Flynn

I knew it had been interpreted and translated many different ways, but that is a bit overwhelming!

I'm balancing between East and West as well: home in CT and school in southern CA.

I would like some of your feedback on his validity and some thoughts about what he has to say. I have found his accuracy incredible and his methods very intriguing.

Thanks for the feedback, but I should have specified that I was talking more about his prophetic and psychic abilities than his healing techniques.

Another good book that discusses the Native American prophecies is The Mystery of the Crystal Skulls by Chris Morton and Ceri Louise Thomas. It's not very well-written, but covers a lot of really interesting topics related to the Mayan prophecies and culture. I recommend it for anyone interested in this general subject matter, and I would like to talk about it with some other people!

Geez you can't leave us hanging like that!

Hello all, I have read much on this forum and other sources about the possibilities of negative effects of attempting to cultivate chi without proper methods of instruction. However, I like to meditate daily if for no other reason than to relax. I perform the very limited amount of Tai Chi movements that I know, and so far have had nothing but positive effects from these exercises: increased energy, better mood, and increased concentration. Are there any serious risks to this sort of casual meditation without official instruction? It seems that many people have meditated without any intention of energy cultivation for years and have only benefited from it, but I would still like to ask you all if it is a good idea to continue this way, or if I need to seek a teacher? Thank you!

Very well written, and I have had the same thought process many times. Perhaps Yoda is right about a balance, but then again we might never know unless we try every option. Realizing the futility of trying to change the world is the realization that you aren't trying hard enough. Nobody is blind enough to not realize the problems we have created if presented with the proper argument.

Ah money, it causes more problems than it is worth in my opinion. It seems like we would accomplish a lot more in life if we just paid for services with services of our own.

Taomeow, How can any of us be sure that anyone else has really dreamed the same dream for thousands of years? Perhaps we just dreamed that they have... It all goes back to the question of verifying a consciousness other than your own. I personally have not yet developed a way of doing this, thus I remain open to the possibility that I am imagining everyone and everything else. Mark Twain was a great writer, and he touched on many of the topics that made people uncomfortable in his time. A completely unrelated peice that I enjoyed was "The War Prayer", a short story that I recommend to anyone who likes his style.

I love green and black teas, but after traveling to Argentina a few years ago, I discovered a type of herbal tea called Yerba Mate. It is very good, and apparently has many health benefits. In Argentina and Brazil they drink it several times daily, and this has been connected to the overall good health of the population there. I recommend it to all of you, and if you don't happen to have a chance to visit Argentina I am sure you can buy it online. This website goes more in-depth about it: http://noborders.net/mate/health.html

Vortex, I did not mean to say that there was not necessarily any validity to that aspect, I was merely referring to the fact that it might deter people who may be otherwise interested in this text. As a culture we tend to be more attracted to things with which we are familiar, and aliens are not very widely accepted as a legitimate topic of discussion. I find this tendency to be very closed-minded, and my personal feelings on the issue are that anything is possible. There is just as much speculative evidence to back up the contact with extraterrestrials in ancient civilization as there is to back up many major religions and beliefs. All of these ideas deserve equal attention, but society usually lacks the ability to accept something as abstract as this. In case I have just been rambling and not answering your question, there is nothing wrong with it. It may, however, push people away who do not like to deal with the idea of extraterrestrials and religion in the same sitting. Perhaps it is better that way. Yes, there are several.

What jumped out at me the most while reading through the Talmud of Jmmanuel were the spiritual aspects described and their relations to much of Eastern philosophy. After reading this post, I looked into how widely available this translation is. It seems that in just about every copy of the translation available, the main focus is on the extraterrestrial beings that are mentioned in the text. People care much more about that than the significance of this as the true, unabridged teachings of Jesus. I think the majority of people who may be interested in it would not necessarily be as inclined to read a book with a flying saucer on the cover that talks about the translator's relationship with aliens, as a more legitimate spiritual text. I believe people have focused on the wrong message here. As a stand-alone text with no misleading and interpretive introductions, the Talmud of Jmmanuel is brilliant. I have always been a tentative member of the Christian faith, but certain aspects of the Bible and the Church seem a bit off to me. If this is a legitimate document it would fill in those gaps for me, and probably for many people who feel the same way I do. Having a copy of Jesus' teachings that has been in no way tampered with by the Church or politicians throughout history, like the Bible has, would be amazing. It is that tampering and manipulating that has disillusioned so many people in the past, and this could undo that if people accepted it.

Hi All, I am a high school student, and I have been trying my best to practice meditation and cultivation, but I have had problems finding time to do so with my schedule. I go to a boarding school in southern California (I am from Connecticut however, a bit of a culture shock), and other than between study hours and sleep, in free periods and after sports, we don't have a lot of free time to do things like tai chi or meditation. I know that most of you are adults and might not have been involved in these practices at that point in your life, but I would love to hear any advice you might have about fitting these things into my life better. Also please don't take me as someone who knows very well what they are talking about when it comes to Taoism and qigong and such, I am entirely new to the subject and have no real formal training. My only experience is what I have read and studied (Kosta Danaos' books, the Tao of Meditation, the Tao Te Ching, and a few others). If any of you could give me some advice as to how to pursue this further and make it a larger part of my life, it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

"A war is not won if the defeated enemy has not been turned into a friend." - Erric Hoffer "Justice will only exist where those not affected by injustice are filled with the same amount of indignation as those offended." - Plato "The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter." - Winston Churchill "It is horrifying to think that we have to fight our own government to save the environment." - Ansel Adams "What does education often do? It makes a straight-cut ditch of a free, meandering brook." - Henry David Thoreau

Thanks alot for the advice guys

I never really see any conversation that makes you think as a waste of time; you are thinking about things which you might normally not have, and opening youself to new ideas (your own or others'). The assumption I am making is that I am not completely insane or hallucinating and I have actually experienced these things. I am assuming this is true only because I have learned to believe my experiences more than my teachings, or the latter after I have "proven" it to myself. I wrote this post to try to work towards the fundamental from a specific instance. I would love to hear your input on what exactly is the fundamental question here, as I have been looking for it myself. You can only find the right question after asking many wrong ones.

I noticed this too, and I thought it perfectly exemplified what I was talking about in terms of everything being connected: two discussions one after the other on the same topic, the second completely unaware of the first. Great timing, yeah?

To answer Vortex's question, I never really experience the dreams in terms of choices, or even like I am "living" them in the conscious sense. I see it more like I am watching my life through my own eyes on a tv screen. I am still myself, but I don't control it, I just experience it. I assume that this would imply that my dreams are predestined, and thus I am lead to believe that I was meant to have them. By whom or what I have no idea, but their frequency and accuracy cannot be coincidental. I entirely agree with mbanu on this point. Every action we make creates the fate for ourselves and our descendants. This, however, does not explain the phenomenon of premonition, which could not occur (at least successfully) without some original event being fated to happen. This original event (which differs between belief systems) set into motion every following event, and thus fated us. This would explain how some people (me included) can see events that have yet to occur. What or who fated that event? Was there an origin of everything, which came out of some sort of unfathomable void? Why are we fated to do what we do? Thanks alot for all of your feedback, it has been very helpful.

Hello All, I just joined the Bums and I wanted to give my obligatory introduction. I recently (since last fall) began studying Taoism and Eastern culture in general. I have read several books on the subject, and I can only give credit to a friend I made at my new school for introducing me to it (he showed me this site as well). We try to keep ourselves entertained with philosophical conversations and we found this as a great place for new ones with some like-minded people. I am beginning to meditate on a semi-regular basis, and I have quite a bit to learn in the ways of the Tao. I am hoping this site will be helpful in navigating my way through such a large undertaking, and I look forward to it. If any of you have any advice for someone new it would be greatly appreciated.