. I'm concerned about the long term implications of the 'my team mentality' that is inlaid into the two party (cough) system. bah, too many concerns... my reality right now is, I'm sitting here typing, my son is eating a great,healthy lunch and I'm about to clean the house kung fu style and then settle into some stillness... I wouldn't worry about it though, the ebola... I'm pretty sure those bringing them over will be extremely responsible. The risk seems very minimal to me. edit: grammar

Yea, the Six and Gaius relationship was so well played out, the actors playing both those characters were impressive and their chemistry was palpable. I mean, what they did with their story and how well did Gaius portray a man in the depth of unsurity about a projective hallucinatory relationship? So many great elements. The sub plots and side stories were really well woven into the main line. The more I think about it, the more that series impresses me.

I experience similar. They feel like energetic flinches or pulses, that originate in the middle dan tien and cascade outward to fill the body. These started a couple years ago, during my forms and would occur from time to time. Now they come regularly during each practice. More recently they come at seemingly random points throughout the day when no form or active cultivation is happening. Also get sensations of water running under my skin from time to time, air flowing out of the hands and feet. Heat rushing through the body, insects walking along my skin, prickling, magnetic pulses... some of these are so strong they can cause minor nausea when happening in the lower dan tien. To me they seem like the physical body adapting to changes in the energy body, but I know nothing for certain. I prefer to live in questions, so I just kind of let it happen and keep on with my intentions.

I rode my bike all Winter in Minnesota. Took off my tires, put alternating holes in them just off center and then put #8 pan head bolts through the holes with lock-nuts on them. Bit of rubber cement over the pan heads on the inside to protect the tube from the bolt heads and off I went. Snow tires on my bike, worked great.

When I say schmuck in this sense, I'm referring to the actor's inability to convey believably, the deeper aspects of his dialogue or intentions... not to how his character is written. The writing on the show was great and his character had potential, the actor just didn't have the skills to fill it out believably. It was really unfortunate for him, that his most dramatic scenes were with actors capable of such subtlety and layers, it really highlighted his lack of skills.