cosmic4z

Imagine there are other food stuffs you could be growning that may be better for you, but...

Thanks for the history lesson Michael! ....and there was I with my size 13 clodhoppers unwittingly tramping across the intricately woven fabric of your community. I hope no lasting damage done.

I would think of a Daoist as a human being who has a strong interest in, and derives benefit from, the study and practice of Daoist texts and arts. I wonder, is there is a point at which you are so proficient in your understand and practice, that you have the legitimate right to call youself a Daoist?

Hahaha. Nice try. Not at all. No insult from me. I'm surprised you perceieved one, I thought we were being jokular! I believe you were the one who introduced the poison theme. I'm not out to poison anyone. Terrible stuff, wouldn't even think of it. All the best. Ciao.

Of course, if you have any, and enjoy the taste of it? Not my cup of tea though.

Nope, it's fresh. Welcome to add your own poison to taste though!

Ah, well, there's what you say, and then there's what people hear (or read)...

How did this pan out Rara? I hope you found the wisdom and the right words, right approach to help your friend.

Mwhahahaha *burp*

I'm still new here, and don't know you guys. Have to say though, I'm starting to think I'm sensing a little bit of friction here on this thread? Is it my imagination?... If not, feel free to ramp it up, my popcorn is going cold!

Hi Rara, Not sure how wise my advice is, but I'm thinking, could you ask him if he'd like to talk about it calmly? Also, maybe ask him why he has confided in you, what he hopes to achieve from doing so. Idea being, that you provide the space and he fills in the blanks (brings forth his own solutions).

When I ask do we need more aggressive, unpleasant people; I don't mean collectively, I mean in terms of the personal challenge they pose to us individually. We should not seek to remove ourselves from them, or to remove them from our space; rather, we should use them to further our own ends / development. Lots of people push my buttons and pizz me off; I think the first challenge for me personally, is not to allow them (or the interaction) to unbalance me on any level. Every unpleasant person I encounter presents me with an opportunity to strengthen that (centered) muscle, such that I am not so easily unbalanced in future.

Yeah, probably not the first person to prophet form crypto.

Oh, completely agrree; anything that pushes our buttons holds great opportunity for us (learning and growth). Also, about the nice thing; the artofmanliness podcast I linked to earlier is worth a listen. They make some excellent observations re: nice behaviour; that it isn't really nice at all; it's more to do with fear and wanting to avoid conflict at any costs. So, rather than stating your own position or view of thing; you may just say what you think the other person wants to hear, just to avoid upsetting them. Could be, it's this kind of 'nice' behaviour and suppressing anger (or disagreement) that is causing the manifestation of that which I'm supressing. Either way, niceness strikes me as being very unhealthy.

This maybe relevant to the thread. Navy seals demonstrate how to survive a knife attack.... https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JfAYyZoVy5o

I don't understand how asking a question is ignorant? Isn't ignorance a consequence of not asking questions?

Also, this podcast/article on artofmanliness does a good job of exploring the issue of being overly nice... https://www.artofmanliness.com/articles/stop-being-a-pushover/

Thank you Wu Ming Jen, I agree with your comments. I think it's one thing to be aware of and understand our own part in the creation of conflict. I think no matter how together you are, you will not be able to avoid conflict situations altogether and so it's important to be able to deal with conflict, appropriately and effectively. I find myself trying to reason with these people, getting them to see sense; and in most instances my efforts are futile. Also, trying to rationalise with and get people to see reason, in itself is an investment of time and energy. Not a wise investment at that (where the other person is unwilling or unable to listen and understand). I am also thinking back to something my teacher would often say, 'do not get touched'. I believe he didn't mean just physical touched, but emotionally mentally etc, not to be impacted negatively or coherced or manipulated by others...

Hmm. Nice-itis, is, as I would see it, being inauthentic, it's when your actions are motivated by fear, desperate not to cause offence or ruffle any feathers; you are overly agreeable to aim to please everyone. So there is a lack of honouring and expressing your own views. I'm not sure it's a desirable state of affairs...

I wonder if, trying to focus your attention on something else, some other goal you want to achieve, may help? Rather than perpetual self-talk along the lines of "I must not think about SEX. I must not think about SEX"! Also, I find it helps, no matter what my failings are (or what I think my failings are), not to beat myself up about it. Be gentle with yourself.

Naturally, as with all things there is good and bad with crypto. Plenty of people out there manipulating the system, and profiting at the expense of others. How does one not get had?... Noticed a comment earlier about not keeping cyrpto on an exchange, rather to use a USB drive. Not sure if others are aware, but a good secure way to store your keys is in a Ledger Nano S wallet (other hardware wallets are available). If you want to check it out, here: https://www.ledgerwallet.com/products/ledger-nano-s

You have to wonder how informed and knowledgeable of the space these naysayers actually are? The cynic in me would suspect they don't understand it, so don't want to see it take off while they're still invested in fiat, and so they talk it down. They could be right of course, crypto could well turn to do dar, but I don't believe it will ... and hopefully my opinion isn't swayed by a positive bias because I'm invested... There are powerful forces who have a vested interest in restricting crypto, but the overall concept of decentralisation is an enormously useful and attractive one, and in one way (form) or another, I think humanity will move more and more to a decentralised paradigm.

Obligatory new member post follows. Hello. I am here. I never quite know what to say with these introductions. How is everyone?

Thanks Marblehead. I'll dive in slowly.

Thanks for the welcome Fa Xin. I'm more or less okay thanks. I do have some background / training in Tai Chi, and other Doaist arts. Generally, not something I like talking about though. Maybe it's my imagination, but I often find people can get quite sensitive about this stuff; for example, "my version of Daoism is the true one, superiour to yours, and you have no business even discussing this stuff"; general brow-beating and bullying. Anyhow, I can only relate what I know personally and understand from my own life experience, and hopefully have a positive, respectful and insightful discourse with the other people here.