liminal_luke
-
Content count
7,162 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Days Won
103
Everything posted by liminal_luke
-
Honestly Bindi, I haven´t the foggiest notion what´s going on.
-
Some Bums say they have greatly benefited from your work with them, Jeff. Others say they have been hurt. If forum members are going to weigh in and have some say in how or whether the work goes forward, I think we need some more context. Specifically, I think it would be helpful to know more about your internal reaction to these allegations. Everybody who works in a therapeutic or healing context with other people is going to receive a bit of mud slinging. It´s the nature of the job. Furthermore, nobody does this work perfectly. We´re all human here, even those of us who are in contact with divine beings. People project. That´s what we do. If a healer/teacher/therapist expects otherwise they´re in the wrong business. Helpers also project. We´re fools if we think we´ve gone through all our stuff and are beyond error. Everybody has shit and everybody is projecting it all over the place. Life is a messy business. The big question is this: when someone comes to you and says they´ve been hurt in an interaction with you what do you do? Let me put forth a few scenarios. In the first, you´re humble. You acknowledge that something went wrong. You apologize. You consider your actions and try to figure out how you might have guided the interaction differently. In the second scenario, you see yourself as blameless. If people have a problem, that´s all on them. They entered into the process with you of their own volition and need to accept the consequences. These two scenarios I´ve painted are extremes. One or the other might fit you pretty accurately or you might be somewhere in between. It makes all the difference. I´d be inclined to welcome the helping work of the humble first healer, the healer who takes responsibility when things go poorly, and discourage the helping work of the second healer who sees himself as beyond criticism.
-
Don´t worry about spelling. Weak spellers can always use spell check; weak feelers, on the other hand, don´t have access to feel check.
-
A short recap: Steve is acting under Jeff´s authority. Jeff repeatedly asked Steve to decide whether or not he (Jeff) would leave the forum, and promised to abide by Steve´s ruling. This stuff is beyond bizarre but if you´ll scroll back and read you will see it´s true. Steve graciously declined to judge whether or not Jeff should self-ban, and merely stated his view that the energy work should stop.
-
Yeah, I´d prefer to hug Jeff when he´s not in drag. Just a personal preference.
-
I won´t contradict your statement, Ralis. This whole thread is very strange. I worked with Jeff for just a day or two and don´t have any basis to say whether he´s a master or not. Either way, work that stirs sexual issues needs to be approached with appropriate caution as the potential for harm is high. That´s my only point.
-
@cheya I´m glad you spoke up about your experience too. Clearly people have had varied experience with Jeff´s work. Jeff is right that all deep work stirs up "shit" and that´s part of the point. Issues of sex and gender, in particular, go very deep for many; great care needs to be taken, in my opinion, by those who would stir these waters. It´s good that Jeff asks permission before scanning and, as far as I can tell, all energetic work is on an asked-for basis. But is this enough of a safegaurd? Many people will ask for things that they aren´t ready for. I believe that a teacher ought to be able to assess readiness and kindly withhold potentially troubling practices from people who aren´t likely to benefit. I´m interested in tummo and would love to take a tummo workshop, but the teacher I would like to learn from only offers the practice in person. This is for my safety. Or perhaps out of respect for the power of what´s transmitted. Master teachers don´t offer teachings to students who aren´t ready. Some people appear to have benefitted greatly from their work with Jeff. Others have had troubling experiences. I have great respect for some Bums (and former Bums) from both groups. Given the potential for harm, I´d urge a more careful approach. Just my two cents, LL
-
.
-
Town Hall Meeting on Self-Governance for TDB Re: No Mods or Sean Currently
liminal_luke replied to Earl Grey's topic in General Discussion
My partner is sensitive to negative news stories so I tell him not to watch. Why put oneself in a position to get worked up? I´ll occasionally talk with him about conflict here and he offers me similar advice: just stay away. Touche! I don´t think I need to quit the board entirely (so many good people here), but I could stand to be more discerning about the threads where I put my energy. One thing I notice is that I like a fight. I try not to participate directly but I like to watch, often while telling others to pipe down. (This doesn´t make me look good, I know. Thankfully, I´m not claiming any kind of perfection here.) I spent a lot of time on the recent levitation thread. I´ve spent a lot of time on threads dedicated to the alledged misbehavior of particular Bums -- most recently Gendao and Jeff. A new thread in this vein recently popped up to warn people about ChiDragon. That should be a good one! When Trump Talk was active, I was right there. Spectator fights are entertaining but they aren´t good for me psychologically or spiritually. I notice the same thing with my reading and TV watching habits. Once, I told a friend that I only like to read fiction where someone dies. That´s not entirely true but there´s some truth in it. Unfortunately, something icky happens to my mind if I load up on crime stories. It´s not possible to completely avoid negativity and still be a member here -- conflict and strife infuse even the most "spiritual" of topics. Still, I could choose to guide my viewing in directions that are likely to be congruent with my goals as a Bum. There are people posting here, even now, who are capable of informing me, inspiring me, uplifting me. May I spend time in their company. -
.
-
Town Hall Meeting on Self-Governance for TDB Re: No Mods or Sean Currently
liminal_luke replied to Earl Grey's topic in General Discussion
Everybody comes to this board with different sensibilities. Some Bums have blustery personalities (looking at you, Starjumper) and bring a little bit of biker bar atmosphere to the board. Some like a very loose moderation approach -- or no moderation at all -- and think that the board works best when it´s allowed to grow wild, that apparent anarchy is the way of the Dao. Others, such as myself, would suspend folks just for using the laughing emoji in a "laughing at" manner. If it was up to me everyone would hug and sing songs and nobody would say an unkind word. -
Town Hall Meeting on Self-Governance for TDB Re: No Mods or Sean Currently
liminal_luke replied to Earl Grey's topic in General Discussion
This is a good idea, though I do think that you, Earl Grey, were unusually open to feedback. Kudos to you. Most of the Bums who could stand to dial it back a bit wouldn´t listen. Still, doesn´t hurt to try. -
Love Shys, Involuntary Celibates, True Forced Loneliness, etc.
liminal_luke replied to Immortal4life's topic in The Rabbit Hole
Damn that Brad Pitt! Only wanting to have sex with beautiful women. Why not with Luke? Beta male ain´t good enough for ya, Brad? The world has really changed, and I´ll tell ya, not for the better. -
Love Shys, Involuntary Celibates, True Forced Loneliness, etc.
liminal_luke replied to Immortal4life's topic in The Rabbit Hole
I´m not surprised. It feels as though the men identifying with the "incel movement" aren´t relating to women as human beings. They accuse women of being shallow (for not having sex with them), and are blind to their own shallowness. -
Love Shys, Involuntary Celibates, True Forced Loneliness, etc.
liminal_luke replied to Immortal4life's topic in The Rabbit Hole
One more observation from the gay world. Sometimes older gay men will complain that they can´t get sex but what they really mean is that they can´t get sex with men twenty years younger. The older gay men sometimes think of this as "ageism" but, interestingly, they are not interested in having sex with each other either. I wonder if something similar occasionally plays out among straights? -
Love Shys, Involuntary Celibates, True Forced Loneliness, etc.
liminal_luke replied to Immortal4life's topic in The Rabbit Hole
More than a few gay men have married women -- often to the women´s horror when circumstances come to light. If gay men can marry women, I can´t help but think it´s not that hard to do. -
Love Shys, Involuntary Celibates, True Forced Loneliness, etc.
liminal_luke replied to Immortal4life's topic in The Rabbit Hole
You think I haven´t made a choice? -
Love Shys, Involuntary Celibates, True Forced Loneliness, etc.
liminal_luke replied to Immortal4life's topic in The Rabbit Hole
Many people look to the past and think that life was better then -- and in many ways perhaps it was. Still, there are some things I like about being a modern man. There´s more freedom to choose a lifepath that works for me rather than being shamed into choosing one that doesn´t work. Men can choose to live with a woman and form a family, or not. I choose not. -
Love Shys, Involuntary Celibates, True Forced Loneliness, etc.
liminal_luke replied to Immortal4life's topic in The Rabbit Hole
I think it´s helpful to take responsibility for one´s own erotic life. Suppose I´m single and unable to find willing sexual partners. It´s not helpful to blame those who don´t want to have sex with me. It´s not helpful to yell at the moon. What does work is taking a hard look at one´s situation and taking appropriate action. Some questions.... Am I putting myself into situations where I´m likely to meet suitable partners? Am I taking care of my personal appearance? Do I need to work on social skills? Shyness? Would therapy be useful to help me identify and address the issues that are holding me back? If sex isn´t in the cards, are there other ways that I can cultivate fulfilling nonsexual intimcy and community in my life? -
Can we please drop the rancor and bickering?
liminal_luke replied to dwai's topic in General Discussion
I´m not sure there´s much to be done about the general tenor of the board. Rancor and conflict is due to the personalities of those posting and there´s no way to control that. I like what @ilumairen has done with her PPD and think it could be a model for those who want to have deep and productive conversation. She has created her own little mini forum under her purview. Bums could start conversations in their PPD´s, perhaps inviting in particular people knowledgable about the topic at hand. The person who owned the PPD would have total moderating power to keep things rancor-free. -
I have no idea what happens after death. My personal spiritual experience doesn´t extend far enough for me to speculate. I have however explored a tiny fraction of the practices Steve alluded to earlier and I can tell you from experience that they are worth exploring.
-
Unless the personal testimony in question is one´s own.
-
Quantify? Perhaps not. But that´s hardly the only way -- and maybe not the best way -- to judge a practice tradition. A person could take up a practice for a week or two, perhaps in the form of widely available online courses, and get personal experience. This wouldn´t be enough experience to "retain awareness in the bardo" but it would be enough to give someone a sense for whether or not they wanted to continue.
-
This makes sense to me. If the image was customized to fit the energetic dynamic of each "client" then I would think it would be different depending on each person, not always a busty blonde. The fact that the image is usually a busty blonde suggests to me that it´s about what´s going on for Jeff.
-
Yes, absolutely -- shit comes up. Still, I wonder if you feel you have some responsibility, when you work with someone, to assess readiness and make sure you don´t begin a process that stirs up more shit than a person can safely and comfortably process? Given that a number of people have had a negative reaction to the "busty blonde" technique, will you continue to use it in the same way in the future? Does any of this give you pause?
