silent thunder

nein danke

cool clear water

.

In the Universe there are things that are known and things that are unknown, and in between there are doors. ~William Blake

Thank you @Michael Sternbach Well said.

So many hours spent gazing into the eyes of my partner in life. sweet tides. pools of light. it took so long for me to realize how strong your heart is and all this time my mind was working in ... strange ways looking back on those days just want to be free through the love in your eyes now i'm staring inside just wanna be free through the love in your eyes sweet tides, pools of light your eyes are full of sweet tides... pools of light your eyes are full of....

Whole-heartedly agree. Saying all paths are the same is akin to claiming all water is the same. One can claim it, but is there objectivity to such claims? River, marsh, pond, puddle, ocean, stream, rain, snow... snow on the side of a road after three days of traffic, streams outside chemical refineries... or the water seeping out of the stones at Zion after 4 thousand years of settling from the plateau above... to say all of these are the same enters the arena of semantics and high subjectivity. Nuance, ever shifting conditions, pre-existing conditions... co-arising aggregates. It's all so unique in each moment with each awareness. This is perhaps why some lineages and individual pursuits resonate when others don't. Snow is not Rain. Ever shifting fluidity of the co-arising aggregates with the individual experiencing them. One size does not fit all. Edit to add: I find Damo to be exceptional and am deeply grateful he shares as he does. I find him to be grounded, innately capable and deeply committed/accomplished. My two main teacher's do not speak english and so deep conversations are tricky. Coupled with them being semi-retired and far away, I found Damo's writings (and his surprisingly quick and erudite responses to my email queries) to be profoundly helpful in deeper understandings of some expriences I had in Longmen Pai practices. So grateful folks of his cailiber have the willingness to open up and offer as they do.

sigh... I see the spirit of the rule, and appreciate the attempt but the implimentation is where I see great fuzziness and projection/assumption. There is no guarantee that every 'misguided' post will be rebutted in every personal thread. And hence, no guarantee that some folks won't encounter misinformation that goes unchallenged and perhaps be influenced by it at some point. Who determines what must be countered? Who makes sure every misguided statement is rebutted and in a timely fashion? It seems an untenable situation to me. I'm still for banning the topic entirely. It's the only way to be sure no one is influenced and potentially harmed.

to me, it can be a bit like the draw to slow down or stop and watch a crash site along the road. Not involved necessarily, but intrigued.

And so the Tao Bums has graduated to become the Arbiter of The-All-Truth...

Fasting. Regular fasting. Really beneficial for so. many. aspects of health.

and deeper down the 'dj' rabbit hole... this one has stood the test of a few years at least and remains impacting

more solid stuff from 'the can'

For canned music it's still effective and I can appreciate the song. but I find myself wondering when I listen to this phase of music, what they'd realize if they stopped laying vocals over digitally generated music and used real musicians in a studio... It still tells a story, and is impacting. But without the nuance of individual variations in drum beats and how a bass player pulls each stringed note... it's music in a can.

I worked at this with my fundamentalist sister and my evangelical mother. Eventually, my mother began to awaken a bit from the literality. My sister, just dug in further with every appearance of cognitive dissonance. I love them both, to each their own.

Moderation is and seemingly always will be slanted, according to some. How can it be otherwise?

I don't resonate with the modern use of and definition of virtue. To me the word virtue was co-opted some time ago and has been laid over morality to become synonymous with it. This colors its use in translations of more ancient tomes and writings in an unuseful manner, to me. I do not equate virtue with morality at all, (morality being a set of fluid behavioral descriptors that are desirable to a society as it exists now). It is incongruent from society to society and person to person. Virtue to me is a word that represents the properties and inherent expressions of an object or organism; these can be beneficial, harmful or neutral depending what is co-reacting or relating to them. It is a virtue of fire to melt skin. In rereading the tao te jing with this realization, some formerly troubling verses rang harmoniously with my shift in perception. To me, virtue is a word that represents an aspect of manifestation, and a description of the properties exhibited by an organism or object. It is a virtue of stone to be resistant to change. The virtues of grass are that it is green and pliable. Human virtues are myriad and range from the incredible to the deplorable. In Taoist cultivation virtues are not goals to achieve, but descriptors of inherent nature and sign posts of where the cultivator is along the way. I have a similar view of the ten commandments. After my realization of the word virtue, it became apparent to me that perhaps the 10 commandments were never intended to be laws of unbreakable punishment. But orignially were descriptions of virtues (properties) observed in those who walk in the presence of source (god). Perhaps they were meant as path markers, not a threat.

Indeed they are. The music of the spheres... For those who have ears to hear.

Curious what happens when one posts in their own ppd about covid, and then locks the thread to any other replies? Is that bannable? Or must mods then decide to move it or leave it? I have some pretty non-standard ideas of treating many cancers, heart disease, blood pressure, cholesterol and diabetes... will i be forced to allow anyone to participate in those discussions? I thought the main idea of personal logs was that they lay outside public search engines and this mitigated their content needing moderation. Allowing others to participate in one's private area has always been a discretion. Rightly so in my opinion. If this discretion is removed... it seems odd. My sense of it is, if censorship is up for action, then simply ban the entire topic for now anywhere on the site. Let them talk of it on the myriad other sites that abound. That or allow folks to be as enlightened or ignorant as they are, and moderate according to the site rules. Like cooking a small fish, ideally... don't overdo it. Perhaps we are giving TB too much credit for influencing the minds of others.

Fascinating manner of looking at a long term painting. I really resonate with it. Being drawn through the wake of yin, rather than striving to manufacture through yang. Most of my paintings arise in a steady flow, from inception to finish, the image arises clear and i endeavor to bring it to the medium. Many arose in a flurry of certainty straight on from intial inspiration, to the end point. Some take a bit of searching, prompting and open endedness. And then, there have been a few, one in particular (that is four years on and still unfinished) that absolutely called out to me and insistently made it clear that I would touch canvas only in certain moments, in particular states of being. Those times are never planed out and arise from an inner prompting. At times that was a full treatment, others one stroke of the knife, and still others, sitting in the presence of the current image without touching it. Abiding in presence with the revealing process.

Yet you seem comfortable claiming with certainty that there is no influence. Interesting. Blanket statements of certainty in realms of this nature seldom seem helpful, but they are revealing.

Lifa! Great band.

My impression of the calligraphy exhibit was deep adoration and respect. The brushwork lyrical and mysterious. Each of the buildings in the Chinese Garden had their main columns adorned with scrolls and then one building housed the main exhibit. Though really, the garden itself is an achievement beyond words. There is nothing else like it, literally, being the largest Chinese Garden in the West. Over a dozen buildings, pagodas, half dozen bridges, criss crossing the man made lake. Talking Stones arranged around the walking paths all the buildings and bridges constructed in the traditional manner, with the most incredible craftsmanship. I've been a professional wood worker for about 25 years. The work is simply spectacular, awe inspiring. If anyone is ever in Southern California, add the Huntington Library to your must see list. And with how often I'm there, you may catch me enjoying tea on one of the balconies.