liminal_luke

I don't think there's anything wrong with lofty Daoist Dreams like becoming immortal, but I'll admit: sometimes I do roll my eyes just a little. It's just that often with these big dreams, the fantastical awesomeness of the goal can get in the way of the occasionally boring or painful or just plain not fun nature of the work. It's tricky. One has to balance aspiration with grounded and unglamorous willingness to take the next step,.

This sentence inspired me to search for a quote from Lori Gottlieb's book, Maybe You Should See Someone. I couldn't find the quote so I'll paraphrase. In the book, Lori, a therapist herself, goes to another therapist to deal with her own problems. After explaining her presenting problem, she asks the therapist "is that good or bad?" The therapist replies "it's neither good nor bad." Lori writes: that's when I really knew I was in trouble.

There's a thread in the Rabbit Hole called Martial Arts. Maybe there would be a good spot?

Thanks, Mark. Are you a Feldenkrais practitioner? teacher? I went to one or two Feldenkrais classes some years back and felt interestingly better afterward, better in a different way than I might feel after, say, yoga. I imagine there's a trove of useful work to be done at the intersection of Feldenkrais and movement practices like Tai Chi.

Mark -- I don't always understand your posts but on the off chance you ever teach any kind of somatic education workshop in Ensenada, Mexico I'll be sure to bring my yoga mat.

It's true that I didn't have pandemic policy issues in mind when I started this thread but, personally, I love a digression. Here's a pandemic-related question I'd ask in the game.... Has covid and covid policy effected you in ways that feel important and lasting but aren't easily addressed in today's social climate? Suffice it to say that if someone asked me that question my answer would be a resounding yes.

People have been known to cringe and roll their eyes, but I'd have to say "the inner journey." Personal growth, broadly defined. To me this primarily means my various spiritual practices as well as the pursuit of physical and mental health. Years ago, a therapist asked me what I wanted to get out of our work together; I told him, rather mysteriously, that I wanted to more fully inhabit my body. Thirty year later that still sounds to me like the most worthy of goals. I'm not always especially successful with my various self-improvement projects, but I'm dogged. All this is in contrast to those whose main orientation in life is outside of themselves. I'm not especially focused on changing the world or making money or achieving career success. Some might say my self-focus is overly navel-gazing. I don't think so. I believe that when I am my most authentic self my authenticity will ripple out into my relationships in beneficial ways, automatically, without micromanagement.

Yes, I went to several of his seminars as well as a slightly longer training in Hawaii. I learned that Jenny Lamb taught Max the basic Kunlun practice (she calls it yigong) so then I went to a workshop with her. I don't claim to be an accomplished practitioner but Max started me on a path that I continue to find valuable.

Thanks, Vajra Fist. It will be interesting to hear -- if you care to share -- what you think after you've had a listen. (I've yet to listen myself.) My guess is that your initial opinion will be confirmed but one never knows.

I didn't mean to offend, Vajra Fist. I suspect my reservations about Max are similar, though not identical, to yours. I get why a person wouldn't like him or trust him or want him as a teacher. The weird thing to me is that, despite not vibing with Max on a multitude of levels, I found that he nevertheless had valuable things to teach me. YMMV

By most standards, including my own, Max does not have a "great look." I think he's caring and compassionate and accomplished and -- this he has admitted himself -- a bit of a coyote, whatever that means. I'm grateful for what he has taught me (even if his manner of presenting himself sometimes, often, offended my delicate sensibilities).

Who could have imagined, a scant few days ago, that a thread devoted to unpopular opinions would provide a home for erudite religious commentary, that Bums would compete for mythical boobie prizes, that, fourteen pages in, our most unpopular views would prove such a perversely popular topic of conversation or inspire such graphic creativity. To put an end to the speculation, yes I did find an indigenous tribe living in a remote corner of my living room and the tribal elders told me that according to their astrological calculations I should open a new Trump Talk thread in the Rabbit Hole. OK...now can I have my amulet?

Seemingly ridiculous rules serve an important function: they reinforce insularity. If a person wanted to create a community that kept themselves separate -- with a clear ingroup and a clear outgroup -- lots of rules are the way to go. Whether this separateness is a good thing or not is a hot topic of debate. Many would say not so good. Personally I like the fact that we live in a world with haredi Jews and wagon-driving Amish and maybe even a few traditional indigenous tribespeople in various remote corners. I wouldn't want to be a member of any of these groups but I'm glad they exist; bland multicultural mush isn't nearly as much fun. (Can I have my amulet now?)

For the longest time I couldn't find my amulet but it's recently turned up.

...

It's been a long time since I participated in anything distinctly Jewish, but back in the day keeping Shabbat, davening, celebrating the various holidays -- it all felt "spiritual" to me. I probably have a more expansive definition of spiritual than you're using and it's true that I wasn't studying Kabbalah. Still, it seems to me that the Orthodox would view all Torah study and halachic observance as spiritual, no? Ah, I just read your definition of "spiritual" above. So maybe we are using the word differently? Still, I think once you've said that God is one you're automatically in the area of spirit and God's immanence. To me, oneness implies non-dualism. So even if regular folk aren't studying the spiritual aspects of Torah in an explicit way it's there and bubbles up experientially. Leaders can forbid the study of Kabbalah but they can't take the spirituality out of Judaism. It's baked in. (That's my "unpopular" opinion.)

In Italy, my mom and I once asked a restaurant server a question about tipping. He replied "What service?," as if to imply that our food and drink magically teleported from the kitchen to our table. His answer and bearing made an impression on me, at once absurdly dismissive of his own role in the operation yet also confident and opinionated. He was a solid, human presence. Thinking about it later, I realized he had a point: sometimes when a thing is done really expertly it seems not to exist at all.

It's not exactly a phase -- hopefully -- but I guess the last section of my life started around 15 years ago when I met my partner. We started talking to each other online, the way socially shy gay people met each other before the rise of dating and sex phone apps. At the time I was full-tilt into boyfriend hunting mode and sometimes "interviewed" several potential matches a day at the downtown Starbucks in Zacatecas, Mexico. Given my present age and, um, stats, I doubt I could rustle up any kind of enthusiasm among central Mexico locals today, but at the time it was easy enough to easy enough to entertain suitors over fancy coffee. When Jose walked into the coffeeshop, I had some sort of chocolate sauce dribbling down my chin, which, lucky for me, he found endearing. Jose didn't say much but what he did say was spoken in perfect English and there was just something about him.

....

Beginners love Dzogchen because there's nothing more fun than to start at the end.

... I had a lot to say but decided, uncharacteristically, to let this one go.

I didn't! Everybody else's contributions are interesting enough, Daniel, but yours has a special place in my heart.

Steve doesn't believe in objectively true opinion, silent thunder doesn't believe in free will, Taomeow is threatening to perform unpopular acts with Nungali -- what a thread!

If you don't have anything nice to say, come sit by me. - Dorothy Parker

That is an unpopular opinion, so unpopular that I find myself wanting to disagree with it. It's bitter medicine, the idea that my own opinions are not rooted in reality. So yeah, I disagree. And yet, once I get over my initial discomfort with the idea, there's something freeing, opening, loosening that happens when I lean my mind in this direction. ................................................................................................ When I was young and bold and stong, The right was right, the wrong was wrong. With plume on high and flag unfurled, I rode away to right the world. But now I'm old -- and good and bad, Are woven in a crazy plaid. I sit and say the world is so, And wise is s/he who let's it go. - Dorothy Parker