liminal_luke

I had just returned from several weeks of alchemical instruction with Michael Winn where I`d learned about the eight immortals, and was on my way to an auction. I`m not someone who prays, but for some reason as I walked out my door I asked the eight immortals to bring me something at the auction that would be useful in my spiritual life. Anyway, I arrived at the preview and there they were -- eight beautiful antique statues of the immortals. I was blown away. I`d asked for their help and they came in person.

If you`re practicing being aware and become fatigued, why not turn your attention to become aware of the fatigue? I suspect that if you`re curious and attentive to the exhausion itself, the process will deepen.

Sometimes I think I spend too much time on Daobums. That it`s a sinkhole of negativity and useless bickering. And then a post like this comes along, the kind of knock-you-on-the-side-of-the-head wisdom that makes me realize this place is alright. So anyway -- thanks! LL

I like this one. There`s something very potent about that borderline (erm...liminal) place between being and non-being, the paradox of seeming to be present and yet not behaving like other present things, being inexhaustible. It seems to me that this is where the power and magic lies. Not, as is often supposed, in the far wilds of emptiness, that (non) place that seems to bear no relation to the workaday dualistic world; not there but closer in, right at the doorway between being and non-being. The point is not to reside forever in the infinite; the point is to connect with the infinite and bring a little bit of it back to earth. To see a World in a Grain of Sand And a Heaven in a Wild Flower, Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand And Eternity in an hour William Blake

All the problems we face in the United States today can be traced to an unenlightened immigration policy on the part of the American Indian. Pat Paulsen

Help isn`t help if it`s not helpful. Pat Deegan

IMHO, the most potent practices are the ones that sound dull and boringly basic. Sometimes the less you do the more you get. breathing standing smiling

Call it lazy self-interest, but I`m not a big believer in obligations. Particularly obligations to be involved in social causes. There`s only so much a person can do in life, and, while it`s noble to want to improve the world, I think we`re entitled to choose a focus. People can contribute by making music or painting pictures or hosting backyard barbeques. People can design beautiful gardens that delight passersby or make a lot of money and give a good portion away to save malnourished babies in Africa. There`s no end to the possibilities. My particular talent is intuiting what people really want to do with their lives, and encouraging them to do it. It doesn`t pay very well, but it`s a small way of contributing to the planet and seems worthy enough to me. We can drive ourselves crazy worrying about the state of the world, the gazillion things that have gone wrong or are about to, things that we likely can`t do a darn thing to fix. (Unless, of course, prayer helps -- and maybe it does.) We drive ourselves crazy, and then we`re all worked up and no good to anybody. We`re just a bundle of nerves compulsively watching the news and waiting for the end of the world. Then again, sometimes we hear about something gone wrong and we can get involved, and our involvement can actually help. I think the key here is to work from the inside out. Most people try to go about things the other way: trying to create peace in the world, for instance, before they`ve created peace within their own bodyminds. One of my favorite Paul Reps quotes speaks to this issue. http://www.paulreps.net/images/PicturePoems/DrinkingTeaL.gif or even more to the point, this one (also by Paul Reps)...

Hi Dust, You seem like a very nice person too, and I don`t mean to pull any strings. If it`s any consolation, the string pulling is mutual.The whole vegetarian-is-best meme really bugs me. Ask most people on the street, even inveterate carnivores, and they`ll repeat what they`ve been taught about the virtues of abstaining from meat. It`s exasperating! Have you heard of the work of Dean Ornish? He`s one of the foremost exponents of a super low-fat vegetarian diet. My mom followed his program to prevent breast cancer -- and got breast cancer. Now who knows, perhaps her diet staved off the disease. Still, I can`t help but think that maybe she would never have gotten sick if only she`d eaten more salmon. I warned her off the diet before the onset of her illness but there was no stopping her: she`d bought the vegetarian line. She`s fine now, thank goodness. And, for the record, I know you`re not advocating the no-fat thing. But I just cringe to think how people like my mom are being hurt by well-meaning but misinformed vegetarian propaganda. You want scientific studies, and maybe I should try to dig some up. It`s not really my thing. Would you read them if I did? I mean really read them, with an open mind and a critical eye? I wouldn`t really blame you if the answer is no; most people won`t change their mind about diet unless health issues come along and force reconsideration. Just in case you are open, here`s something that might pique your interest. You know the China Study? It`s one of the biggest, most well-known, studies extolling the virtues of vegetarianism. In the link below Denise Minger explains why we shouldn`t be convinced. https://deniseminger.com/2010/07/07/the-china-study-fact-or-fallac/ ps...You say I didn`t provide any reasons for my opinion that some meat eating is best for health. Actually I did, they were just in the links. Here are some of the reasons... (1) Some nutrients are not available on a vegan diet. Vitamin B-12 and conjugated linoleic acid. (2) Some nutrients are technically available on a vegan/vegetarian diet but not in the same form as in animal products and not as easily assimilated: vitamin K2, iron, vitamin A, omega 3 fats.

You might imagine that here in Mexico, where I`m living now, racism against latinos would be at a minimum. You`d be wrong. Lighter skinned latinos often look down on their darker skinned compatriots as if they were so much dark brown trash. You might think that gay men, having experienced their share of prejudice, would be especially compassionate towards other groups who`ve been similarly discriminated against. Sadly, it ain`t always so. Membership in a "protected class" does not confer angel status on anybody. It`s a message I think straight white men need to hear. Nobody should feel less than because of their color or their gender or their sexual preference -- and that includes the oft-vilified SWM. We`re all in this together.

It`s not qigung, but are you familiar with the work of Dr. Terry Wahls? She reversed her secondary progressive multiple sclerosis with diet. http://terrywahls.com/ Here`s a qigung set I really like that is done sitting and is specifically for the health of the physical body. I`m not sure how it might or might not help MS specifically, but if it was me I`d give it a try. Best of luck!

Hi Alletheia, I`d like to echo the advice of several others who have suggested you seek out a reputable system and teacher, preferably an in-person one though I believe good online/video instruction exists. It`s not that I think you are in any particular danger (you might be, I just don`t know), but rather that I believe you are both serious and talented. Spiritual development seems to be of great interest to you, so I think it`s worth your while to do the groundwork to make sure you`re on a good path. It can be challenging to find a teacher, depending on your location and financial resources, but given your level of interest I think the effort would be worth it.

Doubt is the beginning of wisdom. Leaving open a little sliver of possibility of doubt in the mind that whispers...perhaps I don`t already know.

Why eat meat? For the nutrtion. Here`s an article that explains some of the nutritional benefits of meat eating. https://paleoleap.com/meat-protein/ Here`s a link specifically about the health benifits of the much maligned "red meat." https://chriskresser.com/red-meat-it-does-a-body-good/ I personally believe that different people need different things, and we`re all better off tuning into our own bodies. For some, a vegetarian diet may indeed be useful or, at least, OK. But I believe that most people are nutritionally better off with at least some animal products. Of course quality matters; I`m not taking processed bologna. Grass fed beef. Wild salmon. Eggs from free-range chickens. These aren`t scientific studies, just articles from the popular literature. But I think it shows that there are intelligent knowledgable people who don`t toe the vegetarian line. It`s far from a settled question.

We want, at times, to see others punished for their misdeeds. Sometimes the punishment happens, often it doesn`t. There`s nothing we can do in either case, unless of course we`re willing to become the instrument of that punishment...a course of action that only further entangles us in the wrong we ostensibly wish to extricate ourselves from. What we can do is notice ourselves wanting bad things for others. There is great power in such noticing.

My experience is that spiritual practice improves my relationships. When I`m practicing consistently I`m more relaxed, less stressed, easier to be around. Also, I`m more willing to overlook other people`s foibles. Acceptance is powerful and good, but so is getting up and making change happen. If you feel lonely, you have the power to change that. You have the power to reach out to others, to deepen your relationship with existing friends and make new ones, to rekindle a spark of connection with your significant other. Your opening post is a wonderful reaching out to the community here. Virtual relationships can never take the place of face-to-face ones, but connection is connection and I applaud you for your openness here at Taobums. In your meditation practice you`ll no doubt learn all sorts of things about yourself. You`ll develop all sorts of wonderful qualities -- compassion, wisdom, equanimity. You can then take that awareness and those refined spiritual qualities and share them with the people in your life. The world needs the person you are becoming, so please don`t without yourself from the world. LL

After reading The Neurogenesis Diet and Lifestyle: Upgrade Your Brain, Upgrade Your Life by Brant Cortright, I`ve started taking some extracts: wild blueberry, green tea, and the Longvida form of tumeric. It`s just been a few weeks, but so far I haven`t felt any difference and I`m wondering if I should continue investing in the program. Philosophically, I`m more of a whole foods guy. It`s hard to believe that anybody can pack a cup of blueberry nutrition into one or two tiny capsules. On the other hand, there`s no way I`d end up having that many blueberrys otherwise. The blueberrys that are available to me here in Mexico aren`t wild and they aren`t organic. They are, however, expensive. I can see myself brewing a cup of green tea everyday, but I`m unlikely to brew five cups. Maybe these herbs are doing wonderful things for me and I just haven`t noticed? Or they would if I gave them more time? Or am I just throwing money away, or worse, actually hurting myself? Open to advice if you`ve got some.

Someone must have fallen off the truck.

Orgasmic19, First you started a thread on homosexuality and taoism and now this? Perhaps you`re sincerely confused, but me thinks you`re just trying to stir up trouble. If you yourself are gay or ambivilent about your gender, please say so. Then a productive discussion could ensue. If you are just idly curious -- or worse -- about others, I wouldn`t worry. I`m sure they will take care of any balance issues on their own.

I don`t remember the exact science about why blueberries are supposed to be good for the brain, but yes, I think it has to do with the flavonoids. Here`s some information on the diet if anyone`s interested: http://www.consciouslifestylemag.com/neurogenesis-diet-supplements-increasing/. It`s not a vegetarian diet (he also recommends Omega 3 essential oils from fish oil) but the supplements I happen to have chosen are plants.

I also like "we eat food because we enjoy it," and the importance of mindset. Thank you, Dust, Silent Thunder. I think that`s one of the big differences, for me, between taking an extract versus the real food. There`s this good feeling I get eating blueberrys or sipping green tea that I don`t get from a pill. In the end, I just don`t feel all that great about taking capsules of stuff, even if the ingredients really are wonderful. Maybe it`s beneficial -- I`m not cutting them out yet -- but, if so, it`s beneficial in a second best kinda way.

Maybe forgiveness in the larger sense involves moving beyond the concept of blame altogether. This excerpt of a Rumi poem comes to mind... Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I'll meet you there. When the soul lies down in that grass, the world is too full to talk about. Ideas, language, even the phrase each other doesn't make any sense

I don`t think "Capitalism" invented greed and selfishness in any year. Those qualities are sadly universal. I know that you can -- and have -- given us examples of atrocities committed by socialist/communist governments, most notably in Venezuela. At the same time, I think there`s a limit to how small government should get. It can get smaller than it is now (probably a lot smaller), but at some point someone has to step in and protect the birds. Awhile back I wrote here about a letter I received from a corporation urging me to write my congressman and ask him to vote against legislation aimed at protecting bird habitat. The company would make more money if they didn`t have to worry about those wetlands. I think we need government to create and enforce laws to protect our natural environment.

Thanks Blackstar. Yes, I like the word "antisocial" much better for what I think you mean. We`re not 100% agreed when it comes to all capitalists (guess it depends on the definition), but there`s no doubt that an exclusive focus on profits has led some corporations in directions that are good for their shareholders and pretty much nobody else.

Exquisite and inspiring!