Unota
-
Content count
122 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Days Won
4
Everything posted by Unota
-
I've noticed that the most mundane and colorless flowers tend to smell sweeter than any others. I still remember the smell of a single bush of sweet autumn clematis that sprung up this autumn. It's invasive here, but I didn't have the heart to pull it up. My garden was gone, everything was dying and soon to be dead. It was getting cold. But that clematis sprung up, with all of it's fragile white little flowers, you could smell it from a mile away, and it was sweet enough to give you a cavity. There was something sad about it. When I would pick some, to take the smell with me, it would fade almost instantly. How could I tear it up?
-
It's kind of funny to think about, but when I was little, my grandfather would take lots of trips around the world, (He married a woman from the Philippines, that he met on one of his trips.) but they were mostly to China, and he had all sorts of interesting knick knacks he brought back that I was fascinated by. He got angry when I'd touch them. I now recognize that the vintage chest he kept in his drawer with the little glass balls inside were qigong meditation balls. He would get mad when I touched any of his things, because, I think I remember him telling me they were very old antiques. I am now certain that he was a daoist. It did not stop him from being a very cruel person. He beat children, and he had a lot of money, that he quite literally died before he would ever use to help his family. All of these knick knacks are long gone, probably sold in an estate sale when he died. He died a 'suspicious' death, his spine broke in a way that could have only been done externally, or through some terrible accident, but there was nothing around to have caused it. I never really heard about if it was investigated or not, the police didn't seem to care. Well..There you go! some fun lore for you today.
-
Jing Replenishment: The Rooted Path Revelation
Unota replied to The Biggest Nobody's topic in Daoist Discussion
You guys are going to make me spit out my orange juice...my stomach hurts from laughing. -
Someone gifted me paint markers, so my pocket book got a bit of a makeover. It's always nice to add some color!
-
I know for a fact that in most I am quite stupid! But I sure can cook a good homegrown snack.
-
What are the other sixths of you?
-
Hello~ There's something that I've been thinking about a bit, lately. For a very long time, I have always been so indecisive to the extent that I would make my own decisions with a pocket-full of dice I carried around with me everywhere I went. I later switched to a 'spirit coin' that fit more smoothly into my pocket. This was how I managed to get things done, because I was so forgetful that I could not remember what needed to be done, and I was unable to prioritize what needed to be done the most. I've decided that I don't like to do this anymore! I've become a bit more capable of making my own decisions, and I've been able to prioritize a bit better. I do not need to let random chance decide for me. I want to make my own decisions. There is one thing I've been struggling with though, as I've been interacting with people a bit more, especially under the anonymity of the internet. It is that I'm not entirely sure how to introduce myself. Even my username here was randomly generated with a conlang program called 'polyglot' and means absolutely nothing to me or anyone else. It feels strange to be addressed by various names in other places that don't suit me as I juggle with one after another. I go through one name to the next, none ever really sticking, because they do not reflect the kind of person that I am. But, I don't know what kind of person that I am! I don't know how I come across to others. I also do not know what things are most important in my life, to attach it to myself as a label of any sort. This probably seems like an insignificant problem, ahaha... But it's a little important to me. It makes me feel a bit frustrated. So...Anyway, what does your username mean to you? How did you decide on it? Maybe hearing from you can help me figure out how to label myself in the future.
-
YEAH bayBEE!! I BROKE MY PERSONAL PLANK RECORD by a LONG SHOT! PSHAAAAA! LET'S GOOO! LET'S GOOO! LET'S GOOOO!
I mean...Whatever a normal person would say. *cough*
-
Did you know royalty used to use narwhal's horns to 'detect' poison? They thought their horns were magical horns from unicorns, and could detect poison with magic. During the Dutch tulip mania, some thought throwing ash on the tulips would trigger them to break through some sort of alchemical process, before knowing that it was triggered by a virus.
I have vision changes when I meditate, but I can not say that this is not connected to my tendency towards visual auras as I am prone to migraines. I have experienced something similar sometimes when I wake up from a deep sleep, as if that part of my brain has yet to switch back on. The thought alone that the same is happening when I meditate, awake, is fascinating enough.
I know that I can control my body heat circulation during qigong, but the only thing that truly means is increased activity or some sort. Maybe it is just my circulation. That is still fascinating to me.
I also don't think that any sort of spiritual practice could ever be only a 'placebo' effect, no more than physical exercise could be. Everything you do, or lack thereof, has an impact. If you kick a rock, it moves. If you don't, it doesn't. Breathing techniques have greatly improved my lung function. Slow, deliberate movements, while controlling breathing, and stilling the mind to focus on this, imagine how many muscles and micro-muscles that you generally do not use, are being exercised when you do this.
I am so active now, that I worry about things like athlete's injuries. I have a better outlook on life, too, being able to separate myself from modern western ideologies that are built up around supporting a mechanical system that is built off the backs of others, rather than the individual.
I wanted to learn how to live, and to love life, and what better way to do that, than to be curious about, to connect with practices that people have done for thousands of years? If only to understand what has kept us going.
Getting off of my private soap box in my activity feed now. Byeeee~
-
-
@cobie Right!! Thank you. But my point is, it just makes me kind of sad, how quick some people are to discredit each-other on this forum. I have read the word 'placebo' thrown around a lot. Whether I believe what someone else says or not, I still think there is something new to learn from them. Uhh...Even if I said this in the worst way.
-
-
Do you think I should try to grow golden berry this year? No promises on if they'll sprout. Uncommon seeds like this, I usually have to buy from other individual gardeners. Maybe I should get two packets just in case. Hm
-
I can't believe that years ago, I was so poor that I couldn't afford food. And then, I was so sick that I couldn't get out of bed. Before all of that, as a kid, my house burned down. I have lost everything, over and over and over again. I've always felt like bad things follow me wherever I go. Now, I don't have to worry about money as much anymore. I am going to the Smokies. I don't think I have ever been this fortunate in my entire life. I wonder if it will hurt even more, when this is gone.
-
I am so excited!! I am planning a trip to the Smoky Mountains this summer! I have never seen terrain that is even particularly hilly. Only flat plains. I am also afraid of heights! And towering structures give me the heebie jeebies. So I am at least 99.9% sure that I will pass out.
(Do you think it's common to be unnerved by terrain you're not used to? I've had friends that have said the pictures I send them of my own home makes them sick.)
It is an eight hour drive from here with little traffic, but I have been to Nashville before to play at a concert, and that was about twelve hours on a charter bus, so...I kind of doubt it?
I will make sure to take lots of pictures. Once in a lifetime trip. It's booked! It's booked! I'm going. I will probably just stay put lounging about in the woods, and go hiking. Which...Is what I do at home. But this time, with more mountains!
-
I will be for you all the things that I've prayed for my entire life.
-
Ooh, what a fun thread! When my garden is out of commission, and I have to eat canned or preserved things, I like fruits, oats, ummm...Sometimes nuts as a treat. Whatever I happen to find cheap that week. But outside of winter, I usually eat whatever grows outside. I grow a lot of turnips and beans. My favorite heavy comfort meal is noodles, mixed with fresh tomatoes from my garden, and jalapenos or thai dragon chilis. I also have chickens, and eat a lot of eggs. I also eat a lot of things that don't grow in my garden, like wild amaranth, deadnettles, and goosefoot. Wild plants tend to have more acids, so it's good to boil them first. Definitely don't eat a lot of them raw. I also like to make tea from marigolds, or the fragrant invasive mint, if only to get rid of some of it. The young leaves of goldenrod are also good, (but they get bitter as they get older,) and the flower heads are good for tea, but the bugs are also a big fan of them, so it's better to leave them...I also have some wild raspberry bushes, wild grapes, and a peach tree, but it takes all year to fruit and passerby's often steal those. So...Whatever is growing at the time, and whatever is preserved or available, that's my breakfast. My favorite treat of all, is shelling the black walnuts that grow outside. I use the husks to make ink (you have to use a glass dip pen, though, because organic inks like this are acidic and erode metal nibs.) And then I roast the nuts in honey, or brew it with my coffee. There is really nothing like it.
-
Welcome to the forum!! There are years worth of different topics here that you can dig through and research...That is what I usually do. Just pick somewhere and start. Before I joined this forum, I started with Hua-Ching Ni's books, they are still some of my favorites. They keep saying that it's better to have a teacher, but in many cases that is just not possible. The only thing I could ask to teach me within a two hour drive is maybe my dog, and she eats poop. I'd imagine not very much of her advice is reliable. So...Books and video lessons it is. -edit- Ahh!! How could I forget!! Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche. He gives very good advice on meditation. I like him.
-
I keep forgetting to come back to reply to this post (because I am forgetful.) But all of these are tremendously helpful!! I love all of you! I need to bookmark this so I can write all of these down and incorporate them into my routines. This might be singlehandedly one of the most important threads on here to me so far...The 'save your back' daobums thread...revolutionary!! @Vajra Fist I love forearm planks! I can do up to a minute now! I think I have a pretty okay core (At least somewhere in there, beneath where I keep all of my fig newtons.) My biggest problem is that I have weak muscles in the small of my back, and above my hips, so when I lean back or turn while carrying firewood, it puts a lot of unnecessary stress on my spine, specifically in my middle back. I'm going to add a yoga pose myself that I probably wouldn't have initially correlated with this, but reverse warrior pose! It strengthens smaller muscles in your sides, which might help. That one also feels really good. Be careful not to overextend though, that is NOT going to help an already painful back.
-
I was making coffee this morning, when I suddenly remembered 'Swiss Army Man.' I started laughing so hard that I had to put my cup down otherwise I'd spill it. There's a special place in my heart for this ridiculous movie.
-
I wasn't really sure how to answer 'how' I practice qigong, so I didn't at first. Like, 'what do you mean! the stance? how I distribute my weight? You have to be more specific!' And I'm very bad at describing things. I only thought of afterwards, how I could say it. But do you know, when you concentrate on the sensation from your core to your fingertips, circulating in your center, and then it tingles down from your arm to your hands. Your hands start to heat up drastically, sometimes even by ten degrees, to match your core temperature. I do this, but along with the motions, depending on what that is. Left to right, down to up, up to down to my feet, it depends on what it is. From hand, through chest, to hand, or from upwards, through my chest, down to the heels of my feet. It occurred to me that this might be what you meant. Because doing the motions is not just a stretch. I also do the breathing techniques as directed, in through the nose, out through the mouth, several seconds each. Inhaling, and then exhaling, on releasing tension. My mind is blank while I do this, I focus on nothing else. Is this what you mean by 'tell you how?' At first I was wondering if you meant to describe to you the routine or something, hahaha. It didn't even occur to me, that you thought I might just be stretching and nothing else. I misunderstood!
-
I have COPD. I went from needing an inhaler, to being able to go on a bike ride for two miles. I'm not sure that what you mean by 'sick' in your question, and my 'sick,' are the same thing. Maybe ask someone else though, who means something like the common cold. I also think that you have to be careful with thinking like this, because if anything happens to you, and you think that you are capable of doing something that can reverse it, then when you fail to do so, you will blame yourself
-
That's hard to answer. I don't think I would be able to say I do anything any which way. There are times when I am really energetic, and I workout, I practice yoga, I do lots of physical activities and try to break my own personal records. I also do some qigong. Other times, I get sick, or I feel weak and tired. I'm a sickly person. Other times I read obsessively, transcribing things and archiving, trying to learn new things. Sometimes I meditate outside, where it's quiet. Other times, I just don't feel like it? I don't like schedules. For some reason I feel like I'm not really going to live a long life. And if I suddenly die some day, I feel like I would be a bit sad, if I had spent too much of my time forcing myself into a schedule of improving too many things that would not really matter that much once I am dead. I've fulfilled my desires for working out, that was fun. I studied for a while, and that was fun. But now I am feeling nostalgic for doing nothing, so I am doing nothing. I miss sitting all day and drinking tea, petting my cat. I think he missed me, too. It's almost February, so I'm sure soon enough, I will switch focus to my garden instead. It'll be a good time to start sweet peppers.
-
This is fun. I think that I do mostly physical and intellectual, but I do spiritual too. I also strongly emphasize morality, but I wouldn't really connect this to religious reasons. More like...on principle. If I personally decide something, I want to follow it and put my money where my mouth is. I don't want to be a hypocrite, is all. So...3/4? I have a book of principles I carry around though...Maybe that is bordering along religious. Sheesh...No wonder people find me a bit annoying. By 'religious' though, I think, that would be relating more to tradition. I wonder if...'self-discovery' can fall under something like spiritual, or if that would be categorizable as it's own path, too.
-
I am a little bit late. But, last year, I was very busy and active the entire time. I got pretty fit and improved my health a lot. This year, I want to learn more about the world. I have learned a lot already about the history of Sudan, Tunisia, and Palestine. Everything from war atrocities to the weather. I guess you could say I've started 'archiving.' I want to archive more this year. I have already collected and gone through a lot of news archives and data, writing and rewriting as I learn more things. And the more that I learn, the more that I end up donating to charities. That's another thing I want to do more of this year. I want to continue donating to charity. Sometimes I have small amounts of 'spending cash' month by month, and usually, I would...waste it on snacks, or something that I didn't really care about. But last year I started putting that money to charities instead, to fund things that I have strong opinions about, and it made me feel a lot better than wasting it on something like...Fig newtons? (Although I do sometimes still buy fig newtons. I loooooove fig newtons. Sometimes you just really need a fig newton...) I also just...Kind of want to continue doing whatever I want? I often forget that I have free will. This is kind of stupid to say. I feel like if reincarnation is real, I must've been something brainless like a housefly. I constantly feel like I'm forgetting I'm a human being. What do you mean I can just...Go out and buy fig newtons if I want to? If I want apples? If I want to go to an orchard? I can just do that? Nobody is going to stop me?? I went to an apple festival last year, just because I read a book about the history of apples. While I was there, I tried persimmon pudding for the first time. It was delicious! I accidentally drank cider so hot it scalded my mouth. I went to another festival at a historic village that was like it was preserved in time, and there was an old amish man there selling old farm tools that were all older than I am. I bought a trowel there, and I removed the rust, sanded the handle, sharpened it with a bastard file, and had it engraved. It looks like new. I did this all because I was sick of using those cheap dollar store trowels that keep snapping in my hand under a little bit of pressure. That was the only reason that I went. To buy an old trowel! (my family would not let me buy any of the scythes. They don't seem to trust me around sharp objects.) Anyway, I want to do more of that this year. To indulge spontaneous impulses like this, hahaha. Most of them seem to be food-based. I'm starting to wonder if the only reason I like gardening is because of my love of food, and nothing at all to do with the plants themselves...
-
Exactly! I could just as easily tell someone else I am 120 while looking like I am in my 20's...Because I am. Anyone at any point in history could have done this. People just like to mess with people sometimes. You can just say whatever you want, whenever you want. As for my own ideas on 'heaven,' 'immortality,' or 'reincarnation,' I don't think I care much for any of them. I don't like the idea of heaven, because most people use it as an excuse to be terrible during life. If you have your own ideas of an afterlife, and what ends you have to meet to achieve it, that means you also have your own concept of what is a failure to achieve it, and you can hold those standards above other people, while...lifting Your own sense of self. If there is a form of heaven, there is no way for you to know what truly determines it's 'entry.' You either get to experience heaven or you don't. I think it's irrelevant, trying to debate it's existence, or what you should do to achieve it. This is another reason that I don't much like the concept of immortality. Your current existence is not something that should be 'escaped.' I also do not think that immortality, or heaven can be achieved, by letting...the prospect of achieving them dictate your life. You don't do good things to get into heaven, you do good things because you are good. You don't cultivate to become an immortal, but you cultivate to find your own...peace? I don't think that my life, or life in general, is something to escape. I love life. I love my life. I love humans. And - I know that this may be hard to believe to some people that know me, because I love being dramatic and complaining a lot...- I love all of it no matter how cruel it can be, because it can also be just as good. But I am not afraid of dying. I am not afraid of nonexistence. That's what I think of them. They're mere thoughts, and I think, making up your own ideas about them, can put you at risk of creating your own standards that may not actually exist, which you apply to other people who do not deserve that kind of perception of them. I don't think I really effectively communicated how exactly I feel about this, but...close enough. That isn't to say that I don't think there might be heaven, or 'immortality,' or some form of afterlife that I can not possibly perceive, I just don't think that...there is a point in...deciding what I think they might be, or how to get there. I do my best in life. I know that I do. I know that, because I know I am trying, and I try to be good. If that is not enough, then it is not enough. Oops. Oh well. You know what I mean? I am not going to...let things like that control me.
-
Today!! Has been!! Awful!!! -33 windchill! I was fighting to keep a fire going all day! My house has been in the 50s. I am tired. I am exhausted! I go out to get firewood, and I come inside and it is still cold. There is no place to warm myself. My core temperature is far lower than normal. It is forecast to be like this for the rest of the week! Every moment of my day is spent trying to keep the fire going. It feels like I am in an apocalypse movie. What a nightmare!!!
