blue eyed snake

well, as you are the wondering taoist that should suit you, on the other hand, I think Junko gave us a neverending thread fulll of nice derailings, nice!

that is a nice metafor, regarding plastics and such as getting in the way of receiving earth energy, I know that my teacher has commented on that, but on the other hand he tells us it is important to keep the feet warm so their has to be found a sort of balance in daily life. Having cold feet is probably less common in Indonesia as it is here in cold Holland. I do not like plastic soles, for training in the dojo I have these shoes of cloth with a very thin piece of leather as a sole. For winter i've put woolen soles inside them, keeps my feet both warm and free of plastic and at home i've a large nepalese woolen rug in the living room, that serves me well for training at home

yes, that association popped up in my mind too. here another picture, where were used to think of the austrian escutcheon ( is this the right word?) as having two eagles on it. Looking in history you can find a different image. sorry for further derailing on the OP, but thought it worthwhile mentioning edit: this is the royal escutcheon on the Hofburg in Wien

thank you!

well, me thinks, most people never even dream of doing what you're doing and being were you are. Yes, but the being holy thing is pretty obvious. it sits much deeper, for instance, I feel that i'm doing a good job by tackling my fears and anger. It is a good job, but the thinking about it in this terms, thats is the little Bes, seeking confirmation from the outside, from my mom. Or,( i'm picking up my meditating again. ) " i'm a bad girl because i didn't meditate today" or a good girl because I did. It's all rubbish really. remember a time in the dojo when teacher asked us what gave us the most stress, answers came like, whether I'll keep my job, or illness etc. But when I let the question sink in I answered, the most stress i get from my own thoughts, theyr'e like a horde of hungry flies. and it's only now, some years later, that I 'get' what i told him then yes, even though I read little, when you've grown a bit, you get the message a little better me too

thank you Ct, the laziest of students to think less, to analyse even lesser, and practice more.... were not gonna talk about it, you just practice and then you'll know what you want to ask me now.... If I may, I'd like to add here, the comparison with apps is also used here. But my teacher also says something like: " do not use the way you use(d) to tackle life to tackle this path" I thought I understood him.... but did not, so, even when you're forewarned, you need to hurt your very own nose to get the lesson. yes, oow, that first step was a dilly... happy I've found some guidance after that

well, as I can't sleep again, some responses, things of this thread stayed with me I like that, i wrote the first of these two posts because I felt f***d up and then I read the post of CT, and that opened the way back for me. And indeed, this morning I was in my backyard, enjoying sunshine and being alive in this body. and that is why I like this thread so much, every day it gives me that, it touches me to be aware of ' how it is' does so, mostly, in words that I can understand. Where in general I cannot read things about Buddhism, because of the many terms strange to me, I do not want to learn them, that would bring me even more in my head. But the teacher of my teacher was a buddhist, and that rubbed off on him, and possibly on me --- But, interestingly, these words just flowed out of my fingers, even though I do not have the association of love and warmth with a mother, I do have that association with a father. But indeed, there was a time where I could find those ' feelings' in meditation or just being. As I have not been able to meditate for many months it has become more remote, but I do know its there.

I do so miss the living presence of my teacher, even though I'm well aware that it just means that i've to walk this part of the path without him. To read the words of Steve and CT, I hear his voice, they all the same, telling us the same things. Their teachers are rippling out to this forum, there to be read by those who can and want to read. Just now, seeing how Manitou includes me, I realize that my teacher ripples out too. But we do not only need teachers, there are many things for which we need companions . That is something that a teacher does not give, need not give, and, I suspect, cannot give. But without companions, we would not learn our lessons, for me Manitou is teacher, from her I learn many things about myself that i need to learn and, she, or someone like her, is the only one who can teach me that. There are lessons to be learnt at so many levels. And the strange thing is, it all comes around to shedding all the old emotions that always seemed to define us, and the only way out seems to be through suffering and pain. but, i'm so aware that suffering and pain is just of the body and of the mind, it's all old, a story, so why do i still suffer? no need for answering this one, time will teach, BES

well, you've done your good deed for the day, nice that its survived its swimming excursion

it's not only swans that sing with their wings and in slow motion

ah, but I can, nice read, thanks!

The cool hand of the mother worked wonders on the feverish child, after the night her fever was gone and she's out, playing in the backyard.

but when there is no love, digestion won't function properly

thanks all, this made an interesting read, bes

, yep, thats about what i'm taught, and then we are told just to forget about it and stand, and after some time to sink a little deeper

thank you Apech, i overlooked that. i'm very much a beginner myself, but I know that our teacher does not want us to fiddle around with concepts that we are not (yet) able to experience. But now that I've read more carefully your post and that of wisteria winds, i recognize the way I'm taught, so the difference between yin and yang energies definitely not arbitrary, but the focus is on practice.

Your posts are as the cool hand of a mother, on the cheek of her feverish child

edit: reminding me of the makingof those beautiful persian carpets, the weavers intentionally wove an error in these carpets, because: " only god is perfect"

and as such you posted it, seemingly later changing your mind and adding more words. I fthat's their right, then this is too I do not care for your philosophical arguments, the liberty of one human ends where the liberty of the other starts. that's some sort of basic that you've seem to forget. You're drowning in your philosophical wordiness, sitting on the high horse of the white heteroseksual eddicated male. well, it's the likes of you that created this society and are still doing their best to keep minorities in their place, it is a sign of deeprooted fear for humans that are different. It'l probably end in bloodshed, again. and that's sad, for there is no need for that. as i said before, every human body is home of the soul, ever heard of , for example, the inuit, they were the happiest and healthiest people of the world, until the whites came, they had no philosophy except for knowing and being nature, which seems to be the road to real humanity and there is no use for logic or reason really, not on issues like this, whole groups of people are denied the normal rights of people, because somewhere, underlying, their humanity is denied, for instance by calling them mentally disturbed. you've enough knowledge to know what happened in Europe some 70 years ago, several groups of people were first labeled as misfits and then killed in gaschambers, labeled as subhuman. No need for any higher philosophy here. just try for a little down to the earth humanity

thanks Liminal, that is true, and where people without gender-issues can easily ignore that part of them. for twosoul-people it is an urgent issue that they have to deal with from a young age. seems to me that by offering the possibility of genderchange, the path to learning who you really are is, at least for a while, cut of. Also, these hormone-treatments...what does that to your being? being a woman i've taken oral contraceptives for a while, and it just changes who you really are

yep, it is. Because of illness i'm not able to go out but I've long gathered things when i was out walking. The young leaves of birches are also good for tea, nettles are nice as veggies (also young) and of course in autumn you can gather elderberries, they're nice to eat in small quantities, but when you juice them you've a very good tonic for winter-illnesses, mix with hot water (and a bit of lemon if you like that) and it will soon make you feel better. many things to be found outside, enjoy!

But it would also be good when modern women were given the chance to learn breastfeeding, by experienced women and by having less stress and better education about how to feed themselves during lactation.

what bothers me, is that there seems to be a thing against transgenders etc. But what are we really talking about. there are people like me who feel not really at home in their body/gender when there young. In modern culture they are given the possibility to change gender, with hormones and surgical. At the same time they are confronted, as we all are, with a thoroughly over-sexualized world. Seems to me that this warps our youngsters, whether they are inclined to other gender behavior or not. just look at the endless threads about porn and masturbation. ( no offence meant here, i can readily empathize with the problems that come of this) So these young people are given a 'chance' to change sex, they then pick a seksualized role as a woman, for it is the male-female transgenders that get the most attention. And, i think, they still have to learn to feel woman and man in the same body, it's mostly not a solution to change your physical body. and after giving them this ' chance' they get dropped as misfits, nice culture we have... and I can agree totally with their wish to be accepted. The toilet thing is so futile, you think they had a separate toilet for me at the workplace? You think I'll go waiting in a queue for 'the ladies' when there is a toilet for men available? no way. Btw, i've heard women protesting to men entering the ladies when they came there to change a babys nappy.... changing tables normally not being available in the men's place. Hey, a toilet is a toilet, how small-minded can you be... --- lets also not forget that every human body is home of the soul, imho we have to learn and grow from what is given to us. I seem to have memories of cultures where people born with two genders in their heart were revered because of their capacities of helping to bridge the gap between the genders and their often easy access to 'god' in whatever form. Powerful shamans they were. Valuable for the community But in this here and now they are portrayed and labeled as misfits, to me that's just sad. For me it makes no difference whatsoever, i've found my balance and do as i please, but my heart bleeds for those youngsters that grow up in these times.

had to look that one up of course dads can raise a child just as well as a mom, preferably both parents take their part. But in most cultures the biggest load comes on the moms. but the question posed by marble ( i think) what was first, woman or baby, as a variant of chicken and egg. So I choose for the woman, because a baby needs to be raised. And furthering on that, it seems to me that the first ( at least six) months, a mom is needed.

well, I can only say that I'm happy that when I was young hormonal and surgical routes were not available. I've always felt like a boy, i remember well how angry I was the day that my older brother told me that i would never grow a penis.... (i think i was 3 or 4 years old) and have tried to find a working balance in myself for years. But it does not feel like a ' disorder'. It is the trend of today that everything that is out of line to be labelled as a disorder. Not denying btw, that for some of these people real traumatic things in their youth can have strong relations with their feeling of being misplaced in their body. In both situations it would be nice when you'd be just accepted as you are and preferably be helped when you're struggling with it. Accept people as they are, make them feel that they are not weird or wrong, is that so hard? so I resent the implication here that people like me have a psychic disorder. I'm still not ' fixed' and I would not want to either, because i'm not damaged. I'm just what I am and that is allright. I can still look at a beautiful woman with male eyes, just no active intentions anymore. And I'm also a woman, with the enjoyments ( and pains) that come from being a woman. Even though it's probably not as simple as being male or female, it can have a richness of experience. Accidentally my 4th finger is longer then the second, i did in my younger years have a typical male job ( mechanic) and I took girls to bed, and i was involved in quite a bit of, typical boyish, risk-taking behaviour ( thank you Spotless! I've long found my balance with being man and woman in a womans body but it's nice to read things like this, because it is a sort of a struggle to find your balance.) BES