moraldilemma

Just found some yogurt that was two weeks past the expiration and wondered if it was actually dangerous to eat. So I did a search and found this https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-magazine-monitor-24305902 According to one food scientist it's safe for months. Anybody find anything interesting lately?

Just found some yogurt that was two weeks past the expiration and wondered if it was actually dangerous to eat. So I did a search and found this https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-magazine-monitor-24305902 According to one food scientist it's safe for months. Anybody find anything interesting lately?

It is truly a sad day. A great man has left us. So it goes.

Here's a question: what do you all think about practicing multiple spiritual systems at once? I'm doing Zazen and yoga every day. I'm not a true Buddhist but I try to apply Zen principles to my life. Several monks have told me that Zen is compatible with any other religion and I've even met a Catholic who practices it. One teacher said you can take the precepts and it doesn't even matter if you're not a Buddhist. I practice yoga mostly for the health aspects. I can't even to begin to fathom the spiritual concepts of yoga philosophy, nor are there any teachers around here that go into it I'm aware of. But I know that yoga makes me feel good and it has a lot of long term benefits. I would take qigong classes but there are no teachers near me. I think I want to study Hermetics. In my limited knowledge of it there seem to be similarities to Dao and Zen. (Everything is connected. If you change your mind, you can change yourself and the world.) The first step in Initiation Into Hermetics is the same as zazen as far as I can tell. This is probably oversimplifying it but it feels right. What do you think? Am I getting ahead of myself? In the past I've gotten really caught up in reading about a lot of different systems, not being able to wrap my head around all of it, and getting burned out. But these three paths appear to be compatible in practice. *To clarify, mindfulness (Zazen daily and at the local temple and clinical with my therapist and groups) is my main focus, baseline. Yoga classes and basic qigong from books are my mind-body work. Hermetics will be a metaphysical project because I want to see what this magick stuff is all about.

Vampire movies are whatever but I really like What We Do in the Shadows. Real life vampires, sociopaths, freak me out though. I have somebody in my family that has a personality disorder and is more than a little antisocial and unstable. He's gone into detail when he was really high about how he enjoys toying with people. I don't think he's done anything really bad to anyone but I can see the potential. The ones that really bother me are the ones with their shit together and rise to positions of power.

Your sensei is so dumb he sits on the TV and watches the couch.

I live in a medical state but I would still have to pay for a prescription that my insurance won't cover. It would be nice to get some indica to help me relax but it's not a big deal.

Just finished Prey Mooncrash. God that was insane. Now I'm playing the first Dishonored dlc. Doing a high chaos run on elite then a no kill run on master assassin. It's definitely a test of patience.

Right on. I'll keep that in mind. Thanks for the help.

How does nature trap people who don't think they're gods? What do you mean by "only for secular free thinkers"? This isn't making sense to me. Where is this coming from? What is your point?

Thanks. I was able to see mine. I tried looking at a bunch of other people's but didn't see any. I guess nobody else bothered. I think the best part of making an online profile is putting snazzy quotes in the about me part. Oh well. While we're at it, the rules page wasn't loading for me for some reason. Are we allowed to cuss here?

Yes but I wrote a quote in my "about me" and I can't see it anywhere. I'm assuming most people wrote things in that field but I can't see anyone else's either when I click on their profiles. Am I missing something?

Pretty much anything Wes Anderson. I've probably watched the Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou about 300 times and it still makes me cry (even though it is overall pretty heartwarming). Some of Bill Murray's finest work.

Man, sometimes I don't see the point anymore. What's the point of helping people if they don't want to help themselves? I see humanity going in a downward spiral. People don't care about the environment- the planet they depend on. All people care about is entertainment and collecting crap they don't need. And having more kids. It's so obvious that overpopulation is becoming a huge problem yet everyone still wants to keep reproducing. I feel I'm supposed to be a healer and a teacher. I want to teach about the Dao. But will anyone listen? I thought about becoming a Zen priest, but I don't know if I can take vows to be compassionate if humanity keeps being so self-destructive. Maybe it's because I'm in the US and I'm surrounded by "lol what war are we gonna start next omg." But occasionally I feel like war is a good thing if only to help control the ridiculous population explosion. I don't know, maybe I'll sell all my stuff and go live in the woods. Anyway, I don't know if this is the right place to post this. I'm not trying to vent only, so it's not exactly a journal. I would like some opinionated discussion on this.

Been listening to a lot of ska lately.

Why

lol. i like your style. ask for advice, ignore advice, go for the kill. i swapped my consciousness with a bottle of scotch once. it didn't go well. the scotch ended up in my giving me liver damage and a whole day was lost forever. the next day wasn't great either.

I'm gonna be volunteering at a small community fair. They're putting me in charge of the Octagon, a one on one challenge with American Gladiator-style pugil sticks. I'm trying to make a playlist of epic fight songs. Among "Through the Fire and the Flames" by Dragonforce, "Protect Ya Neck" by Wu Tang Clan, and "the Final Countdown" by Europe, I'm trying to pepper in truly rousing scores such as this. Also war drumming from any part of the world, Celtic punk rock, really anything that can be labeled under "Epic Fight Music." If you can give me any suggestions, that would be super.

IMO a person does not have to have a certification/diploma from a Chinese authority on qigong to teach. I'm not sure that's what you meant. I think if they have a picture with their master and some kind of letter (or calligraphy) approving them, it's enough. And they don't have to be from China. Qigong has been spreading outside of China for at least a hundred years, so there were probably non-Chinese masters before any of us were born.

I was having some trouble understanding this one earlier. It reminds me of the Heart Sutra a bit. Form does not differ from emptiness; emptiness does not differ from form. Form itself is emptiness; emptiness itself is form. So too are feeling, cognition, formation, and consciousness... Shariputra, all Dharmas are empty of characteristics. They are not produced, not destroyed, not defiled, not pure; and they neither increase nor diminish. Therefore, in emptiness there is no form, feeling, cognition, formation, or consciousness... There is something in this chapter of Lao Tsu that I need to figure out. I'm going to meditate on it.

Hey guys. I've been trying to get into qigong for the past seven years but there is no teacher near me. Also, I plan on moving around a lot in the next ten years. Is there a good source for learning by yourself? I did take taijiquan classes for a year or so. So I know the basics of posture and relaxing into movements. I've also done lots of meditation and some progressive relaxation and things like that. And a bit of reiki and yoga. So not a total beginner. I've picked up The Complete System of Self-Healing: Internal Exercises by Stephen Chang and The Way of Qigong by Ken Cohen. They're both pretty comprehensive as far as I can tell. I also got a copy of Nourishing the Essence of Life translated by Eva Wong, which is too advanced for me. Here are some things online: https://www.qigonginstitute.org/docs/EightExtraordinaryMeridians-Qigong.pdf A guide to "give you an overview to what you can do to enable you to practice Qigong yourself" by James MacRitchie http://web.archive.org/web/19990117030127/dolphin.upenn.edu/~yxqa1/intro/9step.html A "simple, yet very powerful free energy practice." However my BS sensors go off whenever someone says their method is "the highest technology of all technologies." http://forums.vsociety.net/index.php/topic,20707.0.html "first in a series concerning how this qigong variant can gradually lead to superb health, physically, mentally, and spiritually." Though I'm somewhat weary that the author didn't supply a background or credentials. http://longwhitecloudqigong.com/online-courses/qigong-foundation-practices/This one's nice because the guy really believes qigong should be freely available for everyone. The movements seem like they were derived from martial arts. I'm leaning toward the Eight Extraordinary Meridians right now. Until I figure it out I'll stick with Zazen and Zhan Zhuang. If anybody wants to weigh in, please feel free. This place seems pretty serious about qigong so I look forward to your responses!

Thanks everyone. Found the Eight Extraordinary Meridians audio guide too. http://globalqiproject.com/eight-extraordinary-meridians-training-program/ I've been doing Reiki Hatsurei-ho, or at least my own version of it. After learning reiki five years ago, I'm still kind of on the fence about it. It appears to be a system that totally focuses on the positive. It just doesn't seem right for some reason. I told my shrink about it. Reiki feels good, and it definitely works. I don't know. I have this deep need for balance. If everyone did reiki then the world would be a lot more positive. My therapist of course replied that there will always be darkness and life will always find balance. Then if course there are reiki teachers. Most of the call themselves masters, having taken three or four weekend seminars. And most charge what I consider exorbitant amounts to share it. The man who originated reiki in its modern form allegedly discovered it by accident. When he taught it, he charged almost nothing because he believed it was a gift to mankind. Thus my emphasis on finding a system that is free. This guy gets it. We need to let the world know about Chi!