moment

Seeking sanctuary

Without anxiety and illness, I am a ship without a rudder... My sufferings are part of my self and my art. They are indistinguishable from me, and their destruction would destroy my art.---- Edvard Munch

What you say is true. But now, what do we do to give such a subjective tough nut to the rest of society?

The Wondering Taoist Steward+ 47,314 posts Report post Marblehead Posted June 26, 2017 Good thing I didn't place any value judgement on what I said.---- Marblehead

Damn! Sometimes you really do it. Good job. Thank you.

Like all things, there are degrees and shades. How much is too much and how much is too little. When does the devouring begin, with outrage or the lack of closure? Quotes are fun but, often they become weak homilies.

There are a lot of similarities between Stoicism (of that period) and Taoism. Also, Marcus Aurelius had near absolute power and yet he never lost sight of his service duties to his people. A rarity in history or the present day.

When death comes like the hungry bear in autumn; when death comes and takes all the bright coins from his purse to buy me, and snaps the purse shut; when death comes like the measle-pox when death comes like an iceberg between the shoulder blades, I want to step through the door full of curiosity, wondering: what is it going to be like, that cottage of darkness? And therefore I look upon everything as a brotherhood and a sisterhood, and I look upon time as no more than an idea, and I consider eternity as another possibility, and I think of each life as a flower, as common as a field daisy, and as singular, and each name a comfortable music in the mouth, tending, as all music does, toward silence, and each body a lion of courage, and something precious to the earth. When it's over, I want to say all my life I was a bride married to amazement. I was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms. When it's over, I don't want to wonder if I have made of my life something particular, and real. I don't want to find myself sighing and frightened, or full of argument. I don't want to end up simply having visited this world Mary Oliver When Death Comes

“Of course! The path to heaven doesn’t lie down in flat miles. It’s in the imagination with which you perceive this world, and the gestures with which you honor it.” "Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?" "Instructions for living a life. Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it." "When it's over, I want to say: all my life I was a bride married to amazement. I was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms." --Mary Oliver, Pulitzer prize winning poet--Died January 17th, 2019 at 83 years of truly living

Do you have ideas or do ideas have you?

Is intellectualism pro-Taoism or anti-Taoism? Is the Dao Bums a shadow of its' former self?

There is much to learn from everyone if we can get past politics and ego. I have no interest in arguing, I just hope my friends in Martial arts could research , train and communicate and grow without all the ego B.S and politics.

Our actions may be impeded…but there can be no impeding our intentions or dispositions. Because we can accommodate and adapt. The mind adapts and converts to its own purposes the obstacle to our acting. The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.-- Marcus Aurelius

The soul becomes dyed with the color of its thoughts. --Marcus Aurelius

3d Street Art Nearly the whole street was taken to create this effect.

What is really demanded in the Church of Whatever is not ability but, inability. Then you are considered teachable. Your bowing and scraping to whatever religion, caste or organization is required for advancement. A truly able person is always considered a threat and the kind of intellectual prostration necessary, to maintain your hierarchy, is a low quality of life.--- Phaedrus in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

When it pulls your heart and your tears from you. When it takes your rapt attention, you have truly felt art.

Wow! Now, that has so much nuance and message I hardly know where to start Thank you.

The eye of discretion will enable him to see the mature charm that belongs to men and women in old age, as well as the seductive bloom that is youth's. Things of this sort will not appeal to everyone; he alone who has cultivated a real intimacy with Nature and her works will be struck by them.-- Marcus Aurelius

Well then, if you are having fun.

Teaching with too many words, maybe it is time to re-evaluate.

Cold showers do a lot of things. Masters have been advocating them for over a thousand years. I find that one or two minutes after a hot shower works best for me. It is what you might call a positive stressor. It snaps you into more clarity, especially after the lulling of a hot shower. It is good for anxiety and depression in some. It closes the pores. Try it a few times. It either helps or it doesn't.

You need to get to basics quickly. Stop all energy work. ( Except possibly Tai Chi while barefoot) Start taking cold showers. Start gardening if possible. Tree planting in the woods is great for grounding. The butter melt meditation can be useful. Study traditional grounding techniques. Make grounding your way of life (The search itself will be helpful) until things return to normal. Find something to love and be passionate about. Good luck.

Have you taken the "Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire"?