Birch

"What you think of as indoctrination is actually insight" Nope. Although I won't disagree that being around belief can lead to insight. I think you got my emotions all wrong too. Although that's also an assumption on my part. I ought to have been clearer about what I meant. Yes the emotions are all there with it but I don't consider my response "overemotional" given that we are referring to a specific life-space. Certainly, take me way down (or up) to molecular level and we can discuss with dispassion. But until we meet there, I will do my best to appreciate you on this level;-)

Oh it IS a revenge tactic. Vaj-dear you ought to stop it right now. It's (ought to be;-)) beyond your level;-)

Well, as "your" girlfriend, she may very well bring some sense to "your" discourse;-) When I saw the Butthead post I really wanted to reach out to you and show you some compassion. I was thinking to myself "Hey, the Vaj dude isn't so after all" - turns out i was right;-) But maybe you want to keep your passwords for yourself ;-)

I think that when my cat was dying he taught me compassion.

"evil (and yes, likely through his own suffering)" Vaj, I conceive of your idea (which sucks IMO) and I understand it and I reckon you've misunderstood what I meant by "evil" - for me it really does mean "through suffering" - although I am wondering if there are maybe some very aware psychopaths out there. THAT would be worse. There's something about attempting to describe karma as something "intentional" or "deserved" which I personally find disagreeable. I understand it to be your perspective, but I need more contemplation. The idea of an ego carried through a continuum of karmic experience is a tough one as well. I'd love for you to stray a little from your beliefs (as I see it) and get me a message that I don't need a doctorate in your religion to understand.

I think I mentioned this (or a paraphrase) elsewhere: ALL that, and it leads to where we are now. Telling each other about it by tapping on some plastic. After I started cultivating (I won't say "cultivation") - I had a few super weird dreams which I would say are relevant, yet I'm not sure why. I pretty much let them go: - The Buddhist temple priests who said "We'll take care of this one" - The writhing human forms in blood and fire inside a mountain (probably Kunlun, although not 100% sure;-)) - Waking up as an Asian woman (relatively recent in cultural terms) looking at herself in a mirror

Hum. Most days I am dealing with a "you say tomatoe, I say tomahto" problem per consensual (as opposed to "absolute") reality - and that one all by itself goes pretty damn far enough. So maybe the whole "Karma" term is suffering from a similar issue? My present understanding of it is that it has NOTHING to do with deserving (moral sense) and is a pretty simple cause/effect - action/reaction thing. Yes we may act (and just how far "act" can get broken into its constituent process is also still up for debate) in ways that are unaware. I disagree that you can expect a small kid to have that level of awareness (which is also learned/trained - aren't many of us here on TTB to do exactly that???) BUT the asshole who did her wrong certainly should have trained it. He likely did not. The dependent origination in that picture is that a definitely evil (and yes, likely through his own suffering) individual (ego) went out and with full disregard for humanity committed an abhorrent act. The "reason" that girl became "the victim" was a) because the guy was a perp and b ) because she was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

This is interesting. - changes in attitude - changes in motivation - changes in understanding of yourself - changes in understanding your role in life - changes in your relationship to certain aspects of life (pretty conceptual - but still;-)) I often read about distinctly "physical" stuff here for K. So if you have big fire snake sensations up your back and the next day nothing else has changed in your understanding, is that Kundalini? And if you have it - what will you do with it? More power to your Big Mac?

I'm interested in this one because I read it to be about how to avoid the "unpleasant" energy as well as the drains - whether that might be: - ours - someone else's - something else's You know the thing, you get up in the morning all content with great attitude and intent, then it happens. For no immediately discernible reason, suddenly you feel awful, you're anxious, maybe fearful, somewhat depressed, tired. I've had this happen in public spaces where the stuff going on around me felt too aggressive or sad (yes, my judgment) or in other settings where you just seem to get drained by spending time with certain people. It can get chronic. Are we looking at some kind of unconscious cuing? So you're in fact acting without discerning? What about the others?Energy just balancing itself out? So if I'm in a great mood I should actually expect someone/something somewhere to drain it? I suspect if I practiced some kind of continuous Vipassana it might bring greater awareness of the interplays and I'm also very interested in a) not being drained and not being an unconscious drain myself.

Voodoo? Same thing, similar thing?

But in its players Unaware of their part in the game Something stirs

I couldn't answer the poll because most of the stuff that has really helped me wasn't on it. Plus you made it radio buttons so I couldn't tick off multiples. - quit smoking - quit "the pill" - quit living in a place I couldn't (some situations just aren't worth it) - learning attitude changing techniques - learning awareness changing techniques - more physical exercise - better diet - more sleep - trying (still;-)) to be kinder towards myself - KAP (brings context) - meditation - yoga (BKS) - TTB forum (seriously;-)) for philosophizing in distinguished company. My best "energy levels" were when I was around 8-9-10 (in any case before puberty hit and everyone started hating me;-)) I had a couple of "highs" all round at 19, 21, 28, 31, 35 but they didn't last. Things are always going up and down.

"I have never seen any scientific study that has ever presented varifiable proof and evidence that anyone has ever had awareness of anything prior to birth." - me neither AND has anyone seen any scientific and verifiable proof and evidence that anyone ever DID NOT have awareness of anything prior to birth? That's the stuff I' d be down for spending research $ on. Why aren't we doing that? "It is true that everyone does not remember their dreams. But not all people dreams in a depth where they had any realization of dreaming so they basically did not dream. Yes, there are those who say that everyone dreams. I do not agree with this assessment. The same applies to after death." - How? You're much better than me for explaining things and I'd love to be able to work it out how the consideration of dreams can be equivalent to the consideration of death. I don't expect an answer right away because people have spent thousands of years on this already. I spend a considerable amount of time on it too. I don't know if I'm getting anywhere much;-) "I cannot prove any of this because it does not exist." - nope, you're usually better than this. - "I cannot prove any of this" - "It does not exist" What form would proof take? Hopefully you see this as helpful (like a cat might help its owner to realise where the fridge is, or what comfy feels like) I'm also doing it to help myself since I haven't honed my logic as much as I should have and you're much better at it that I am.

Hi Seth, My condolences on the loss of your father. Thank you for giving me some advice on what to do when that time comes. Hopefully I'll be able to do something like it. Love, Kate

----------------------------------Interlude--------------------------------------- Oh crap :-( I have to OT the OP to question the "emotional" vs the "sexual" thingy. How sure are we that we're talking straight about what those things are? It seems to me (at least) we're (still?) sort of at an "emotional is for girls" and "sexual is for boys" thingamajig. And yes, it would be a pretty "traditional" place to be in - especially since all those "Taoist circles" seem to see it that way. Seeing it any other way might? Seriously, what would happen if we allowed each other to feel BOTH?? Maybe more fun? Maybe a little more love? Yes, it's a song lyric... ------------------------------------interlude-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Back to Holosync. I've been intrigued by it but strangely enough the idea felt kind of gross to me, like I couldn't do it by myself and needed a crutch. Nowadays I'm not so sure. Vehicles abound, does it matter which one you get into? If so, why? If not, why not? Is your own "control" of the practice required? If so, then why?

Just out of curiosity - no mentions of pre-birth anything? I'm wondering about the mother/child mind/body prior to birth (Note I'm not up for a game of "when is a fetus viable" by posting this.)

HeHeHeHe Little 1 - are you attempting to suggest that only the ladies have emotional imbalances and outbursts? You're right on time, I was looking for someone to shout at;-) But I guess I'll just do some housework instead

Granted.

This is a nice thread! Stig, I only saw you I think with one definition of religion. You didn't (or no-one else did) mention the Latin root-word "religare" (tie, bind etc) and I'm sure there is a follow-through and an evolution of that word. I'm not sure if "religion" existed/exists as a term used by the people in the places where the practices and philosophies had their origin and progression. Do you know of any terms that could come close? The term "religion" certainly exists for many of us here - with differing degrees of appreciation;-) The gap is worth taking into account IMO. So I wonder, did any kind of term for "Taoism" exist per se for the people who were practicing the techniques and philosophies throughout much of the history we are discussing? From your post, it didn't seem that way. I'm presently thinking that a number of practices and philosophies exist(ed) and that the compilation of them into a body of knowledge, the "ownership" of that body of knowledge and the mediation between the "lay" people and that body of knowledge is where "religion" was/is. I don't agree that ritual is a necessary component of religion. I get up every morning and have coffee (and I direct a certain amount of gratitude for that every day;-)) although that's possibly just a worldly corruption of the original term;-)

Granted. And your doughnut is all you have to eat for the rest of your life. I wish we all cared about each other more than we do.

Wow! It's great that there are so many perspectives to look at. Some of them are pretty compelling. Do I have to choose one? I feel more like printing the thread out and putting it somewhere I can read it with some regularity - or at least put it somewhere so the relevant questions are at hand. I'd like to contribute more but am presently a) tired concerned that I might not live up to the other posts - which is a pretty dumb thing to admit - given the subject matter. And yet as soon as I read the words ending in "-ist" i got all bent out of shape It was clearly a signal to me that I might be up for some kind of ridicule if I tried to take part in any -ist-related posting. Yup, going to print this one out. ----------------------------------------- Carson, congratulations for the arrival of your son Thanks for re-including me in the thread Much appreciated.

Thanks! So when you mentioned: "Ginger root has cleansing properties for the intestines, kidneys, and skin." did you mean dried or fresh. In other words, "warming" as in 2) or ? I've bought fresh before and it is just so much more work to juice! Making tea with dried ginger on the other hand is super easy. I haven't yet (after 1 tries;-)) felt excessive warmth with it. Plus I just like taste.

SB, if I'm reading this right you have a BF who comes by twice a year to do you anal and nothing else??? I don't know what else to say but I would personally DTMFA. Or maybe I read it wrong, but ??? Jeez, Mal could visit from OZ at least that often and he would do right by you. I feel I need to apologize for the raw post

Thanks for this - I just happened to be considering options. I'd read the other post and thought it was good but this one is better with the "how-to". The only thing I didn't read (maybe you mentioned it) was if the herbs were fresh or dried. Does it make a difference?

Oh thanks! I liked this too! What's up with "structure"?