Aetherous

The Dao Bums
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Everything posted by Aetherous

  1. The daobums just would not be the same without Taomeow. We cannot be losing long term bums, who have much knowledge of the Dao, and who have it with such style. I sincerely hope she stays.
  2. The Human Cost of Talking Trump

    I want them back, too! Still have no idea which comments caused either of them to leave; I only pop into that thread now and then.
  3. The Human Cost of Talking Trump

    It didn't appear to at all.
  4. The Human Cost of Talking Trump

    But what are we doing about it? Perpetuating malice? Or breaking the cycle?
  5. Yep, I think so. The universe is too complex for it to be otherwise.
  6. Another understanding... Wood = ascent Fire = expansion out Metal = descent Water = storage in ...and Earth = stability (this corresponds to the second version of the five elements, with earth in the center)
  7. The Human Cost of Talking Trump

    This forum is already kept clean.
  8. Seriously Need some Help

    I think it's not beneficial to be so overly sensitive. I would personally recommend just ignoring what effects long hair or short hair has, etc. Focus on more mundane things. Don't have magical thinking, like believing that it's synchronicity how you end up working with other people who have long hair. What if you worked with someone else who had short hair? Would you just ignore that aspect? The supposed synchronicity is just coincidence, and trying to look deeper into it, like you're doing, is degrading the ability of your mind to have critical thought. Basically...you seem ungrounded. I would recommend that you eat more meat, if you aren't having that much of it already. Try to think rationally about things. Get sleep at normal hours. Sorry if this seems a little offensive...I mean for it to be helpful.
  9. The Human Cost of Talking Trump

    Joeblast said these things? While some conspiracy theories might be legitimate, these things seem very extreme and imbalanced...and that's worrying for our fellow daobum of many years, whom I've met and know is a good person! Those ideas definitely seem worthy of not having on the forum.
  10. There are five digits on the hand or foot (four fingers and one thumb), there are 5 extremities (two arms, two legs, one head). Just for this reason, we should be interested to hear about a system of measurement and correspondence that deals with the number five. I think in the Western system, quintessence is sometimes considered the fifth element...so it's not always the Western "4". As for relationships between the Western and Eastern...I think air is wood, and quintessence is metal. But no correspondences are absolutely true all of the time...depending on the perspective, correspondences change. In the Chinese five elements, there are two versions...one where the five elements are in the generating cycle, with the pentagram of controlling and insulting cycles: The other version is where the earth element is in the center, water is below, wood is left, fire is above, and metal is right. (Just drew it in MS Paint, because I didn't know how to find it on Google image search). So here we can see one that deals with the four seasons: spring is wood, summer is fire, autumn is metal, and winter is water. Earth is the transition times between them. Both models of the Chinese five elements are classically used often. This second one isn't only for the four seasons...it also describes the flavors of herbs well. Anyway...for metal overcoming wood, the axe chopping wood is just a good example of that being possible. Of course, a person has to make the axe out of metal...but still, it is showing how metal can be harder than wood and break it. I'm sure we could find examples where it doesn't really work...for instance, we could make a wood knife and sharpen it really well, then take an aluminum can, and the wood could probably cut through it. But the point of the five elements isn't to be nitpicky and find areas where it's wrong as a theory. Another thing about the five element interactions...yes, metal controls or overacts on wood, but wood can also insult metal. Any element can interfere with any other one in numerous ways. So the idea of using a wooden knife to cut an aluminum can is still legitimate...that's just wood insulting metal. Those analogies are just one way of thinking about it. There are as many ways as there are different things in the universe, because it's used as a model to try and describe the workings of the universe. Yes, it is sometimes taking a period of time and dividing it up arbitrarily. Why divide up a day into five, or 12, or 360? Is the division meaningful? Anyway, hope this makes things a little more clear.
  11. The Human Cost of Talking Trump

    I definitely believe in limits.
  12. The Human Cost of Talking Trump

    The rest of the forum is basically free of political talk...if someone is so averse to politics, they can stay in that area. I don't care either way, and part of me thinks it'd be good if the board was 100% spiritual discussion...but the original post struck me as a bit too controlling and not introspective enough (saying this for cultivation purposes, and not merely to offend...because why else are we here?). At the time when we're advocating for change in the outer world, should be the time that we're focusing most on how we can let others do their own thing and control only ourselves. Otherwise we end up like militant fundamentalist believers, attempting to shove our ideologies down everyone's throats, and make them live only the way we think is correct. Such an attitude is diametrically opposed to freedom, especially when we start asking for spaces where reasonable free speech (like civil discussion of politics) isn't permitted. To be challenged by others is an opportunity for cultivation...it's not an opportunity to silence others. Silencing free speech and controlling other people is not the path of peace. The Talk Trump thread is a great opportunity for most of us to grow. The only thing is that it's up to us as individuals, if we're going to cultivate and behave proactively, or let our egos and emotions rule who we are. Just because some members make the wrong choice, or falter a little bit on the path, doesn't make it any less of an opportunity for growth.
  13. Probiotic Appreciation Study Group

    I once saw a recommendation by another Daobum for Hyperbiotics, which is a special type that allows for a timed release, so that more probiotics make it into the gut. I've used them successfully (both the pro-15 and advanced strength with kiwifruit)...sometimes due to stress and poor diet, the bowels will be in really bad shape, but that product gets it back to normal right away. On a side note...I think that the "low fodmap" diet would help someone with gut health, too.
  14. Shuichuan Zi Ran Qigong

    I took a few email correspondence classes. It was interesting and good. Ultimately I realized that my path was to go elsewhere, but nothing bad to say of them.
  15. What do you sleep on?

    A futon that isn't folded open...so it's kind of tilted all the time due to being in the couch position. As a result, it took me a year and a half to not have back pain, but I'm finally at the point where it's pure comfort to sleep on.
  16. Bitcoin and Cryptocurrencies

    So I thought that using a bot to trade altcoins against Bitcoin seemed smart...it wasn't. It's called Profit Trailer. It works roughly as advertised at first...week one I made 5%, and things were looking glorious at that pace...but then soon enough it's making trades that go nowhere...trades that sit at -30%, and which cause your funds to be used up so your profits dwindle to 0. I wanted to post about this bot because there are a lot of youtubers out there who aren't as honest about the results with it. It's not a scam, it is actually a bot that works with an exchange, and the only way they're making money off of you is through your purchase of their computer program. The thing with trading BTC against altcoins is...when BTC is going down in value, the altcoins are also going down in value. When BTC is rising in value, the altcoins are losing value against BTC and going down as a result. When the market is basically even, there's not enough volatility to day trade successfully this way, so it will buy at bad positions, and have a hard time selling. There are also times when a coin gets pumped up, and the bot ends up buying high. The main problem is that the bot isn't smart...it just follows one buying strategy, so it will make a trade at a time that you might not otherwise choose to do so (if you could look at multiple candlestick time periods simultaneously, for instance, it would help not make the mistakes that the bot does). I chose to sell at a loss of about $100 today, due to the problems inherent in auto trading alts vs BTC. The bot itself cost me roughly $160, on top of that (at the time it was purchased...today it's worth more, because it's only sold in BTC). Luckily, BTC is going up in value so pretty soon I'll break even...and this was extra money I was playing around with anyway. But yes, I advise people to not use these auto trading bots.
  17. Excuses, excuses...

    Aw darn, the Celestial Exam Commission wins again!
  18. I have zero sympathy for the type of women who do this, and should have probably been a family court judge because of that. Fathers are important, and to remove them from their children's lives and pit those kids against him is what ruins our society. Child support payments are beyond a reasonable amount, and I've seen too many women get pregnant from multiple guys just so they could live off of those payments.
  19. Gun Control and Shootings

    Oh I see...that could be the case. I hadn't heard the interviews of the survivors who seemed to hint at a second shooter. I'd personally need more evidence, because these things can be explained away. There is the "fog of war", where events could be misinterpreted by these kids. For instance, the girl who spoke to Cruz...he very well could have fired, and then shortly after went and spoke to her. But her comments could have been interpreted to mean that she was speaking to him as shots were going off elsewhere. Does she even know which is accurate? About David Hogg, who many have claimed is a crisis actor...my impression is that he's just a kid with very strong aspirations, trying to get on TV any chance he can. Apparently he wants to be a journalist or actor...he's just taking advantage of the opportunity that this presented to him. The video from Cali was of his friend getting yelled at by a lifeguard for having his surfboard on a trash can...it wasn't another shooting incident like some have falsely spread. The "drill" they spoke of was apparently Cruz setting off the fire alarms, so as to draw people out. I can go along with a school shooting being a false flag...Sandy Hook had many weird aspects to it...but just not feeling it for this one. I've been wrong before.
  20. Gun Control and Shootings

    I should probably go back and actually read this thread, to see what you're referring to
  21. Gun Control and Shootings

    Another thought: Save the gun control debate for another day. This very day, bump up security in schools so that kids are protected. We'd do that if we had any sense of responsibility toward the innocent, as adults. Instead, we leave them as sitting ducks, while we want to be right about taking away guns or whatever.
  22. Gun Control and Shootings

    What causes these school shootings is incredibly simple. Everything gets blamed (boyhood, fatherlessness, guns, lack of security, etc), but the true cause is: 1) Bullying to the point of the bullies being viewed as entirely lacking humanity by the bullied 2) Apathy from onlookers due to a lack of strength of character, not enough people who stand up for others 3) Willful ignorance on the part of literally everyone who doesn't acknowledge this combination as the only problem Just my view!
  23. Natural way to cure seizure

    Charlotte's Web CBD oil is apparently the best, when used at the full strength version.
  24. Financial tips for the bums

    Why should they be illegal?
  25. Financial tips for the bums

    I have a friend who made 16% annual return with Betterment (similar service to Wealthfront) this past year. At the same time, I had done Investopedia's stock simulator, roughly using Paul Merrimon's ultimate buy and hold strategies, and made 17%. Today my simulator is sitting at 9% due to the market conditions. The VTI (total market) ETF seems great...while I made 17%, it made 21%...today it's at 16%.