liminal_luke

I agree with Paradoxal. While it´s likely nobody has experienced exactly what you´ve expereinced in exactly the same way, lots of people have had similar experiences. If it´s any comfort, you are not alone.

Hi helpfuldemon, If this is a continuing experience for you, I would talk about it with a doctor. It sounds like a difficult experience. Take care...

As an incorrigible muggle, I prefer a less magical explanation; namely, that the mod team fully intended to expedite Earl´s request from the beginning and Steve did so at his first opportunity. But perhaps we are just lowly automatons mindlessly doing the spellmaster´s bidding.

Fourty year old single women might well say the same about guys in their age range. Then again, most is not all. Perhaps you´re the exception who will find the exception. Or maybe, even better, you´ll find a wonderful woman who "looks like she doesn´t take good care of herself" but has a wonderful smile and gets your sense of humor and is quirky in all the right ways.

I think there is conversation about those groups but if you want more, by all means, start a dialogue. The way to support the homeless, overweight, differently abled, etc is to support them. As a fat old gay guy, I will wholeheartedly applaud your efforts. Just remember, supporting these folks doesn´t necessitate the withdrawl of support for the cause of racial justice. There´s enough love to go around.

Amen. Overt racism has largely, though not entirely, gone out of fashion. People these days are less likely to shout standard racial slurs, for instance, for fear of being seen in a negative light by a more socially conscious public. What we´re left with is systemic racism, a more slippery, hidden kind of prejudice that´s harder to pin down, harder to see. Racism has retreated out of sight where it can operate subconsciously. This is both heartening and incredibly frustrating. My mom, a white woman, told me recently how she´s become newly aware of her own racism. She remembers feeling afraid to ride an elevator alone with a black man. Looking back, she feels that her fear was based on race and unjustified. Her willingness to be vulnerable and share got me thinking about my own biases and prejudice. I love that we were able to have this conversation. Nothing blocks progress towards racial equality like those three little oft-repeated words: I´m not racist. Racism is such a cultural bugaboo that nobody wants to admit to being party to it, not even a smidgen. And yet almost all of us are. Black lives matter. Some members of the movement by that name may have fomented violence at their protests. They may have defaced property. I am entirely against both violence and vandalism, so I wish they wouldn´t, however justified their anger. I believe that most police want to serve the cause of justice and do right. (Am I naive?) The answer to our racial woes is not to eliminate law enforcement. What police officers and everybody else needs is a safe place where we can search our hearts and bring to light our biases without shame. Progressive anti-racist vitriol can be counterproductive when it creates a hostile polarized social environment uncondusive to personal reflection and the quiet taking of responsibility. Unless we give ourselves permission to become aware of our own racism we´re doomed to act it out.

Evil masters exist but I don´t pay ´em no mind.

Life´s not over at 40. It´s over at 54. Actually, no. Some of the good stuff does start to decline with age (though less than people think, depending on lifestyle choices). But there are opportunities for growth at every stage of life. Statistically speaking, happiness peaks very late in life, in a person´s 70´s I believe. Twenty year old guys tend to believe that testosterone is everything; guess I can´t blame them for playing to their strengths. Oldsters know better.

I´ve bought several of Heartmath´s EMwave machines, hand-held biofeedback devices to help train people to get into "coherence." I liked the practice but the devices kept breaking on me. I´ve read that breathing at a rate of about 6 breaths a minute can also help people reach the same state. Imagine that practices like Metta would work too. Too bad the EMWave is so unreliable though because I like gadgets and quantification.

Hi Takingcharge, Have you followed up on Freeform´s suggestion to take a walk in the park amongst some trees? This strikes me as excellent advice and I would do it everyday. Nature is so healing. Of course a single walk in the park isn´t going to be an immediate solution -- I´m not saying that. You need to get medical care. It sounds like you´ve tried though and it´s not immediately available. If you can´t get in to see a doctor, I think being outside in nature for a bit is the most self-caring thing you could do for yourself.

I´m grateful for tasty food. the tongue-numbing tingle of Sichuan peppercorns oysters on the street in Ensenada fluffy chicken tamales sold out of street steamers in Zacatecas early in the morning my mom´s vanilla icecream with dark flecks of real vanilla the bartending prowess of my buddy Bill who never skips Happy Hour those pimiento-stuffed olives they put in martinis any alcoholic drink with a salted rim falafel stands in Jerusalem eating pancakes at 2am on a Saturday night after hitting the bars on Stark Street in Portland in my twenties corndogs at the county fair hot chinese mustard the street market in Tehuantepec where I once ate iguana soup (tastes like chicken) pineapple upsidedown cake with lots of carmelized goo on top anything from Tartine in San Francisco

I don´t know why but this dance scene really struck me the first time I watched Y Tu Mama Tambien and has always stayed with me.

Yes, it does. Emulating the Dao, I imagine that I am a fierce wind or a torrential rain. I play the game of being stormy with people to see if they can flexibly and spontaneously bend with the natural forces I wield. (Ha! They can´t.) Eventually an even bigger wind comes along and blows my roof off. Oops. Such is the ever-turning Dao.

(My knowledge of TCM is very limited but I´ll add in my two cents and those more expert can correct me if necessary.) How TCM is applied from person to person might change depending on the culture and health background of a person. Indeed, this flexibility is one of the hallmarks of TCM. In western medicine, people with the same disease, say depression, tend to be treated more or less the same -- give everyone Zoloft. In TCM, two people with the same diagnosis may be treated very differently because the treatment is based on their individual constitutions. For this reason, TCM can travel well from culture to culture -- it´s nothing if not individualized. Herbs given may change from place to place. Needle points poked may change. What doesn´t change is the broad philosophical framework of TCM which is radically different from allopathic medicine.

@Taomeow @freeform An old Taoist teacher of mine used to recommend a glass of plain hot water first thing in the morning. Not tea, not coffee, no lemon...just water. Is this a standard Taoist thing? Recommended?

Just speaking for myself, I think it might be problematic to exclude a member from having access to all of your posts in all areas of the board. It would make it difficult for a member to follow the course of any conversation in which you´re a regular contributing member. What happens when someone quotes you? Are those quoted posts also hidden from the blocked member? What feels more feasible to me is to block a member from having any access to your PPD. That way nobody is in conversational limbo, half way in or half way out. Rather, anybody you choose would be put all the way out in your own private space. If such a feature could be installed, would this go at least part of the way towards what you´re looking for? I myself don´t have the technical know-how to do this but would be in favor of it if it´s possible.

For the most part, the current mod team brings a lot of wisdom, experience, and equanimity to the task. Fortunately, I´m around to balance any excess saintliness out.

Hi Silent Thunder, I´m not knowledgable on the technical side of things but have started a conversation about the issue in the moderator section. Hopefully someone knows how to correct this.

People tend to generalize from their own experience. If I eat an all vegetable diet or an all meat diet and dramatically heal some health problem, I´m likely to think that my eating style is right for everyone. Of course it´s not true. We all have different bodies and different needs and we react differently to different diets. The same might be true for sexual activities. Are some practitioners of BDSM stark raving mad? Undoubtedly. Are all practitioners of BDSM stark raving mad? Maybe not.

Good to hear from you Anand. You´ve been missed!

Just got this yesterday and am enjoying it as well. I´d place it squarely in the how-to category. It offers something I´d guess is pretty rare: Taoist alchemy instructions that are clear and accesible for a beginner to actually practice from. Although the author cautions that a person is unlikely to get much "traction" in the practice without in-person instruction, this book provides a great place to start to build a foundation -- and perhaps a little bit more. It´s a book about things one can actually practice. If you´re looking for a scholarly historical, theoretical, or philosophical overview, this isn´t that.

I´ll have to cut back on masturbation.

Calligraphy is special, for sure, but I´m inclined to think that all art making is cultivation.