liminal_luke

I´ve done them. Getting into trembling mode isn´t difficult for me so I usually just do the final exercise lying down and let my body go. It does work for me, though it often takes more than a few minutes before I feel a noticeable shift -- sometimes closer to an hour. I haven´t done it consistently enough to report any particular life changes. If you do a site search for TRE you´ll find more experiences and opinions.

Is a Ninja? I´ve always used it for when I want to say something that I feel might get me attacked or something that I feel sheepish about. To me, it looks like the figure is hiding. Maybe playfully hiding. If I want to say something playful and mischevious that might get me booed off the Daobums stage, I might end my statement with a . Am I the only one who uses this emoji like this? Shows how much I know!

What fascinates me is not so much the dual or non-dual but the possibility of movement between them. Since I´m more familiar with the dual side of things, the idea of "going to" the non-dual (powering up the ole Merkevah) and bringing back some of that unity juice to the workaday world seems especially appealing. Perhaps the non-dual benefits in a similar way from being infused with the dual -- though I wouldn´t know anything about that.

Not to worry though, CT -- the soul doesn´t know the difference.

Valance

I mostly think along these lines too although some conversations here have led me to believe that this isn´t always true. Perhaps I´m just not a very thorough scratcher?

Then why stay?

This place attracts a vibrant mix of people. We´ve got sages and scholars, scoundrels and (occasional) saints. There are a few here that are diligently trying to see past their egos, and more than a few that are trying to build their egos up. Not everybody is equally worth listening to but everybody gets the same chance to speak. Just like in everyday life, it´s up to each of us to decide where we want to put our attention. Can a person mess themselves up here taking the wrong advice? Absolutely. The Dao Bums is wonderful and dangerous, a garden with the most ambrosial edible flowers and a few brilliantly colored poisonous plants, all growing together in a gorgeous wild heap. I wouldn´t want it any other way.

I´m taking his online Yi Jin Jing course right now and recommend it. Each of the twelve basic movements correspond with an organ (and, I´m assuming, the corresponding meridian). So far we´ve done Lung and Large Intestine. There´s equal emphasis on emotional and physical healing. For example, the Large Intestine work has to do with letting go of stagnation in our lives -- both the stagnation of blocked waste material (constipation) and emotional stagnation.

I suppose we could make a subsection of Discussions On The Way for fools but I don´t think it´d get much traffic.

Not among my crowd.

Some months ago I told a leftist friend of mine that most of the forum members here were right-wing. He couldn´t believe it. Daoists for Trump? Impossible! Now it turns out that an equal number of us are left wingers, some of us radically so. Who knew? I sure didn´t. Were we just hiding our politics under a bushel? Did Sean´s unabashed revolutionary zeal gave us the courage to come out into the light? Whatever the case, it´s been something of a revelation. As a conflict-averse peacekeeper type, I give you my anthem.

@sean @Taomeow Thanks for the recent thoughtful posts. I never thought political discussion could actually be educational, rather than merely combative, but I was wrong. The rewilding concept is new to me. While I´m not personally ready for the collapse of civilization, I think the zeitgeist is moving ever so slowly in a rewilding direction, perhaps not as rapidly as some would like but moving nevertheless. There´s a resurgence of interest in all things analog. A dawning awareness that life is about relationships with other people, relationships that are best fostered face-to-face rather than through technology. People are eating more grassfed beef and wild fish. Some of us are growing our own tomatoes and planting flowers. Foraging and hunting. The Japanese concept of "forest bathing" is gaining a foothold. Physicians in-the-know are telling their patients to turn off their electric devices a few hours before bedtime for the best sleep. I imagine true rewilders won´t be impressed. All these changes will strike many as too-little too-late. Still, I believe in the power of little changes. There are so many little changes any of us can make short of getting rid of our laptops.

I´ve mostly steered clear of organized religion but I think I just found my spiritual home.

I´m sure there´s a lot to running a forum that I don´t know about, but I think the secret to our success is the name -- Dao Bums. The title hints at an alchemical formula. Taken separately, the two words Dao and Bum connote very different states of being. They are fire and water, yin and yang. Dao conveys a certain seriousness of intent; Bum an appealing looseness. What does it mean to combine these two qualities into one? The answer brings one to the brink of eternity.

Right-wing ideologues out; Rumi in. What is this forum coming to?

Lots of good teeth healing info from Denise Minger...https://www.marksdailyapple.com/nutritional-cures-for-damaged-teeth

I think video games are a little bit like chocolate: a huge problem for some, an innocent indulgence for others. It´s easy to imagine that all that fantasy killing is harmful. How could it not be? Still, many people enjoy them and I hate to come down hard against something many kids (of all ages) find fun. Personally, I´ve never understood the appeal. Not even as a youngster. But most of us have our vices and one of mine is reality TV; I must have watched every episode of Project Runway, many multiple times. I´d wager that Project Runway has led to at least as many violent deaths as Street Fighter 4.

This latest Daobums shakeup has taught me something about myself -- I´m not very good at disposing of bullshit. Lots of Bums are better at this task than I. They don´t fool around. They know how to work a shovel. They don´t worry so much about how the bullshit feels as they toss it in the garbage. My own style is not nearly so decisive. I stand there looking at the bullshit, wondering if it really has to go. I think to myself that perhaps the bullshit has redeeming qualities. I fret about the bullshit´s right to Free Speach. According to the five element theory of Chinese medicine, it´s the element of Metal that allows us to wield a mighty sword and cut away that which no longer serves. There´s a time and place for the sword and I salute those who are willing to use it. Even if personally all this cutting makes me a little squeamish. Thank you for your service.

In the movie 127 Hours, mountaineer Aron Ralston cuts off his arm to free himself from beneath a boulder that trapped him in a remote slot canyon in Utah. It´s a horrifying flick. This amputation reminds me of my own suggestion that we cut political discussion out of the board. It would be a radical move, not to be undertaken lightly, because you´re right that spirituality and politics are inseparable: they are part and parcel of the same human body. Ideally, we could discuss anything here. To put up a fence and say this-subject-no would only diminish us. And yet I despair of ever being able to talk about politics in a respectful way. I don´t think we can do it. I´ve gotten to the point where I´m willing to cut off my arm.

Here´s something you might not know about me: I´m addicted to political drama. For years now I´ve been saying that the forum should eschew talk of controversial social issues altogether and return to it´s roots as a place to discuss Daoism and other spiritual pursuits. I still stand by this opinion. At the same time, I get a kick out of the drama of Off Grid. It´s exciting. Bad for me but exciting. So imagine my alarm when Sean came along and actually shut down Trump Talk. Where would I get my fix? I need not have worried. Now we have the "No more right-wing bullshit" thread and the fighting here is every bit as good. Better than Netflix anyway.

I´m shy to share a picture of myself online but always appreciate when others do so. How nice to put a face with a name!

At first I thought the cat would come out of the bag in a few days. Wrong! Then I thought the cat would never come out of the bag. Wrong again! Life continually surprises. So good to have you back!

On the contrary, I think Sean has shown himself as someone more than willing to speak his mind to men and women alike. Personally, I think ilumairen has one of the best (creative, inclusive, fun) PPDs around and I´d hate to see it diminished.

Many of us come to political activism by way of personal trauma. We take up causes to correct systemic injustice that we know only too well because we ourselves are the victims. Women fight sexism, gays homophobia. Others come to activism not because they´ve experienced injustice directly, but out of a strong sense of empathy and compassion. Some of us experience the pain of others so powerfully, so viscerally, that we´re moved to fight against the injustice of the world. Either way, emotions often run strong. Understandably so. Our efforts to effect change are fueled by hurt and rage. I´d suggest that this emotional turbulence, however justified, won´t bring peace or harmony or even justice. The true revolution will not happen because we´re angry and sad; it will happen because we´re awash in love and joy. An effective activist is a happy activist. We need to work through our trauma first – in therapy or on the meditation cushion – before taking the fight to the streets. Otherwise left-wing distress begets right-wing distress, and vice versa. Otherwise we´re caught in an endless circle of recrimination and contempt. In the best circumstance, political action and spiritual cultivation intersect at the heart. I´d like to propose a politics of love. Namaste: the divine spark in me bowing to the divine spark in you. Can I see through the ways my conditioning has lead me, has lead you, to put up walls of hate and resistance...can I see through all this to the innocent child still there beneath the hurt? Can I feel the infinite human depth of someone who sees life through a political lens that feels impossibly foreign? May we approach each other with softness, with gentleness, and with unbounded respect.