Sherman Krebbs

My recommendation: Vegetarian + no sugary foods, except fruits (i.e. no candy, donuts, milkshakes etc.). You can eat as much as you want and you will lose weight (though you'll never really feel full). Plus you will feel great. Eat lots of plums/prunes and apricots, especially in the beginning, to keep your system in order.

Mine is a gopher -- I did not pick it. Happened across this quote yesterday: "Vajrayana Buddhism [...] has no future in the West because of deeply conditioned (genetic or cultural) assumptions about the nature of reality and because it entails a transmogrification of western social values and lifestyles, and an assimilation of rituals, practices and yogas too alien for anything resembling the original to eventuate." -Everything is Light (Forward), Keith Dowman I think I agree with this. Most will never be able to accept or understand it (and will probably object to the notion that it is something to be accepted and understood), and that is probably okay.

I though the Meditation Health book suggestion was good. To be clear, it was not Cleary's meditation instruction, and we dont know how many cigars he smoked per day, nor the volume of brandy he put in his morning coffee. It was just a sampling of treatises from actual doaist practitioners, with practical meditation instruction. The treatises themselves were written in modern language, which Cleary translated to plain English. It was not translation of an ancient text, so there is the benefit of not having to read between the lines and speculate as to what esoteric ancient metaphors (weird things like like the "slapping the dead goat of the king from the northern plateau") mean in modern language.

Its not necessary to prove all Buddhist wrong in order to affirm whatever it is you believe.

Are you saying that a non-dual philosophy is categorically invalid, or are you just questioning sterling's reasoning for believing/endorsing it, i.e. based on his own experience and his interaction with his meditation instructors? If the former, why and what philosophy do you believe has more merit?

it means you are one human bean. your thoughts and your body and your feelings are all part of one amazing thing--you. it means that you are supposed to keep acting like your five year old self, without worrying too much about it.

Deleting this.

mmm, look these Fava beans.... Oh jeeze mister... suppose I need to go get some coffee. Kids, quick...

You two fight like a married couple (questioning the usefulness of this back and forth for the rest of the shopping mall)

It sounds like people are mostly objecting to the somewhat nebulous term neigong, or maybe the teachers preaching it for profit, not necessarily any particular practice that might fall under that semantic umbrella. The talk about the north and south methods are interesting too. Also, I think you are right that understanding the true meaning of a text through a translation is really challenging. Its like translating Shakespeare to Chinese and expecting the latter to understand the full artistic scope of the source.

Not sure what he knows or does not (I for one am contented knowing very little), though I am interested in your perspective. What is it about the practice of neigong is so different from other practices? Sorry to be dense. My only exposure is watching a DVD from Jwing-Ming.

Thanks for the reference! I will check this out.

I've seen this type of comment a few times on this site. While the name neigong might be a marketing label, are the practices meaningless? Genuinely curious. Where should one who does not understand Chinese go to learn a more authentic practice?

And this, as opposed to a (hand over my heart) Granfalloon...

The only other book I have read of his is Slaughterhouse-Five, though I have been time travelling ever since. My tendency is to think that the latest book I have read is the best, provided that it is really good, and cat’s cradle is no exception. I could not stop laughing. Even now thinking of it, bubbles start to form in my esophagus. This poem stuck out to me. “Tiger got to hunt, bird got to fly; Man got to sit and wonder 'why, why, why?' Tiger got to sleep, bird got to land; Man got to tell himself he understand.” There is definitely some profundity in his commentary. Will have to pick-up lonesome no more.

The Dobie Gillis predates me by two decades, so I did not make that connection. Cat's cradle was published in 1963, so I am guessing people at the time probably would have, which makes it even more hilarious (and maybe interesting?). Seminal book for those interested in studying Bokononism.

Can I be called "Sherman Krebbs" at least till I find one better. Thanks. Background for those who are interested: There was another message, written in lipstick in a feminine hand on the wallpaper over my bed. It said: “No, no, no, said Chicken-licken.” There was a sign hung around my dead cat’s neck. It said, “Meow.” I have not seen Krebbs since. Nonetheless, I sense that he was my karass. If he was, he served it as a wrang-wrang. A wrang-wrang, according to Bokonon, is a person who steers people away from a line of speculation by reducing that line, with the example of the wrang-wrang’s own life, to an absurdity. I might have been vaguely inclined to dismiss the stone angel as meaningless, and to go from there to the meaninglessness of all. But after I saw what Krebbs had done, in particular what he had done to my sweet cat, nihilism was not for me. Somebody or something did not wish me to be a nihilist. It was Krebbs’s mission, whether he knew it or not, to disenchant me with that philosophy. Well, done, Mr. Krebbs, well done.

hard to say. it is definitely the most gripping of his books ive read. i read that one first, and would probably again if i had to start over. i think i liked the crossing the best though, at least of the ones I have read. i only finished the road a few weeks ago. it has a different tempo, though the story is powerful--definitely more than worthy of all the awards.

Its amazing, though not for the faint of heart. on my re-read list as well. Also, mccarthy uses an impressionistic writing style that personally took me some time getting used to, but once I did I could not stop. Its one of those books where you walk away feeling like you have gained some tremendous insight, though you cant exactly pinpoint what it is--good, bad or ugly.

(almost) anything cormac mccarthy. the first two of the border trilogy are fantastically good (never made it through the third). never thought I'd be into apocalypse novels, but i secretly cried at the end of the road. i still get chills thinking about the embrace at the end of blood meridian. reading suttree next. hesse is good too. the glass bead game is my favorite of his. the end of the main story line left me completely paralyzed. steppenwolf was too hippie for my taste, maybe I was not born to be wild. kurt vonnegut is good too. reading cats cradle now, which brings up an interesting question: why is there no subforum on this site for bokononism? another really good book is the man without qualities by musil. the first volume is really cool. very daoist imo. the second, unfinished one is somewhat disjointed (did not make it very far) for space opera, i like alistar reynolds (revelation space, chasm city, pushing ice), hyperion by simmons was good too. the second book in that series was good too, though I can't remember the name. the trial by kafka and nausea by sartre are also memorable. the stranger by camus is good too: why'd he take the shot? how can one pick an all time favorite.

I think in some traditions (mahamudra in particular), it is also important to teach in stages and to bring the pupil to each successive stage before attempting to teach a higher stage. Its not secrecy for secrecy's sake, but a desire for disciples to be able to develop particular/peculiar insights at each stage, in order to gain all qualities of realization. In other words, it is necessary for teaching Dharma in a particular order. There seems to be less secrecy in leap-over practices, such as Nyingma, where the ordering is less important, although I cant say I am very qualified to opine on either, as you dont know secret stuff that you dont know. There is also this anecdote: There once was a fellow who, although he did not have the instructions, decided to practice a secret mantra of meditation in order to be able to fly. He began to repeat the mantra in accordance with directions found in a text. After he finished, he jumped out the window of his fifth story apartment.

I agree. There is a deep energy in everything and every place. If you are attuned, it can be "felt" (and maybe seen, as in an aura). I think it goes far deeper than the senses, however. Waterfalls are my favorite.

Whether empty, illusory or something else entirely, abstract thought is an important part of life. As a parallel, the phenomenon of sight might be regarded as empty or illusory, but that does not mean one drives down the freeway with eyes closed. Abstract though is a tool that helps us make sense of this world (its helping me to write this post now). Don’t disregard it, use it to your advantage! I am not an advanced meditator by any means, but the practice of just sitting and observing my thoughts and allowing the thoughts disappear into nothingness, like bubbles floating in the breeze, has given me great insight into how I should understand them, praiseworthy or not.

I have this vague memory of being a child, sitting in my parents living room in a one piece pair of pajamas. Everything was new. I had no conceptions of what anything should look like, or any conceptions about myself or society. It was just me, coexisting and being with my loving family. For me, that is what reality is. Over time, that childhood presence has since been clouded by a complex web of conceptions and mental patterns that have built up my mind. Yet, when the clouds break, the same child emerges. The reality of this world is you sitting in your backyard like a child, admiring the energy of a magnificent tree with no reflection on what it means or entails. In other words, this life is very real (and wonderful), its our conceptions of it that are empty.

My experience is the opposite. I dream about people, then wake up and the world is full of aliens. : ) Turns out, my alien family and friends are pretty cool though.