Blackfinger

11 very generous

but if the vote was going to be managed anyway why did they all bother attracting such vitriol by making formal statements to the effect that they would relocate in the event of a Yes vote etc? Surely a bit pointless and self-destructive (in terms of considerable reputational damage in eyes of pro independence voters?) surely just keep quiet, manage the vote, make sympathetic noises, would be a better strategy. ...

he he.... Very sore losers... But to be expected. The shock would be if these stories *didn't* appear. .. That would be worrying. ...

What are the results? Why is delaying gratification better than the alternative? my experience tells me that delaying is not necessarily a good thing. ..... It can be indicative of willpower if done in moderation. ...... But can be a woeful burden if it becomes a habit of itself. ....

yup me too. .. in fact I think delaying gratification can become a problem. .. stops you living in the moment. .. something I need to work on. ...

Not at all. .. I'm not entirely sure how well they'd manage after fifty years or so, to be honest ... It'd be interesting. my intention is to curb any romantic notions of Scotland being downtrodden and constrained by the yoke of English oppression. ... quite the opposite is true as much as the Scottish would hate to admit it. .. For the record I am in favour of the union. There is more to consider than money and all of the union is part of the same glorious mongrel stock which makes for darn fine people... .... With exceptions, of course

I think this seems to be a commonly accepted fallacy. .. Scotland takes much more from the UK than it contributes (financially of course...) even including the oil. Not saying they wouldn't be able to take care of their populace... But their health service and dole are substantially funded by the 60 odd million English taxpayers. Definitely not vice versa. it would have been interesting to see how they made it work (especially with it being one of Europe's least healthy countries)

I imagine the result in 20 years time would be quite different. ... The question is: is the generic 'grey' vote inherently fixed on the more sobre and considered option of union, or is it just *this* grey generation who are in favour? Time will tell. ...

I know this may sound kerrrazee but I believe Cameron genuinely wanted the scots to stay for reasons not entirely political. There is a lot of scots/english cross pollination especially amongst the upper classes and many past PMs were schooled in Scotland (e.g gordonstoun)... and in an excellent post above GMP highlighted the fact that the union has shared many triumphs and hardships over the years. tradition and familiarity can be powerful motivators. there is a tendency to overthink political machinations and be overly pessimistic about government intentions. Might as well write off 5k years of human progress in that case. in this incidence I do believe camerons appeal was from the heart. politicians are human too and although they can be c*nts, so can we all

this doesn't make sense though. .. Scotland was granted a referendum on choosing their continued participation in the union. This has not been granted to the other countries of the union in lieu of the vote. Perhaps knowing nearly 50% of a member country want out would affect the efficacy of the union in the eyes of other members. certainly most English I have spoken with either couldn't care less about the Scottish vote or would prefer the Scots to be separate. There are arguments for and against but generally it is undeniable that Scotland is a financial drain on the UK taxpayer and that the average UK subject would be better off without subsidising them. This of course doesn't take into account the non-fiscal benefits of union. The family analogy is a good one. ....

I think the real question now is why the rest of the UK cannot now vote on whether they *want* Scotland to be part of the union. ... Why does the vote only work one way?

"Fans of psychological projection, blamestorming and scapegoating were over the moon last night after First Minister Alex Salmond won them an important concession in the lead-up to next week’s historic referendum. It has been confirmed that, even when Scotland has become a strong, world respected nation with a flourishing economy and healthy population, it will still have an option to ‘blame everything on the English’. Some experts feared that Scotland’s booming economy and spreading bonhomie might change the national character forever. The feel good factor, surging national confidence and removal of all the chains that held them back could, ironically, have a detrimental effect on the nation, the experts warned. It was claimed that ancient traditions and rituals could be abandoned as Scotland spirals into a life of gay abandon and ‘goodwill to all Englishmen’. ‘Scotland could be sleepwalking into happiness and content and, even worse, could lose its sense of grievance,’ warned one expert, who added further claims that Scotland could exhibit all the terrible symptoms of ‘new baby syndrome’. However, Salmond was quick to reassure the electorate that England will not lose its ‘Great Satan’ status anytime soon. ‘Mark my words, England will continue to be the core reason for any current or future hardships Scotland endure, as well as the butt of every joke when we’re doing well and they aren’t’, he said. The confident leader went on to explain that England has already been ‘pre-blamed’ for several future events, including bad weather, catastrophic outbreaks of disease like smallpox and ebola, and all future underwhelming performances from Andy Murray."

cognisant of Soaring Crane's post above, I second the recommendation for Damo Mitchell's Nei Gong.... It contains the Ji Ben qi gong set which is a complete c.30min routine which should be performed regularly. The book is very clear on building a solid physical foundation, but also allows this to be put into the context of broader nei gong work.

Thanks Panda I appreciate the gesture and the game and am sure everyone else does. V generous. Lucky Zanshin! Have a good weekend

Opendao From an impartial reader of this thread, I get the impression that you alone know The Truth, and everyone else is utterly wrong. I prostrate myself before your superior wisdom.... how refreshing to see someone so completely assured/deluded by their own correctness.

1

Bamboo, This would be a brilliant opportunity and very exciting. I for one would certainly attend, providing there was enough advance notice.

There are a few listed in the tables in 'Ling Bao Tong Zhi Neng Nei Gong Shu' but don't have it to hand at the moment though....

Agree with BKA above Magic/hermetic/WMT does not have to be linked with religion. They are not mutually exclusive by any means, but definitely not inherent bedfellows.

30 - 60 mins at the moment, though at least two sessions a day.

Riffing on that theme, Mo Pai is a closed school and look how much talk there is about that on here..... 'Secret' stuff tends to generate a lot of activity but 90% of it has nothing to do with the actual bones of the subject. As for the question, I think Non-Daoist Traditions is too broad...and though some may want to ignore it, there are alot of parallels between hermetic/occult practice, and the more esoteric practices of Taoism (Neidan/Waidan).

Well I voted for cross-legged, but I tend to alternate this with half-lotus to try and increase sitting time in that position.

Seems remarkably few votes considering the numbers of members...maybe to get a more representative result this should be advertised in the main area somewhere; otherwise there is a risk that people will only stumble over it by accident. Unless that is the intention of course

AYe..but there is gold worth sifting for....maybe it's a self-perpetuating filter to determine true seekers...if you keep looking, you probably will find what you're after...if you are just casually browsing, you'll get bogged down in the arguments. So much good stuff on here, when you look. IMO, at least

Thanks for sharing, Fugue