Birch

Oh, what to say...? If our new friend LTZ is in fact learning English then you've just provided a major disincentive. Or did I miss something and you're making an in-joke because you're actually trilingual and ashamed of it?

So what is the deal with Egypt then?

Oh alright then.

Good video Drew. Still, he's a human, right? Or is he now assimilated to the spores? Wait a minute, what if all our problems are just due to humanity's jonesing for more magic shrooms?... Still not agreeing with you on the human=extinction event. That's talking far too much like your adversaries.

I suspect without some kind of cultivation I wouldn't want to be in a place where I even want to help anyone else. Another perspective, is that once people have opened up to "that" they won't be able to do otherwise.

Do you have an idea for how to tell the difference between a charlatan and a non-charlatan?

Yeah it's one of those:-) I don't know how the authors intended the book to be understood. I noticed that a lot of the stuff in there was about very specific practices and texts. Other parts of it recalled my own experience (small!) with qigong. There were some interesting ideas about how to set up iching (just one arrangement of the hexagrams) and some other stuff that I've seen referenced elsewhere in practioner books (like ru-ding). For other parts of it to make sense, one has to adopt a very different tacit view of reality.

I think the tough experiences i have been through have lead me to question everything and find solutions for myself. Will those solutions work for others? Nothing could be further from the truth. I disagree with you Drew that humans are some kind of blight. That seems to be a far too common view today. And handing the responsability over to large processors with the wrong algorythms is suicidal IMO. It's like putting the wrong formula for risk management of derivatives into the hands of accountants. Oh wait...

Ok, does the OP mean people are using qi to deceive? That people are being deceived about what qi is? What about going to church, if one is a churchgoer? Or a large political rally or a rock concert or to the doctor's office, or to the acupuncturist? Are we talking about charlatans and the people that get taken in?

Just reading Opening the Dragon Gate about WLP. It specifically mentions his living conditions and what he does (or did) with the money from teaching. I guess if all the stuff written in that book is true then yes, we're looking at a very high-level master and some serious lineage.

"The drawbacks, the downsides, the side-effects, the confusions, the nightmares, the incoherencies, depressions, anger, little traumas - these usually will not arise for a while - those who experience such symptoms will quickly be told they have not given the practice enough time to penetrate sufficiently so that the rewiring process can happen at a more fundamental level, while those who experience difficulties after a longer period will be given a different spin. " Interesting Mr Cow. Could you go into more detail about these things as well as what might be done if one encounters them? Thanks!

In progress:-) Salutes to Dragons!

Happy New Year:-)!

That's not the issue. Well, at least not for me it is/wasn't. -----opinion alert----

Hi Folks! Happy day after the day before to all:-) I wanted to get people's takes on their experience with feeling "stuff" behind the written word. Especially online. I've noticed I seem to pick up on very specific "vibes" in posts that don't seem to be related to whatever the text actually says. We've discussed "projection" a lot on here which might make sense sometimes (as in when one feels a post directly pertains to oneself and I refer to as a "drive by" ) but not always. Drew, I think I already know what you might say;-) and I'm also looking for others' input. Thanks!

I think that's a good idea Scott. Thanks!

Ack. Who's to say the total avatar folks aren't already hanging out in various online venues? I certainly hope they're a) having fun and also learning something about cultivation, just enough to try it maybe? Could be good for them:-)

Er, because you're more fun:-)? No, seriously, I figure it's to do with longevity on the board. LT just turned up and started insulting folks whereas to do so properly requires that folks get to know each other for proper insulting, otherwise they feel insulted. Great book = Opening the Dragon Gate.

Oh wow Cat! Yes I have experienced it first hand. I suppose that goes a long way to explain why I'm "picky" about communication and potentially also where my high emotional/feeling sensitivity is from. In other words, if you can't count on someone to tell you the truth, you have to find some other way :-) I suppose it also explains my distaste for "it's all in the eye of the beholder" or to further translate "it's all in your head" type philosophies. To me they are a reminder of similar unpleasantness. And if we go further into the "you do not exist" type of idea, frequently bandied harder and more often by people who themselves are supposed to have (at least in theory) accepted that they themselves do not exist but can't just stop there and be content with it but also insist on bringing the good news to all and then proceed to argue the life out of folks, well, we have a winning combination Winning for whom exactly is a whole other thing.

So why bother telling me?

But a bit of proving ought to be good enough I don't think you need to prove anything to the newly arrived. However, you may consider it worthwhile to do so to some other people on here. I believe several of them them know what they're looking at when they see it.

Nice post Mark! Yes I have read that book. Not much memory of it, however. Edit: congee:-) could be a good idea for us all:-)

That's good advice for guys Drew. But what should us women do to avoid, whatever is a good thing to avoid? ----personal issue with qi-gong practice instructions not for women alert ------

Only if they ask you to Otherwise, no, totally not

The opinion alert is a new #tag I came up with so people would be sure I was only talking from a personal POV :-) Thing is, "businesses" are also created by "people like us". It's just a structure for being in a very particular environment. I don't agree with everything that structure implies, but if I'm going to do other than rant I have to (presently) use whatever form is available without letting that form take over what I really ought to be doing. It is tricky though. If the stupid online parcimonious act gets passed stateside then there are still workabouts. Besides, IMO internet is already somewhat inflitrated with BS:-) y'know, signals, noise :-). I'm not so sure that measures to ensure its commercial viability will utlimately work to companies' nor countries' benefit.