Birch

Thanks Leon. I needed to be reminded. Have a great weekend! Kate

"Proust and The Squid" Then what everyone else suggested;-) Failing that. Talk to people.

i don't know. I would tend to think that the bums have it pretty right when it comes to analysis of where someone is at. What I like the most about these people (the Bums) is that they do not tend to behave like other internet crowds when faced with someone's real offline pain. I have read online about the people that watched some kid explain that he wanted to kill himself - on webcam - and then went ahead and did it and no-one intervened! i think there's a time for reflection and a time for action. I think you need to act to save yourself first. Call your family/friends/ 911. Tell them what's happening. Once the fire is out and you have recovered, then start looking for the why (if you want). I think that Var is a very good guy on here. He does what he says. As do many on this forum. Also please tell someone who can give immediate help. You will get through. Kate

This is the only thing I've read about this stuff that made much sense to me: If you are trying to clear a house of its previous energies then whatever you are doing to accomplish that must include an obvious symbolic (I'm guessing 'symbolic to you' or to the people you are dealing with) escape route, like open windows, doors etc. What I understood is that she doesn't want it to go. So why bother? Kind of like if the ex-boyfriend was still 'around' - those can take a while to leave;-) It would be her call. I like the DIY vs craftsman analogy. If I don't have the skill to DIY, why DIY?? Call the plumber or the carpenter. Typical man thing to not want to hire the craftsman;-) I'm joking;-p

Happy Birthday Sean! Thanks for the forum. It's really cool!

Funny. This is where we suddenly 'forget' all the 'We are one' stuff? If we don't forget that, then I conclude that we are doing it all to ourselves. We're already doing it! The question I want to know the answer to would be 'Why?'

Oh cool! That happened just as or after I'd thought of it. Good on Sean! He is a very nice overlord;-) Kate

These are great! Thanks Stig. What do folks think about making them a sticky? I realise that that could be controversial. But if you're a new person on here it could be worth having straight off the bat. Kate

My take is that people want to give up the desire rather than the thing they desire. I know it sounds a bit weird but this one worked for me for quitting smoking: - allow yourself to keep the desire for action - just don't do the action - the desire ends as a result The above doesn't bypass cold turkey cravings however, so maybe a softer route is around here somewhere. You could also try Sodaclub - just don't put the syrup in there (maybe you just like fizzy water?) You will work it out! Kate

I like this one but it's possible I picked it off somewhere. "All these people are looking for 'the One' when they're 'the One' themselves and don't even know it. Stop pretending 'the One' is someone else you need."

How about `Kanshu?` (like asked as a question?) Or 'Book discussions'? Kate

The way I see it is Gossamer wants help in a form that he can unconditionally accept and about the results of which he can easily form a positive expectation (don't we all;-)?) 'Cosmic stuff' is way harder to analyse 'rationally' for most people (except Taomeow who I would love to hear from on this topic ;-)) and so people can allow it to operate on the levels they want/need. This is just my opinion, of course and I'm also in favour of using any form of intervention that has documented results, including psychotherapy, nutrition, I guess even meds on the short terrm (although I read something recently about medication that I found problematic - if you stop using them then you're back to square one.) The other suggestion I have for you Gossamer is to become a student of your problem. Educate yourself on it, what it is, what it is not. Ask questions about what is going on. Kind of like leading your own scientific investigation. That would be my call. Wishing you all the best, Kate

I'm in it a lot these days. It helped when I hit the neuroscience bookshelf as well as older sources which I found too 'mystical' and heavy on ambiguous and symbolic language to my ears. Agree that not taking it seriously is the way to go. Easier to say than to do! Also, my call would be to go easy on the poor thing, persist gently. It's there for a (up to now) legitimate reason and to shift to a different way of seeing it seems smoother as an exit strategy. A perspective shift is also easier to explain to it than 'death' which really made/makes it harder for me than I think it should be. My take on this difficulty is that it's cultural for me to perceive death in a negative light and to fear it. But having spoken to folks who are now most likely the other side of that hurdle, it does work out ok. I'd add for myself that those grounding exercises help a great deal. Take it easy, Kate

Hello! Whatever or whichever dogma you're most interested in should still be taken with a grain (or several tonnes;-)) of salt. I'm assuming you went for something that grabbed you more than other stuff did. As the old saying goes "Look before you leap" and good luck with it all. I like "taoism" better than other things I've come across. That doesn't mean much to an agnostic (yes I did switch from atheism;-)) if you're craving spirituality it may just be that sensuality is what you really need! Happy New Year! Kate

I'm in for 10USD. The guy needs help and I need to see him helped. If Mak is engaged to help and Gossamer is willing to accept, then I'm good for ten USD. Put me in. Kate

Hum, But how do you know you're being victimized rather than subjecting yourself to something for your own gain? Could it just be an exchange that you might get back on later (that hour, that day, that week, later?) If you're a victim, don't you have to be willing to be one to be one? What happens if you're not willing? Does no one attack, do they stil do it or do you attack instead? I`m not good at this unless we can bring it back into very tangible terms (works the same I guess) but it does remind me of a quote I heard once. It went along the lines of being insulted only if you believed (even to a very small extent) the insult, otherwise it wouldn't bother you. So, along similar lines, if you feel that someone is draining you, wouldn't you have to be letting it happen (even a bit?) for it to happen? Kate (the-dork-I-said-it-first;-))

Oooh, I was posting about this the other day;-) What's scary about someone else knowing 'what' you're dreaming? Half the time I can't work it out;-) I'll admit that I definitely auto-censure when the stuff gets too weird (or rated;-)) to tell people about

Dumb question day;-) So if I can get myself flying (I have to make a big effort to do so BTW, and I can only get a bit off the ground intentionally, not fly like a jet plane) in my dreams, that doesn't count, does it? Does it only count if someone else can see it? Or if I made a video of my dream? Like an ECG, or do other people have to be able to see it as pictures in their own minds that they consider believable to be able to say I did do it? Can the videos be in black and white or is colour manditory? I`m sort of confused about that. But if we're strictly talking about lifting my waking body off the surface of the earth for a while, in a manner that other people can watch 'in real time' all while they're there (and not asleep) and say 'yes she did fly' then no I can't. And if I could, why would I do it? Save airfares? Or gas? ok maybe good then;-) Unless you count jumping on or off things. In which case we all fly all the time, every time we put one foot in front of the other. I told you it was a dumb question day! Kate

Hi! This is just a suggestion, but why not try going to see someone who has a really good handle on the energy centres you're feeling and ask them to help (and I guess you could learn from them as well, if you want and they're willing to discuss it - which people often are). In addition, 'lack of self-confidence' is a term you added to the mix. What do you just feel and where, without interpreting what it is? The idea would be that you lose the interpretation with whatever and just deal with what the energy is doing. An example of interpretation is someone drinking coffee and then wondering why their heart is beating a whole lot, getting all 'anxious' and so and so. Oh, that could be me some days ;-) But if we redefined the anxiety as 'a buzz' that would be better! Kate

This is a very sensitive topic (no kidding sherlock!) so I will try to be careful. I think that 'bad' in the sense of 'morality' very often coincides with actions that will have bad effects (often) on the health of the person, but that it often coincides doesn't make it a cause. Nor does it hold, other than coincidentally (which you can argue on the basis of dependent arising is the same deal, but anyway, I`m not good enough at dogma to beat anyone on that), that 'good' in the sense of morality will have good implications for the person concerned. The counter-example is, I guess, you could beat me to death for holding a dogmatic view that I consider 'good' and that you consider 'bad' but these things are created and acted upon by us people and fully within our control to cease. In the case of Mother Teresa, I wonder if her heart wasn't broken. http://www.npr.org/blogs/news/2007/08/moth...al_crisi_1.html (I didn't find some of the commentary on there to be particularly compassionate but I just wanted to find a quick link to it). When I see the TTB discussions about immortality, I sometimes wonder why anyone would want to consciously persist under such conditions. On the other hand, if you change the conditions, then it is absolutely worth pursuing. Well, so far, that's what I've got to believing. Kate

You're all right ;-) Saying "Maybe I'm wrong" is an invitation to you to tell me you agree with what I just said, or to get myself another opportunity to get you to convince me by your arguments so I end up agreeing with you. So we're all right. Awesome! Except when we collectively aren't ;-) I love this forum;-) Kate Edit: I almost forgot "we agree to disagree", in which case, we're still all right ;-)

Maybe more care should be taken by us all in understanding what we're about to do before we do it? This is why TTB is very useful! Just because it's more or less 'intangible' doesn't mean that caution can't be (or shouldn't be) exercised. You wouldn't ingest 500 grams of something before you knew what it was and what it would likely do. Would you? ... You also wouldn't try lifting something very heavy if you didn't have prior training and technique, would you? Whatever route is taken to describe what these techniques 'are' (back to same old same old terminology problems?) is also going to effect the perception (for some) of the results. From what I've read/understood, any shamanic or transformational initiation is going to have a 'problematic' component to it. Otherwise it wouldn't be recognized as part of the shamanic experience. It would just be easier on some people if their majority culture was ok with them going through it. We so often overlook the cultural aspect of our characters. It reminds me of the separate status that transsexuals enjoy in some cultures (ask me which ;-) I'll have to google that for you;-)) and which is actually valued by the rest of the community because they perform specific rites that no one else can. Cheers, Kate

Well maybe some of this would explain why I have to keep cutting back on energy practices;-) I have no idea, I really don't. But I'm thinking (in a very generic way) that if you try to do some things on top of a specific cultural and personal conditioning and these things are too 'far out' from where you're at, then that's probably asking for weirdness at least, if not some sort of minor (or major) psychological conflict.

Watch out for Reiki hangovers;-) I`m sure that Reiki is one of the reasons I`m now interested in all this stuff even more.

Hey. I checked out that Byron Katie (at least I'm sure that she was mentioned somewhere in this thread...) Very well done (I know it might seem a bit overdone for some, but IMO she's got it). Anyway, why is everyone talking about the girl in the story? Cheers, Kate