Aetherous

I don't doubt that the person said it.

"most of you guys believe propaganda, lies, unfounded conspiracy"

I also recently witnessed another spiritual figure making fun of Trump...who it is, I won't mention. Both cases highlight the fact that no human being is perfect, and these people are certainly human...even the Dalai Lama can have a knee jerk reaction to a person - to speak ill of someone they've never met and make fun of their facial features or something. Or to publicly announce a biased political opinion that might divide their audience, which in some circles is also considered an imperfection. Of course spiritual figures should be permitted the freedom to have a political opinion, and to poke fun. They are human and have autonomy of will...they should not be held to an unrealistic standard. Us unspiritual beings are also free to have our political opinions and are free to trash talk. But all of our actions always speak to our level of cultivation...by their fruits you know them. Every moment in this life is a pop quiz, testing what we'll do, and no one here has passed all the testing yet. This is how we know these people are just like us, flawed, when these mistakes happen. It's also a fact that a person can do 100000000 great things, and 1 bad thing, and suddenly they're seen as a bad person (for good reason - to maintain order and progress). So when a spiritual figure slips up, it's good to remember this, too. The good they've done. And the necessity to criticize the bad they do. Finally...my personal view is that when the world and its popular figures are pretty much all against someone for no good reason (you can tell it's no good reason when they make fun of things like their hair or small mouth, rather than speaking about real world actions they've taken, like deleting subpoenaed emails), it's a sign that the person in question is genuine. So genuine that the masses can't handle it, and attempt to smear them or use them as a scapegoat. Society is weird when it acts as a hive mind rather than as a group of individuals. I think it's good to recognize the movements of the masses, and especially in those times try our best to step outside of those movements, to think independently.

Thanks for your very clear explanation of how EMDR works...that was helpful. What you went through sounds very hard...I'm glad that this was so effective for you.

It seems to me like having it in soup would extract the most, especially if you cooked it for like an hour...and then of course you're eating the berries in the soup as well as drinking all of the liquid.

By all means, do what works and makes you feel better, and avoid what worsens.

I have numerous 5 gallon glass jugs, and go to a local spring to fill up. You could have the water tested for purity just to make sure. Spring water is the best kind there is. Plastic water bottles are really not so good...chemicals leech into the water. That being said...it's better to drink enough tap water or plastic bottle water, than it is to go without water. Any water is necessary for well being. Another way to boost hydration is to eat a little bit of juicy fruits that are in season. And finally, a great way is to make a really thin rice congee. The rice soaks up the fluids and they are very easily assimilated into the rest of the body. Basmati rice is good if you're what Chinese medicine calls "damp", and mochi rice is good if the basmati rice is acting too much like a diuretic.

Nah it wasn't your position at all, just a statement about human nature...and also about myself. I mean, I'm supporting Trump for President. In a certain sense, that's completely ludicrous.

The more intense the divisiveness, the more entrenched everyone's positions become, against all reason.

RIP. I was always hoping to see him return to the forum.

You should bring this post in to your Chinese Medicine practitioner. Perhaps there are things being said here which weren't said to them.

Be in nature as much as possible.

There might be truth to this...but there is also truth to the idea that there are foundational satisfactions. Simply being alive, taking a breath, being outside, can be an incredibly blissful experience. Challenge in life, what we temporarily call suffering, can be rewarding when overcome. This isn't even mentioning the interpersonal things...like compassion for those hurting, romantic love, good friendships, the joy of hanging out with your pet dog, etc...all of which are very meaningful experiences. It is in your experience that life is meaningless and dull. My only intention is to point out: it's totally not the same for everyone. Don't paint the entire world grey with your philosophy. Better to choose a life affirming philosophy...not just for the sake of health, but because it's at least equally as true as this existentialism (which by the way, has nothing to do with Buddhism).

One thing that strikes me when reading this post...people can look at the world and see it from any given perspective, and no matter what it is, there's always still some truth to what they think. Some say that life is inherently meaningless. Others say it's inherently meaningful. Some say we're alone in this world. Others say we're surrounded by people every day. Some say freedom is release from suffering, others say it's having nothing solid in your life. Etc. It seems to me that no perspective is wrong. There is the hint of truth to anything that people believe strongly. That being said...for a person who thinks life is meaningless, it's entirely possible that they could become like the other person, and one day think that life is meaningful. It might take time, but it has happened. Perspectives are a fleeting thing. The world is not subject to any of them...it just appears like the tint of the lens we are wearing.

Luke said nothing remotely bothersome in that statement.

The Daobums has always been losing a few great members, and gaining new ones. I don't know why people choose to permanently leave. If you're interested in the type of information here, then there is every reason to stick around.

Speaking the truth. But then again, we live with the results of the illusion.

I would say the red dragon practice, being done for a long term practitioner who has also cultivated the other methods of the system. Absolutely. If you want to learn more of the system it's important to train with Max or apprentices who can teach those things. Yes. The kunlun method and red phoenix methods both lead a person toward effortlessness. They are not effortless in themselves, because of course they require you to do certain things. Doing those things leads to release of effort. Same with things like the obliteration practice, perhaps the grass gliding practice, the one breath practice, etc. I'm not sure. I think the point of the light body is that it's a spiritual body, so you kind of transcend death...but I'm talking way beyond my experience here and am totally clueless about this.

They are two different words... 神 shén = spirit/mind 腎 shèn = kidney organ

Pretty sure his account of history is not accurate.

This went over my head...calibrator is a metaphor for something?

In how I've learned, enlightenment requires the loss of two things: 1) bad emotions, 2) notions (such as of self and other). Another way of thinking about that statement is: if we're feeling bad, and if we're operating from a point of view that causes us to feel bad, we're not going to feel blissful and liberated. If there is a kind of loss of self that increases negative emotions, such as with dissociative identity disorder, that would not be the right way to cultivate enlightenment, in this definition. The entire point of losing the notion of oneself is so that the negative emotions have nothing to be tied to, and therefore fall away...with increasing negative emotions, we'd be moving further from enlightenment...even without an ego or clear notion of ourselves. I would say, even "opening up", while having negative side effects from it, is not the right way. Opening up should be about freedom from being closed up...not about becoming overwhelmed by a greater reality. Anyway...it is good to think about there being two types of cultivation. One in which we tear things down, and one in which we build things up. Or another dichotomy: one in which we're led to experience wild things, and one in which we cultivate what we think is right. Passive versus active cultivation. Negative or yin, versus positive or yang.

Yeah I know what you mean about those feelings...I'm not sure I'd say it's a different stage, just a different way of looking at it.

I've only been able to read a little bit of this so far. Maybe others will also find it interesting... http://www.masseiana.org/aebk0.htm

Interesting that the fun discussions are happening again here. For a long time now it seems that Kunlun has been something hush hush. It's probably true that snake like entities are related to the lineage and Max. He has said he has a connection with those things. I personally "saw" one during the red phoenix practice once. It didn't attack me at all...it was like a weird looking cardboard cutout...wasn't 3-D. Was it from the practice, or from hearing about other people's experiences with reptiles...who knows. The mind is powerful and can create all sorts of things when you add a little drama. The Kunlun practice does open a person up in many ways. My personal experience, besides being about increased intuition, was more about ghosts than the snakes. And the experiences were just a supersensory thing...especially where you can just say "leave" and they're no longer in your experience. When practicing in nature, once I experienced the spirit of a dog. I actually believed 100% that a dog was going to be there when I opened my eyes...nope. It is interesting stuff. Because it's very opening, perhaps opening to a yin level, I personally decide to practice other things. As cultivators, we are supposed to cultivate who we want to become, what we think we should be like, etc, primarily. A practice that opens you up, kind of obliterates your sense of self, that's no longer my path. Some practices destroy things, some build things. What we focus on in life, we increase.