Unota

Ah, is this hypothetical an apocalyptic scenario? I had assumed you just meant a sort of re-imagining of society as if we all just decided to not use money. If money lost all value out of disaster, then everything would be in shambles regardless.

Value would probably be determined by personal necessity, rather than based off of a nation-wide economy that fluctuates around the stock market or something. Like in bartering systems. I'm not sure how exactly that would effect the entire world, though, to operate only off of bartering instead of currency. It would be more difficult to hold influence and power over the flow of resources and commodities. But I think that there will always be people that try to do that. I don't know about other places, but here, and in other rural areas, bartering is pretty common. I've noticed a decline over the years, because people have less trust now in other people than in official businesses or industries. They act like any watermelon or pepper you try to give them out of kindness, because you have too many this year, is poisoned. (As if the ones sold at walmart or some other main-brand store, coated in pesticides is any better.) I do a lot of favors, chores, I trade vegetables from my own garden when I have too many, or chicken eggs. I rarely need to buy anything that I 'want,' because I can always get it from someone else by doing something for them. For necessities, though, my life is still controlled by the market, and I have to make choices between things like car insurance over having health insurance because they are priced so ridiculously compared to anything I could possibly produce, sell, or trade myself. I'm not sure how people could still be provided these things, though, if there was no currency. I am not sure how you could compare something like the 'right to car insurance' each month, to say...eggs? Maybe car insurance would not be required in the first place, because someone could just as easily offer repairs for something from you in return. But, what if you don't have anything or a service you can provide that they would want? Would you just be without a vehicle now? Or what about other similar extreme circumstances? You would probably have to have government provide safety measures in case of things like that happening, I suppose? It could potentially be better, or worse, considering how it was implemented. Unfortunately, I think that terrible people often find themselves in positions of power, and ruin everything no matter what. It's fun to think about for a moment, though. Sorry if this is a bit ignorant. I don't care much for the economy. I am also in too much of a hurry to think too deeply about it, we are getting a cold front overnight, and I have to go back out for more firewood. Maybe I will check back later.

I started out meditating only focusing on breath, usually somewhere secluded and sitting in silence. Then I started practicing visualizations. But now, as Old3bob says, I often meditate doing whatever it is that I am doing. I still do the first two, when there is something in particular that is troubling me and where nothing else will help. Focusing on breath helps me calm myself, and the visualization techniques can help me with memory and concentration. When there is something physical wrong, like tension or joint weakness, I do yoga or qigong. Ahh, sometimes that is not enough, though...I wish I could get a good massage. My shoulder is so tight that stretches and yoga are not enough. I would pay someone to punch me even. Loosen it up a little bit. Like a steak tenderizer?...What were we talking about? Well. That is just me. My only personal goal in mind, though, is only to have a good day, haha. Fixing things that prevent me from doing so. I hope you find what you need. Be kind to yourself.

Lazy is still lazy. Even though the outcome was good this time, probably because I have a better understanding of gardening than other areas of my life, my motive was irresponsible and betrays a lack of priorities and a tendency to go to great lengths so that I do and give as little as possible. I doubt that gardening is the only area that I do things like this, but I'm unaware of it. Probably why I tend to be a bit of a shut-in. People are unpredictable, cruel, and mean. It was just so much easier to stay at home, too much effort to reach out to people. Look where that got me.

(That's really cute!!) Woah...I'm amazed you picked up that much just from what I've said. I don't know what to say. I'd almost forgotten that I'd set my subheading to that. I think that I set it to that some time after joining here, because it was the first defining thing about myself that I could think of. I am so lazy, that I have spent years studying tips, tricks, permaculture, and sustainability, just so that the earth would do all of the work while I sit back and put in as little effort as possible. I learned companion planting and rotating so that I don't have to spray expensive pesticides or fungicides, and I still don't have to worry about pests and disease. I learn about no-till gardening so I don't have to till as much soil. I learn about plant reproduction and collecting seeds so I don't have to go out and buy as many seeds. I learn about native pollinators and grow flowers from them so I get more produce, because they will pollinate more of my plants. I compost food and feed it to my plants so that I get bigger produce, with more nutrients. Maybe people might assume that I'm a pompous weirdo that refuses to use pesticides because it will save the planet or for moral reasons. Of course I do like the idea of that too, my morals also align with preserving nature, but...It's an afterthought. The real, straightforward reason that I do this, is A: to save money! and B: because I'm lazy. I spend very little money on it. It's free food. This is why I was curious about Daoism when I first started to read about it, stumbling upon a few books about it. It felt really familiar. Not necessarily doing nothing at all, but not overworking yourself either. Trying to understand the nature of things, so that you can utilize it and go with the flow of how things already function. I realized that this can apply to more than just gardening, and I can have influence over so much more than just food and plants. (At the moment, I am trying to overcome my loneliness from living a sheltered lifestyle by making friends.) But, that is why I put 'lazy gardener.' As I have started to speak more with people, as I tell them my name, I often use my real name, because I have no consistent online name. But I've noticed that my own name has started to taste a little sour in my mouth. It was a name given to me by someone who destroyed my self-worth. It's not that I don't like my name, or still hold a lot of resentment anymore. But it's not something I want to be called by strangers I don't yet know very well on the internet. I don't like hearing it. (You can really tell how infrequently I speak with people, if I've only just now noticed how I feel about this.) But I also don't like telling them just whatever, either. I want something I can use that is mine, even if it's like a silly username. And then when I am comfortable, I can tell them my name in real life. Thank you for this. There is one thing that I did know to define myself, and being reminded of and prompted to talk about it gave me a chance to consider it a bit more. Thank you also for taking my post seriously, because it does feel a bit personal to me at the moment. I think what Taomeow said is also helpful, because even if I didn't come up with it, meaning can be applied that feels a little more personal, so that I can make it my own. (Aside from the slight change to make in spelling.)

Hahaha! I don't think so...Just because I don't have an inner monologue doesn't mean I'm not anxious or troubled all the time, I just have difficulty processing, voicing, and understanding my feelings without doing it through writing or voicing it out loud. I don't know a lot about Buddhism, but I suspect there's probably more to it than this.

Ahaha, this is really interesting to think about from my perspective, considering I have not historically had an 'inner monologue,' and only on occasion still, even after constantly working on it. It seems this isn't a unique experience, considering a broader portion of the population seems to 'think' in a similar manner than previously thought, (more in emotions, images, or what I would personally call more like constant 'static noise' than coherent thought.) In sacrifice of calling myself 'stupid,' I think that an inner monologue is crucial to exercising the mind and maintain a clarity that I'm constantly struggling to have. I think that...there is a need to think to oneself, because it reflects concentration and focus, awareness, and provides an ability to assess yourself and your surroundings by putting things into something more coherent. I have always had difficulty with decisions, because I find it difficult to weigh them in my mind without being able to properly voice them. I have little perception of myself because I have never really considered in my head things that are important to me. Life is very chaotic this way.

On my 'currently reading' shelf sits 'Selected Poems' by James Tate, 'The Metamorphosis' by Franz Kafka, and 'Braiding Sweetgrass' by Robin Wall Kimmerer.

Maybe the 'divinity in nature' would be most accurate for me. Nature is what is most visible. It is something I can see, hear, and touch. With a single action, I can change the makeup of the soil. With what I plant, even a few square feet can alter my entire local ecosystem by providing the food source for a specific species of insects, which in turn feeds a specific population of birds. It controls everything, and yet it's so easily malleable and responsive. The soil is alive with an incomprehensible amount of tiny microbes that digest organic matter in a form that can be processed by plants, just like the microbes in our gut do the same for us. Everything that I touch is alive. And I don't even need something amazing or magic to change it, because I am already capable. To me, that is the closest thing I could call 'magic' or 'spirits' or 'god.' Beyond that, I don't think I care.

Umm...How do I say this, without coming across as a crazy person? After meditating, recently, I've noticed something a bit weird. Well, actually this started a couple of weeks ago I think, or maybe longer, but I didn't really think anything of it. Umm, after meditating, the world seems devoid of all color. Everything is in black and white. After a few moments, it seems to return to normal, fading back into color. This started at least a couple of weeks ago. The past couple of days, the same has happened, but in addition, I see one, singular color. The first time this happened, everything was coated in a layer of green, like I was looking through a tinted lens. The most recent time, I saw something very different. Instead of a sort of veil, I saw a very bright and vivid flash of red that bloomed across my vision, which seemed to be coming from a specific direction. It came from downwards, or maybe inwards. I'm not sure. It only happens after meditation, and I don't experience a headache or any vision problems outside of that, so...Again, I didn't really think anything of it. I just thought, "Huh! That was odd." And I continue on with my day...hahaha. It wasn't until later that I remembered I am sort of a part of an online community that, well, meditates a lot. Maybe they would have similar experiences. Umm...I am probably going to continue to not think much of it at all, as I do not want to apply my own meaning or interpretation to something I don't fully understand the cause of, physical, spiritual, or otherwise. But, I am mildly curious what others would have to say about it.

Wow! There are a lot of heated opinions on the use of cannabis with cultivation. I think I agree with Daniel? Cultivation doesn't seem like something that can come with shortcuts, it at least seems contradictory to everything I have read so far.

Ah, I know... It's just difficult not to be squeamish about raw eggs when it's so ingrained in a culture that you should avoid them. Even as someone who raises chickens and eats them unpasteurized; I know that there is no risk of salmonella as long as the egg developed correctly, if it's stored in a clean and cool place, if your chickens are in good health and happy, and especially if you have a strong immune system. but the back of my brain still tells me "You're not supposed to be eating this! What if you get food poisoning?" In the end, the only time I have ever gotten food poisoning was not from eggs, but from some under-cooked store-bought sausages at a thanksgiving cookout. I had a fever of 104 F. Sheeeeesh!

Ahhh!! Nungali knows his coffee haha! If Nungali tells you to put baking soda in your coffee, you do it! as for reporting back: I made a cup and put a whole teaspoon of baking soda in it. It definitely altered the taste, but not in a way I found unpalatable. Though as someone who enjoys frog legs, octopus, and habanero peppers, my tastebuds might be more forgiving. If you're worried about altered taste, even half a teaspoon or a pinch would probably effect the pH with minimal effect on the overall flavor. Nungali gave good advice.

I heard about this! Not only is coffee great for composting, but it seems to have even more sustainable and practical uses. If only it weren't so bad for your teeth... I'll volunteer as tribute for the baking soda. I've put weirder things into my coffee. Raw egg can be used as a substitute for creamer, I've tried that before. It tasted normal, but it's hard to get past the fact knowing that it's egg, not milk.

Did you know, that what is thought to be the first ever-recorded-in-history economic bubble to occur, revolved around the tulip? In the 17th century, tulips became a revered luxury. Europe was completely enamored with their modest, neatly-folded petals that betrayed nothing within. It caused a major economic bubble, with some varieties, most famously the now-extinct Semper Augustus, sold for as high as what's estimated to be the equivalent of $178,200. The Semper Augustus was an example of a 'broken' tulip cultivar, a tulip that bloomed with dual clashing colors in intricate patterns across the petals. The culprit was a type of mosaic virus. The primary visible pigment of a tulip is within the epidermis, but those infected with the tulip breaking virus, the epidermis becomes separated from the mesophyll layer which causes the secondary color to become visible. This disease brought out a hidden beauty that could not be seen normally within healthy flowers. The thing with tulips is that when reproducing, their seeds sprout with only a slight resemblance to the parent. The only way to reproduce a specific cultivar is to clone it through division. (This, of course, is just like the fruit trees we love to eat, which we clone through grafting.) In the case with broken tulips, the plants are already diseased and in a weakened state. They are doomed to extinction. The plants would stop producing bulbs and can no longer be circulated. As a result, the Semper Augustus no longer exists. Broken tulips are not the only tulip cultivars that are incredibly fleeting, though. Due to cultivars only circulating based on public interest, and the fact they can only be replicated by cloning, any varieties that have fallen out of favor will naturally cease to exist. Broken tulips were treasured for their beauty, but they were beautiful because they were diseased. They were doomed to die. Maybe to some they were magical, an unexplainable mystery, but it was generally suspected that a tulip 'breaking' was due to a disease. In fact, knowing that they were fleeting was a contributing factor to their beauty, and made them even more highly valued. Secondly, even healthy cultivars seem to be eventually doomed and unsustainable. Randomized genetics is a product of evolution, and many plants reproduce like this for a reason. The world is constantly changing. The reason for producing offspring with a completely spontaneous outcome, is for survival. Diseases are constantly changing and evolving to survive, and their survival involves taking advantage of and even killing host plants. In order to combat disease, plants must constantly change and evolve alongside it. When producing random genes in offspring, you have higher chances of producing a single offspring that can withstand disease and a changing climate. By cloning these plants, humans deprive them of their method for survival. Humans like to see themselves as completely separate from nature. Nature is something to be controlled and conquered. Cloned varieties of plants are a symbol of this control, and the Semper Augustus seems to me an even more-so grotesque example, through the preservation of a plant known to be diseased. I am running out of time here, but I thought this might be a good conversation topic. It is a good example of clinging, stagnation, and attempted control over nature. Whether it's the monocultures of factory farms, grafted century old clones of fruit trees that are all doomed to the fate of the Gros Michel banana, the reveration of cloned tulips riddled with disease, and overconsumption of resources to grow specific crops in areas that will no longer support them...they all share the same thing, which is the false assumption that we are separated from nature, and that nature is something that can be controlled, instead of something to embrace and live alongside. This is something I care a lot about, and I think about it often. I would like to hear what you all think about it. I'm not sure of this necessarily counts as 'spiritual discussion,' so I put it in rabbit hole instead. Sorry if this is kind of random, I just want to try to be a bit more social... I hope you at least find the Semper Augustus interesting.

Oh, I'm sorry! I was speaking a bit abstractly. By something beautiful always coming from the bad, I mean that every terrible situation also comes with a learning opportunity, hahaha. Like...hidden potential revealed through hardship. Just like a disease exposing a hidden layer in the petals of a flower. Sometimes bad situations that seem impossible can be resolved or at least remedied in unexpected ways. Sometimes you can learn how to appreciate smaller things. Sometimes, you just need to find the energy to get up and do what you know will improve your situation. Even if there's nothing else, learning acceptance or patience is still learning something that can permanently alter your mindset in a positive way. This one is probably the hardest, but the most significant. No matter the situation, there's always opportunity. For example: if you have a cold, instead of lying in bed all day and being miserable, get up and drink some herbal tea that provides nutrients, hydration, and energy. Or, learning how to look inwards in case of something irreversible like disability or death of family. Or, learning awareness of your body to maintain your health and energy as best as possible, to reduce symptoms of chronic illness and make your life more comfortable. You can either lie there powerless, or you can seize whatever opportunity is provided by a terrible situation to improve yourself and your situation, whether it's physically, mentally, or maybe in a more abstract way. That opportunity is the beauty that always comes from the bad.

Sometimes I think back on if I should have made different choices, if it would have made me happier or put me into a better situation. I don't think it would have mattered in the end. Bad things could just as easily happened no matter what I had done, and with the mindset that I had been before this, I would have reacted to them just as badly. I would only be able to see the misfortune. A miserable person likes to be miserable. But lately, whether it's good fortune or misfortune, I think I am losing the ability to tell the difference. Nothing about my life circumstances have changed at all! I still have little freedom, few friends, and not much of a family to rely on, not much spending money, which used to make me completely miserable. At one point I was even suicidal. I used to be so miserable, that I would be devastated over waking up in the morning at all. But after realizing something that had been bothering me deeply for a long time, I feel like I have been able to enjoy smaller things. I get excited over things that are really stupid. Like, wow! I get to have cottage cheese for dinner! I love cottage cheese! Lucky!! And recently, it finally occurred to me that I could work out and watch soap operas at the same time. I love exercising and soap operas! What do you mean I could have been doing both at the same time!? Really?! I felt blessed. I've been a lot happier lately because of stupid things like this. I think, by everything is perfect, of course everything is as it should be, because there is nothing you could have done differently to improve it. Ultimately how you react to a situation is up to you. I think that perfection is everywhere if you look for it. My answer is a lot simpler than some of the others...sorry, haha.

Ah, I thought the comment on the sex life of plants was funny. Regretfully, you are probably an active participant in their sex lives at all times, from airborne pollen and your choice of vegetables, to the burrs that cling to clothes. How scandalous! I am definitely pro-meat as well. B12 can only be absorbed properly through ingestion of meat, and it is a necessary nutrient for the health of the heart, nervous system, and vision. Due to meat being so expensive, I have had a pretty severe B12 deficiency in the past and went to a doctor for it, because it gave me heart palpitations and tremors. I ended up having to take injections because B12 can't be properly absorbed in the form of vitamin tablets. Rejecting meat in it's entirety doesn't seem very reasonable to me, if the alternative is expensive weekly doctor's appointments and shots. I also raise chickens for their eggs, have two cattle, and raise rabbits intended for food. I'm sorry if anything I said came across as condescending, I am just very overly enthusiastic about permaculture. Whether you, as an individual, want to eat a hog ethically or otherwise, I don't particularly care about it. While it does have an origin in an illness, I too still have a side of admiration for it's beauty. Being confronted with it's own doom brought out it's true colors. Something beautiful always comes from the bad, even if the beauty isn't as obvious as in a broken tulip. Exactly!! Humanity makes the world go round! Whether people believe their life and choices matter or not, they are always part of a system working in tandem with everything else. Their own ideals effect more than they know. Even something as small as a scentless, unassuming flower can suddenly become worth more than its weight in gold. Whether something perseveres, it will be because collectively, just enough people will have decided, "This is important."

Hello, I'm thrilled to find a forum based on Daoism, as I've been interested in it for a while but have struggled to find other people to talk about it with. My only experiences with the subject have been reading some books by Hua-Ching Ni, and I've been curious to learn more about it. I am a fairly unhealthy person. I have some lung issues, which have been especially bad ever since I got Covid-19. I have turned to ways to help me mentally cope with the effects it has had on my life. When reading some books I found by Hua-Ching Ni, I was enchanted by the mythology and philosophy of it. Meditation has helped me reduce some stress, and slow down to appreciate life in the present, despite everything that is wrong. I will probably not post here very much, but I will be reading a lot. As for my hobbies and personal character, I think the most prominent thing about me is that I am interested in nature. I garden and know many native plants. I often dig up native plants I recognize where I know they will be cut down, so I can repot them somewhere safer. It makes me happy when they flower and I see the solitary bees feeding off of them. Most of the food I eat is from my garden, or wild plants. I know which ones are safe to eat, and which ones will cause respiratory failure. I also like to walk, I walk miles and miles each day until my feet ache. I have no inner diologue, I think this is a consequence of having pretty severely presenting ADHD combined type, so I carry a journal that I write everything into in order to remember. I think I probably come across as absent-minded because of this, if that isn't already evident. That is probably everything there is important to know about me. Nice to meet you