soaring crane

The spiritual side of confucianism is ancestor worship. It gets quite esoteric, probably because the Chinese are mystical people no matter what dogma you throw at them. It isn't only a set of strict Rules regulating social discourse.

I want to see the after pic! :-) Also, the one little boy seems to have confused 'hose' with 'nose' haha

Just in time for holiday shopping, I want one! http://m.geeksaresexy.net/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.geeksaresexy.net%2F2013%2F12%2F10%2Fcat-couch-cat-couch-cat-couch%2F&dm_redirected=true Hope the link works, will fix later if not

'Haomao', sweet :-) When Linzi had her babies, she spent all her time out hunting mice. She's an incredible, really almost magical, mouser. But her babies were still too little to eat them, so she kept stacking the carcasses under a hedge in front of the house. We didn't actually know what she'd been doing with them, or how many she'd been collecting, until autumn when we saw the mountain of dead mice, maybe a hundred? And had to shovel them out. But like you said, she wasn't eating them. She sits on the windowsill and makes a clucking, clicking noise in the back of her throat. It's a bird lure. Outside, she sits under bushes and does it, waiting for a curious, unfortunate bird to hop over to investigate. And oftentimes she leaps off the windowsill, runs to the door, yowls to get it opened, runs outside and snatches up a mouse that she'd seen from the window. Life on the farm taught her how to survive.

oh, with the water basketball, I was thinking maybe he gives up when the rubber bands land in the bowl. Our cats (or, our feline residents) don't like water. But there are better ideas up there ^^ short anecdote: a cousin of mine recently posted a pic at facebook of a pile of colorful plastic caplocks from milk bottles. The got a new fridge and these were under the old one. They're from a cat that died a few years ago. She'd play with the things like crazy until they ended up under the fridge. It was actually quite an emotional moment when they found them all there ...

haha I have to post this one ... A very young Leni after chasing ducks through a pool of muck: It's not Photoshop

Luv it re best qigong - please start small, learn real basic basics regarding posture and breathe and then add very simple (meaning mentally simple, not much to think about, no complex choreographies, very little leg work if at all, etc) arm movements as an extension of your basic posture (which is going to involve some motion even when standing still). I find the 'Shibashi' 18 Taiji-Qigong movements a perfect introductory qigong that can bring you very far if you stick with it and develop your knowledge over time (gong means time, among other things). Here's a pretty good introductory video: He says you can 'master the 18 movements in a week, but that's advertising, and not good advice, imo. You should concentrate on the first and second movements for as long as it takes to feel they've become second nature and they happen holistically. Don't think about the whole sequence. And you really need an instructor to help you get any qigong done correctly, but you can still see good results with home practice (and asking people here for advice). anyway, that's my 2c Still thinking ... Another exercise you could look into is the spiraling 'teacup' movements (from Bagua). That qigong really has it all. If you youtube it, you'll find some really advanced, complex stuff but it can be very simple too, so long as you understand the basic concept of contraction and expansion ... The problem with youtube and videos in general is that the arms become the main focus of the exercises when in reality, the qigong is happening deeper inside and the arms are an extension to the internal movement. Your success with horse stance might provide you with a clue as to what I mean ... Oh, another qigong in the teacup/spiral vain - Swimming Dragon - very very good stuff, especially for winter time as it build up body heat pretty quickly (and is really fun, too). The narrow stance is a good supplement to your horse stance:

Are those your cats, SoG? Nice Here are ours, if I can get the pics to upload: Linzi: Melanie and Linzi, Mother and Daughter Leni, the dog There's Linzi, that cat who came to stay 8 years ago. She came from a nearby farm, sick, bedraggled, and pregnant, looking for a safe place to have her babies. She had five, we found homes for four of them and kept one, Melanie (the Q-Tip bandit). Leni the (wonder)dog is from Kalamata, Greece (I wanted to name her 'Olive' or 'Olivia'). We adopted her through a rescue agency four years ago, when she was only four months old, and it's one of the greatest things we ever did!

Very nicely put, thank you …

*tips

Haha yes! They internet has proven to be a boon to cat allergics worldwide. My guess on TM 's Tom is that he's just dunking them in the bowl when he goes for a drink. But maybe he's something more spectacular than that... hidden camera sounds good We had remove the wastebasket from the bathroom because one of our cats is obsessed with cotton swabs and tops the can over looking for them...

Servus! ￣︶￣

well, no, not really - Antartes is making the case that their are in fact bad books and teachers - and he's right! That's perfectly legit, imo.I was careless in posting a link without really considering it's relevance to the OP and he called me on it. Of course, now the point has been made and things should just move on from here ... we'll see how it develops.

I'm not sure what you're replying to here. I said there was nothing dangerous at the workshops (which were introductory, first level) I attended. If you think focusing on the LDT, standing, and some slow, thoughtful MCO is dangerous (which is all I mentioned and which made up the bulk of the workshops), then I don't know how to respond. The text you pasted isn't from the person I was writing about. You convinced me already with your first response that I shouldn't have posted the link, and I acted accordingly. I don't follow your further argument.

ok, you make good points, thank you for the information. That particular person doesn't belong in the Neigong thread - I went back and removed the link, and my reference to his name. But I will say that the workshops I attended were very good, and nothing dangerous or risky was attempted. Certainly no New Ageism. There was a lot of standing, and a lot theory, but only at the most basic levels. It was intense, hard work, but slow and cautious; I can't say I learned anything new or had any kind of revelations, but I found the man to be sincere and knowledgeable. We certainly spent hours focusing on the LDT, and then carefully following the MCO. That was about seven years ago and I'm pretty sure only the first book was available at the time. I didn't actually know there were follow-ups but the preview I read at the Amazon site on the one I linked to led me to believe it has some quite solid information. Did you look at it?

I've attended three intensive workshops with him. Where do you get your information? Regarding translation, I don't think his english language materials are translated at all. I only have the first book, in German, other materials are photocopied worksheets and hand written notes. Claims of 'authenticity' aren't a concern of mine, but 'dangerous ', how so?

removed link and reference to book

I think most mattresses today are memory foam?

It occurred to me that today's fabric softeners might reduce the effect... ?

I had acrylic blankets when I was a kid. I used to make a kind of tent in the dark and yank on them to make them spark. It was like a lightening storm in my bedroom...

Paraphrasing one I read in an Osho book: There was a man who's life's ambition was to make diamonds. He dedicated every minute of every day to this and nothing else. He traveled all the corners of the world, searching for wise people who may hold one bit of information that could help him find the answer to making diamonds. Along the way, he managed to make silver, and platinum, and gold, all of no interest to him. It had to be diamond or nothing. Nearing the end of his life, after many decades of fruitlessly searching, he came across an old man who told him of a legend of a woman of vast knowledge who was said to able to answer any question put to her. She was a kind of mystical oracle, and the old man couldn't say for certain if she even existed. But the man was inspired to search for the oracle and put his question to her. As is to be expected in this type of story, the journey to the woman's settlement was arduous, involved long, nearly impossible climbs over many mountains, battling the worst weather imaginable ... And after many years of traveling, at the end of his energies, near death, the man came to a glade, hidden in a valley, that matched exactly the description the old man so many years ago had given him. This had to be the place where the oracle lived. In the center of the glad was a small house, with smoke coming from the chimney. It looked innocent enough, even inviting, so the man, getting excited, walked quickly to the one door, knocked, and began trembling with excitement as he heard some shuffling inside, and the door slowly swung open. He knew the question he wanted to put to the oracle, he'd recited it silently to himself hundreds of thousands of times during his journey. When the door finally opened, he was stunned by the vision of beauty that greeted him: A young, voluptuous female, in flowing, sheer, silk that barely disguised the curves below, and a face like a goddess, with soft red lips. The red lips smiled gently at him. They parted, and the sweetest voice ever heard said to the weary, desperate man, 'Hello. I'm the oracle of the valley glade, I greet you. My husband is out collecting firewood. But you've found me and now you can ask me your question. Mind, please, that I can only answer one question. After that, I'm silent to you forever.' The man was stunned by this vision, and his question welled up inside him. He was shaking. After all those decades of disappointment, his life's mission was going to be fulfilled .... He opened his mouth. The goddess' red lips smiled at him expectantly ... He felt himself begin to speak ... from deep within his soul, the words came bubbling forth ... 'When do you think your husband will be back?'

Hey, and I didn't even have to explain myself ;-)

OMG, 32 pages in 2 days?!?

Me, I'm up all night You, you're standing in the light We, we're quite a sight

Quality has little to do with level of celebrity imo. There are hundreds of accomplished, wonderful instructors who haven't put their energies into self-promotion...