SirPalomides

A fascinating and hilarious article about the uses a 20th century American occultist made of the I Ching. Don't miss the artwork appended after the footnotes! https://www.biroco.com/yijing/russell.htm

That’s probably the old semen that you “retained” but which was just sitting around waiting to finally be expelled. Semen retention by edging doesn’t actually work.

Artist: Suzuki Harunobu (1725–1770) Title: Young Woman Jumping from the Kiyomizu Temple Balcony with an Umbrella as a Parachute. 清水の舞台から飛び降りる女 Date: 1765

Is anyone here on a grain-free diet?

As I heard a wise person say once, if anyone comes to you with a plan that involves "and then the people will revolt and welcome us as liberators!" run very far in the other direction.

An amusingly harebrained scheme by some ex-Green Berets: https://apnews.com/79346b4e428676424c0e5669c80fc310

This story has been developing since 2019 when two whistleblowers from the OPCW came forward and claimed that the OPCW had conducted a cover-up with regards to an alleged chemical attack occurring in Douma, Syria in April 2018. Amid heavy US pressure, the OPCW suppressed or manipulated evidence to support the assertion by the US and allies that the Syrian government had carried out a chlorine gas attack. The OPCW chief has responded to the whistleblowers by claiming that they were not important OPCW personnel. Documents have now surfaced disproving that: https://thegrayzone.com/2020/05/06/opcw-douma-whistleblower/

It's very possible Pompeo and friends gave this operation a nod, knowing it would be bungled and the guys would be captured, so that now they can do a rescue operation as cover for something bigger.

Padmasambhava, by Nikolai Roerich

An interesting article by Joseph Adler on Confucian/ Neo-Confucian thoughts about ming, xing, and related concepts, which I believe influenced Daoist understandings of them: https://www2.kenyon.edu/Depts/Religion/Fac/Adler/Writings/Heaven-Tradition.pdf

Some thoughts from the Analects on the attainment of wealth: [4:5] Confucius said, “Riches and honors are what all men desire. But if they cannot be attained in accordance with the Way they should not be kept. Poverty and low status are what all men hate. But if they cannot be avoided while staying in accordance with the Way, you should not avoid them. If a noble man departs from his fundamental goodness, how can he be worthy of that name? A noble man never leaves his fundamental goodness for even the time of a single meal. In moments of haste he acts according to it. In times of difficulty or confusion he acts according to it.” [7:16] The Master said: “I can live with coarse rice to eat, water for drink and my arm as a pillow and still be happy. Wealth and honors that one possesses in the midst of injustice are like floating clouds.” [8:13] The Master said: “Be of unwavering good faith and love learning. Be steadfast unto death in pursuit of the good Way. Do not enter a state which is in peril, nor reside in one which people have rebelled. When the Way prevails in the world, show yourself. When it does not, then hide. When the Way prevails in your own state, to be poor and obscure is a disgrace. But when the Way does not prevail in your own state, to be rich and honored is a disgrace.”

RIP Florian Schneider

Creation of the Birds, by Remedios Varo

No, I definitely had bitten off more than I could chew. I didn't really know what I was getting into- I had just started attending that karma kagyu center for about a month or two (actually the Karmapa's official US residence, though I don't think he ever lives there) and the very nice people told me, "hey, we're having this nyungne thing this weekend, come try it out." I was definitely not an experienced practitioner of anything. At the end I felt glad for the experience and that I didn't bail out but the thought of doing it again scared me. I'm sure it would have been easier the second time. I've heard of people who do it every two weeks or something crazy like that.

No water on the second day. I think that's the part that really made it rough for me. The next morning I felt very weak and groggy; the first sip of tea felt like a jolt of energy. Most of the others seemed to be doing fine though, so I suspect I'm a big baby.

It's devoted to the Thousand-Armed Chenrezig. As I recall we did the sadhana 3 times per day- the sadhana takes a while because you're doing the long dharani (namo ratna trayaya…) 108 times along with some very complex visualizations and a ton of prostrations. I still remember the dharani after all those years because we did it so many times. I think in addition to the sadhana we did some hymns and recited the 37 practices of a Bodhisattva. On the first evening we were introduced to the practice and given some kind of empowerment (I think it was temporary?) and took a vow. The first full day we ate breakfast and then fasted from food; on the second full day a water and speech fast were added to the food fast; the morning after we had tea and some kind of liquid breakfast and went home.

I did a nyungne once, it kicked my ass. But I'm pretty wimpy in general.

I don't know if yarrow stalks or coin toss could be called truly random either. I think a truly random method of consultation would have to be done by a physicist with some fancy equipment. I wonder what @Harmen and @Taomeow think of this question.

On the contrary, the general population of Vietnam was made well aware of the danger through a well-coordinated government and media campaign. And Vietnamese are very well plugged in and aware of world events. One can find a lot of Vietnamese online talking about the events from the ground, eg on Facebook (Facebook is banned but it is very easy to circumvent the ban so you’ll find tons of Vietnamese there) https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/04/16/835748673/in-vietnam-there-have-been-fewer-than-300-covid-19-cases-and-no-deaths-heres-why

I don't see why it would be harmful. I personally much prefer working with old-fashioned methods but whether yarrow stalks or coins are somehow inherently superior to a digital equivalent, I don't know. There is a whole forum devoted to the Yijing so I would recommend looking at the resources shared there: https://www.thedaobums.com/forum/349-yijing/

The Plague of Justinian devastated the Romans and Persians, but left people living in mountains and deserts alone. I therefore conclude that the plague was a hoax manufactured by a conspiracy of Arabs and Bulgars because I do logic real good

It makes sense if you look into what they actually did.

Vietnam borders China and did an excellent job containing the virus. That's not because the virus is a hoax or something but because they had a smart and efficient policy.

Think about this: if the COVID-19 pandemic is really a hoax engineered for X nefarious purposes, that means that states around the world who are apparently at each other’s throats about everything else have united to promote a grand illusion; that means that the conflicts and disputes between states are not real; that means that the whole mess of politics, domestic and global, is a fraud deliberately and meticulously constructed by some central cabal pulling the strings of all the world’s governments, media, and medical institutions; at which point it must be concluded that everything is under control, that nothing can be trusted, not even articles and videos apparently questioning this global order, and there is nothing you can do about it and you might as well just enjoy the light show put on by our inscrutable and inhumanly efficient masters.

Can expertise be faked, manipulated, or bought off? Of course. But expertise does exist and it takes time and effort to acquire, for which internet articles and videos are not a replacement.