Chá Rén 茶人

As Bodhidharma said, "You have to struggle to understand." In order to know non-desire, detachment, and peace, you must first know the contrasts of addiction, craving, and chaos. "This isn't a weekend retreat," according to Palahniuk's Tyler Durden. Letting go is the answer. But how can you understand that until your hands ache and cramp from holding onto what you love? Falling is the answer. But how can you feel that until you have stood on solid ground?

Historically, per the Yellow Turban Rebellion/Way of 5 Pecks of Rice, etc. in the Han Dynasty, Taoist practices were a way to rebel against society and survive with detrimental bureaucratic practices in place (excessive taxes and lack of available land for lower classes, etc.). You don't need the government, or money, or anything, if you can wander into the remote mountains and live on rare herbs and pine trees. Conversely, the Tao can also be abused, temporarily, to gain worldly power and material wealth. There are severely adverse consequences to this path if done with self-benefit in-mind. In the end, the 'fettered mind', one obsessed with gain and loss, is not Tao. This is easier to preach about than actually achieve, however.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_women_who_led_a_revolt_or_rebellion This is interesting. The list is wayyyy more extensive than I thought it was gonna be.

Mastery is an overused word nowadays. Three of my friend's moms are "Reiki Masters" because it says so on their certification. Mastery can be reached, but it takes a long time and a lot of love. Hiro mastered sushi. Bruce mastered martial arts. Zeppelin mastered rock. Most of us will never get above true amateur status even if we become professionals. Mastery is not a popularity contest.

Probably not a bad way to hide the family savings in a useful household object hahah.

The Tao Te Ching speaks of abiding with the mother, source, tao, etc. The mother is described as nourishing and non-acting, yet accomplishing everything through this non-action.

Imagine silver water pipes in your house.... that would be amazing...

Paraphrasing Ragnar Lothbrok from "Vikings"... "A man provides and fights for his family." It could be argued you're an adolescent while your "self" only includes your body, and you become a man when your family, or even your society, become of greater importance.

I would add our current world is struggling exponentially worse as women forsake their roles as nourishers. Nature made women able to take something small and refine it far past what most men would care or are able to do. -Give a woman a hunk of meat and she will cook you a meal. -Give a woman a house and she will make it a home. -Give a woman seed and she will give you a child. I find it hard to believe the general health in America (e.g. autism birthrates, obesity, etc.) would not be drastically improved with more women being mothers and home-makers. I am sure someone reading this thinks I am a chauvinist pig, but the system worked very well for thousands of years, and my grandparents were a lot happier than my parents.

Yin is inherently more passive and receptive than yang. Yin nourishes. Yang directs. I would argue that genetically (and very much against the modern paradigm) women are happier when led than leading. Not that there have not be effective female rulers in the past. The idea that women are "subjected to the rule of men" is a modern paradigm. Before feminist movements, a woman married to a strong man had financial and physical security. Try and tell me Melania Trump would rather be cutting business annd political deals into her 70's like her husband. I doubt it very much. In prehistoric times, scarcity of food sources (and the ability to hunt such sources), as well as physical protection from other tribes as well as animals would have been the two foremost factors in acquiring power. Your leader would be whomever could hunt the most food and protect the tribe the best. Not discounting possible shamanic or medicine woman roles. Doesn't anyone remember being on the sandlot as a kid before we learned how all the way we were acting were incorrect?

Update on Quartz and Amethyst in tea: Added white quartz and purple amethyst to my tetsubin water. My initial impression is that the flavors of my hongcha are blending more coherently. This tea specifically has an overpowering butter note on the first or second infusion which is now blending in much better to the fruity tones. Conclusion: White quartz and purple amethyst harmonize water, blend tastes, and decrease overpowering or overwhelming tastes. Effect is likely more subtle than most people would pick up on, but is definitely there. Based off one impression at least.

"Born with a silver spoon in his mouth" was originally a dual reference to a child being both rich, but also very healthy, due to antibacterial effects. Supposedly silverware users fared better during the medieval plagues as opposed to ironware users.

You bring up a good point about the healthy balance between deprivation and overload of, well honestly most substances, elements, etc. Like dehydration vs. drowning. You are seriously approaching mad scientist status with all these ruby lasers and homegrown selenium crystals. Very cool stuff man. It's also quite unfortunate the knowledge and methods we have lost with time as you mentioned (i.e. magicum electrum).

The mystery within mysteries.

The word "Tao" is not the moon. It is just a finger pointing at the moon. We are all lost fools looking at our own hands and missing the celestial splendor within our view. I am amazed at how foolish I was just last year, almost every year. "Sticking feathers up your butt does not make you a chicken." -Tyler Durden