silent thunder

i appreciate the phrasing of your question... it's a whopper. Great minds have spoken volumes and my local mind struggles with words and concepts often. What is produced and if wu wei is divided regarding tzujan is causing unanticipated and welcome ripples, but they're all under the surface and no other words are coming to local mind to share in the moment. Tzujan is such a potent, subtle and far reaching concept and words are such tiny, rigid things to me, it's always a challenge to find words that convey the sense i have of certain concepts. But i know my nature enough to appreciate the ripples your question has raised and that eventually some words will rise in response. i'll let the process unfold and return if and when words that may suit the question arise for me.

Wu Wei seems intimately woven with Tzujan. What is, as it is, arising and falling of its nature. Instinct, insight, intuitive promptings... innate responsiveness. This can include preparedness if that is one's essential nature. or how about this... Wu Wei seems the path that flowers use when they unfurl. There is no study, no teacher, no curriculum, no aim other than to be as one is, where one is amongst the co-arising conditions of which one is an amalgam of... wu wei is as water flows downhill without effort, strain, design or assumption, judgement, worry or care. Where it comes to rest of its nature is where it settles in clarity eventually.

If nightly rest is not recuperating your body and mind, an assessment of your diet and body by a Dr, either TCM or Western may shed knowledge on why. There may be underlying hormonal or other imbalances as contributing factors.

I can think of two ways to spread the light. Be the light, or be as a mirror that reflects it.

ack ackack ackack ackack ackack ackackack ackackack ack ack

Yup. UK has Taoist temples.

here is one not two. no thing can be separate. Universe is one.

Sandia... Kirtland AFB. Not surprising it's them behind this development.

Bob Lazar worked in propulsion systems analysis at Groom Lake and 51. I too found Bob credible at the time, and more so particularly as the story has played out in the 40+ years since its initial telling. Most compelling for me was the confirmation of the existence of element 115 in 2003, which Bob talked of as the fuel source for the craft on which he was working in his initial sharing back in the 1980's. At the time of Bob's whistle, 115 was a theoretical particle and had never been 'officially' observed and was assumed impossible to synthesize among the dogmatic priests of scientism. It was a key point the skepdicks leapt on in their coordinated assault of Bob's character, which they held up as a banner they claimed proved him a liar and fabricator. 115 was eventually synthesized a couple decades later by a joint US and Russian team who managed the feat and revealed its existence and their achievement in 2003. This independent corroboration 20+ years later is a strong endorsement of Bob's character and key facts of his sharing in my book.

Tulku's and my experience differ where he claims "The bottom line is to try, as much as possible to retain the innate stability..." perhaps it's a quality of translation or a partial contextual implication, but effort and 'trying' are anathema for the unfolding in nature in my process. It unfolds of itself, all else rests within it. It is not creatable, it is that which creation arises within... The fundamental nature is so foundational that any act of 'trying' to manufacture it, or 'maintain it', is a layer obscuring it, in my experience. There is no manufacturing. There is releasing into one's nature, or there is obscuration.

A stunning work of cinematic and allegorical art.

Welcome to the Bums mate.

The picture is titled Observer II by Piotr Baćko. Polish Artist. The only places I found it were reposts of it on Twitter and the like... I am a member of none of those so didn't see if you could purchase prints of it via those apps. Nor did I find a personal site for Piotr where it is available. But your mileage may vary. Happy hunting...

A recent series of images returned from Mars, showing the Earth and its Moon. It puts me in mind of Carl Sagan's incredibly insightful and moving poem about our Earth, inspired by photographs of Earth sent back to us by Voyager I decades ago. I revisit it regularly and its impact on my psyche, so penetrating and expanding, never ceases to amaze. Figured I'd share it here again for those who may appreciate. The Pale Blue Dot.

I have every book by Nathan, Master Wang and Damo and I recommend them all as solid sources. They were all full of more resource material than I will likely cover in the remainder of my incarnation here. I've studied in person with Wang Liping and Zhou Ting-Jue (no books, but both 18th generation lineage holders) and have corresponded with Damo through email about several topics and despite not being a formal student, he responded and was open and quite helpful. While books are valuable in providing theory and a framework for the mind, the work is the work and as the work plays out through the body and awareness so many avenues of hiccups and side paths can abound. I would highly recommend finding a teacher who will be able to assess your practical application of the process as it unfolds. This does not necessarily have to be meeting them every week, but I would recommend the ability to contact them regularly (monthly-ish). Trying to ferret out this elaborate process in one's own body and awareness from books alone is frought with potential problems in my opinion and experience, but your mileage of course, may vary. That said, Nathan and Damo both have very accessible and in depth online courses available that are affordable and quite practical. We are living in something of a golden age of access to what was throughout history, closed and hidden. I'm considering restarting formal training with Nathan myself soon as travel to continue with Master Wang is not an option for me recently (family needs). Wang holds several ten day seminars a year in person, but they usually require international travel and are a larger investment. Not available to all certainly, but if you could, I can't recommend this method highly enough. It was life altering on a foundational level for me. Wishing you great fortune and good insight on your journey friend. /|\

Go into a flower in enough detail and one will find it reflects the rest of the universe... Indra's Net

Key point. You remind me of something quite significant. Not all violence is physical. And an old anonymous saying... "1 out of 10 wars is started by what someone did, another one is started by what someone said and the other 8 start by how something was said."

These two, playing concurrently and looped.

The Dao Bums mods will not delete user's posts at their request. Though you retain access to edit your own posts and delete the text within them if you choose. As far as I know, the only posts that are altered by mods are hidden from public view and then, only when they egregiously break forum rules or applicable laws regarding online posting (i.e. doxxing, threats of violence etc). Wishing you peace.

Don't know how much I'll have to contribute, but I always appreciate important subjects engaged by knowledgeable and wise contributors. As such, I deeply appreciate both Sun Tzu's work and Musashi's Five Rings and while I studied the arts of combat for many years immersing in them and these two books about them, I eventually came to the realization that the true conflict has always abided within my own mind and the projection of a sense of an individual small and 'seperate' self. At this point in my unfolding of life, violence to me presents as failure. The lowest common denominator and the last and least desired result in nearly all conditions. This is not meant to imply that I am a pacifist. My sense of it is rather close to verse 31 of the Dao. 31 Weapons: tools of pain. Used for violence and fear, decent folk abhor. Yet in direst need and if compelled will use them, with utmost restraint. Peace, highest value. When the peace has been shattered who can be content? Glory in fighting? Those who delight in killing do not know true source. Your foes not demons. Simple beings like yourself. Sage desires no harm. No victory dance victory by force, no joy how rejoice in this? Sage battles gravely with sorrow, and compassion like tending a grave.

I have lived with several zen masters, most of them feline.

So many aspects of life elicit intoxication within... Rain. Rain is absolutely mesmerizing and intoxicating. Music and cooking for loved ones top my list of late. Earth wracking thunderstorms, WOW!. and crickets. I get very high simply thinking about Monarch egg laying season approaching and when the Monarchs we foster emerge from their Chrysalis and walk about on my hands and arms before flying off our balcony, it's beyond words. Holding my sleeping cat... high as fuck! Watching my gal and son work on higher Algebra together too. I'm also partial to cannabis and coffee, pranayama and sitting in relative silence, and always do I adore the lovely charged response of watching my wife's hips swiveling joyously to a steady beat while she smiles and slides through the music playing in our lounge room. In my experience, any aspect of life that provides a reaction whether emotional, physical or psyche based, can elicit a desire to pursue and become habitual. Is experience external or internal? Does addiction arise within, or from without? Does pleasure and pain arise from within, or without? Blaming the external object for the internal reaction seems like blaming the finger for being responsible for the presence of the Moon, to me. Chains of Iron or Chains of Gold, both seeminlgy grip one into Maya as effectively as the other. All that I despise and all that I crave, arise from one source and return to that... so the distinctions between these, must lie within I as well? *sips coffee and folds into lotus... reaches for the vape. And Dao Bums... I get a special charge from logging on here. Love!