Birch

Thanks Sean! Interesting post TaoMeow. If the notion that we're (and by "we" I refer to contemporary humans) is that we're too "fire-oriented", where would that stand with respect to a "wood" practice? I'm not sure I'm making sense, but you get my drift. Hopfully.

Good post Mr Sloppy. I think lots of practices do it. Kunlun seems to be an accelerated one. I'm interested in the mechanics. I would suggest to people who know they have a lot to deal with to accept that any of the accelerated practices could be a rough ride. There are other practices out there that do it slower. I'd actually like to try Kunlun but I'm having a wild time with other stuff. Wouldn't want to mix it up too much.

Neat posts all. Vortex, I'm afraid I don't believe in a "higher self" - although I guess I very much believe in a "lower" one which sort of begs the question (for if there is lower then there is surely higher.) I just think there is one, and it doesn't subject itself to anything for kicks. But suggesting this would leave the windows and doors open for questions about why such awful things happen to people. My 2 cts. Of course. Edited for encroaching dyslexia

Thanks Mr Cow! Besides quite appreciating the odd grope from time to time I can't (presently) accept that we are dealing with anything else than an imposed situation. Yes, by all means accept "responsability" but in order to do so, one has to travel some kind of path (I reckon). Almost without fail, I see the practices and the processes and the realizations. They all seem (to me) to be pretty similar. I repeat (and rinse) that "Taosim" would not need to exist unless something else that is f*king things up also exists. So I wonder, do we have an inherent human consciousness problem (of course played upon and reinforced by those whose role it is to play upon us)? - is there something more sinister going on? Something else?

Oh, I think they're not failing in it. I do think they're doing it (if the "it" follows your steps) and they're doing it so well, well, here we are

Maybe. That was well cryptic. I don't know what the origin of everything is. Some days I figure I know, other days I don't. I think (maybe I have some evidence) that everyhing is taking part in the desire to resolve separation, but as was posted elsewhere (I think it was the Zazen thread) they're all doing it on their own time and agenda and I have pretty much nothing to say in the matter. Of course, had I not allowed myself/accepted the deal to be separated in the first place,I might not now be spending all this time/space/energy/effort trying to catch up. Bleh.

"Muisc is more than sound. It is a model of coherence that entrains our thinking and worldview. It is persuasion and at the center of perception." Can we move this one to the main forum? I hate being in the lobby for some reason

I think I posted the cure for earworms here before...sing it to the end

Interesting, thanks! I think it's a good illustration but it's only one example. What do you return "bitterness" with? What do you resolve "fear" with? I'm not trying to be annoying but I don't reckon (and from experience, know) that "love" is going to do everything for everyone. I have only experimented with the opposites of the current emotion I feel (and by "feel" I mean the bodily sensations, not the words on top) and I'm not convinced that's the most effective use of "alchemy". It seems to me that the love/fear association retains one in dualism for longer than is necessary to "get it" and as a result I'm somewhat leery of recommendations that use "love" as a universal aspirin. Although I'm willing to read posts to the contrary.

Margaret Thatcher Milk Snatcher... Excellent post Cat. I think (at this point) that the "warrior" position has to be taken up at some point during path, for unless one fights (and a question might be "fights what exactly") there is a risk of giving up too readily and giving in to power. IMO power doesn't go away, whatever your position happens to be - but if you give up and give in to power having merely added insight, a truly evil combination results. No longer acting in ignorance, you have to choose. And I would say, you have to keep choosing all the damn time, even if it is the path of love. To keep that up IMO (and small, rotten experience) requires the power of the warrior.

Mr Vortex, what's with the poodles??? Oh, I get it, it's "golden poodle body" Elsewhere in the news, this thread shows us just how hard it is to prove a "fake" image of anything. So, still watching TV everyone ? Nothing to do with Kunlun. Some folks I like have it as a practice and I think they're fine folks. My bias - as usual...discard. Edited:typo

I remember using the "I'm tired" excuse to get away from people I considered annoying. I figured if I was asleep, they'd leave me alone. I actually DID go to sleep during those moments. I don't use it quite so often nowadays but the sleepiness does seem to come with the "I want out of here" territory. Maybe because I "faked it" so well, it became true

hello! I looked through your site already and it and the book seems interesting. There was another member here who was heavily into all that stuff (Drew Hempel) but who has disappeared. I was just reading a neat post about the non-duality of Tao in stillness-motion and Fibonnaci sequence. Another of my music-related favourites is Daniel Levitin. I'm bad at math and at music but love jazz. Ever read any about where the term "jazz" originated? I really don't know what "we" are but I like to think we're a whole organism in concert with the earth and the cosmos. I like to think (and practice) a type of singing myself into existence sometimes. When I feel my energetic "signature" is on the "wrong" frequency (I guess it's more of a gestalt) I make an effort to change it into something more pleasant/harmonious. I wonder what's up with our music today. There's something that feels "icky" with the tones and the sugary rhythms. I get past the lyrics (often violent) it seems like children's tunes I heard when I was a kid. Welcome to TTB's Mr Music Guy!

"That is not what Missouri is like Kate." Missouri-Hawai- Maui, Bali, Bondai all sounds the same to me

Beautiful in theory and in practice. Thanks TaoMeow

----gnashing of teeth------

"But you told me before I agreed to teach there that we would have plenty of Sun and free flowing porter... ...Just kidding..." Now, I wonder what it would take in alms to get Ya Mu here in the middle of January - reference to typically disagreable weather. No beaches either. I gotta ask, why do all those great teachers have to go live in warm places with neat weather and beaches? And don't tell me it's to do with local energy vortexes when the Tibetans and the Siberians can obviously make do with steppes and mountains and caves and such

"Sheesh I am going to make it to Texas??" Yes. Even if it involves you leaving a little earlier than you had figured I reckon "whatever's left to do" can be done from there. I'm reminded of TaoMeow's "don't be there to get hit" and WLP moving his liver out of the way.

"But understand that it is "your fault", because you accept the role of the victim... " I "get" this conceptually but it bugs me a great deal because can you really say that the child I was "accepted the role of victim"? What else was I supposed to do? These days, I don't have to do that (anymore, thanks to many things, practice being one of them) but why the caveat that one "accepted" such things when one was not in a position to have the option to do otherwise? Isn't it just a device to "clear out" whatever's left of the effects of the abuse I suffered? I mean to really poke one into a state of grief? I have to say I'm confused about taking responsability this far. Any ideas why this is "the done thing"?

"Our beliefs give us security. If we loose our beliefs we loose our security and we think that this leaves us vulnerable to the many harmful things in life." When "in fact"? I won't be putting the punchline I want to on your post Mr MH. Tempted, but I won't.

"P.S. Deserve is a hard word.... I don't think I deserved for that man two months ago to come and hit me in my drivers side door, but I do believe I have learned a lesson. That material things can be replaced, but my life can not..." No I don't believe there was any "deserving" there either. The other idea, that there is a "lesson" in everything also smacks a bit of moral judgment. But I suppose it's technically correct too. I just don't feel good about making it into a grand theory.

"Have you ever considered that the constant questioning of your "path" is just a ploy by the ego to derail your practice?" I know this was suggested as a derail itself but I figure (ok, i know plus I believe if we're using TM and PW's definitions) it to be the case. So I'll put my answer here but it can be moved if unsuitable. It might be and it might not be and learning to tell the difference is part of path IMO (and shabby experience). So why is "ego" doing this? Ultimately IMO and E to continue to protect "you" - the whole organism from any more of the same harm that it already encountered, except that it protects itself in the process as well, it's timing is off, and yes can turn you away from practices that are designed to take you through the pain and out to the other side. If you want a better argument, "ego" is the thing that gets leveraged to make you buy things to be a "better you". It's also what hurts when you get "rejected" and when an idiot cuts you off on the highway. Maybe I should mention the invisible cloak at this point? Just to get back OT. I don't see (no pun intended) the point of having an invisible cloak.

Hi Cheya, Thanks for your reply. I supposed it might answer my question if I extrapolate it enough. But maybe I shouldn't take the chance? I've also noticed the way certain areas/meridians/bone/fascia seem to play together. But doing sword fingers is intented to regulate/open things that need opening. I was just concerned that doing it to myself could lead to error. Much like poking around in a scab might not be a really good idea There are no needles involved.

"simply by virtue of the fact they have started to believe in the newer possibilities of guardian angels, channelling outer dimensional beings, PLR(Past Lives thing), crystals, feng shui, NLP, reiki, aliens, mushrooms, joined meditation/yoga classes, etc etc. Imo, absolutely fantastic with expanding one's field of interest to inject a bit of needed variety into one's mundane life, but to think these have any spiritual significance in and of themselves might be stretching it a bit." I think it's unfortunate that all of the above be lumped together. I'd rather see them taken apart and given proper attention, but I realise that would be too much to ask, as usual. I also don't seem to have time to become an expert in all of them so I'm afraid I rely on people doing honest work in all of these areas I also disagree with this part you wrote: "to think these have any spiritual significance in and of themselves might be stretching it a bit." I think, well of course they have "spiritual significance"! Anything we do that implies a connection between the seen and the unseen is IMO an attempt to integrate "spirit". Is there a distinction between "spirit" and "mind"? Open for debate. However, adopting a pre-emptive belief in any of them without doing the necessary legwork, well, that's probably pointless and leaves you open to mucho BS, I agree. Edited:typo

"I don't know. But it's how stuff gets treated all the time (especially around here). Just peruse through some old threads on siddhis, psychic powers, paranormal abilities, qi powered super martial arts, etc etc." Right. I reckon it might be because TTB's is mainly: - Buddhist in culture. Because Buddhism is a neat dialectic (i.e. still mainly acceptable to Western cultures) that doesn't carry much weirdness until you hit shamanism tantra/bon. I guess philosophical Taosim is somewhere around there, but it gets weirder quicker IMO (and small, dithering experience). - Beginner's place (i.e. where many people come to have their beliefs challenged - sometimes quite hard - which can be hard going) I reckon if you can practice to the point where none of the above (siddhis, psychic powers, paranormal abilities, qi powered super martial arts) are anything more than extensions of your own human awareness and physical address then are we still talking "abnormal"? Possibly. Maybe not. "No, not think of me as "a president." But see me as the CURRENT president. As in, I'd walk into a room and make everyone think I was Obama. Then I'd give some speech and everyone would be like, "wow, it was totally Obama." Then it's like, in reality, Obama was on the other side of the planet. But thousands of people would be like, "no, I saw him, for real he was there!". THAT kind of illusion." Oh. I dunno. I guess you could make a drama-docu of Obama's last year? Something like that? I don't think the illusions that are being discussed involve the person being anything other than themselves.