gendao

Well, some choose to allow the media to prioritize issues for them with their selective coverage and slant. Others may choose to independently prioritize issues based upon statistical importance. For example, I can just as easily post another article like this: Are we supposed to crusade against Huskies as baby-killers, now? Do babies trump dogs in public sympathy because they're cuter? Should we start a "Justice for Kate" Facebook page - even though these scenarios are also uncommon? I just don't think it's fair to overspeculate and judge this case until more of the facts are known. Otherwise, you just become a Pavlovian puppet of trials-by-media who can get played like a stringed instrument. Allowing the media to act as a court of law can be very harmful, btw. Countless innocent reputations have been ruined this way very unfairly. While other guilty parties have been wrongly acquitted. sO, I refuse to be manipulated like this! Fact is, the truth could be somewhere in the middle. Maybe Bear-Bear was "playing." But playing over-aggressively and biting.. Maybe the Fed did powertrip & overreact. (That's why I am anti-Socialist & want to restrain centralized authority - to prevent such a police state against the people.) Maybe it's some or none of the above? But if we rush to judgment in this case, should we also eliminate due process in all other cases as well? Or only in cases involving cute, fluffy animals vs big, bad cops? And should we keep ignoring the millions of other pets killed yearly by animal shelters simply because the media does not report each death? The mere act of which magnifies its importance over millions of other deeaths... If an animal dies and nobody writes an article about it, did it still die? If we focused on careless pet owners instead of cops - wouldn't we save a million more pet lives a year?

Too many Americans tend to be emotionally-immature and easily manipulable by media propaganda. And the sheer amount of hypocritical double-standards in "animal welfare" here pretty much negate any self-righteous "feel good" posturing. For f's sake people, a million pets are abandoned, discarded and killed in animal shelters a year here. Yet, nobody seems to have a problem with that! But, when a single dog gets shot by a cop...now all of a sudden that's a problem? I guess because you can blame someone else other than all the "loving" pet owners out there using animals like disposable toys??? Gimme a f'n break.. How can you get outraged over 1 casualty, whilst totally looking the other way past millions of others???

Last night I had a dream about 2 long boa constrictors and a UFO with a modified US flag on it...

I remember when yoga first got taught at my old gym. I was one of the first students as all the "macho" guys were too leery of it as some sort of "sexual pretzel" class to ever step in. Now, yoga is thoroughly mainstream here many years later... Anyhow, that's one reason why I do all my qigong privately at home here.

Woaa, major upgrade man! Much more navigable than that last version! Which seemed more like one of those giant, over-cluttered run-on sentence pages... Your e-feng shui is mucho better now! I may be working on a website soon too. So, Joomla, eh?

Yea, "cheerleader" is something of an inkblot test for people to Freudian project upon, lol. Cheerleaders are "dumb girls?" Isn't this assumption in itself sexist and insulting to cheerleaders? What about all the smart cheerleaders? What about all the male cheerleaders? Fact is, cheerleaders and jocks make easy targets because they reside at the top of our social food chain. In reality, they are essentially demigods in our society. Hence they get paid, laid & also player-hated on the most.

Here are some of the hotel prices in Yingtan, Jiangxi, for example... Generally, it appears that prices usually start from $10-$15 USD on the low end...and on up... So, I'm guessing you can probably get a decent hotel for around $30 USD. There's also probably many local hotels that aren't even on the internet too..

Yea, he should not have any problem finding cheap lodging (or food) in China. Everything there is hella cheap (although slowly rising). When I stayed in a dorm there, I think it was about $9 USD/day. Of course, hotels might be more...but not $60-$100/night like here. You can also check online in the cities you plan to visit just to get some ballpark numbers. I would just make sure you stay in at least 3-star hotels. Ones under 3 stars generally won't even advertise how many stars they have - as it would only make them look bad. I stayed in a 2-star one once and there were tiny roaches crawling around everywhere! So, I would avoid those. But anything 3-star and up was fine..

Man, I'd love to hear what really happened, then??? So, you claim nothing like this ever happened? How do you think John Chang would fare then, against a heavyweight boxer or MMA pro? Would his qi be able to overpower any type of athletic power...or no? And, did you ever happen to witness anything like this in the time you've known him? Or no? There's so much mythology surrounding JC, I was just wondering what your own experience has been like?

Interesting descriptions...thanks!

Yea, I'm not too impressed by momentary glimpses anymore, either. What I seek now are real alchemical changes and abilities. Now, if anyone can tell me of such masters who have attained sustained abilities (alchemical stages, healing ability, etc) by using entheogens...then let's hear it??? Otherwise, it seems like these entheogens tend to appeal more to spiritual tourists who don't want to put any real effort in and don't induce any lasting change. Most of the ones I know of did it through thousands of hours of sober sweat equity - not drugs.

Interesting, Feng Zhiqiang said that he's witnessed Hu YaoZhen levitate while meditating...wish I could find out more about that guy! And could you link some of the videos of Hu's daughters, please?

According to William Bodri, skin disorders are very common in spiritual detoxing... These could include skin infections or detoxing rashes from organ or tissue toxins being expelled through the skin. Be sure to keep an eye on either and treat as necessary. Concerning the heart, HT1 is right under the armpit. Well, sounds like your honeymoon is over and you're now entering the housecleaning stage. Buckle up, the ride's just getting started kiddo!

Most comprehensible explanation I've heard yet of interdependent (same as dependent?) origination. Thanks!

That's too bad - cuz you are not alone. See tapas & mishaps...

Thanks for the tips!

Doubt it can hurt, but I echo all the sobering sentiments in this thread... In the East, masters and gurus are expected to have actually attained a high level of awareness, energy or both. And spiritual leaders (like Amma) put far more effort into fundraising to build schools, hospitals, homes, etc. - than playing partisan politics. In the US, apparently you just need to be able to blow a lot of hot air and do the talk show circuit to plug all your books, workshops and lectures. I wouldn't be surprised if a Reiki 1 n00b has more actual spiritual attainment than any of these poseurs. Can any of them even actually DO anything??? Other than just talk??? At best, most of these are sadly naive, ignorant pied pipers with zero discernment. I mean, just listen to all the ridiculous and nonsensical accolades they heaped upon Obama to get him elected: At worse, some are greedy telemarketers exploiting gullible followers - sometimes even to their deaths, like James Ray. I wonder how many of these guys are actually more like their fraudulent colleague in The Secret? Whose core message was liberal self-entitlement in a nutshell - don't do anything yourself. Just ask the universe/government to do it all for you! The "secret" is not hard, smart work - it's magic welfare! And at worst, I wonder how many of these guys might even be plants used to manipulate the voting public? Seriously, Michael Beckwith claimed that Obama was the most progressive candidate on the environment??? You mean BP's biggest whore who did nothing but stonewall and impede the cleanup effort??? REALLY???

What's wrong with being honest? If you believe your way is correct and another's is wrong - what's wrong with telling them? If you truly believe it, might that even be seen as compassionate? I mean, as opposed to the alternative where 1+1=2 and 1+1=3 and it's "rude" to say that one way is more correct? Dao follows "it's" own nature.

I agree! Unfortunately, the opposite is happening now with smart people breeding less and dumb people breeding much, much more. Which liberalism supports via wealth redistribution and by glorifying the "ghetto" lifestyle. The UN has it backwards too. High IQs "loosely" lead to lower birth rates and greater wealth. Low IQs "loosely" the opposite. The best way to combat poverty is to lower birth rates. See the stratospheric rise of China after its 1-child policy and IQ And The Wealth Of Nations. Or to see the complete FAILURE of the UN's theory - see Africa after 40 years of ~$4 trillion in foreign aid to "combat poverty." What an absolute JOKE! Just for clarity - here is the difference in the 2 theories. One country practiced population control (with no foreign welfare) to combat poverty & the other received tons of global welfare (but no population control): Capiche? Of course, the NW0 goal is to turn the US into a 3rd world slum that is entirely dependent upon a UN-like government for survival. Which is why they actively encourage the ghettoization of our country. The last thing they want is a population full of politically-astute, self-reliant and independent-minded "Tea Party" & Libertarian types who will actively resist Socialist totalitarianism. Unfortunately, the bankers are winning and our grandkids are really going to suffer living in such a 3rd world totalitarian slum.

The biggest oil-baed product that the FRB is trying to keep afloat by maintaining a global dependence on oil is their USD fiat currency. Which replaced metals-backed US currency long ago and is now "only" coercively (via OPEC, the Iraq war, sanctions against Iran, etc.) backed by oil now. If the price of oil were to plummet due to replacement technologies, so will their USD... This is one reason why ALL our Presidents since at least Nixon have given lip service to promoting alternative energy...but in reality fiercely obstruct it behind closed doors.

Cool! You know, there's another practice often connected with dragons/snakes/nagas that you might want to experiment with then... *cough* Byron Katie *cough*

Thanks Marblehead & Songs! Well, I don't normally post "attaboys" because I don't think this forum needs to be a popularity contest...but just for the record, I'm a big fan of Vaj here for his expertise in Buddhism. I enjoy learning about stuff I'm interested in, but not very familiar with yet...and feel fortunate that he takes his time to teach what he knows here. I also admire his tenacity in the face of vocal minorities and not caving into peer pressure. Only weaknuts do that. I do realize many may disagree with him - but they are always free to prove him wrong or ignore him.

So, if these guys all sat down at a table together - would they agree..or disagree? How would they view each other's level of attainment? With mutual respect...or would a pecking order develop?

But why preach to the choir? Perhaps you should seek a position at a local Taoist temple..

Arguments are a symptom of confusion. The only real way to stop arguments then is to convincingly end the confusion. For example, few people debate a "flat Earth" or heliocentricity anymore.. But with the arcane subject matter under discussion here (nature of existence/existence of nature), that is not likely going to happen anytime soon... So, until we're all enlightened, let the show go on...