Birch

Honey?

Watch out for the 'with pulp' and 'without pulp' distinction on the can. I don't like it with bits in it.

Like putting her own DNA in a bottle to be worn??? Batshit.

I'm not very concerned about possible elitism. I am concerned about actual physical and mental and other consequences of some buddhist practices. Like I mentioned elsewhere, depends what you're burning:-)

Read the post about the Lady Gaga perfume composition. It's weird as f6ck. I mean couldn't these nutjobs just do something simple like meditate? Oh wait I forgot Russel Brand's endorsement of yoga on the Deepak Chopra Youtube channel. Yey, let's bring yoga to prisons. That will help.

Taoism helps me through Zen's dark nights. Kundalini craps up your adrenals.

I went looking for it and haven't found yet but did stumble across this fun article http://vigilantcitizen.com/vigilantreport/top-10-most-sinister-psyops-mission-patches/

Why believe what Sri figured to be true? Or what anyone else did/does, for that matter? I appreciate the striving to find out what is true and I appreciate people that embody and explain what they have found to be true for themselves. But I don't appreciate the negation of accumulated truths under this banner. I'm thinking rejection of plant-based healing, rejection of relationships with aspects of our environment. If you're going to burn stuff up, IMO/IME, best know what you're burning and why. Of course one could/might argue that 'pure awareness' already knows everything so we can always 'return'... Meh.

Not to be flippant (except I obviously was, just in the previous post) but I fully expect someone who has risen themselves (or has been 'recognized' at a high spiritual-level to a) know what they are doing b)know what they are doing. Otherwise, to not allow themselves to be in any position to do things which they have even an inkling that what they are doing is not of benefit to others. Sure, of course, the women (any men in there as well? If not, why not?) ought also to 'know what they are doing'. But this is IMO judging the 'students' to the caliber at which we wish to judge the 'teacher'. Backwardsland.

Isn't Tantra just a really really great shag?

I don't know very much (as in 'almost nothing') about karma. I have ideas about it. The mathematical approach never struck me but (if go sneaking off into ideas about 'information entropy' which I'd be hard-pushed to actually describe (otherwise known as 'justify') I'm sure I'd find something of a something there. There's a way of 'sorting' information and such into 'levels' that seemingly have no intersection with each other (or intersections that are denied, or wished aside, or other). So for example, if someone acts on a level that is considered only to be 'psychological' then that IMO/IME is a denial of the other intersecting levels at which whatever the action operates. 'Gates'. Currently - watching out for a 'new' discipline' called 'embodied cognition'.

That's interesting Taomeow. I did try it (I'm almost embarrassed to say that) and it didn't work for me and I did dig into why it didn't work for me and I concluded certain things about it but hadn't figured that one. One of the things I love about life itself is that it will rebel and reject (all by itself) anything that isn't real or in-tune with it.

I don't see a wish to improve one's life as negative. For example, I have all these very conditioned ways of seeing things and responding to things that result in an unsatisfactory (for me, in my own opinion and experience, no-one else's) life. There are things I don't dare to do, feel inadequate about, fear about and there are things that I do do and think that have real life crappy results. Desiring to rid myself of said conditioning (and thoughts and actions) with the expectation/hunch/goal that my life will be more satisfactory is IMO/IME a positive wish. What I understand about this idea is that I become aware that I have all these faulty thoughts and do all these things but I don't hate myself for it. Not hating myself for it allows me to look them all (the thoughts and the ways of seeing and the actions) squarely in the face and actually decide whether I want to think or do any of them rather than being compelled. Edit: I wanted to add that in some readings I've made of buddhism, what I've understood is that the above goals are considered impossible to achieve in buddhism because they are of the domain of 'ego' and that's basically what it does for a living- ensures suffering and dissatisfaction. That could be true but I find it pessimistic and disempowering:-)

No, not forgotten:-) One of the interesting things I find about 'social evolution' is that it builds on the past very slowly with very few radical breaks. So if your previous 'labour model' was one of slavery and then factory, even when whatever is being done no longer warrants that model in any sense (and even when it might make more sense to drop it), there's still going to be stuff left over from it and people who persist in justifying the practices. There are lots of other models of work.

I have spent some time in what could be termed 'power struggles' this year. And most of them have been about really complicated stuff about who sees what which way and therefore imposes their way of seeing on the other (power struggles are rarely simple, between two individual parties but they often play that way IME). For most of them, I have been fighting against the other person's viewpoint. That is both time-consuming on both our parts and exactly what the other person wants - to strengthen their viewpoint. And what I want too, because if I win, then my viewpoint in strengthened. Now, why anyone would want to do this, why? Can only mean that the viewpoint is so weak it needs to be strengthened. Wouldn't it be better to find a stronger viewpoint that doesn't require this much work?

Never done it (sleep deprivation) intentionally. But have done unintentionally. I suspect that matters very much. Each time I've been sleep-deprived, the results have been pretty similar: - slight euphoria (the 'oh my god I can keep on going despite this' feeling) - fearlessness - slight visual hallucinations (those 'droplets' falling from the ceiling, 'spider webs', 'animals' in peripheral vision) It has almost always been 'good' due to the above stuff that goes with. I don't think I've formally 'used' it for anything. I can see why it would be a 'good' time to do so. The return after such has almost always been horrible.

My question is why bother appealing to 'higher powers' to justify what you would like to do with yours? I haven't worked out (yet) why authority requires just such an appeal to a 'higher' authority to do anything, unless, of course, whatever they want is fully bogus all the way down the line. I was wondering too if whatever premise relying on such 'higher' authority could be deemed bogus if no such 'higher' authority is to be found. I'm still in the process of trying to find out what's not bogus. I'd find it more helpful that if we're going to discuss and compare such things as gender roles, we stick to human societies. Otherwise the premises are shot before we even begin.

Meditating on what's there doesn't change what's there.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vs6H5nNZb1M Ain't it interesting that we're talking about this stuff now:-)

Yeaah. It's not an 'easy' practice for sure. Scott, I don't feel sick about other people. I feel sick about my reactions to them. It's not (at present) a controllable reaction internally (although it likely unnoticeable to anyone outside:-)) and to suggest otherwise is interesting but currently not in my experience. So I just sit through until it passes (which it always does:-)) Reckon I'm at that 'need to take a vacation from dogmatic, pontificating people on TTB's point that it seems many reach:-) - MY will has spoken:-)-

I'm trying this thing at the moment where I just keep watching myself. Find out in each case 'whose' 'will' is being asserted at any given time. Sometimes I feel sick when I understand just 'whose' 'will' it is. It's rarely mine arising from the present circumstances is what I'm finding. Very unpleasant indeed. Even saying this, I know it's not 'my will' but a wish to come across as a 'good practitioner'. Hahaha. Et-thoughts, has it occurred to you that your pissing some people off might not be their doing? I've seen this before on here.

No, it's more like a very concentrated focus that I keep putting back on the place I don't want to be in until 'something' arises from there.

Ah, yes indeed. Such a cop-out. Have you ever had to deal with such 'selves' Mr Gagnam? Suggest you attempt it :-) Sheesh I find you irritating - must work on that. Book here: http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Borderline-Mother-Unpredictable-Relationship/dp/0765703319

No, on moms who bust them and what to do about it (aside from never seeing them ever again, although that is suggested as an option if she's one of the more dangerous types - either to you, others or herself) If you have these people in your life (or are one) it's worth a look. It's not 'spiritual' much as a book, more of something I read to calm myself down:-)

It's good stuff Mark. What about when you get to a place (very physically) that you'd rather avoid, or not touch? I've not so far been able to do that in a 'relaxed' manner. More like I laser it, which might be a mispractice but I don't have excellent skills either so I'm not burning anything (I hope!)