Earl Grey

Sure, believe i am an armchair master all you want and listen to the advice and characterization of welkin, himself the established armchair master of this forum who came six months ago asking questions and then began trolling multiple threads. Or the likes of Gendumb and how everything is explained by colonialism, who will eventually raise a fuss about how you're living in a gated community in South Africa. No surprise and no concern to me; you deserve each other. Enough people I’ve spoken with have seen my skill as I have also passed the metrics that determine it in lineages to not care if you believe I’m real or fake, and enough students of mine have replicated it too. Again, my skill isn’t a question here, the concern from page one was your safety that turned into your inability to take feedback and hostility towards anyone pointing out you’re riding into Detroit. Not my problem.

Biting the hand that feeds, eh? First of all, he isn't defending me so much as warning you in a more amicable manner in contrast to my blunt indifference. Second of all, you've got some thin skin to think that everything that's been said is a personal attack. God forbid you see the twisted little ball of your insecurities and anger inside you come out in your practice and think that it's a confirmation of power you believe you have. Last of all, the one who has been rude is you, because of your certainty in your self-importance, when all that's been done is people warning you of your beginner's mistake that is a waste of time at best, and dangerous and harmful at worst. It's much easier to look at someone who has skill and accomplishment and see them as having nothing of value because they unnerve you and challenge your paradigm. No one is forcing you to save time and to keep yourself safe, but you also have no qualifications to discount the skill we do have, and confidence to be indifferent to whatever you think or throw at us for whatever you've rationalized to be a mark of skill and development (hint: you've got none, especially the manners you boast about). Actually, you're pretty thin-skinned to think everything is an insult, which means you really don't know what it means to commit to these arts and this path--Taoists are known to laugh at themselves and each other, and know when there is an absence of respect, which in this case, is a sign of your lack of skill or power, and this is what we see as "peacocking" and chest-beating. All bark, no bite; you talk about no manners but demonstrate you've got none yourself, then say there's no skill but have nothing to speak of as an admitted novice. Sure. Speaking from personal experience being arrogant yourself, too? Straw man and putting words in his mouth--this is probably why you get angry: you imagine people saying things that they aren't saying. You really need to stop doing that for your own sake. "Immortality Elixir Buffet! If this western selection doesn't interest you, check out the Chinese there, the Mexican here, and the Indian back there!" For a guy apologizing for potentially being rude or disrespectful in the first page of this thread, it's a good thing you did because you've consistently shown rudeness and been called out on it too since then, and refuse to acknowledge it. Based on what freeform wrote, he was trying to be helpful with a more amicable and relatable example, but you choose to take something that's sweet and turn it into shit--normally, Taoists do it the other way around. It's like you want to try Taoist methods, but failed to have read the Tao Te Ching or other texts (which I even quoted above!). Between me and you, it's obvious you would dismiss any teacher I could think of as rude or a con artist for what they make you do and what they charge, and they would see you as a guy who doesn't even make it past the front gate to stand in front of a door for three days and beg to be let in, then work for several years doing nothing but chores until they might let you see them practicing a technique and never teach you. Cultural sensitivity and self-awareness don't seem to be your strengths. Amazing: I come in as a varsity player of the college football team warning you about what you're getting into when you say you want to play seriously and what a coach expects and the life it requires, and you react like I'm a thug who insulted your mother at the bar. Freeform, however, comes as a retired player himself who trained with the big leagues trying to let you know what the ones scouting for talent look for, hoping to save you some unnecessary blood, sweat, and tears, and you treat him like he just cheated you out of your college money. Get over yourself, bro.

Shixiong freeform, better than anything I could possibly say.

That is why I have always had respect for you, Rara, because of your humility and openness.

"True words are not beautiful, beautiful words are not true. Those who argue stubbornly are not right, and those who are right don't need to argue." No interaction with you is already a gift for me, for having nothing to do with your self-entitlement and defensiveness means no responsibility for your foolishness and inevitable harm you are doing to yourself at worst or waste of time at best, little boor.

There was no belittling; there was merely reciprocity for your stubborn insistence that someone was trying to control you or exert power and dogma and the personal insults you threw. Begin with a sincere apology first and perhaps you may have hope yet. Otherwise, as their gatekeeper student for when they retire, no amount of money offered (even six figures) was acceptable to them when their role was to pass on knowledge and guide people to acquire skill, not to babysit or be insulted. To put it this way, any introduction isn't as simple as giving you their contact information--they ignore people without being screened. And oftentimes, at their level, a gift is expected even for an introduction, because they've seen it all and aren't interested in wasting their time. Absolutely not. They may show you some internal techniques, but you won't get any neidan immediately without prior discernment of your readiness. Someone wanting to control the weather and starting to learn that will most certainly get no technique related to that. Listen to your seniors on this forum and seek to understand before mouthing off if you truly want to make this a lifelong practice, especially Walker, who will take over at this point because he is far more patient than I.

Even with passion, the guy doesn't know what he is talking about in and has no skill to speak of, frankly speaking. One of the biggest forms of traditional training was knowing how to take feedback--not that masters beat you or insult you (some teachers do, like Pai Mei being a toned-down example), but they won't even say anything at all. They would make you do something until you had questions, dance around the answer, and let you figure it out on your own and affirm you when they saw you were on the right path, if that. One had to trust what they were saying if they said anything, and do what they taught, then look beyond that. You could also learn online from several masters I know of specializing in neidan, but they have less interest than most of us do in dealing with your hostility and immaturity for what you call "dogma" that was simply practical advice for your own safety...and that's if you are even willing to pay for what is priceless.

“Serving warmth and love...“ We could all use more of that all day every day

He's about as adamant that he's going to be fine just like a guy I knew who got mad when we told him to wear his helmet when riding a motorcycle, and said all his friends are fine without wearing them. Statistically speaking, the odds aren't in his favor, but then again, neither are the odds of him getting anywhere with his approach to working with qi.

“Icarus, don’t fly too close to the sun!” ”Screw you! You don’t know everything! I’m flying too and you’re not an expert! Stop forcing your views on me! Are you a master? Are you the one with absolute knowledge? Don’t tell me what to do!” ”...you know what? Fly as high as you want. Please. Be my guest.”

Sure, go look for confirmation bias via people who are agreeable, then piss on people who actually know what they’re talking about, e.g. force your uninformed opinion to be true rather than listening to facts. See you in a few months claiming to be enlightened and spamming the forum with a lot of garbage everywhere in a few years with the self-appointed authority to call yourself a master. I swear, these self-initiated and power-seekers think they’re playing with Legos and really are mixing the periodic table, all over Reddit trying to be Jedi, are somehow coming here and beating their chests when people point out they’re drinking hydrochloric acid. Whatever.

Whatever. You’ve been warned by several of us who’ve done this for years. If you’re so set on harming your body and developing psychoses as a self-initiate like we’ve seen so many of in this forum over the years, knock yourself out.

Mixing currents leads to qi deviation. No medical professional, even some TCM doctors, can help if you do this.

Okay, grandpa.

Such logic he uses to explain his enlightened understanding to an elementary student is as follows: Mathematics: 1+1= colonialism and every problem! English: this is the language of colonists and they use it to control us with their lies! History: These are the lies of colonists who want us to forget what actually happened! Geography: Colonists ruined the word and divided it! Art: Colonists make us enjoy their Christian art and it’s all terrible! Biology: Colonists cut people up and aliens made it hard for us to see our origins by blocking our perceptions! Physics: Colonists won’t let us fly! Chemistry: Colonists are making drugs illegal! Lunch: This is food colonists stole from local people! Recess: Colonists are distracting us from what’s important and telling us stupid shit is fun!

Yep! We're all friends who occasionally fight and bite, but are still friends in the end. Just like Smash Bros!

Luke, yes, there is something going on in the cosmos, and according to several different calendars, it began in July of this year for this particular wave. If you want, when I have a moment, I'll open up a new thread after getting permission from my sources.

Sean, i get where you’re coming from. I’m having this problem too with people in my own family gaslighting me because they don’t like my life choices and views, and I’ve told them that they’re basically taking the “If you can’t beat them, join them” approach. It doesn’t work for me and is not an option because I’m just not wired to sell out in favor of comfort like many I know have for political and financial reasons. You are welcome to chat with me personally about this not as a professional or spiritual master (I am neither), but as an empathic buddy who says, “I get it, bro, I’ve been there too and am having a tough time as well.” Oh right: I AM having a tough time! And according to my friends on the forum, even without our private exchange, they see it in some of my posts too (kinda hard to miss...). But offering support to one another is why we loved Jim and still love Jim, why we care about each other here, and why we reach out, so I extend this hand to you and leave the door open should you choose to take it or not. Even if not, the offer being there is still some comfort for people, at least in my experience. Keep on truckin’ Sean.

Exactly what I said when it comes from your sect! Don't be so certain you are the gatekeeper and judge for truth--everyone believes themselves to be this. An absolute view that talks about the dark side of religions, yes, which I am also in agreement with--but you discount the good that they have brought too. As a "dark skinned boy [who] comes to school for the first time" because I went to many schools growing up from moving around a lot and was the new kid, be very careful about your choice of words and generalizations, for I have more personal experiences as a dark-skinned boy in a new school than your hypothetical example here can come up with and I won't sound as racist as you do. I remind you, you began with the name-calling, and after I tried to explain that I wasn't even insulting you, you continued to call me names and belittle me. So after a while, I responded in kind. Right here, I merely said which you took as an insult, as you said here: You accused me of insulting your teacher for what? Not agreeing he has the authoritative view? Then you said I am "calling you crap", in your own words, because those are your words, not mine, as nothing in my message said it was crap--all I said was it was just a sect with its own view, not absolute. Then you assumed I was challenging your status, then you criticize me for my participation in the forum. Grow up. I never was a hyena--I defended myself from your insecurities and what is now abundantly clear that it is also your need to engage in combat with people to reinforce your holy martyr status. Show me where I said it was bad. All I said in our original discussion was that it was your sect, not absolute. The above citations show otherwise. You would have been gone before us because you started the personal insults, and everyone else saw it too. Declaring jihad because you're too proud to admit your comprehension and overreaction were not becoming of either a sage or holy man. There never was a conflict--you started it and I merely defended myself. Don't expect me to speak for Zork just because we happened to be in agreement, but his attitude towards you now shows that I'm not the only one turned off by your childishness. Do you even read what was written by others or do you just react when you see a certain order of words like a stupid algorithm? And yes: you were insulting my perspective, because my perspective does not view your sect as absolute, it is just one of many. You--as I quoted above--did not take it that way and refuse to even step back for one minute and try understand. This is true, and I agree with you to an extent. If it were just that, then it doesn't offend me, or others too, as far as I can see. But it's not just that--it was your reaction and assumption, defensiveness, hostility, and sanctimony, then your refusal to even try to understand. A mature man seeks to understand. An immature man seeks to make others understand him. You have not sought to understand, and we have--we even said that we weren't saying what you were accusing us of saying, but you keep insisting and insinuating it, then forgetting you began the insults. Jeff can speak for himself, and in spite of my own views on him and his practice, I have respect for him by staying in my own lane as he stays in his own lane. I reply to this point because it is again quite immature to speak ill of other people to prove your point in speaking against me. If you are able to cite other people and their support for you, citing them is still questionable because you're speaking for them rather than letting them speak for themselves. You seem to think you are the shepherd who is angry not everyone is one of his flock. Humility is a virtue shared between the Buddha, The Prophet, The Christ, Laozi, Kuanyin, Tara, many individuals of high spiritual attainment. You do not appear to have this with your behavior. Before you say that I don't, I will state clearly that I make no pretense of being a sage or holy; I'm spiritual, but I'm also human, and have no problems being angry or flipping you the bird, let alone what you or others think of me. Are you forgetting that I never said anything before you called me out right here? I never said anything before that, I only laughed at your comment and liked Walker's, but had to come in when you were calling me out and attempting to characterize me. So speaks the holy man of Mao Shan. I respect your sect, but I have lost all respect for you, and somehow, you manage to diminish that opinion of you the more you talk. I like what moment said: "There's always another choice." Find that other choice, holy man. I'll be waiting for when your better self comes out and you can act appropriately for your age and your title. Until then, you're the one losing sleep over this self-created conflict, not me.

Fourth wave and cultural feminism, yes, but let’s not throw out the baby with the bath water! What feminism stood for originally and its original philosophy is fantastic. Don’t let the taint of modern people who claim to be feminists who aren’t even feminists affect your views of it, whether it’s the misanthropic woman who hates men and thinks women are superior or the snake of a man who pretends to be woke and sensitive, but really just wants to sleep with everyone in a dishonest way.

It dawned upon me that you were insulting me here already in a reply to Walker, and it’s before I even posted the first time here, because I liked his comment and laughed at yours. Besides how your insults are hardly original and lacking in wit, you’re pretty childish for an old man and self-declared “holy man” of Taoism—a term I’ve never heard in translation of any Taoists I’ve encountered. But to address your colorful characterization of me, no, I’m not a diplomat’s son (there are other ways to grow up overseas as a young expat), I’m not from California (but i do hold residency from living there longer than other states), and I do enjoy writing, and none of these things sound even remotely like anything someone would be phased by, even after they realize how pathetic you sound attempting to be witty. But your attempt to discredit me because the state you think I’m from is being wasteful for nuts yet ignores their many initiatives on the environment is both ill-informed and hilarious—that’s like me saying your temple and its prestige mean nothing because of almost no Taoists compared to Muslims in Malaysia. There’s no causation between the two, nor is your description of me anything but amusing—cute even. In any case, besides what I read and was said already by both SirPalomides and Walker, your sect prayer doesn’t mean anything to me—even before reading it, I only needed to see the word “sect” and that was clear enough that it’s just you, not all Taoism or Taoists. You seriously need to grow up, man. All you’re doing is embarrassing yourself and for what? Because I just said it’s your sect in another thread and you immediately began the personal insults since I didn’t bow down to your authority that you claim for all Taoism? Not very Taoist, if you ask me, let alone holy, if that’s the word you insist on using, and most definitely doesn’t seem like any manner of how a grown-ass man would conduct himself.

A time-out is a fair compromise. As he has friends off forum who can e-mail him this (including me), I'll be sure to let him know what I can. In the meanwhile, I will share a similar situation in which a man close to Lima's age and of Southeast Asian descent was met with western progressive norms marching on past him, and how he didn't necessarily mean offense, but was willing to learn when someone pointed out that if he didn't, he wouldn't be invited to such institutions in the future (or get funding, for that matter): https://www.rappler.com/move-ph/balikbayan/news/94286-gawad-kalinga-tony-meloto-sexist-speech-hawaii https://www.rappler.com/move-ph/balikbayan/94381-gawad-kalinga-tony-meloto Full disclosure: I've met and worked with the man, and he is anything but a bigot--it's the older Filipino generation's humor that is at best tolerated as a relic of his times and seen as off-putting to the youth--particularly Filipino Millennials who live in Manila. Lima and that generation have some similarities with off-color humor as a means of playful teasing to denote trust and closeness befitting friends who get one another and know it’s love, not malice, but end result: the behavior not appropriate at this juncture for the forum, and I will be in touch with him. Thanks Sean.

As I said the first time in the other thread, if you want to talk, do it in your own thread, don't derail the one you originally invaded. Your summary here omits and changes many details, and while it is moot to discuss it with you based on your lack of respect and refusal to apologize, I am replying as a courtesy. However, you still do not indicate that you want a dialogue for understanding, but instead to force your view and reject my perspective, which you did by omitting details that can be seen in the first two pages alone of this original thread. Until you actually want to discuss in a manner that shows you want to have a more cordial and amicable, reconciliatory way with me and others here (like your friend ilovecoffee did to his credit), I won't reply further to you here or elsewhere unless you derail other threads that I am active on.

Forgiveness, openness, understanding, and love means people learning and advocating you. Okay, the acronym may be FOUL PLAY, but I think it could definitely fit in the spirit of Marbles, and is something that we had a laugh with in a workshop a while back when talking about our spiritual community. We've all made mistakes before, but to be punished immediately for a slip-up is a lot like McCarthyist witch hunting for communists in the 1950s. When I was growing up in the 80s in America and then moving to Southeast Asia in the late 90s, I was around both westerners from older generations and locals with cultural values that were very much not gay-friendly. Returning to the US, my first two years there in San Francisco I would consider good times because I was around a lot of tolerant and understanding friends who said, "Hey pal, we actually don't say that term anymore (fag hag, which became fruit fly)" and "Hey buddy, we wouldn't consider those jokes as funny ourselves" when referencing an old episode of Married: With Children or All in the Family and movies like Monster Squad where the kids themselves called the principal "homo". None of it was calling out or ostracizing--it was them knowing that I didn't know any better, and after a lot more friendliness, the sensitivity developed naturally, as there was none of this knee-jerk punishment. It was friendly reminders and them having enough empathy to realize that I was American by citizenship but very Asian and culturally closer to older generations--not even the Baby Boomers, but the Silent Generation and earlier, for they were the people I was around growing up and my youth peers were fellow Gen-Xers. So once I got a couple years of informal education through exposure and friendships with understanding people who were also very forgiving, I didn't just learn sensitivity that was desired by a group of people, I actually stopped seeing them as "my gay friends" and just saw them as my friends who also happened to be gay if the concept of relationships ever came up--a detail that only was necessary in context as much as needing to know if someone's dietary restrictions had to be considered when going out as a group for pizza, not a distinct characteristic of who they are. Short version: let Lima back--he is an old man in his 70s from Singapore and doesn't know a lot about American and western progressive values, but he's certainly not the kind of Trump supporter that poisoned the forum for several years.

Earlier this year, a Feminist scholar in the New York Times was talking about how there was a very extreme smaller cabal of feminism in the 1970s that was very loud and aggressive with their views, to the point that the average feminist then refused to associate with them because they were so far removed from the ideas of gender equality that they themselves sounded like the mythical "cultural Marxist" conspiracy that people love to drudge up. Today's extremist misogynistic views naturally led to some of those ideas resurfacing. They were called "cultural feminists" and they didn't just feel that relationships, men, and marriages were unnecessary, but that sex was unnecessary too. That last part was enough to raise the alarms and cause a lot of feminists to disown them, reminding everyone that this was obviously not feminism. Some of their more bizarre views was that they would push for in-vitro fertilization and the elimination of Miss, Ms. Mrs. The problem that many cultural feminists had is that this relied on capitalist western views and had a very universalist agenda that ignored complexities for women of color and different socio-political cultural backgrounds in different countries. Cultural feminism is sadly the model by which fourth wave is heavily influenced by, and the privilege of social media and access to technology that working class and non-western people do not have as much easy access to themselves. A Woke Western White Woman from Washington can't tell a Gambian woman on Facebook what is proper and how to deal with toxic patriarchy as there are too many contextual variables she doesn't consider. It's sadly historical too that these distortions come from a place of assuming gender alone is the only context that affects women, due to the fact that when American women got universal suffrage, this did not extend to women of color--who fought for that as well but were betrayed by their white sisters. The generational issue is covered in one liberal's book who is lost in an era where those who call themselves liberals have diverged in such a way that the label doesn't include her. Thinking that women alone would make a utopia and assuming men are the toxic part of society don't realize that capitalism is a bigger influence than they think.