Taomeow

you mean, The smile that can be named is not the real Smile?.. Well, butter me on both sides and call me a biscuit.

'tis true. Also, try withholding a smile when someone who likes you smiles at you, see what it does to that person. We have the power to affect each other. People who aren't affected by other people are the ones who have something wrong with them, according to researchers -- e.g., autistic kids don't have their mirror neurons functioning properly (the mirror neurons account for our ability to emphasize, to feel what others feel -- they get activated by someone else's emotions and it is apparently normal for our species, and abnormal when it doesn't happen) -- people afflicted with schizophrenia do not respond to hypnosis, are impenetrable for suggestions, and it is not a sign of normality either, medically speaking -- There was a woman at the last LA kunlun seminar who had no prior exposure to the practice at all, who got into this we-are-all-the-same mode toward the very end. She didn't fly around the room, she just cried and cried and kept saying, you don't understand, it's all about compassion, I never saw it, it's all about compassion, I never felt it, now I can feel nothing but compassion, we are all the same... stuff like that. And then Max showed her a "magic trick" that he didn't show anyone else, and she jumped and went silent. Then she asked him, with great urgency, "what happened, why... how... did you just go transparent?.." Anyone has an explanation?.. I met her after the seminar and asked her how she was feeling. She started crying again, hugged me, and said, "I wish for you to experience someday what I experienced today." How did she know I didn't? Well I didn't. I mostly laughed throughout the practice this time, just cracking myself up with my own laughter and laughing some more over that silly laughing release and laughing over that too. It's all different for different people, but it's different even for the same person at different times. We are complex individuals, even though we're all the same. This practice will bring out both -- the difference, and the sameness. But there's no telling where you're going to be when it meets you. Smiling or scorning, laughing or crying -- it will meet you where you're at, rather than push you where you don't want to go. If you don't want to go there, you won't go there. Max doesn't pick your locks, he hands you the key -- open them if you like, if you can -- don't open them if you don't. By the way, laughing for no reason at all is rather Laoesque, don't you think? "If he doesn't laugh, it is not the tao."

Didn't he already? You've written thousands of words about him, been suspended over some of them some of the time, moved back in, wrote thousands more, was removed, moved back, thousands more, removed again, back again, writing about Max again... and you still doubt Max is moving you hither and yon every which way he pleases?..

Does anyone have a recipe for ridding a cat of fleas? (No, not neem and not citronella and not celery seed extract, already used those, didn't work.) Anyone tried Hulda Clark's or any other zapper on them? Please share an experiential, successful, nontoxic recipe whoever might have one! (Lotsa stuff on the internet and after trying quite a few of the recipes and failing, I'm looking to hear from someone who's been there done that, not just heard/read about it.) Oh... and I do mean a real cat, not a tao meow.

And reassembles the string of pearls I scattered to amuse the swine!

By the way, if anyone who tried to contact me at kunlun forum was left hanging, that's because I've no access to that forum currently -- different state, different computer, forgot my password, waiting for it to get reset, blah blah. So -- if I'm failing to respond to someone or something there, sorry. Pending. Downward mobility of social values/energies/moods/lifestyles is a planned assault, not a cultivation phenomenon. Big difference between dropping your qi to the lower dantien and dropping a hammer on your toe. Both are downward mobile, but we're not talking crude energies, we are talking subtle ones. And subtle ones are set up to take people out of their bodies into their heads, nevermind things they then proceed to do in/with their heads are mostly idiotic, they are still coming in via the upper-visual-auditory interface with the world more than any other route. Watching TV is an upward-flow activity, ditto computer work, ditto video games, ditto alcohol -- a yang tonic, a yin suppressor -- using anything that burns petroleum is an upward-flow activity, your use energy that goes up in smoke and heat and toxic shit -- so driving a car is another one of those -- taking a shower is an upward-flow deal, believe it or not, because chlorine in that steam goes up, not down -- our civilization is yang/upward skewed every step of the way I tell ya, don't use "down" metaphorically and you will notice, use it literally. "Down" is a direction. "Education going down" is a metaphor, whose directional affiliation is quite arbitrary. "Going down" doesn't mean "becoming less" in the context I'm using it in. It means an actual vector of motion of energies, energies of the world both subtle and not so subtle. Primarily qi...

I've been avoiding all "bottom up," upward-flow methods long before kunlun, and I will continue to avoid them. The reason has to do with timing, with the nature of our time. It is an upward-mobile, hierarchical, pyramid-scheme kind of time. The mass at the bottom supporting the rulers at the top. The way to get anywhere is to "ascend," climb the corporate ladder or the spiritual one, in the general direction of some Father in Heaven or other. This is the time that has made Earth a servant to a "higher" master. The time when the body is imprisoned with the excuse that the spirit roams free. (Duh. Disembodied spirits roaming free have long been known as gui, hungry ghosts.) The time we talk to each other in a disembodied internet fashion exchanging things of the head, mind, spirit, higher cortical activity -- instead of shoulder to shoulder, face to face, whole earthly being to whole living, breathing presence. The time when as above so below means glorify everything above and marginalize everything below. The time when upward-flow cultivation practices add to the overall imbalance, on the personal level and the universal level alike, by imitating the very upward drift that has already gone too far and has been going too far for too long and is not slowing down or stopping as we speak. The time of kali yuga, blowing things up from under everybody's collective feet, sending them flying upward... dispersing, demolishing, upward-driving the foundation of life. The downward flow practices are the natural antidote. Which is one reason I've taken to kunlun like fish to water. It is in harmony with the needs of our time. There's many practices that are "whatever" that don't phase in the nature of the time they're being practiced in. But taoism is nothing if not a study of the nature of time. The color, flavor, shape, meaning, intent of the season... Overlook it and you will never choose a practice wisely... They're good practices all right, many of them, and great practices some of them, but their time may have passed or may not have come, however you look at it, which means they are lousy practices if practiced right now, during a wrong cosmic season, even though they may have been great two thousand years ago and will be great again two thousand years from now. Not so with kunlun. This one is time-sensitive... and the imperative of the time is... invert that damn pyramid... and crush that obnoxious usurper at the top with all the weight of its downward, magnetic, magnificent flow.

Siberian, Mongolian, Manchu, Native American shamanism. Some Tibetan buddhism, particularly its healing and magical practices used by Emchi Lamas. Biophysics, biochemistry, chaos, fractals, cognitive neuroscience, non-syndicated history.

I knew it! although your Cantonese-Pinyin rendition of names I only know in Mandarin-Pinyin baffled me on many an occasion. Well, you have to forgive the less-than-warm welcome you get here from some of the proponents of the most influential sect of Tao of the Mouth. They don't like to encounter pragmatic taoism, they think taoism is what you believe in, or don't believe in, and they practice taoism by thinking or talking about it. Doing things the taoist way is not taoism for them. Uh-uh. You have to read researchers and scriptures to be a Tao of the Mouth taoist in good standing. The new and improved Tao of the Mouth taoism has rid itself of Hetu, Luoshu, I Ching, bagua, Wuxing, internal and external alchemy, astrology, numerology, divination, talismanic sorcery, herbology, ancestor worship, offerings to the gods, spirit invocations, direct transmissions, and the rest of this "barbaric nonsense." Tao of the Mouth taoists do just fine "believing" in Laozi, and whatever is not covered by the Tao Te Ching plus maybe a scripture or two they favor is to be found in the works of "researchers" (outsiders) of taoism. As soon as you start practicing taoism you're already suspect no matter what you practice. See, their researchers don't practice anything, they only research, and then "believe" or "don't believe" in this and that. So you are supposed to be like them too, and if you're not... Be forewarned!

Yang is the arrow, yin is the target. The arrow in its flight sees a goal in front of it and is single-mindedly focused on "getting there." The target, in the meantime, sees multiple arrows approaching it from multiple directions, and is curious to see which one will hit it with the greatest precision. A man seeks his purpose, a woman is sought by her purpose. Don't look for a woman who already shares your goal; instead, look for a woman who is open to many possibilities... and be that arrow.

No, it's not bad, but if it's the real thing, it's got slimy texture.

Yes but the real thing is two hours of simmering and pressing, and the bogus one isn't worth bothering with. It's not a "tea" in the sense "refreshment," it's a medicinal decoction.

Agree 100%. Wouldn't expect anything but trouble down the road from any practice that emphasizes "cultivating spirit" while neglecting "cultivating life." All manner of "power hangovers" are inevitable if power is not tempered by the alchemical process of transforming suffering into compassion. Which has to be experiential -- not theoretical -- one has to have lived like that, not merely "believed in it." Real power comes from living a challenging life and learning to solve its riddles with all one's got. Power from qigong is the last refining stage of alchemical transformation of crude power accumulated in this manner, not the first. Power practices that don't rest on a solid and grounded human foundation are like a meal of tabasco sauce and hard liquor... powerful indeed, "spirit" will be nourished big time, but "life" won't get any sustenance... and tears will flow.

Coy or really surprised I noticed? Be well too.

I didn't make a peep about meat in taoist rituals, you may notice. I am familiar with the Border Sacrifice which predates most other taoist rituals and was practiced till 1911 if my sources don't lie. Shang Ti asked for a whole bull! Nor about my practice as the "only one." But the way I was taught, I have to use raw/uncooked foods for the gods and spirits, cooked ones for my ancestors. Ancestors don't mind meat. Gods and spirits I invoke don't want even me to eat it the day of the ritual, and won't accept it for an offering. I respect that. YM, what I'm really eagerly awaiting from you is a post on the peculiarities of the concept of Face as used in Chinese culture, and your reasons for shredding Face rather than giving it, as is more customary. Do you feel Faceless?.. My sympathy if you do. Is that why you're going after other's Face all the time -- to gain some for yourself? But isn't it considered a sure way to lose rather than gain Face, traditionally?.. I don't know, I'm just a lowly guilo, but still... Perplexed.

Um... in the taoist tradition, cold/raw foods that were never exposed to heat are offered to the spirits of the dead, as more suitable for them than for the living. I put uncooked rice on my altar, but I do use heat for making pilaf. I think you need to make up your mind about what it is exactly you're preaching. I've shared the dinner table with quite a few Moslems in my day and age, and my own secret pilaf recipe comes from a proud Moslem family. (Never shared with a woman before! A male pilaf lineage! ) Lamb pilaf with saffron... and forty-three other spices... mmmm! Wish I could serve you some... anyone would convert to anything if that was the condition I'd impose on anyone getting the seconds!

Lectinology, a study of lectins, is a relatively young, highly specialized branch of biochemistry/biophysics whose discoveries are currently mostly being abused by GM applications (in fact, GM manipulations are only possible because there's lectins) and the bogus Eat Right diet; however, it holds the key to something in the human, animal, and plant nature as fundamental as the Laws of Attraction -- or perhaps the very bees knees of Attachment... on the cellular level. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lectins

A few Buddhism-taoism blends take the Buddhist view, but most taoists (and the overwhelming majority of Chinese) count pork among the Five Sacred Meats of Taoism as taught to the Yellow Emperor by the goddess who transmitted to him what is now known as TCM. The caveats do apply to farm raised animals, all of them, not just pig, except for dog (one of the Five Sacred) which is deemed good to eat whether wild or tame. Taoists are advised to favor game meats with good rationale behind the advice, but no, discrimination against pigs is not part of "all" taoism, only "some" taoism. All vegetarian traits in taoism are borrowings from Buddhism that were never there originally. There's no vein that specializes in producing pus in any animal. Pus is formed in any animal suffering from infections -- this is common in inadequately raised and improperly fed farm animals, all of them, not just the pig. Trichinae parasite is the reason pork should never be cooked "rare" or "medium rare," only "well done" -- high temperatures destroy it completely and safely. Flesh-infesting parasites are most common in fish, to an extent far exceeding that in pigs. They seldom present a problem if safe handling, processing, and consumption are observed. E.g., sushi is highly likely to carry a few of these, but wasabi which is the absolutely necessary part of the meal kills them as you go. TCM has a wide range of uses for pork (produces fluids in dryness disorders, is warming and useful in cold disorders, facilitates healthy growth in sickly children, aids reproductive health, to name a few.) The real metabolic reason pork is taboo in some religious dietary laws might have been discovered only recently by a science known as lectinology. If interested, I'll tell you more.

I second that. Um... Up to a point in one's cultivation, yes. Up to a very early point... only you (I mean the generic you, not you personally) don't know it's early in the game when you're there, you think you've almost arrived... why things are so nice and balanced now ... what can possibly go wrong? -- if I just keep up the good work, it will only keep getting better, right?.. But if you do keep up the good work and get a bit farther, and far enough from Kansas, Toto ...far, far away from everything that used to be your nice, comfortable, comprehensible, accountable-for existential home... ...then... ...well, ask Jesus or Buddha about things that might start happening then. Yes, demons too, the farther on the path, the closer the encounters... right when the path gets interesting, right when you start getting some tangible supernatural results... Oh and as for the demon of doubt, she's really an angel, her name is Reality Check and it's a beautiful name and she's a beautiful angel. Her demonic incarnation is called Low Self-Esteem and should be exorcised with extreme prejudice.

There's no pure yin or pure yang in the world of the living OR in the world of the dead. Ghosts have some yin features -- coldness, quietude, hidden rather than explicit presence -- as well as some yang features -- lack of solidity, ephemeral dispersion, tending toward heaven, and occasionally aggressiveness. The simplified view of yin as 'dead' and yang as 'alive' is the outcome of millennia of anti-feminine bias, a taoist can be expected to know better than pursuing this line of pop taoist reasoning. Many of the gui, hungry ghosts, are typically quite attached to the living and derive extra yang from them; in addition there's hot fiery ghosts, hot-tempered and physically hot, albeit these are rare. An example of a predominantly yin ghost would be a Sitting Ghost, a really horrible entity; one of these might sit on a living person, getting progressively heavier, and cause depression, or in severe cases, cardiac arrest. An example of a yang ghost is an angry, unburied soldier stirring up new wars in search of revenge. Lay people are typically advised to steer clear of ghosts, but removing hauntings and possessions used to be a taoist priest's important function in the community. Fakes and incompetents were not tolerated and were usually driven away. Some of the "wandering taoists" went a-wandering ISO ghost-busting business, their chief professional craft. Please nobody tell me we're dealing with six thousand years of superstitions here... nope, only the last one hundred and fifty have been superstitious along the lines of fundamentalist atheism, a new business venture that has plenty of time to fall on its face ahead of it.

You're welcome, genius. I knew someone might benefit if I mention this one, it's fun and useful -- and an eye-opener into the world of bona fide advantages of perception (no, not PC, the real deal) that might manifest dyslexia as their "side effect." Can't believe you have something in common with Dubya though.

Hi Pranaman, I'm a big fan of the Five Tibetans for flexibility. Fast, efficient, safe if you don't do anything silly, you can go at your own pace, and you will notice results within a short time. (Once the muscles remember, the time is reduced to 24-48 hours, i.e. if I don't practice for a year, one or two days get me back to where I was when I practiced daily.) Also from personal exposure: the standard TKD warm-up routine is very nice, and takes care of all those lateral stretches that are missing from the Tibetans. To aid the task while you're practicing: take some magnesium supplements, and emphasize yin foods (mushy soups, gelatinous stuff like strong bone broths, glutinous rice, fish, seaweed, shrimp, root vegetables. Avoid fried, crispy-crunchy stuff. Avoid bread and other wheat products like the plague. Minimize or eliminate dairy, with the exception of fermented organic stuff -- kefir, yogurt. High intake of quality fat is essential -- forget all you've heard about any benefits of "low fat" or "fat free" stuff, flexibility is a function of proper internal lubrication and Ayurveda will prescribe straight up ghee by the spoonful to accomplish this, or even oil retention enemas! You don't need to go this far, just remember the "good fat is good" mantra and you'll be lean and flexible for all eternity! )

Care to elaborate on the 鬼佬 entities?

A few years ago I read a book titled The Gift of Dyslexia, and was amazed to learn that the author, who used to be severely dyslexic and cured himself, did so by discovering (or creating, hard to tell from memory) an assemblage point to view stuff out of. He called it something else, forget what, but I recognized Castaneda's AP instantly, albeit the author of the dyslexia cure method places it a tad higher I think. He later developed his discovery to help other dyslexics overcome their difficulty, with success rate close to one hundred percent. I experimented with this method (I am not dyslexic, just a compulsive experimenter) and discovered that it is as grounding and centering as the lower dantien, the difference being that the lower dantien is great to use for interactions with self, while the assemblage point works very well for interacting with others -- if you release your awareness thence, it naturally provides something like an "impartial view," an interested observer who is however not easily swayed by what she observes.