Mal

Well, I do trust Mat's opinion............... but the whole thing just screams placebo effect to me. The machine sounds interesting though, hard to make a hole in a cloud with a placebo

Hi Katherine, Welcome to TTB. I don't know much positive infomation about Biodisks....... I do beleive that they can / will work for some people. I hope you have been having success with yours. But I wouldn't recomend buying one, pretty expensive IMHO.

Thanks for the list Arnquist I'll have to check out "Michael Moore Hates America." I use to be on his mailing list till it just got a bit too much. But his doc's are very enjoyable. Is "Guns germs and steel" a doc of the Jared Diamond book?

Sha Qi (pronounced shah chee; meaning "killing or destructive energy) Well that's another one for my glossary I learn something everyday............

You might be able to find it in here, they are arranged by date. http://www.bopsecrets.org/gateway/passages/tao-te-ching.htm I'm just discovering the joys of the many different translations of Chang Tzu, have fun with the Tao Te Ching

Not to start a war but Wiki - Jargon is terminology that relates to a specific activity, profession or group. Much like slang it develops as a kind of shorthand, to quickly express ideas that are frequently discussed between members of a group. In many cases a standard term may be given a more precise or specialized usage among practitioners of a field. So it seems pretty much like jargon to me.

haha thanks. The sequel is fun too, "Can you play some more" And it's dangerous to go alone, take this

Well I don't know much about Pilates. But I don't think I'd be able to retain anything after a pilates class either, unless it was an all male class

Final edit. Well I tried not to practice. But I was outside on my bench in the light rain with my cat. And there was nothing else I wanted to do. And I felt content and full after my kebab. And everything was so nice. And Deanne called in sick to work and is asleep now. And I didn't feel like my herbal friend yet (lol is that like mothers little helper ? ) And Kunlun is fun so....... But it doesn't count because I didn't use my sheepskin in the rain, and it was only 20/20, no matter how enjoyable it was to laugh like a fool in the rain, no matter about the weird visual phenomina. Doesn't count, not real practice, not hard enough

To sort of hijack a bit. Does anyone routinely keep their tongue touching the roof of the mouth? Back in the 90's I though it would be good to do this all the time, so every time I though of it throughout the day I would touch my tongue to my pallet. After a year every time I though of it, it was already touching. Effects, not really any I've noticed. Apart from being annoying when you read instruction that say, now touch the tongue to the roof of the mouth, Arrgh I've already been doing that

Just part of the fun of written communication on the net I guess

Later edit. Isn't it funny how you will ask a question and expect to hear the answer you already think is correct. Obviously I am wanting something that will make things harder. My mind is telling me it can't be that simple Felt really hungry during kung fu practice, so I didn't practice today, went to get a kebab instead. Decided to let go of the superiority complex that I get from everyday practice. On the way home the rain stopped and I saw a full rainbow. A rare sight. And one end was over my house Basically I'm just going to get up and meditate in the morning, and if for whatever reason that doesn't happen ......................well tomorrow is another day.

Learning a martial art has decreased the complaints about my singing It had also stoped me caring about it if people complain However it (the singing) remains as bad as always. I too am a harmonica player.

Alchemy texts are full of jargon like that, usually on purpose as they are refering to very specific processes that take forever to describe specifically in any language. And it does help to obscure the meaning too, did anyone ever really want to physically make "gold" out of "lead" Personally I use to keep a notebook and made my own glossary that I would cross reference texts against. Once I started to understand the jargon and "made it my own" I found it quicker and easier to just read the jargon. But that glossary was an essential project for me, very educational.

Unfortunately that will never change & unfortunately getting older does not help, although it may remove the teachers, usually they will be replaced by friends. More option can just mean more confusion. This is good, gives you a chance to change if you want later. It's really hard to know what you want to be when you grow up, and I'm not sure that taoism addresses that issue very well. Anyone got a reference? I remember vague obligations to be the best that you can to help society, but I could be getting confused with Confucius I'm 34 and still don't know. Taoism to me is about sitting back and relaxing, possibility not a good aim at the start of life. Some education opportunities are time dependent and can not be repeated later in life without great difficulty and lots of money. So personally I went with as much education as I could get (I miss not continuing onto post graduate, at the time I'd had enough study and was lured away by money) Eventually went down to a job I don't give a damn about, but it gives me enough money to enjoy life. I agree, my partner is one of the 1% girls so she forgives you too I am very lucky.

Great photos on that video I need to stay out of the UFO threads

Perhaps you could have shared some tips that helped you? When I watch beginners trying to do something that I can do, I find laughing at them to be less than helpful. At least you chuckled quietly.

Mmmm sort of slowly happening by itself (at least in terms of quantity) which is pretty scary. Not being able to practice after also gives me an excuse not to get smashed as often. It's good to know that I'm still willing to forgo when required (like on new years, or today actually) and put other things first, shows I'm still not too addicted, which is good. And Kunlun has very similar effects anyhow, even down to slight pain relief. Would need Red Phoenix (I think) to get away from daily use totally (I enjoy the weird trippy sh!t ) Just don't want to cruse along and find out just a bit more effort would have given better results. I must guard against my tendency towards laziness.

Cheers Craig. I find that for afternoons 20 active 20 closing "feels" right for me, probably because I'm doing kung fu and tai chi before hand. (and subconsciously I'm pressed for time) When I switch back to first thing in the mornings how much active I want quickly cascades up. Day 1/ 20 min Day 2 / 40 min Day 3 / one hour Way back in October it would jump in 10 min intervals (I think because 10min was a good siting meditation for me then) I do get a Kunlun feeling at times throughout the day, especially when I'm listening to music or playing it. But I often felt that way just wandering about "doing my thing" even before kunlun. I was already known as "the guy who smiles all the time" and people often ask me why am I so happy? So kunlun has not really changed that too much. p.s. Don't tell me 5 min while watching TV I'm so lazy I would only want to do that

Mmmmm, what about Max's other students, how much do they have to practice? Seems like you are saying I only have do 1:20hrs of meditation now and then and can ignore the other stuff in the book ?!?!?!? like the 100 days, can we also do less than 1:20? I like it, fits into my lifestyle easily, don't worry be happy but I remember once when Mantra wrote that he though he was being to easy on us and needed to get "hardcore." Well that's what I want, I don't want the "easy" or "PC" answer. The reason I'm asking is it seem silly to start something when you think you might not have the capacity to finish it. It's easy enough to do level one, usually. Yesterday I went scuba diving and did not have the time to do all of the kung fu and tai chi that I wanted too let alone kunlun. Actually only did 20 active 20 closing just to keep my "practice string" going and only had time for that as I was home a few hours earlier than IU planed. Enough practice ...... I"m thinking that the 1 hour duration might be important, shorter sessions feel different. Would it have been better to just not bother and use that 40 min for doing other things (like looking after my partner who ended up getting heatstroke) and do the longer 1:20 sessions "regularly" rather than "religiously" I'm lazy too, so I'd like to take a day or two off now and then if it doesn't matter Or should I be structuring my life to be more Monk like so that problems like diving trips don't come up i.e. I'm learning kung fu. At the start it was enough to just enjoy it and learn how to defend myself. Now I want to learn the entire art. This takes 7 to 12 years of dedicated practice. My partner and I are staying in a town we both hate just so I can be with my Sifu. Since she is stuck here too she is doing more Uni, but will finish a year or 2 before me. We have plans on hold till I can train by myself and we can go back to Cairns. If Sifu decides not to teach for long enough (his children will be finishing university in the next few years and he would like to travel) The back up plan is to move to Brisbane so I can finish with Sigung. If it all turns out to be too difficult and I can't continue learning, my time isn't exactly wasted but I could have got a similar result with one year of dedication rather than 5. Sigung tells a story about a friend of his that does Judo, but was only a white belt after years of learning and would not grade till he knew the techniques "perfectly". Sigung said it's good to want to do your art to the best of your abilities, but his friend never progressed in Judo as he never got to learn the higher belts skills that would help his white belt techniques approach perfection.

Hi Woodlandwisper, Sounds like you are making a good start with you 10~15 min. There are heap of methods out there. If you like Osho I often wish that I had read his books about meditation sooner than I did. Have fun exploring