silent thunder

Another potent share Taomeow. The world within and the world without.. The world we live in, as compared to the world we think, that we live in only in our perceived rendition of the world that we live in... Which one is more real i often wonder... edit to add: I'm reminded of an axiom that has resonated with me since childhood, it was attributed to The Druids in the context in which I first encountered it. No idea of the actual origins. A man is always three aspects. He is who he thinks he is. He is who others see him as. And He is who he is.

Capitalism: that naive notion that the greediest of people with entirely selfish motives, left unregulated and no oversight will somehow work to the benefit of all... 'Murican capitalism isn't just self centered, it's financially predatory. A bit of research into health care and education reveals this.

Words and thoughts can seem dazzling and important... and lure my awareness into a chain of 'this thought leads to that notion' in a game of sorts... of mentation in what's next?... that can span days, weeks and decades, a lifetime... if left to run on its own inertia unchecked by raw awareness in presence, in living beingness. Yet inevitably, words, thoughts and 'thinking' utterly reveal a lack of gravity for this one's awareness and any kind of abiding reality however, compared with beingness and presence. Awareness requires no thought, though it may abide thought. At this point, i appreciate thoughts on occasion. Endure them for the most part as a necessary aspect of navigating human life in its current conditions and most thrive when they are utterly absent in the raw potency of pure being.

Ah yes, the familiar word salad...

Unless we actively engage with it, our families and social networks will program bundled responses to most conditions we encounter in life. Assumptions and familiarity based on these programmed bundles become our experience of reality and induce in many a nigh on robotic approach to life. Much of my process of cultivation has been in identifying such programs and attempting to assess their worth and veracity in living with presence and authenticity, then having the courage and fortitude to endure the disorienting and uncomfortable process of releasing into new avenues of perceiving what is versus what I've been sold.

absolutely foolproof and impenetrable source... I'll stick with my direct experience of the man thank you.

Robert Moss' Dream Re-entry sounds like a derivation of Jung's Active Imagination. Active Imagination is a potent practice Jung developed later in life. It's based on Hermetic Alchemical principles, where you actively engage with your subconscious mind through dream imagery and active questioning/exploring. It's entirely personal and very useful in my experience. A simple and direct method is to use a moment/memory from a dream that resonates and carries potency for you, anything that has impact. Your Fox seems perfect for this. Dreams are your subconscious reaching out and communicating with your active local mind through symbols and emotional context. Sit and take a few minutes to settle in quiet and then engage the image and actively, sincerly inquire of your source, if there is more to be shared. Then remain open to any images, impulses, thoughts, scenarios that arise in response. This process can become quite vivid and intense. In the meantime, have you explored the broader and more general social meanings of Fox via Euro-pagan historical and Indigenous American Native Lore to see if these social structures have any useful context.

Thanks for sharing. One of my heroes and being re-gifted this, this morning is blissful synchronicity.

Expert Syndrome in effect.

One of my dearest friends, who also happened to be my favorite boss of all time on several dozen films and television shows over the last 18 years, began her transition in her mid 50's. She's in year three now and has been out of state working on a show, so I've not seen her in person yet, but I was one of the few she confided in pre-transition when the realization began to dawn and we talk regularly. It has been incredibly inspiring and healing for me to witness her process. The insight and the process she underwent when exploring the aspects of life that had plagued her daily life inducing intense depression and loathing; the eventual acceptance of the reality of the need to embrace her true self and the courage to live it completely is one of the more amazing processes I've been priveledged to be part of... talk about alchemy! She's becoming a true Master. She is married to a remarkable woman who has embraced her transition with grace and an open heart. They've been together for around 16 years at this point and their relationship is thriving. Beyond all that however, is the delight I experience seeing my friend bloom in dimensions I could never forsee. Her authenticity shines in all she does and her vitality, openness and endurance all exude big qi and an optimism she never possessed when living as a man. Then there are the few ass hats, but as Maddie just mentioned, unless it comes up in conversation directly, no one in daily life seems to notice or consider it, or suspect anything other than they're meeting a woman... and when it does, it's gratefully just a few who make a mess of themselves with their bigotry and judgement. While these few stories always insite intense protectiveness and occasional rage, (I've always taken slights to my own self far easier than allowing or witnessing them to happen to a friend), I stand with all my marginalized friends, but respect them enough in their own right to not interfere unless pointedly asked. I'm humbled again recounting this for the thread, considering the path we've gone together. There are few treasures greater than a dear friend. Few indeed.

Why do you assume there is one method and path for every person. Why do you think Wang LiPing has a wife and a son? Embrace your path, but ceaselessly claiming there is one path for everyone to follow is not a good indicator in my experience. There was a time when celibacy was beneficial on my path. Not all methods and practices are necessary, or beneficial in all stages of life. Rigidity is death. Flexibility is life.

In a few weeks I'll be driving cross country with my Son to settle some family business... #possibilities

I lived in Brooklyn and worked in Manhattan from 93 to 2000. Your description of the subtle field of the island is spot on with what I experienced @Taomeow My wife and I agreed we needed to move by our mid 30's at the latest. There was no dimmer switch to that ever present thrumming field of that place. Potent but overwhelming over long periods. Adrenal burnout.

Video proof or it didn't happen. Video is foolproof!

You just described my foundational process of late... full agreement.

We each experience reality from the center of our own awareness, based on perceptual apparatus and mental landscape interpretations. With some overlap we each seemingly experience our own unique universe.

AI chat bots... No intuition, no intelligence, no insight. Just regurgitation of formulaic data sets. It's little more than elaborate copyright infringement software.

When the 'leaders' hold a war and no one shows up...

Afghanistan, Iraq, Lybia, Lebanon, Syria, Ukraine, Raza... How many more Black Tulips will we plant?

Maddie is dropping pearls in this coversation and revealing high skill and insight. Compassion over comparison. It seems our socially reinforced, yet internally adopted mental/emotional models that apply pressure, guilt, shame and judgement of ourselves is far more impacting and damaging to jing, than any physical pressure/activities they target. That which these models subsequently judge and then seek to punish ourselves for... This Judge/Victim internal roleplay is perhaps the most prevalent and damaging Jing blockage egregore in modern culture I have experienced. This has been reinforced time and again by both of my long term teachers over the last 14 years particularly, though more impacting is that it abides in my direct life experience. acknowledge, accept, release. acknowledge what is accept it in awareness, that what is and was... is not what must or will continually arise. release. realease mental gymnastics: assumption, judgement and projection and abide in presence. rest in awareness.

@kyoji