liminal_luke

Does this only apply to Westerners? I thought it was the human condition.

Great post, Orion. I think looking at the psychological side of money is essential: it`s kind of a project of mine right now. As a guide, I`m working through the book The Art of Money by financial therapist Bari Tessler. Heartily recommended. https://www.amazon.com/Art-Money-Life-Changing-Financial-Happiness/dp/1941529208/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1490303997&sr=8-1&keywords=the+art+of+money

Blackstar, A sociopath is someone who cannot feel empathy. Sociopaths might be needlessly cruel to animals (or people) for no reason. They are manipulative and, by definition, heartless. Incapable of responding to people emotionally. Sociopathy is a very specific thing. Maybe my word nerd is showing, but I wonder if sociopathy is really the word you want to describe capitalism. I`m guessing that what you really mean is that capitalism strikes you as mean-spirited? Seems to me that would be a more reasonable position, a position that could generate a lively and productive discussion. I just can`t believe you believe everyone who has a business -- capitalists -- is a sociopath. I used to be in business for myself doing massage. Am I a sociopath? My mom is a professional artist and sells her work in galleries. Sociopath? My mother in-law sells homemade donuts on the street in Mexicali. Sociopath? If you truly believe all of us business owners are sociopathic because we want to provide a service or goods in exchange for money, well....I have no words.

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Oh no, not at all. In fact I very much admire how successful you`ve been with the celibate path -- not easy. And I think the fact that you`ve noticed lots of synchronicity indicates that you are doing something right. It`s easy for people to come tell you what they think -- and it looks like you`ve gotten some useful perspectives -- but we`re mostly all just bumbling along here, in my opinion anyway.

All relationships come with their challenges for sure. Then again, that`s kind of the point. Working through those challenges is how people use the path of relationship to grow themselves up.

Thanks for your courageous sharing, Thursday. Most of us feel some amount of shame and judgment (from ourselves or others) when our bodies don`t work as we`d like -- and that goes triple for mental health difficulties. And yet...we are all so much more than our diagnoses.

We`re all in such different places. I think selflessness, when it`s genuine and authentic, sneaks up on people. We`ve all internalized messages from various spiritual teachings about "destroying the ego" and such. Seems to me most of this talk about letting go of ego is premature and misguided. It`s not that there isn`t a stage of spiritual development where people rightly let go of ego, just that most of us aren`t at that stage. I know I`m not. From where I`m standing, the next step isn`t to become selfless -- it`s to become self-ful. I want to more fully inhabit myself. I want to move towards relaxed awareness of my entire body and being. To get all the different parts of my psyche in one room (more challenging than it sounds) and talking to each other. I want to negotiate an internal ceasefire. I`m not being overly modest; the vast majority of people need more work integrating the self. There are a few here who I believe are engaged in more advanced work where some aspects of the self are dismantled -- or, more accurately, merged with larger cosmic forces. Those people are quietly going about their business with little fanfare, and good for them. I`d urge the rest of us, myself included, not to get ahead of ourselves. LL

The following is a long ago post from Soaring Crane. I haven`t tried it but it`s long intrigued me. ...................................................................................................................................................................... ..Massaging the ears for bringing good fortune ... This is a pretty easy practice, and it really works, but I realize now that it'll take a lot of writing to truly cover all the details, so this is just an outline: First, be in a state of mind conducive to this kind of thing. We all have our idiosyncracies in this area, so I'm going to avoid getting into prep and finishing work. One tip though: this is good to do right away upon waking up, while still in bed. Warm the hands and the rub the ears in a general way, vigourously, make them warm, hot They should be glowing red when you finish. Massage the ears between thumb/forefinger (up and down the outer ear, and also the lobes). Massage and knead them hard. If you fiind a painful spot, knead it longer and harder. Pull on the ears, and try cupping them between the fingers and pulling on the roots, like you're trying to pull them off your head (don't pull that hard). Flick your fingers along the outer ear. You can use the middle fingers. Flick from top to bottom and bottom to top. Up and down, up and down. This hurts a lot. Alternatively, you can use the ring, middle and index fingers. The ring finger will at the top, the index finger at the bottom and the middle finger in the middle (good finger exercise). Do this till the ears are almost numb, or your fingers are worn out. Now fan the ears from back to front. This is a little difficult to describe, I'm thinking of making a video. Now you cup your hands over your ears, pushing the little cartilage "stopper" (I know it has a proper name, but I can't think of it at the moment) into the earhole. Hold the ears shut, feel the pressure in there. Then quickly release the hands, and release the pressure. There could be an audible pop when you do this. Champagne cork-style. I know a few different techniques but get the best results when I use the balls of my thumbs (fire point on the lung meridian) to seal the earholes, with my fingers on the back of my head. Do this at least three times and better nine times. Take a big inhale before sealing the ears, and exhale while sealing them. Hold until the exhale is complete (exhale slowly) and inhale when you release the pressure. Ok ... almost done with the physical work. The last stage is beating the heavenly drum. Easy version: seal the ears with the palms as before and use the index and middle fingers to "drum" the back of the skull. It sounds deep and booming inside the brain. There are youtube videos showing various techniques. You can time this with breaths. Take a big inhale and beat the drum for the duration of the exhale. Exhale slowly. Do at least three breaths, and of course nine breaths would be optimal. Have to wrap this up .... to finish, cover the eyes with the hands and begin to listen. Listen at first to your immediate surroundings. Then send the "ears" out a little further, maybe through the walls of your room into the rest of the house, or to the garden. Listen for little details. Then send them out further, listen to your neighborhood, or village, then send them out further, listen to the mountains, listen to the horizon, listen to the atmosphere, to the stars... send your ears out to the universe... like a tremendous antenna system picking up very fine signals ... then (this is one way I learned to finish this, but not everyone likes it) ... suddenly shift your focus to your eyes, still closed, behind your warm hands.... suck all that energy from the universe very quickly inward, you might even hear a sucking sound, or see a light flash, or both, or something else ... Observe the darkness for a few moments and open the eyes behind the hands... open the hands, like curtains being drawn ... view the world like you're viewing it for the first time, passive ... guide the hands to the kidneys and hold them there for a good minute or two ... close the lower dantian area, etc You have to do this almost religiously, at least once a day and better two or even three times. Don't think about money, just do the ear massage and enjoy it. It's a very healthy practice regardless of your bank account. Baolin Wu describes something similar in his qigong book (which is excellent, btw), but I learned it originally from one of my qigong teacher trainers. There are many ways to modify it. .......................................................................................................................................................................

Hi Archivist, Congratulations on your successful long-term practice. And now you`re moving on to a new phase -- very exciting! My only advice is not to over-think things. Don`t box yourself in with lists of requirements and preconceived notions, ideas that come out of your head. Allow the synchronicities that have shown up in other parts of your life to show up in your love life as well. Leave room for magic and mystery, the unexpected. Leave room for the heart. When the right woman shows up, I`m thinking you`ll know it. LL

Wow, thanks! Fortunately, I`ve no such aspirations. Awhile back Taomeow mentioned she might run. Maybe there will be a Taomeow/Brian ticket in our nations future? Now that would give us something to write about...

There`s a better....way of living...

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We want strong leaders with enough guts and gumption to get things done. Obama seemed like that kind of leader, and I think that`s why he was elected. (Seemed being the operative word because the hope he inspired never bore fruit.) Trump also appears to be that kind of leader, and I believe that`s why he was elected. He seems to stand for something. Personally I don`t much like what he stands for and wish he`d sit down (not die, mind you, just sit down), but I can`t deny his charisma. Bernie also gives the impression of having real values, and might have gone far. Guess we`ll never know. But Hillary? Nothing much to get excited about there. Her only real draw was not being Trump, and heck...I could`ve done that.

Forget bacon. Give me a big plate of dal, two baskets of garlic naan, and a mango lassi. For dessert I`ll switch back to an American mode and go with glazed donuts. Skinny jeans here I come!

Your India trip sounds amazing, MooNiNite; Indian food is delicious! And I agree that experiencing different cultures can open people up to new ways of thinking. Not sure that America`s obesity epidemic can be blamed on the meat though. It could be the donuts.

I know I`m tresspassing in the turnip patch like an errant aphid, but I can`t resist pointing out the not-so-hidden assumptions in the above statement. Here are two: (1) helping people become vegetarian is a good thing, and (2) eating meat at every meal is "ridiculous." Many people, myself among them, disagree with those assumptions. I think most people are better off including some protein, some fat, and some carbohydrate in every meal. The occasional vegetarian meal won`t hurt, but for health reasons a good deal of that protein should come from animal sources. It doesn`t have to be beef though, and it shouldn`t be factory farmed meat. Good sources of protein include grassfed beef, pasture-raised chickens, wild-caught salmon. Eggs are nutritious for most, and most of the nutrition comes from the yolk. On the other hand, I also think most people --vegetarians and omnivores alike -- could benefit from eating more vegetables. It`s not necessary to eat a great deal of meat for health, just some. Think a big bowl of salad topped with tuna. A warm carrot soup made with chicken stock. Vegetarians largely disagree with me, I know. If this thread is meant to be a closed-door discussion amonst Bums who already think along the same lines, I`ll bow out. (Or allow my post to be whisked away by the OP without complaint.) People, including myself, get very emotionally attached to our views on diet. I doubt any minds will be changed. I just hope we all keep in mind that there`s a great deal of controversy about this subject, even among experts, and the issues are far from settled.

Two of lifes unanswerable mysteries: what happens after death, and the value of Marblehead`s reality.

I`m not really part of a paleo community (other than virtual) and have no idea how much meat the average paleo person eats. There`s a lot of hoopla about how you can eat bacon and steak with butter sauce because those are foods not commonly associated with weight loss diets -- and lots of people start any diet program to lose weight. But I`ll bet that paleo eaters consume way more vegetables than the average person. Most people eat a whole lot of grains (think bread and pasta) and processed food, and when you completely cut that out, well, you`ve got to eat something. For many of us, that something is asparagus and broccoli and salad greens. We`ve talked before about how vegetarians sometimes feel judged by meat eaters and meat eaters sometimes feel judged by vegetarians. There`s plenty of judgement all round, and it`s not good for anybodies digestion. I prefer to focus on what our different diet plans have in common -- vegetables -- rather than the meat that divides us. Almost everyone agrees that veggies are healthy and that processed junk food is not. If vegetarians and paleo folks came together to encourage people to eat more broccoli and drink less Coke we could start a revolution.

Hi Dust, I`d just like to add a sidenote about the paleo diet It`s a very common misconception that this is necessarily a high meat diet. Lots of people do it that way, it`s true, but there is plenty of variation among paleo eaters. It`s possible to eat a very low meat version of paleo. Or a seafood only version of paleo. There are even people who attempt to eat a vegetarian paleo diet, though most would say some animal protein is important for optimal health. It`s not so different from vegetarianism: there are a lot of different approaches. One vegetarian might eat mostly raw fruit, another a lot of rice and beans, another lots of fake meat products. People advocating a paleo approach are similarly diverse.

That`s a pretty tough hurdle, I imagine. A century with no substantial changes in structure? I`m not sure there`s such an animal. But OK, sure...all other things being equal, the longer a system has successfully worked, the better. I like your earlier explanation of rights. It`s tempting to think of universal health care as a right, but I don`t want the government to start outlawing my unhealthy choices. Few people would argue that Mexico has an ideal government, but one of the things I like about living down here is that there are less rules -- and also a greater assumption of personal responsibility. Wanna drive without a seatbelt? No problem. Forgot your bike helmet? Ditto. But don`t expect great healthcare if you get into an accident. Lots of people from the United States are afraid to visit Mexico. My experience is that it is indeed dangerous here, but it`s not the drug cartels you have to watch out for. The real danger is the potholes in the sidewalks. If you`re not watching where you going it`s easy to fall and twist an ankle or worse. And you can forget about sueing. Mexicans would laugh you out of court; you`ve got eyes don`t ya?

Just throwing this out... Some say health care works best when allowed to work according to the free market with minimal (or no) government involvment; others say the government needs to preside over a program of "universal health care." Personally, I`m undecided. I think it would be informative if Bums advocating for one position or the other would throw out examples from other countries that follow their proposed system with success. Free-market advocates: Is there a country you can point to that follows a free-market health care system with success? In what sense is it sucessful? Government-program health advocates: Is there a country with a health care system overseen by a government that you can point that succeeds? In what sense is it successful?

Well, let`s just say I`m not known for my rational mind. Let me reframe the general idea so the timeline isn`t so twisted. I believe there`s an inverse relationship between present-day life satisfaction and fear of death. So, in general, the less satisfactory the life, the more fear of death. Suppose we came up with a questionaire that validly and reliably measured how engaged people were with the things they wanted to do in life (using that as a proxy for "life satisfaction"). Let`s throw out the data at the very bottom, say the 5% unhappiest folks. Some of those people are probably depressed in a way that makes them more open to death. My contention is that the people in the happiness range of say the bottom 5 to 30 percent are more afraid of death than the happiest 10 percent at the top. It`s counterintuitive. You`d think that the people leading subjectively crappy lifes would be less afraid to die, but I don`t think it works that way. Do you disagree?

We dont so much fear death as we fear not having lived life to our own satisfaction. When we die all of our unlived someday-I will-hopes die with us.

Indeed. Never have so many waved the American flag while unwittingly waiving what it stands for. Well, not since the Obama rallies anyways. Or so I`m told...