liminal_luke

You did once refer to yourself as "Sheriff Karl," which I found sort of heart warming.

Huh? Original posters can now choose to delete posts by personal whim on threads in the General section? I had no idea. As far as I know it hasn´t happened to me, but if it did that would be a strong disincentive for me to post at all. Sometimes (well, increasingly) I´m just fooling around. Saying something because I imagine it´s funny or amusing. But sometimes I put some real thought into communicating something that I find important. If my posts disappeared simply because an OP disagreed with them, I´d have a problem with that.

Perhaps it´s an overly charitable view, but I¨m of the opinion that every penis is a cosmic penis.

a girl attractor explains his own process of mechanization

God of beginnings Seven days and seven nights Or just one big bang?

Oh God. Please say it isn´t so.

I´d like to echo Aeran´s advice to find some sort of class or in-person instruction, and Steve´s suggestion to combine meditative focus with physical activity. Two spot-on suggestions there. In my own practice, pesky paranormal experiences haven´t been a problem. Pesky emotional experiences however...now that´s a whole different ball game. Many times I´ve been overwhelmed by feelings I didn´t want to deal with. Sitting will do that to ya. My understanding of addiction is that it´s largely about avoiding difficult feelings. Many people, when faced with some emotional unpleasantness, opt to numb themselves with some compulsive or addictive activity whether it´s taking drugs, eating cookies, sex, or shopping for shoes. Recovery from addiction will necessarily involve facing these feelings. Meditation can be great as it can reveal yourself to yourself in a powerful and healing way. But it can also be too much of a good thing, especially in the beginning. You´ll want to pace yourself. You´ll want to have support -- a teacher, a counselor, a 12-step sponsor...someone.

This is the line that stuck out at me. I know the feeling well; nothing can get me down so fast as comparing myself to others and feeling like I come up short. The thing is, it´s just not true. It´s so easy to read posts here and think that everybody else is ahead of you...spiritually, emotionally, whatever. But the truth is that us bums are all over the place in terms of our development. Some are really on top of their lives, and others are struggling big time. I´ll bet you´re just like me: ahead of the game in some ways, and a bit behind in others. If so, welcome to the bums -- you´ll fit right in. Liminal

I don´t bother with the ignore button. If I ignored everyone who deserved to be ignored, who would I fight with?

I´d love to see such a writeup of a MoPai practice too. In my opinion, those kind of practice journals are one of the most valuable parts of Taobums. Takes courage though as it can be personal.

keep droppin´those beats in that big pot over there then add some carrots

I´m just (re)starting a yoga journey after a few decades off, and wish I could attend your class. The anatomical approach sounds great. Good for you for taking that next step (often scary in my experience) and sharing your know-how with others. Liminal

I´d suggest any method where you simply stay with what is. Vipassana or something in that vein. Be aware of your emotions. If all you´re aware of is how robotic and disassociated you are, stay with that sense of disassociation. How does disassociation feel in your body? Chances are it feels pretty rotten so you´ll like want to get away from this (un)feeling. But if you keep at it I think things will eventually open up.

How about bone broth? You can´t get more keto/low-carb paleo than that, and it´s warm and nourishing. Here´s a link about health benefits https://www.jadeinstitute.com/jade/bone-broth-health-building.php

it will end in tears marinara sauce or bust I plant tomatoes

I like your definition of tolerance, Redcairo. It´s a pretty low bar. When I say I tolerate homophobia I don´t mean I agree with it or think it´s a good thing. I don´t. I mean that I wouldn´t take action against it (other than to voice a contrary opinion), or encourage others to, the way I would if something was intolerable.

You always get the other kind...

I am tolerant of both a homophobic´s right to be homophobic and homophobia itself, though I dislike both. People are free to believe as they choose in all circumstances; people are not free, however, to act as they choose in all circumstances. Refuse us employment on that basis or service in a restaurant or a government marriage license then I will absolutely use the power of law (where it exists) to enforce my right to equal treatment. The law has nothing to say about someone who merely wants to kill --nor should it--but police start to take notice when that someone gets out his ax. Is this kind of force ideal? Of course not. Ideally it wouldn´t be necessary but we don´t yet live in that kind of world.

This isn´t really my area, but I´m guessing traumatized self-hating people with autistic tendencies create metta the same way everybody else does. It´s easy to imagine our challenges are uniquely difficult, and perhaps they are, but everybody has their own hurdles. If you want to do a formal metta practice I´d suggest simply doing the practice -- don´t worry if you´re getting results or not. The seeds will eventually take root so trust in that. Sharon Salzburg has some good books on metta practice you might check out.

Karl, I think I at least understand your position. By the way, I don´t believe churches ought to be forced to support gay marriage. As far as I´m aware, they aren´t. I´m sure some of the more liberal adherents of various faiths are pushing for their leaders to recognize gay marriage but I don´t believe the government is trying to legislate acceptance within religious groups. Is this not the case in Europe? But marriage isn´t solely a religious concept these days. It´s also a civil contract with myriad ramifications in everything from taxes to inheritance to whether or not someone can visit a sick loved one in the hospital. As such, I think governments ought not to stand in the way of gay people who want to marry. There ought to be a way that gay people can get married civilly, through the state. If the Pope doesn´t want to perform the ceremony, well, that is his business. Liminal

Exactly. Individuals as individuals ought to be free to act as they please with the bare minimum of government interference for public safety, etc. Nobody can legislate away racism, homophobia, sexism etc. If I had my druthers everybody would love gay people. Of course that´s not the case, and I wouldn´t support a law to make people (as individuals) act or believe the way I´d like. But if you´re a business owner or a federal judge or a clerk in charge of marriage licenses -- well then, that´s different.

Of course. Nobody has to be friends with anybody they don´t care to be friends with. But suppose you own a restaurant and you don´t like blacks. I believe Karl thinks (and correct me if I´m wrong here Karl) that a person ought not be "forced" to serve black people. That being forced to serve black people is actually a form of discrimination against him. This is where we differ. I think that everybody should be free to think whatever they want about whoever they want, to choose their friendships and so on as they like. But here´s the kicker -- you should not be free to discriminate against people as a business owner or government entity in a way that interferes with the essential freedoms of that other person. Black people should be free to eat at whatever restaurants they like. Gay people should be free to marry. Women should be free to pursue employment, at wages commensurate with their abilities, anywhere they choose. Nobody is forcing anyone to like blacks or gays or women. Feel free to hate as much as you like. But you can´t make anybody sit at the back of the bus when offering a public service, etc. Liminal

get a free OS let go of all hindrances so much laughter now

That´s great Karl. Extend the live-and-let-live principles you seem to be OK with here on Taobums to the level of government and what do we get? Ummm...Europe. People are not "forced" to accept anyone else, but aren´t allowed to interfere with the freedom of others to carry on with their own lives. That, in my opinion, is how it should be.

Karl, You say you´re against openness, tolerance, and diversity (if I understand correctly), and yet here you are on Daobums -- a fairly open, tolerant, and diverse place. You seem willing to engage in a discussion with me, although we´ve disagreed on several occasions, which surely requires some minimal exercise of the values you claim to disavow. Don´t worry. I won´t be nominating you for the "Most Open Daobum of the Year Award", but until your goons come to throw me off a building (as they might in Saudi Arabia --I¨m gay) I´ll continue to imagine that you are somewhat open to and tolerant of the diversity of opinion here on Daobums. And that´s a good thing. Liminal