Nungali

It think Aikido would do you wonders ! The right school that is . It can teach you a LOT about 'holding your centre' and the sphere around you and how others influence it and can penetrate it and then what you do about those that come into your 'sphere of interaction' . It is flowing and like water, like you said.. irs non violent and class is non conflictual and not competitive. Teach you how to 'roll with it'. It might just be me, or it might be aikido, but I found after a few years training that its good principles began to surface in other parts and aspects of my life - a good investment of time and energy ! Be great for your GF too - builds confidence and centre and helps to find internal strength.

It does have a fault ; the centre of the saw ( the nut on the saw) does not slide past the guard . which means if you are doing a shallow cut into wood (not all the way through ) the cut curves up at the back of the wood - the same curve as the blade, as it cant be pushed all the way through. The only solution I can find to this is to place a piece of waste wood behind the job and against the guide to move the job forward so the saw goes all the way across it . Apparently its a design fault in many brands of these saws . No BIG prob ... it is a dream to pack up and put away though .

I have been watching a little 3 year old girl manipulate , control and take over the life of her mother masterfully . Boy is she good at it ! Nothing like emotional attachment, a bit of insecurity and guilt to cement that in . Of course, it would never have happened if the mother had not allowed it right at the beginning . But, surprising to me , MANY people are not aware of these processes - they just 'play them out' . We get into all sorts of problems ourselves - depending on our level and area of unawareness or imbalance .

Ahhhh ... freedom ! Some love it, some fear it , so me have been in a situation so long they have forgotten about it , they just 'slog along' . On a VERY simplistic level, a simple thing but an eye opener ; I had this bossy GF - live in, for a while . I finally got rid of her . Then the next time I was shopping at the supermarket ; <reaches for an item > - Oh, I better not get that , too much .... or not enough ... or the wrong color ... or blah blah blah ... wait ! What the hell am I doing ? I want that ! ... and that ... and some of these and .... hmmm ... might need a bigger trolley ...

Yeah .... that did it ! It won't be used that much, def a pleasure bike ( I got the pleasure car and 'utility car' already ), I finished the shed the other day, took a picture to send to a mate and as I looked at it ..... it is missing something ... a motorcycle ! I gave then up when I moved here , I had very little money back then and deiced to settle here and get a house, so I had to choose between that and bikes. Now I got the house , dont have to go to work, no partner or kids , older .... time in life for ' two wheeled sanyassi ' I wont go near a city with it . I plan to mostly stick on 'Waterfall Way '. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterfall_Way caught myself leaning as I was watching

Well, that was a chapter from ' Magick Without Tears ' ..... Crowley - he tends not to pull punches , one of the reasons he is unpopular.

yep. relating to my comments about initiation above - it is sometimes said one has to, in some cases, deny the family . here ya go : Chapter LII: Family: Public Enemy No. 1 Cara Soror, Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. In your last letter you mention “family pressure.” Horrid word, family! Its very etymology accuses it of servility and stagnation. Latin, famulus, a servant; Oscan, Faamat, he dwells. A word ought to have more respect for itself! ... Bless you, the whole strength of the family is based on the fact that it cares for the family only: therefore its magical formula thus concentrated is of necessity hostile to so exclusively individual an aim as Initiation. Its sentiments are reciprocated. In every Magical, or similar system, it is invariably the first condition which the Aspirant must fulfill: he must once and for all and for ever put his family outside his magical circle. Even the Gospels insist clearly and weightily on this. Christ himself (i.e. whoever is meant by this name in this passage) callously disowns his mother and his brethren (Luke VIII, 19). And he repeatedly makes discipleship contingent on the total renunciation of all family ties. He would not even allow a man to attend his father's funeral! Is the magical tradition less rigid? Not on your life! The one serious grimoire of the Middle Ages is The Book of the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage. He makes no bone about it. He even condescends to point out the family as the most serious of all the obstacles to the performance of the Operation, and he gives the correct psychological reasons why this should be so. You said it yourself! “Family pressure” was your pungent and pertinent expression. Just so. I think that “family” should include any body of persons with common interests which they expect or wish you to share. One's old school or university, the regiment, the golf club, the business, the party, the country: any of these may dislike very much your absorption in affairs alien to their own. But the family is the classic type, because its pull is so potent and persistent. It began when you gave your first yell; your personality is deliberately wrenched and distorted to the family code; and their zoology is so inadequate that they always feel sure that their Ugly Duckling is a Black Sheep. Even for their Fool they find a use: he can be invaluable in the Church of in the Army, where docile incompetence is the sure key to advancement. ... In the Brahmin caste, the aspirant to Yoga makes it a rule to fulfill his duties to the family and the State; once those jobs are definitely done, he cuts the painter, and becomes Sannyasi. Many a Maharajah, many a Wazir, to say nothing of less responsible people, plan their lives from their earliest days of wearing the sacred Cord as Brahmacharyi, with these ambitions carefully mapped out; and when the right moment comes for him to disappear into the jungle—the rest is Silence. . But the condition of allowing such apparent laxity is this: That one should be as swift and terse as Trotsky in any similar situation. If one's family were reasonable human beings, (But they never are, she sighed) one could perhaps do wiseliest by explaining the situation. “This Work of mine—you don't understand it, no need that you should—is the only important part of my life. I mean to be scrupulously careful of your feelings, and I see no reason why my chosen career should damage our relations. There is only one thing to remember: IF I ever get the faintest suspicion that you are opposing me, or condemning my plans, or interfering in any way, even with the best intentions, THEN—with a single blow I sever our relations, and for ever.” .... This too is painful beyond words at first. Until the process starts, you have not the faintest idea of how you have wrapped yourself in layers of lies."

? Dont you have to go to work ? Thats longer than 2 hours .

Also, reading your first post I thought you might need to take a little trip , change the view - so to speak. In the 'old system' a young man would begin his initiation as an apprentice, learning off a master. The trade or art would show stages and analogies related to his own spiritual development . hence he had practical demonstration of the analogies everyday. After a while he would 'get his ticket' , be a 'tradesman' - a 'man and brother' this would lead to the next stage ; 'Journeyman' - he was expected to travel and ply his trade, encounter and learn from other places and cultures , how what he does fits in with that and what he learns 'abroad' could be adapted for himself . next stage he would be Master (of his craft and himself) and it would be his duty to take on an apprentice and continue the cycle . Also, back then this was often done father to son further cementing development . That all got messed up by the industrial revolution. I know it might not be practical to travel, but sometimes you gotta just break the bottle you are in and do it .. and dash the consequences ! A student asked his Sufi teacher how to attain and he told him " Go jump in the river ! " (well, obviously the guy was at that stage - I doubt the teacher told everyone that ) So he did, he went and jumped in the river ... and got swept downstream. Eventually he became tired so he hung onto a log. Eventually that got harder and he started to go under . A fisherman in a boat picked him up and asked him what happened . Thinking he must be an idiot, he took him home, gave him some food and a warm spot by the fire to dry out . The next day, he got him to repair some nets to pay for the food he had eaten . he did a pretty good job so the fisherman let him stay , now he had a helper fisherman. The student fished everyday with him and began to become known in that area . Sometimes he would give poor people fish that couldnt pay. After many years he became well known and liked . But after a while he got bored again, that was not really the life for him, so he continued downstream , now in his own boat he had earned by his own work. He eventually saw some people waiting by the river looking agitated and waving to him so he went over and asked them what was wrong . " The ferryman's boat has sunk, we have no way to get across, can you take us?" So he did. On the otherside they offered him a few coins . He stayed there and did that for a while, also doing other jobs and still some fishing. He supplied transport and food to the needy and accrued a tidy little sum of money as he lived frugally. Ocassionally he would visit the poor and sick and help where he could, people started to say they felt better after after his visits Then he started moving bricks and lumbar downstream for a man who was building a house. It seems a fascinating project and he helped the man a bit. It was noticed that he was a quick learner so the man gave him a job as a building assistant . The student really liked that work, so he sold his boat and concentrated on that. he still visited the sick and poor and helped when he could. people still claimed they felt better after his visits - some even came to visit him, and claimed they had been 'healed' . Eventually the student became a Sufi saint , renowned for his healing and ' spiritual grace ' . Eventually he too got some students. They would ask how he got his powers and under what great teachers he studied . He told them he didnt ... he jut jumped in a river one day and all this stuff happened to him . Of course, these new students didnt believe that, so they concocted their own magnificent story of magic, wonder , exotic teaches and practices that gave special powers . That made up t story still exists today and describes the life of one of the great Sufi saints . But it be BS (Hmmm ... the last guy here I told to 'go jump in a river' had a 'foxy' icon too )

In another thread here about 'why do you think the world is so messed up ' I was going to approach those themes . I outlined some stuff but didnt deliver the meat ... the answers . As no one asked , so what's the point . But here you are asking questions with the same answers ( to my process outlined in 2 ) , so i will give them here . The 'world' , societies and individuals get 'messed up' for the same reasons . The basic cause is lack of or not understanding purpose. To cut it short, the answer is societies and individuals in trouble lack a sense of purpose , belonging and expression - we need to creatively express ourselves and our own collective and INDIVIDUAL creative natures within a context that is appreciated and relevant . This has been done by all human cultures via the process of initiation. When a society looses that process , due to a variety of reasons , it and its individuals become 'pointless' . In modern society, and our places in it, it has become a lot less 'spiritual' process than it was . basically we where turned into automatons - units for work . In a healthy tribal society an initiated man or woman knows exactly why they are here and what their purpose and contribution is . They get fulfilled by that and can become spiritually healthy by acting and living in a way a human is meant to and having input into their society from an expressed creative level. Once I was talking to some initiated Aboriginal men, one was at a total loss to even begin to comprehend white society : " I went to this thing, white fellah spiritual thing , okay, I wanted to find out . They all sitting around; ' Why am I here, what is the purpose of life ? ' What ? They dont know ??? How can amman even live by not knowing why he is here, what he has to do and what the purpose of life is ? What? Whitefellah dont know what the purpose of life is ? No wonder he all messed up ! He must not even know what he is doing here." That was an eye opener ! We have lost this. We just fumble along and hope some type of religion will replace the initiation process. Some find a process and undergo initiation, others do it in their own ways . But at its heart is a teaching and experience of belonging and understanding one's individual purpose and fulfilment and what work one does . And that work should be an expression of your own inner nature and contribution , it should be enjoyed, something you love to do .... not some purposeless 'grind' for unseen or trivial benefit . So, the remedy would be to seek out that and find your purpose and your individual work and creative contribution - dharma . I first encountered this in my early studies; an anthropologist was observing an African village, each day he would sit in the village square, near the markets and watch normal day to day activity . There was always a bunch of young men with a couple of older ones, goofing off, hanging out, not really doing anything and often causing trouble. The anthropologist asked someone who they where and was told they where the ..... ( I cant remember the term, it was in local language ) .... the men who, for one reason or another , missed out on their initiations . They where men 'cast adrift' without purpose .... who had not been led to understand the big picture, how they fitted in , what they had to offer and what they would get back. I listed some nasty stuff that people devolve to without these higher ideals and ethics in the other thread. The same happened here with the Australian Aboriginals - near decimation. Their reason and purpose and individual essential creative expression where virtually wiped out out 'over night' . But currently many have reinstated their culture, their pride and their initiation process for the boys and things are improving. So, I encourage you to undergo the process and find your 'true self' and purpose - not the one that society hijacked you with . Without that, all the religions, cults, practices, drugs, distractions, etc ........ meh .

Yeah well, I am only speaking for myself really . I often chastise people who think they are having a hard life as .... the things I have seen ! When it passes a certain level for some, thats when I shut up ( as I said, depending on what , I may 'eat my hat' ) most people that complain are being negative (in my society ) but some are valid . Some of the stories I have heard and seen in refugee work ! Some of the events I have seen happen to others ! In my hospital work I had to work in the mortuary I have had to stand by and help as a father identified his young son's mangled body. I have r seen the 'gaps' where pieces where removed from people's bodies and the scar tissue, from torture. I dont wax philosophically positive to those people . And perhaps those experiences have also led me to appreciate how good my life is .

Anyway, back to the original question, I see two levels of answer; 1. Overall historically - societies where more peaceful, less war like, less fortifications, etc. Then change swept across the world from eastern China to western Europe ; 'warlord culture' - everything changed . https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Europe_(archaeology)#Old_Europe That all relates to my 'raid and run theory' . 2. Even after this overall change in societies, after that change, many where still able to form happy, good, nurturing and stable societies but they can 'go bad' and turn into horrible fuck ups . I asked about this in my first week of Anthropology, the lecturer didnt offer an answer but suggested I studied the Ik of Uganda . So I did . And by doing that, he kickstarted a personal 'magnum opus' . The Ik where a prosperous and happy tribe, the young and elderly where cared for, animals and the hunt respected, people where proud and a man acted as man 'should' ; if they where out hunting (in a team), the hunters would not eat anything until the food was home and the elderly, children and their wives had eaten first . With the exception that if they where exhausted, they would drink the blood to gain energy to carry the food back home. They would tell stories of the hunt , about how the others hunters went well , if you where the subject of praise, you played it down and where embarrassed . Within 20 years of this they where living in poverty, depressed (even described as 'evil' by some) things witnessed by anthropologists included ; an old blind lady stumbling and falling in the fire, screaming and rolling in the hot coals, everyone laughed at her and no one helped her. A child shared some food with a starving friend so her parents locked her in a hut until she died and rotted in there. Hunters would hunt alone, scof the food, to the extent that they could eat no more and then make themselves vomit so they could eat more and then return home and lie that the hunt had been unsuccessful.- to their own starving families ! Men would sit around boasting about this to each other. They developed the 'habit' of 'fishing' by dumping pesticide in the river and picking up the dead fish and then eating them ! . They would play nasty 'practical jokes' on each other (and visiting anthropologists, one who nearly lost his life at the 'joke' - the men thought it was hilarious). One anthropologist described their ways as 'the cold coffin of Ik humanity ' What the hell happened to these people that caused this to manifest in 20 years ! I had to know. As I studied more I realised the same factors that caused this and the identifiable factors that manifested in turn, are the same the world over to a greater or lesser extent . They are virtually 'laws of social health and degeneration ' . of course, an individual in a society like that is gonna be pretty fucked up too ! The ones that aren't are 'locked in a hut ' . . . . or find some how or place to 'hide out' . Of course they are also the things that indicate degeneration of western modern culture. They are the causes and reasons the world is so messed up .

HOWEVER, depending on your level of 'suffering' , I may well eat my hat. I sat in on a conversation similar to this, during my work in refugee relocation. people where being positive ( and they refugees ! ) and it had a religious flavour to it but this older woman kept asking if there was a God, why so much suffering ? She got all the usual answers but still she persisted, people where getting annoyed with her. I detected 'something else' so I offered to the group " perhaps she has suffered more than we realise, to come to this conclusion ? Do you think that is the case. " Se hesitated then rolled her shirt cuff up and showed us the inside of her wrist, it had an old faded tatoo of a concentration camp registration number on it . That shut them up .

And now I believe I got all this good stuff becasue of my positive attitude about life . I cant imagine what I would have manifested if I thought life was screwing with me . ' Tested me' ? ... maybe ? But then, one should be prepared for a test and welcome them ..... IF one has done the 'study' and developed the skills required

Yes, I see. My apologies for reading " Life has definitely screwed with me, big time " and turning that into I am 'getting your drift' now that it HAS drifted and you are explaining what you meant, especially this bit : " "Try as hard as you might, but you can't escape challenging situations. They will happen." But, IMO , that is far cry from " life has screwed with me big time " . The idea that " life has screwed with me big time " is very alien to me . It might have been thought sometime in the past, when I was indoctrinated with false values . I might have thought that when I was going through the absolute intensity of 2nd Saturn return ( attempt to seize my land and house by the government resulting in a 2 year supreme court battle and appeal, relationship breakup and denial of seeing children, Ross River fever and arthritic degeneration, liver problems, death of three relatives, a brain embolism , a one year wait for a very painful hip replacement ... and I cant remember at the moment all the other stuff ! I could have thought life had turned against me , but I didnt . I just do not have that attitude any more. Anyway, I won the court case, I am free of relationship ( ) , the kids grew up so I would have 'lost them' anyway - they boys now. I recovered from Ross River fever without meds so now I am immune to it. Arthritis ? Well, I am old now, cant turn back the clock ... but started taking fish oil and gluc again - STILL training weapons and empty hand ! Fixed liver with new meds now available , processed grief, and learning to live with a brain embolism ( better than having them stick a hot wire into it via up my my jugular vein into my brain to 'cauterize it ! . I was a little 'busy' then to appreciate it all but now I am back to the previous state of being thankful for every moment alive . It all passed ... life is great ! Booglebear ! Then I got an inheritance

A yoke implies direction given by higher powers to the animal nature. In this case (tantra) I recommend NOT breaking free of the yoke Unless you want to be free to be a pleasure / sex junkie .

We are here to 'feel' to be the eyes and ears of the Universe / God/dess / 'Mother ' / Nature. When I was heavily into Euro paganism we offered all experience to the Goddess, The idea is the gods indwell us to partake of life / material existence. Basically , the Gods like to fuck and feast But they also enjoy experiencing our health, well being, abstinence and variety ... if one becomes 'boring' they depart. And debauch can be boring and unhealthy. of course, life isnt all pleasure, and they want to experience all of life, so that is 'offered up ' too . 'Offering up ' pain and difficulty is a great way of processing it and easing it as you dont have to take it all on yourself . And 'passing experience' on is also a great way to develop 'non attachment ' as well. Attachment is boring Eventually, with these type of practices, all of life experience becomes 'orgastic' .

I think it is a great piece of writing and I totally relate to it . I dont think it is meant to be understood in the 'normal sense' and could be misunderstood though. But , to me, there is a LOT of advanced stuff in it. It also seems to be a very strong representation of 'white school' magick / tantra . A few things stood out ; " " The pleasure orientation is very important, very powerful, and very basic. If you are not pleasure-oriented, you can’t understand tantra. You have to be pleasure-oriented, because otherwise you are pain- and misery-oriented." - On the surface , this seems simple but on a deeper level it is the simplified essential nature that separates the 'black' from the 'white' school. The black school is life denialist; it believes in a 'fall from grace', that life and the material world is somehow lesser, it is dualistic , unclean, unspiritual, that life is suffering, that we need redemption, often via sacrifice, and basically its all pain and misery . White school accepts and celebrates life , life is a choice we made to express our own essential developing nature, its meant to be enjoyed and creative, it is a rising of the spirit , not a falling, the material world is not lesser than the spiritual world and may even be the same thing . It should be joy and the expression of love and joy. I will start quoting from other 'white tantric' sources to compare; "1: 13. I am above you and in you. My ecstasy is in yours. My joy is to see your joy." " But this is not a psychological trick of convincing yourself through positive thinking. It is an obvious, reasonable, and real thing. " Yes, this isnt a simple 'affirmation', it is a real and lasting (even through tragedy ) conscious and unconscious 'mind set' that can take years (or in my case near 1/2 a lifetime ) to REALLY accomplish. " 1: 58. I give unimaginable joys on earth: certainty, not faith When you treat yourself well, you feel good. When you feel good, you dress yourself in good clothes and adorn yourself with beautiful ornaments. It is a very natural and basic way of relating to oneself. 1:61 ". But to love me is better than all things: if under the night stars in the desert thou presently burnest mine incense before me, invoking me with a pure heart, ...ye shall wear rich jewels; ye shall exceed the nations of the earth in spendour & pride; but always in the love of me, and so shall ye come to my joy. I charge you earnestly to come before me in a single robe, and covered with a rich headdress..... Put on the wings, and arouse the coiled splendour within you: come unto me! The main qualities of tantra that come out here are basic trust and basic elegance. Elegance here means appreciating things as they are. Things as you are and things as they are. There is a sense of delight and of fearlessness. You are not fearful of dark corners. If there are any dark, mysterious corners, black and confusing, you override them with your glory, your sense of beauty, your sense of cleanness, your feeling of being regal. O LORD , deliver me from hell’s great fear and gloom Loose thou my spirit from the larvæ of the tomb I seek them in their dread abodes without affright: On them will I impose my will, the law of light. I bid the night conceive the glittering hemisphere. Arise, O sun, arise! O moon, shine white and clear! I seek them in their dread abodes without affright: On them will I impose my will, the law of light. Their faces and their shapes are terrible and strange. These devils by my might to angels I will change. These nameless horrors I address without affright: On them will I impose my will, the law of light. These are the phantoms pale of mine astonied view, Yet none but I their blasted beauty can renew; For to the abyss of hell I plunge without affright: On them will I impose my will, the law of light. Because you can override fearfulness in this way, tantra is known as the king of all the yanas. You take an attitude of having perfectly complete and very rich basic sanity. ( Thus guy knows what he is talking about ! )

Nah. The diff is I never said life fucks you over . I am saying it can nurture you and look after you, if you manage things right . Thats a FAR cry from thinking life is waiting to fuck you over .

Some I dont take personally at all - Like Robert Anton Wilson said when someone was whining about their bad luck and events happening to them - why me, why did it have to happen to me ? " Because you where there . " - you happened to be at that time and place when shit happened , could have been you or anyone else . Other things are a definite personal response to me from 'the forces that be' . When I have said here that my teacher said ' You need anything , just ask 'Mum' , she will give it to you. ' He was right - literally. But that does not apply to everyone of course 0 that was his teaching to ME , and came about due to the path I was on - line I was following , actions, etc . (or 'karma and dharma' if you like ) . Or ( as I cited Ted Strehlow as saying , earlier) ; " "We have to train ourselves to look upon the land of our birth with the eyes, not of conquerors, overcoming an enemy, but of children looking at the face of their mother. Only then shall we truly be able to call Australia our home. Our native traditions can help us to become finer and better Australians. " - cant get much more personal than that.

It wasn't luck . It was learning how to live . It hasn't all been roses though , but that's part of it too - doesnt mean I was screwed over IMO .

Thats what I thought your post was exhibiting; " being overly negative without good reason to be. " . You seem to be claiming life will always turn bad on you . " The world is bad because that's what it does. Even if you set your situation up perfectly, let's say having the perfect wife and kids and being really wealthy and healthy...life will still find a way to throw a curveball at you at the worst possible time. For instance, your wife cheats on you; your kid dies; you get a terminal illness; you lose all your money, etc. Try as hard as you might to avoid it, you will still be screwed with." Life has not 'screwed with' me at all . I love my life, its been a beautiful magical wondrous experience, and I am very grateful and thankful for it .

And when there isnt enough cheese to go around for the alphamice ? ya know, once Aleister Crowley was asked about his 'True Will' principle " What if two people have opposing wills ? " His answer ; "Same as if two schoolboys want the same apple - they fight . " The nasty man ! ... He said things good people didnt need or want to hear ! - the stipulation was though ; " Fight Ye as brothers ! " , I am supposing that does not include wiping out their family, land, resources and high altitude cluster bombing ?

Simple answers are never real answers to complex human questions . But its nice that you feel so sure about it .