Yi Tao

2 weeks ago I decided to renew my lucid dreaming practice. I thought I would try the wake and back to bed routine. I get up at 4:30am to dream journal, walk, qi gong and relax with the StressEraser. Back to bed by 5:30am and sleep for 90 more minutes. I'm fighting with the monkey, but I'm making progress. I'm also investigating sleep and dream supplements. Calcium before bed is supposed to be good, so is b6. There are essential proteins which deepen sleep and promote healing. There is also a dream herb used by ancient shaman, who used it to make a tea and smoke. A few years ago I quit smoking cigarettes because I couldn't stand the opposing duality with breath-work. Now I'm considering the health risks of smoking again. Not habitually like cigarettes, but occasionally as an aid to dream work. Does anyone know of specific practices that will promote lung repair and healing? Is there anything I should avoid, such as bellows?

What exactly is animal suffering? Does it really matter? Am I willing to spend more money so that an animal can have a comfortable life and a painless death? Could the extra money that I spend be used better elsewhere? Who gets to decide? It often occurs to me that the conceit of environmentalists far exceeds their abilities. If they think they can do a better job, why are you only whining about it? There is a difference between constructive imagination and wild, uncontrolled daydreams. There is a difference between deciding the best way for yourself to live and trying to impose that belief on others.

I agree. It's more of a humming noise.

That's probably why your not Christian.

The Old Testament and the New Testament are both part of the Christian Bible. You can think of it as the old contract and the new contract if that helps. Jesus didn't come to replace or destroy the old contract, but to complete it. The old testament required blood sacrifice for the forgiveness of sin. It was an agreement of the law. The new testament does not require blood sacrifice because Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice. It is an agreement of grace.

The word for "God" is "elohim". It is always used in the plural form in the Old Testament. Christians believe in a Triune God. A single God in three parts. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. The term trinity does not exist in the Bible, but it is an invention of Christians to explain what is contained in the Bible. Some say that it doesn't make sense that there is only one God, and yet there are 3 aspects / parts. This is easily explained (avoided) because there are mysteries of God that we'll never understand. It comes down to faith. Believing without seeing, or believing without human understanding. If you need a somewhat rational explanation of the Trinity, consider a coin. It has heads and tails. So there is Coin the Heads and Coin the Tails, but only a single coin. I guess a cynic would say God in schizophrenic and just talking with himself.

Breath in, breath out. Everything is going to be OK. No people are where they started. People flow and intermingle. Native Americans are not native. They just have a longer history. I've been reading an amazing book by Isaac Asimov, "The Greeks, a great adventure". It's the story of the beginnings of western civilization. It's crazy to read how humans acted and treated each other. The idea that we have today about what is civilized behavior makes me laugh. Collateral damage wasn't something to be avoided, it was the norm. Sack a city, take it's gold, kill everything that moved, and burn the rest to the ground. War was natural. The Goddess of War (Athena) was also the Goddess of Wisdom. Patriotism is a love of and loyalty to one's country. I love the USA. The freedom and liberty I'm afforded because I live here and now is beyond amazing. The so called stains on America are nothing better nor worse than anyone else's history. We started this country to be a "more perfect" union. Not perfect, but more perfect. I think we're doing great.

I have to agree with you on that one. I think an actual bush would do a better job in congress as well.

Hee hee. That's patriotic? I don't think so. It sounded like using the Libby case as an excuse to rail against someone you don't like. I'd say politics, not patriotism. I've only followed the case briefly, but I don't see any major problems for President Bush. If you hate Bush, you'll still hate him. Everyone else won't care. For clarification... Libby didn't leak Valerie Plame's name and Bush didn't pardon Libby. When the investigator questioned Libby, he already knew who leaked Valerie Plame's name. Libby was accused of lying. I'm trying to find the actual lie that Libby told, and the only detail I can find is that he disagrees with Tim Russert about a conversation. Libby said they discussed Valerie Plame. Russert says they didn't. The actual conversation was about Joe Wilson, Valerie's husband. Libby's motive for discussing Valerie Plame was to help discredit her husband, Joe Wilson. There are many curious facts about Joe Wilson's trip: Valerie Plame is only one small detail. Now if Libby knew about Valerie Plame before he spoke with Tim Russert, Valerie Plame would have been brought up in the conversation. If Libby found out about Valerie Plame after their conversation, it's possible he might have thought that Russert told him about Valerie Plame. Like I said, Valerie Plame is only one small detail about Joe Wilson's trip and it's really an afterthought. His unprecedented oral report and his conflicting newspaper account are much more interesting. Of course if you hate Bush and automatically distrust anything that comes out of this administration, then you'll assume the worst. Libby's conviction and commutation is only a small detail. If the conviction is overturned on appeal, the commutation will actually be seen as a positive. But don't worry, the phrase Halliburton will resonate much better. And don't forget "no bid contracts" and then their's always "big oil" and a hundred other phrases that stir up the hatred pot for Bush the second without requiring any actual thought.

Use of technology is destroying my hands. Especially my left hand. Last week, after some extreme stress, my left pinky and ring finger started to complain: numb, fatigue, sore, and ache. They are still bothering me occationaly. Either they haven't returned to normal, or I'm just starting to pay attention. Any ideas for hand rehabilitation?

If you are new to Tai Chi and want to learn from a video, I'd suggest "Tai Chi for Busy People" by Keith Jeffery. Nicely filmed and explained. He doesn't teach a classical form. He teaches 9 movements, one at a time. After you learn all of the movements, he combines them all into a 5 minute routine. It's great for beginners and quick to learn the basics. Highly recommended for your situation. If you try to learn an entire form from video, you'll be wasting a lot of time on choreography rather than movement. Since you won't be getting feedback from an instructor, you'll have to be your own instructor. You'll need to get your awareness into your body and into the movement. That's why simple is best.

Besides meditation and body awareness, the mental chatter can get in the way with reading and drawing. Speed reading only works when the internal chatter is eliminated (reduced) and the eye is trained to move quicker. These 2 processes go together and reinforce each other. One of the most interesting books I've read on speed reading was called "Speed Reading with Semantic Restructuring." It's available as a free ebook online. (http://www.semanticrestructuring.com/lookma.php) Drawing, done right, is a non verbal activity. When you learn to draw with your eyes and your right brain, the chatter stops because you're thinking with the non-verbal side of your brain. Through drawing, I've been able to experience reality without the constant chatter. I've been involved in shapes, contrasts, and lines. After 10-15 minutes of drawing, I'll realize that the chatter was silent. I am able to recognize the brain shift that took place, but then the chatter starts to analyzing the brain shift.... Sigh. The book "The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain" by Betty Edwards is an excellent self study book and easily accessible.

Some Taoist have beliefs about death related to Taoism. Michael Winn has written about the 3 hun (heavenly souls) and the 7 po (earthly souls). If you don't integrate these souls, there's nothing to reincarnate and you simply get recycled back into the Tao. Taoist Internal Alchemy Others apply Taoism to life and their view of death is defined by other beliefs. For example, I see no conflict between Christianity and Taoism.

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I was reading the Tao Bums forum and came across the StressEraser; a biofeedback device. It monitors heart rhythm to determine vagus nerve activity and physical relaxation. It is a focusing tool for the monkey mind that uses the exhale to create a properly timed harmonic that effects the nervous system. It sounds really cool. There is a certain aspect of Taoism that just demands obedience and action without over analyzing, but I've heard that western practitioners sometimes out pace their eastern counterparts because they ask pointed questions rather than stumble in the dark. I've placed my order, but of course it's on backorder so I have to wait. It feels like cheating or maybe giving up on the way. But it's nice to have a flashlight in the dark when you don't have a guide.

I deny that burning fossil fuels is causing an unhealthy level of pollution! All of life is a trade off. You can live to 80 with pollution or you can live to 40 without pollution. You pick. Before the internal combustion engine, life was hard and life was short. But even that isn't a fair comparison because you can not compare reality to a dream. Life without fossil fuels was ugly and unsanitary. Imagine life without refrigeration, without plumbing. Imagine a city where horses are the main form of transportation. Rotten food, poop all over the streets, and who knows what else. Why don't you consider that pollution? You can imagine that it might have been possible to skip the step of fossil fuels and go right to paradise, but it wasn't and it isn't. Life is a trade off. You can condemn anything if you ignore the positives. Name any surgery that makes sense if you only focus on the negative? Why have brain surgery when you can have magic? You can not compare reality to a dream.

Capitalism creates wealth and plenty. Interfering with capitalism creates scarcity and poverty. The only meat shortages in the world occur where price caps are imposed. If it costs me $1.50 a pound to get the meat to market and the government tells me I can only sell it for $1.20, guess what happens? If you look in almost any country in Africa, you'll see poverty on a grand scale. That's not because other countries are rich and it's not because they can't get a fair deal. Countries in Africa are poor because of the obscene corruption in their governments. The same corruption is hurting Mexico and other South American countries. Study the history of Hong Kong. It was a territory with limited resources and limited land. But a few short years of freedom and commerce raised their standard of living to be almost equal to Great Britain. They didn't create wealth by stealing it from others or through unfair trade. They created wealth through action. The world's wealth is not static. Profit occurs when both side of a financial trade are satisfied.

Black tea in the winter and green tea in the summer. Ginger juice is really good in tea as well. Simply grate fresh ginger, squeeze the juice out of the pulp and then discard the pulp. The juice can be used in cooking and marinades. One of my favorites in a mango lassi - yogurt, mango, ginger juice and honey.

Very interesting. The insect infestation map really upsets me. If only we hadn't banned DDT that map would look much different and millions of people wouldn't have died. But of course, DDT was the original environmental debate (we're sure this time, it's man's fault, we're all going to die, and only government can solve it). Just last year the UN publically denounced the ban because there just wasn't any valid science behind it. Millions dead, countries devastated, but at least they meant well.

Aaaaaa! We're all going to die! Name one prediction of doom and gloom that has come true. Global cooling, population bomb, scarcity of resources? All you need is the government solution and you've nailed the 4 main points for an environmental debate. Wait a second, that's in the link.

What a crazy ride the whole climate debate has become. No matter what the scientists say, there are always 4 main points to be made 1) We're sure this time 2) It's man's fault 3) We're all going to die if we don't do something 4) The solution needs to come from government I believe in global climate change. I think the sun has a lot more to do with it than man. I'm not sure if CO2 levels lead or follow. I do know that the oceans are CO2 sinks. When it's cold, the oceans absorb CO2, and when it's warm, the oceans release CO2. I also know that CO2 is plant food. I'm open to all sides, but I can agree with the problem without agreeing to the solution. If man is causing global warming, that doesn't mean man needs to stop global warming. Maybe we just need more air conditioners and better fresh water production. Seriously. Kyoto and many other proposed solutions would harm the economy which would harm our ability to adapt. When the climated changed in the past, we put on clothes. To live is to adapt. What's even crazier is that if the sun really is causing global warming, we're in for an cosmic joke because the sun is about to cycle again and we're heading for global cooling. That's right folks, here comes global cooling again. And I can gaurantee the 4 main points will be the same: 1) we're sure this time, 2) it's man's fault, 3) we're all going to die, and 4) government can fix it. What fun it is!

I firmly believe in the crazy martial arts legends of the past, but where are they today? Chuck Liddell is one of the greatest fighters alive, but he's just a street brawler. He uses insane, unorthodox punching and amazing take down defense to create an unbeatable combination. I've heard of jujitsu in the mixed martial arts, but never Bagua or I Chuan. I've never heard chi power mentioned either. What's going on? I can only come up with 2 answers. Either it wouldn't work or they don't have the desire to try. I'm really curious, especially about I Chuan. The original master would take on any and all competitors. He was not averse to organized fighting. I can only assume that we've lost something.

Again the story of Yi Chuan. Wang Sheng Chai founded Yi Chuan in the 1920's. In the 1940's he invited people to come test his abilities. Many martial artists and boxers accepted the challenge, but Wang Sheng Chai was never defeated. He was victorious without killing or maiming, and many of his opponents became his students and friends. He is a very unique case and may be the exception that proves the rule. I haven't seen Fearless yet, but I will. I love "The One" (also with Jet Li) because of the final battle of Bagua against Yi Chuan: cirlcles against straight lines. Now that's fun!

I'm a mix of eastern and western. I was raised neither, but found both through searching. My current practice includes standing, circling and pilates. In the future, I will go to school for traditional Chinese medicine.