Ryan T.

If you want to flush out toxins you may want to look at doing a cleanse vs. fasting. It is basically fasting with the adding detoxifying nature of certain herbs and such. You can find any number of different cleanses in your local natural food store/coop. You can also just go on certain types of fasts, such as a steamed vegetable fast. Only eat steamed veggies for 1-2 weeks. You would be surprised at what a difference just that can make. Vegetables alone can be quite cleansing.

So how long before this thread falls into the Buddhist vs. Taoist trap? And I totally agree with you.

Suffering=Attachment(clinging).

I had one for several years. It was cast iron, which is what I would recommend. It basically looks like a cranberry grinder just with finer screens. Energetically I found it to be a better product. Your energy vs. the electricity from your nearest coal-fired/nuclear power plant. It definitely is more work. And with any wheatgrass juicer the main trick is to re-feed the spent pulp through a few times to get as much of the juice as possible. I had something like this one.

People just need to practice more and argue less. Lately this forum has been reminding me of a couple of places I have worked. Whenever people weren't focused on the tasks they were supposed to be doing all sorts of ego-type, personality-type conflicts would arise. If people were just doing the jobs they were hired to do they would not get distracted by such folly. Meditation, cultivation, and contribution. Not insults or "my Buddha can beat up your Tao".

I really think that if people on here followed the paradigm of "I will only post things that I would also feel comfortable saying to this person's/these people's faces" then many or most of these issues would disappear. In general I see a fair amount of anonymous disrespect going of late. As for the original topic...I think people should take what they find from any tradition that will work for them and use it. I don't understand why people are so focused on names. How does it go? The Tao that can be named is not the eternal something something something.

Yes, I know, but it is considered a pseudocereal. It might not technically be a grain but it has so many of the sugary properties of a grain it hardly would be Taoist-friendly. One of the main things to remember about that type of diet is the work-to-calorie ratio. The amount of work it takes to harvest the buckwheat, then to clean and cook it out-weigh the benefits of the calories consumed. Plus, foods of this type are new to our systems, relatively speaking. But buckwheat may be great for bodybuilding nutrition. I don't dispute that.

I know all about buckwheat. I was just wondering why you seemed to single it out for recommendation. I tend to avoid heavy consumption of grains these days but they do have value and a purpose.

I agree with what others have said about the body weight/resistance training. Other than that I only have one other set that I do with some dumbbells. But that is more of a cheater rep. set. In your title you talk about "in a cultivation kind of way". Why strive for a level of fitness that you do not necessarily need in your daily life for the tasks that you do? We all enjoy a higher level of musculature, but why hold on to a certain perceived ideal of what you "need" or "want" to look like? I can understand if in the course of your existence you feel more strength would benefit you on a regular basis but otherwise... I would think cultivators in a Taoist sense(whatever that may or may not be) would not cultivate more than is needed whether it be food, muscle or energy. Why buckwheat if you don't mind me asking?

You may want to take a closer look at the insult policy. You don't seem to quite have a handle on it.

Personally I like the variety. I see your point as this is a Taoist discussion forum. But those threads generally make me remember why I train internal boxing style(s). My martial aspirations are more than just being able to rip somebody's face off if I am attacked, although that can be very handy. Like the book says, "One should be able to hear about other ways and be more and more in accord with his own."

Not quite. As I understand it, Frank Kai = Kwan Sai Hung. And that is who the books are written about. Deng Ming Dao may be a pseudonym but he is the author and studied under Kwan Sai Hung for many years. Great stories. But Kwan Sai Hung is definitely not the same person, at least chronologically, that is portrayed in those books. Paul Gallagher was studying with KSH and took him to meet T.T. Liang. KSH couldn't even speak the language. At least not with the dialect from where he was supposed to have come from. That is not to say that KSH doesn't have some valuable techniques, he just isn't the guy in the books.

You killing the bees is your own personal conundrum. We make choices every day that relate to "me/us vs. you/them", that unfortunately seems to be the way of the world and I think is actually keeping with Taoist beliefs. It seems like more of a Buddhist thing to figure out how to relocate the bees, IMO. As far as the disappearing bees, it is not as much of a problem as it seems. The bees really just need a rest. The "colony collapse syndrome" of last year, though yet not completely explained, has subsided to some extent. People don't understand how overworked the bees are. Every year the bees are boxed up and trucked across whatever seasonal landscape to pollinate the various emerging crops. It's called "chasing the bloom". Plus with the monoculture in our current agricultural system the bees end up with a diet that contains little or no diversity. These are the things that are thought to be the most significant factors with the "bee issue". If you want to help you have to change the way you shop. You need to buy more local small-scale farmed foods as these farmers are less likely to participate in this type of wide-spread bee overuse. And organics is a better way to shop as well as organic farmers tend to rotate crop varieties to help strengthen the soil and keep pest resistance maximized. This also leads to a more varied diet for the you and the bees. Realization and action on these ideas will help the bees much more than saving a single colony in your dwelling.

You met Ted Kaczinski? That's kind of cool.

I love this forum!

I think the Tao Bums hompage banner addresses this. Sean could divide and subdivide the forums until every school in Taoism, Buddhism and any other esoteric system is represented by its own little grouping. When would it end? And just because somebody calls themselves a Buddhist does not mean that they are not a Taoist. And vice versa. Taoist, Buddhist...just names. It's one big buffet to me. I take what works and leave what doesn't. OT: Interesting thing about this thread for me personally. I never realized how much I don't care for polls in a forum. Funny how we don't see something until we see it.

As a caveat let me say that I sell comfort shoes for a living. I personally use the Adidas Samba 2. It is actually an indoor soccer shoe with a relatively decent arch and pretty stiff outsole. Have done many, many hours of form, push hands, weapons, you name it. Never any issue. If you need an outdoor shoe for winter(waterproof), you might look at some of the Salomon trail-running shoes. They have several offering that come with Gore-Tex. Earth shoes might work for you or they might not. I generally don't recommend them for people with a lot of pressure in their heels. They bring you back into your heels 3.7% and you may not need that type of adjustment. ECCO are very nice shoes. A very practical style would be the Seawalker. It has a very soft leather and is very lightweight. The midsole is PU and the outsole is TPU. So I don't think you would burn through the sole very quickly. Plus, it is very comfortable and fits orthotic inserts well if that is a need. The only downside is that you probably won't be able to get into a decent ECCO for anything less than $130-$160 USD. The other shoes I mentioned should be less. Good luck on your hunt!

You will not be able to change the minds of "judgmental" people by trying to use their own verses against them. 1)They may resent it and find it disrespectful. and 2)People can always find something else to validate their own positions, Christian or otherwise. I say be okay "agreeing to disagree" about such things. Their words may still bother you, but it is really just another test on your journey. Ultimately, a man can only prove himself through his actions. Continue your practice and live a life of integrity. If that doesn't prove the validity of your arguments to these people then nothing will.

Not exactly what I would call a discussion. But definitely down in flames.

Maybe it doesn't need to be all or nothing. Maybe after this current or next semester you lighten your class-load so you can work more and have school cost less. It will take longer to finish school but there is nothing wrong with that. I am just starting post-high school education this semester after being out of school almost 20 years. It will probably take me a little over 6 years to get the 4-year degree I intend to get as I work full-time and try to continue studying a couple of styles of Chinese boxing. Ultimately a person just needs to make sure they will be okay with the decisions they make. Remember, it is always better to regret something you have done than to regret something you haven't done.

[Probing and clarifying question]?

Perhaps it is your anger that is keeping you from seeing the path. I am just observing what I am seeing in your posts and the reaction to them. And you seem to get more and more angry. Maybe you are just angry because you spent time on a practice that 1)was not the practice for you or 2)you just aren't ready for because you are so angry. Honestly, I don't think that I know everything. I know little of what there is to know. But I sure don't get angry about words typed in a forum or start insulting people because of those words.

And yet you speak as if you have it ALL figured out. You come off dogmatic and rude, and then no wonder when people wield the same energy back towards you. Which in case you missed the crux of the TTC, avoiding these types of conflicts should be an outcome of Taoist practice, IMO. Whether Kunlun is the practice for you or not does not mean it is not the practice that gets another further down their own path. That is awesome that you have realized what is and is not working for you. But that hardly means that you have all the answers. I don't know if anyone on this forum does.

While you seem passionate about what you stated in your opening post, I think you hamper your purpose in posting in the first place with the like of the above quote. Why post at all if you do it in a manner that is so extreme and inflammatory? I find it hard to take anyone seriously when they spew insults and disdain. IMO, a lacking of maturity and understanding underlie such comments.