Aetherous

It's good to consider that site, and then to see the truth for oneself by reading multiple translations of the passages here. Doing that convinced me. Whereas talking to Muslims only convinced me that they're either taught differently from what the Quran literally tells them, by various scholars and experts in the law...or they are taught how to lie about it to outsiders. Terrorists aren't rational...they are blowing themselves up and taking innocents with them. They do it for Allah and their religion. That's not based in reasoning or even a very clear form of cause and effect. You're thinking of insurgency or guerilla warfare, which was how the Iraq occupation had to be fought by US forces. Terrorism is something else entirely, because they become the offense rather than the smart defense...entering other countries and randomly committing acts. There isn't a larger force occupying terrorists...actually, the larger force (US) left, and shortly after this terrorist group ISIS swiftly overtook large portions of Iraq. They are not the rebel forces...they are fanatics who follow an ideology which has rules for dealing with those who are of different ideologies. They're not reacting to things done against them by others...they are acting upon the world according to their ideology. I recall that ISIS claimed the attack, and said that Paris and France was their biggest target because of its continued decadence after Charlie Hebdo. It wasn't political, but ideological and religious...they think Paris is the most evil place on earth. There may be truth to that. That also implies slavery to Allah's religion, to Allah's prophet, etc. It really is, though. Clear proof in the links I've provided for those who are willing to see.

What are your sources for that information? Not to be argumentative...but based on what I know it seems entirely untrue. One source for my perspective is this which I hyperlinked earlier. Also, the folowing video is another source for the perspective I adhere to, where Islam is naturally imperialistic, and is not merely a defensive response of oppressed people... Furthermore, if terrorists only care about countries mucking around with other countries, then why was Paris such a target for them? If all other countries stopped messing around in their countries, the terrorist attacks against innocent civilians everywhere will soon come to a stop? I actually think they'd increase exponentially.

Focus on what you want your life to be like. What is enjoyable and beautiful to you? What interests you? Surround yourself with that...do the work to make that happen. Make it your life's work and career, if possible. Pride in what you do is the greatest source of energy. Hell is other people, but heaven is a good friend. How can we expect to get a good friend if we can't be a good friend to others...so the first step is to treat others well. How do we treat others well...what are the prerequisites which set us up for doing that? You mentioned kind of despising others who are perhaps too lucky for their own good. The secret of having good will toward anyone and then treating them well, is finding something about them that's redeeming, and focusing primarily on that. Let go of other issues they might have, and see what's good. When you see a person as having redeeming qualities, then you feel like they're worthy of benefiting from you. If there are literally no redeeming qualities, in a pretty horrible person, then what Buddhists do is imagine that in the past life that person was the most loving and generous mother to you, who gave you everything she had an protected you at all cost to herself. Don't pretend, but consider the possibility of it having been true. Then for some reason, in this life they ended up in a bad karmic situation which led to this really poor attitude and demeanor. They are lost, but you know their true spirit. So you view them like that, to see them as having a redeeming quality...then that opens your love toward them. When that's open, then treating them well and like a good friend is pretty easy. Also, being a good friend requires knowing what a bad friend is. People treating you poorly is how you refine yourself into treating people really well. If everyone was really nice to you, you'd have no idea how to be a good friend toward others. The world needs more good friends, and it begins with you. Furthermore...it's important to forget about what others think of you, to some extent. Live life how you think is most appropriate. Having strength in yourself is inspiring to others. It's not about not caring what others think, but it's about valuing what you think above the opinions of others. Just some more ideas in addition to the good advice of what others here said.

There is not such a thing, aside from following its texts to the letter. But then we can't say... ...because its texts instruct the followers to commit those very terrorist acts. So perhaps it's more accurate to say: inauthentic Islam is a religion of peace, because it omits the verses of violence from its practice and ideology.

I got interested in this chapter (56) recently because it appeared to me to be one of the few practical passages regarding the methods of the Dao...meditation. So I used some translation resources (Kroll's classical dictionary, Shuowen, a decent understanding of the English language, as well as a halfway decent understanding of modern teachings in Daoism and Buddhism) to come up with a different non-literal translation of the first part of it, which at least personally I think is more accurate than most. It's not aiming to be poetic sounding or terse, or have literary accuracy in terms of a word for word translation, as is the typical style...but is meant to be as accurate as possible in meaning: Those who could reveal the truth to you - they do not reveal it through talking; the words of those who claim to be revealing the truth to you are inaccurate - such people don't truly know it. As for those who would know, they replenish themselves by maintaining quietude, lock the doors of their spirit (the senses, thoughts, emotions) and keep it within, sit still and allow their minds to rest without focusing on anything in particular, free themselves completely from the mind's tendency to discriminate between anything, let their inner light become harmonious and at peace, and blend into oneness with their surroundings. These words instruct on how to attain oneness with the Mysterious Dao. Why didn't I translate the rest of chapter 56? I was only interested in (what I think is) the practical meditation part, and didn't want to spend much more time on this. The two italicized portions combined indicate to me that you can't attain knowledge/gnosis through conversing about this stuff, about the Dao - you have to gain practical experience as a means of knowing, and the primary way to do that according to the Laozi is laid out.

I'm fully opposed to sharia law and Islamism (not to be confused with individual people who happen to be raised as Muslim)...although in this case, how is it any different from capital punishment in the USA? A person was accused of murder, and was killed as a result. In the USA, it's done by injections after a lengthy process on death row, which is supposedly more humane...but the effect is the same! I'm not personally opposed to capital punishment, although it can be tricky, considering that it requires someone to commit the act of killing the murderer. Because of this, it's not a clean way of administering justice.

It's hubris to speak ill of God, or to claim a full understanding of it/him, regardless of whether there is a valid point to make or not based on our limited perspective. All that we can control are our own thoughts and actions, and even those are nearly impossible for us to control.

Well, my family just had shepherd's pie tonight. Then some cookies.

The Japanese are confused about the eating habits of Westerners? lol

Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays to all of you.

Well, it's neigong, so that poor posture probably has an internal purpose in that style.

There are different types of meditation. The safest one is choosing an object of meditation outside of yourself. Like a leaf, for instance, but it could be anything you think is good. Then pay attention to it, and if you notice thoughts and your mind drifting elsewhere, gently let them go and pay attention to the object again. Do this 15 minutes twice a day, and you'll have good results.

I think loving-kindness just needs the right motivation and contemplation. But it is very heart opening, and it's important for there to be communication between the chest and belly afterward. If you're feeling pain in the chest, it might be that qi isn't descending again...it might be caused by the Lung not descending for some reason, by the diaphragm being constrained due to new emotions being felt, by phlegm being lodged in the chest and qi not descending enough to resolve it, etc. If you find ways to normalize it after the practice, then I think if you just continue the practice and normalizing afterward, it should improve with time. Also, the gym and lifting is great.

Coming back to this thread... I've been reading more of the Nèi Jīng lately, and there are tons of ideas in it about how flavor helps to build the body and create more essence (just paraphrasing here). By having a bland diet, a diet without much of any flavor, are people actually weakening themselves and shortening their lifespan?

You think it's connected to this unspeakable philosophy, and your walking meditation?

I think the best way is through a few lifestyle changes... Go to sleep before 10 pm and get a full night's rest. Get like an hour of moderate activity (akin to hiking trails) per day. Drink a gallon of spring water, sipped throughout the day. Eat normal meals (that have proteins, carbs, and fats) when hungry, or 3 times per day. Find a way to relax each day...which could be watching movies, listening to music, hanging out with friends, being creative, etc. People assume that working with qi requires doing some sort of esoteric qigong method. Actually, contrary to what is assumed, most of those types of methods will make a person worse rather than more normalized. Our bodies naturally detox themselves, so whatever supports the body's function (such as being well rested) helps that. Detox methods generally cause harm to the body, and most of the time produce false signs of improvement (for instance with the gallstone flush scam).

How so?

It could be...I don't think anyone knows for sure, so I put "maybe". I tried to state it in a way that allows for any possible reason...and if I used "psychological" I didn't mean to imply that it was a psychiatric disorder by any means, but only a product of something other than physiology...which it might be. If you have some evidence of it being a physiological phenomenon, I'm interested to see it. I wasn't saying by any means that people who are prone toward transgenderism or crossdressing are unprincipled or foolish. My point was that our culture tends to encourage men to be less masculine, and women to be less feminine. The normal gender roles are seen as outdated stereotypes from the 50s or something, and people tend to view evolution as being toward the opposite gender...to our detriment! Because men benefit from being more masculine, and women benefit from being more feminine...we evolve from being more of who we are. I think this also implies that people who are intersex, transgender, etc, benefit more from being themselves, as well. I'm with you in viewing them as separate issues. So to be clear: I have no qualms with people being whatever they are. I have problems with society attempting to brainwash us into harmful and misguided ideologies.

This is actually scientifically untrue. There are a small percentage of people born inbetween genders, even at the chromosomal level. This is something I learned in college physiological psychology class. I fully agree with your thoughts that people who are born as men should not become feminized, or women should not become masculinized, by an unprincipled and foolish culture. But it's important to realize that in reality, not all people are born distinctly male or female. This is a separate topic from the transgender phenomenon, which is where someone who is truly born as a man feels like a woman on the inside for some reason or another (or vice versa) and decides to live as that in some way. People who are truly born as intersex are really dealing with something rare and misunderstood...for them it's not a choice or psychological phenomenon, but a genetic reality. They are truly neither gender. As for the morality of transgenderism, which might be a choice coming from a psychological phenomenon...it's not my place to dictate what others think feel or do. It's only my place to treat them well, as best I can. The world would get pretty boring if there were no anomalies, I suppose.

If qigong teachers say that, they're just talking about an imagined pearl.

This is in the Daoist section, but I'm a huge fan of Tara's Triple Excellence online program (which is Buddhist). It's potent in terms of "liberation", and is very sensible for the most part. I suspect that in the 3rd excellence portion of the program, the energy work focused people would be satisfied.

Yes, regardless of whether in truth you are possessed or not, cultivating the storyline that you are certainly isn't helpful.

The forum has been really great in terms of moderation for quite a while now...thanks to the former moderators, and welcome to the new ones.

We live in a mysterious reality.