gendao

OK, well I think I'm seeing their bigger picture now. They got a $36K trawler and a land house 3 hours away from it. Because there's no way they could afford a house any closer - so must commute 3 hrs each way between their boat and house. For most people, this would be an intolerable commute to make weekly or more. But that's the best they can do there, without being multimillionaires. And they had bought their land house for $62K, but probably have had to put another $100K+ into it for renos. That's why their mortgage is now $1250, and not $450. It's normally a big gamble to buy a foreclosed house - because you could get a steal, a lemon, or something in-between. However, given that you already KNOW you would end up with a dilapidated shack in SF for $350K, you likely wouldn't do any worse for farrrr less than that. In short, the trade-offs they made to find affordable (~$200K) housing in the Bay Area were bidding on a foreclosed home (high-risk) and commuting between that home and a cheap boat 3 hrs away. OK, reality-checked!

I used the first version (2005), not second (2010) - and had no "problems," whatsoever... And even now after I actually cracked my mental nutshell - my catharses were nothing to be afraid of, much less "dangerous." I've never had anything even approaching a "panic attack." Just to give another counterbalancing experience out there... Yea, after finding the doorway now...I've only gone through it sparingly when I have the time and the space. Because going there is a bit time-consuming and exhausting. Although hopefully that will get easier with time. As eventually, I hope to go there with every emotionally-charged interaction - to really live fully and authentically from another deeper level.

Ok, so I'm guessing that a $36K trawler is basically a floating hoopty, then? And a foreclosure bid - OK, well that would be about the only way you could possibly get a house for $62K there. I wonder what the actual market value is now - as even condos go for $1/2 million in Sausalito? Obviously an incredibly risky gamble upfront... But even that doesn't really make sense - because your mortgage for $62K, even with $0 down, should then be more like just $450/month - not $1250? And now they have suddenly moved by the AT&T stadium in San Francisco? Did they just sell the Sausalito house and buy a new one - or just trawl over there? Because otherwise, mere condos there seem to start at over $750K. Sorry for asking, but I'm just curious how a couple can really buy a boat and a house in the Bay Area for $100K. When that area has nearly the highest housing cost in the entire nation. And some of your numbers don't seem to add up, unless I'm missing something. Some stuff has got to give...and that's what I'm genuinely curious about. Bidding on a foreclosed home was one caveat. I'm just wondering what else there is too? Again, this thread is about the REALITY of living more "modestly" - and how that actually pans out in real life?

Ok, let me just clarify the nuts & bolts here first? I assume their 36' trawler cost at least $100,000? And if their house mortgage is only $1250 (1600-350), then I would estimate that they had only borrowed around $170,000 for their house? So, now we're up to somewhere around $270,000 for a land house...AND a 36' boat. The combination of which definitely does not qualify as just "tiny house" living, btw... But these figures all seem VERY lowball if the true real estate market indicators in that locale are million dollar houses and $2800-$3500 STUDIO rents. Let's say an average studio unit is 500 sqft - that would then equal around $6/sqft rent. Which would make it amongst the costliest areas in the country! So, I don't see how their land house could be so cheap there - unless they had gobsmacked down a monumental down payment? Now, rootlessness is a whole emotional topic within itself - that needs to be deeply considered emotionally, not mentally (as above). Forget about dollars and cents, it has to do with belonging, feeling accepted, or not fitting in. Tribalism. Family. Home. And by converse, nomadicism also often has to do with feeling abandoned, a lack of options, and escapism. There's just a lot of various possible themes and feelings at play here. Or did you forgo living in a college dorm for a dirt tent simply because you preferred the outdoors so much? Was that due to lack or freedom? Because TRUE freedom comes from the OPPOSITE of lack.

Sounds like an interesting experience, I wonder what your boat & monthly cost is? And as you have cut out the big real estate cost of actually owning any land...you also can't grow your own food forest. You are essentially still a rootless nomad.

OK, well I had finished the 10-week process almost a year ago - with no major breakthroughs during it... I guess I was a hard nut to crack. However, his teachings had stayed with me in the back of my mind, and recently I was just able to implement them unintentionally via my own fashion. Nearly a whole year later! Well, seeds sometimes take some time to sprout and at least always better late than never...! Anyways WHEW, it is all just like he said! I've already had 3 catharses in just the last week. I could probably have many more too, but I need a little space to allow them and they're pretty draining/exhausting at the time. Because you are just staying there there feeling them with no judgment - which you had previously always run or hid from. Well, I know exactly what he is talking about now with the emotional vs the mental "bodies," now - and have found my own doorway to my emotional layer. It's no longer just theoretical, but actually experiential. For now it takes a little time, but maybe later I will "reside" there more or be able to just enter it instantly in real-time whenever needed. Because I can clearly feel the immense healing power in this method and emotional level. So, I'm eager to see how much it can help clear more of my inner junk out. This is REAL SPIRITUALITY, folks! Certainly at least one vital step in it! After you get past all the New Agey infatuation phases with IMPERSONAL (& less relevant) super siddhis, secret schools, special techniques, sacred spaces, ancient aliens, etc...you'll find out how much of it is simply about healing your own PERSONAL (& more relevant) human emotional traumas... Nothing fancy, extremely simple, and yet profoundly powerful = DAO!

Problem is, I believe aquifers across the country have dropped several hundred feet over the last half-century due to WEIRD civilization. Which is even worse in California, where some must dig 1000 to 2000 feet to hit water now. Which is also only depleting these aquifers even further, btw... But again, I think the only one posting from actual experience here is AussieTrees, who doesn't even live in a tiny house, just semi-off-grid?

So, how did your tiny house residents living off-grid get enough water for their personal needs and to grow food during the recent 6-year drought in NoCal? Were rainwater catchment and/or wells alone enough to suffice? And what size shipping containers were these folks living in? Because even the largest ones are less than 320 sqft inside. For reference, this is about half the size of a single-wide mobile home. I mean, we're talking about the actual REALITY of tiny house living here - not vague TV infomercials to drum up more B&B renters... So, let's talk about all the nitty-gritty nuts & bolts!

Reality check - although rural land is far cheaper than urban lots, a lot with a running stream on it is going to cost a lot more. Not to mention, it's a huge step to live entirely off-grid with no utilities. Shipping containers also get extremely hot. Lol, there are no gated hoods out in the country! And if there are - I can guarantee their HOAs are not going to allow you to build tiny houses in them! Etc, etc... Has anyone actually visited someone successfully living in a tiny house permanently? I only seem to see these hyped on TV, but they are nearly impossible to find in real life? And most of them aren't actually lived-in permanently, but rented out like hotel rooms as B&B's.

1) Keeping animals alive until they're ready to cook makes more sense because it saves on refrigeration costs and fresher meat is healthier. And people get to see what it really takes to get their food - nothing is "sanitized" behind closed doors. 2) All livestock is either cut in the neck or beat to death. In the West, bolt guns to the skull are used for cattle. In China, I think it depends on the animal. From what I vaguely recall, snakes would just get their heads chopped off. Not sure about larger animals? 3) I've actually tried dog before in China. It was not beat to death in front of us. This was a family restaurant, and not a roadside attraction, though. 4) Beating a dog just for show is incredibly needless and cruel. So all said, I think the answer is to combat animal cruelty. And this should NOT just be limited to DOGS, or CHINA. Because the biggest threat to animals across the world is habitat destruction from human civilization.

I would agree - when dry heat weakens trees and boosts beetle populations - fires more frequently occur under those same conditions, which serves to cull the beetles back.

I think they need to refocus their message to, "stop cruelty to animals" - and then single out not ONLY the Yulin Dog Meat Festival. Because that's something that most everyone could probably agree on. Otherwise, there is too much hypocrisy, double-standards, and cultural relativity to maintain a coherent argument. For example, in the US, dogs & cats are bred and sold like toys - and 9,000 are killed everyday from being surplus supply. OK, well that's about the same number (~10,000) as killed at the Yulin Festival (but which happens only ONCE A YEAR - not 365!). So numerically, the US pet industry is FAR WORSE. But ethically, it's better because the animals are killed far more painlessly. However, at least at Yulin their flesh is consumed, and not entirely wasted. Also, Hindus don't eat beef. Muslims don't eat pork. Should they also start protesting the standard American diet which includes BOTH? And should environmentalists protest beef consumption too, which is farrrrrrrrrrr more damaging to the planet than dogs or any other livestock due to the widescale deforestation it causes??? Not to mention, what about protesting to save all the native, non-pet animals that are all headed towards extinction - like armadillos, bobcats, owls, etc etc??? Who are mostly all dying out due to habitat destruction. Again, with all this in mind, it still makes sense just to stop animal cruelty. If you're going to kill an animal - try to make it quick and painless. But there is no objective reasoning to just stop eating dogs vs other animals.

I would recommend a chiropractor, instead. Osteopaths are similarly-trained and great - but they are basically chiropractors with MDs. Which might sound like that makes them more qualified... But in reality, it makes them more indoctrinated with allopathic medicine and perhaps more importantly - far more expensive with far longer appointment wait times. So, if you just want to get some type of adjustment that has nothing to do with MDs, then save your time & money and just go to a chiropractor. Treatments are cheap and a lot of them even take walk-ins without appointments. Although I'm surprised the OP hasn't simply tried to heal himself with qi, like he did his friend? Would be no worries about "cross contamination" or draining himself - since he would be working on himself. He could safely test his skills again and possibly heal an old problem - and kill 2 birds with one stone!

Sure, because this is a (EGO EGO EGO!) competition, right? Anyhow, I wouldn't call you a complete charlatan - just probably overestimating your abilities. (Which is easy in the initiation.) But, I do think you have some! As for me, I've had a spectrum of experiences - from peak ecstatic ones to sexual (similar to drew's) to miraculous healings to more mundane healings, etc. As have many others here too. And from this range of experiences - the most extranormal ones only lasted temporarily, were unintentional, and have not been replicable - whereas the more mundane ones were more consistently at will and permanent in effect... So, I can recognize where you're at in the journey. Been there, done that. Now again, you could always be the exception...but time and other indicators tell me you're not. Anyways, at this point - it's probably tempting to try to spiritually bypass your tortured humanity. It may seem easier to indulge yourself in intellectual pursuits and internet legends - so you don't have to deal with your own deep feels (typical spiritual/mundane, mental/physical Descartes dualism). But as you go along, you will find that the most relevant, authentic "spirituality" is that concerning your own personal psychological/emotional/physical health - and integrating all of these together. Which is not fancy or sexy, but dirty and gritty, fairly MUNDANE WORK. However, these messy organic parts are usually left out of "grad school" neidan books (along with HOW to even achieve their starting points of FULL LOTUS to BEGIN WITH, lol). Which gives the false impression that they are not even parts of their "process" - usually some clinically-sanitized, generic, paint-by-numbers, infographic template.. Years of actual, real-life experience will likely give you a different impression, though!

Interesting, so let's recap the progression of this fish story here: So first, she "definitely" felt your heat and her swelling and purple color receded? She was otherwise quiet and didn't offer much on her own, though. That's probably because...uh...she was too busy having orgasms to talk, DUH! But when you asked her leading questions...she compliantly validated your valiant efforts/ego in gratitude. Incidentally, she also happens to be incoherent a lot from drug use... And even her drug buddies were so impressed by your previous healing...that they wanted you to come back and do more healings yap more about philosophy! Which is what you seemed to do best? But now, the expert incoherent witness herself is even disputing all your initial claims...until you prod her again for the "right" answers. Which she dutifully complies with again to avoid - harshing the vibe before you all pop some more mollies together? Oh yea baby, you were the best! I quietly came 5X! And I'm so high I can't even remember my own name! What's yours? It sure is a funny coinkydink that when the ego stops liking what it hears...it suddenly stops caring. Right, it doesn't matter anyway...so let's just keep moving right along, folks! And let's go back and start with DO NO PASS GO, DO NOT COLLECT $200, and JOIN THE CLUB, HOMEY?

Hi, what are your power points?

This is a short, touching video about some captive gorillas released into the wild. One was able to recognize the researcher's daughter 12 years later - who was only 10 years old the last time he had seen her! How many humans can even recognize a woman who looks quite different than when she was just 10 years old 12 years ago??? Well, let's not forget - chimps did beat humans into space!

The thought occurred to me today that Mother Nature is the Great Mystery. And only when you genuinely start communing (just shut up and quietly LISTEN, OBSERVE, etc) with her, does she start to open up and reveal herself to you. She is the living archetype of the true feminine - that WEIRDos have all disconnected from, forcibly rape, and manufactured a faux feminine replacement for (feminism). Her beautiful formfunction is apparent even on the most minute levels in her most mundane fractal fingerprints. Many barely even take notice of "just" an ordinary leaf... Yet, just take a closer look... Each of these leaves come from different trees - yet they all bear veins arranged similarly for optimal constructural flow. You have large mainstream veins, with alternating "feeders" branching off at narrow angles, and then tertiary capillaries branching off those at closer to right angles. And within these leaves is chlorophyll - a molecule almost exactly like hemoglobin, except its central atom is magnesium, instead of iron. So, the "lifeblood" of plants is not that different than that of humans! Plants are just amazingly efficient lifeforms if you think about it. They require very little input, and generate no liquid or solid waste like animals! In fact, they will actually consume others' piss and sh*t! Well, this is just the tiny tip of the iceberg that I've slowly gleaned over several years. But I'm hoping we all can learn more about and appreciate Nature on deeper and deeper levels... I really felt compelled to share because I just (synchronistically) randomly stumbled upon this article: Which was basically the exact same realization I had this morning - so took it as a sign. It just feels like really reconnecting with Nature happens as we reach a certain level of consciousness? And it's one that is vital to reconnecting with our own true Natures.

Well, Scarlett's character's name is "Motoko Kusanagi," which sounds pretty Japanese to me... Although I think that "whitewashing" started in the anime itself - so she's arguably a passable choice based on how her character was literally drawn to begin with... And if some Asian-Americans have that much of a problem with that, then they should probably start with the Japanese anime artists. But, Ghost in the Shell was yet another FLOP anyways - so the whole "profit motive" rationale is slowly becoming a loss "motive," lol... The bigger pattern of specific anti-Asian racism from HollyWEIRD is far more inexcusable. I mean, even a UK rag from across the pond has noticed this very same phenomenon - where Asian characters are consistently replaced by White actors - and some White characters are replaced with Black actors (and occasionally Half-Asian actresses). Where after all the racial "multi-culti diversity musical chairs" (just like Affirmative Action) stops - Asians are the ones most often left standing. I mean, a short list of just RECENT movies/shows following this replacement formula cited in that article are: Aloha The Great Wall The Last Airbender Dragon Ball Evolution Doctor Strange The Last Samurai Kill Bill Iron Fist That's a huge laundry list just there. So, this practice is not any exception, but obviously the predictable NORM in HollyWEIRD! It's not like these are just a few isolated cases and even remotely balanced with some give & take. And this is all coming from the same HillaryWEIRD libs lecturing everyone else on multi-culti diversity, blah blah??? But, I guess in light of this larger picture, perhaps it is fitting that "The Ancient One" was replaced by a White woman - because in "zero-sum" diversity card reshuffling - women may often get "empowered" at the expense of men, particularly marginalized ones like Asian men? They're sure as h*ll not going to make Dr. Strange a woman - so let's switch out the old minority minority guy! Art imitates life?

Hmm, based on their synopses, it sounds like you believe it's just unnatural, "civilized" lifestyles that are the problem, and not humans ourselves, per se? Well I've already repeatedly stated that WEIRD lifestyles ARE a big part of the problem - but that is also not mutually-exclusive with human overpopulation (see non-WEIRD Africa, India, etc). Especially given that most of us are NEVER VOLUNTARILY GOING BACK to ecologically-sustainable hunter/gatherer lifestyles. In fact, we keep on progressing further and further away from that at breakneck pace now (already entering synthetic digital/GMO dystopia). And even if we all magically did revert back to hunter/gatherer lifestyles - our planet wouldn't be able to sustain our current population as-is in balance with the rest of Nature. If we suddenly pulled the plug on all our technological interference - we'd find out what the true, natural carrying capacity of our environment is! Because this rock is simply not designed to support an INFINITE number of humans - even if we were all living like indigenous animals! Therefore, human overpopulation and WEIRD lifestyles ARE both clearly of grave concern to the rest of this planet, now. If a locale is overpopulated with non-WEIRD humans - that's an environmental problem. If a locale has just a few WEIRD humans with massive ecological footprints - that's also an environmental problem. If a locale is overpopulated with a huge number of WEIRD humans - that's a MASSIVE environmental DOUBLE WHAMMY!

Wait, so you are now arguing that: 1. Overpopulation only occurs when Nature's own self-regulating mechanisms (including biochemical sterilization warfare) have been compromised. 2. Our (ecological) system has now been severely and completely compromised. 3. Therefore, overpopulation is now entirely possible? Which is exactly what I have been saying too all along... So capiche & case closed, then? AMURICA NUKED Bikini Atoll EVERY*FVCKING*DAY for 12 YEARS!!!!!

So do you believe that there is absolutely no positive correlation between human population and environmental degradation? That overpopulation is a complete myth - and even if there were 100 trillion humans living on this planet, the environment would not suffer one bit more from it? There is simply no population ceiling for humans here, even if it were 100 gigatrillion, because this rock has an infinite carrying capacity? And anyone (environmentalists, ecologists, etc) who disagrees with that is a Malthusian 1%r? Not that Malthus was exactly wrong, was he?

Actually, Matt Damon was CAST by one of China's leading directors, Zhang Yimou, as the LEADING STAR of his recent flop, The Great Wall. And dust related a similar story about how ridiculously easy it was for him to get in a Chinese beer commercial. Which is basically what also happened to this other White celeb in China: Fact is, White guys get treated better in China...than their own home countries. Which is in STARK contrast to how Asian guys get treated in Anglo ones. I.e. - the favor is certainly NOT returned! So your "role reversal" question actually disproves your whole argument, not supports it. Lol, you see how the rationalizing double-standards work here? "White Savior" tropes (Iron Fist) should be maintained for "historical accuracy." But, "Wise Asian Master" tropes (Ancient One) should be discarded to "reduce stereotyping." Funny how contradicting excuses are employed selectively to maintain the same hierarchical caste system. Look, if you're only eliminating the relatively positive tropes for a group, while amplifying the negative ones - then that is far worse than not eliminating any at all. Meanwhile, doing the opposite obviously has the opposite effect. And at the end of the day, what if this racism isn't necessarily profitable, anyways? Because ultimately, talent, is what sells art beyond the first glance. So, question is - even if it's unprofitable, will they still keep doing it?

Lmao...so no problem with overpopulation - as long as all our future kids become slumdog 6.3 billioners! But that's OK. The really important thing is to keep breeding & feeding all our WEIRD fractional banking pyramid schemes! Ever notice how these completely egocentric, narcissistic, irresponsible, carpe diem, pass the buck (debt), superconsumer attitudes tend to emanate from the Baby Boomer subset of WEIRDos, in particular? Don't care about the environment, don't care about future generations, just me, now, me, now, me, now!!! \m/