Walker

The Dao Bums
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Content count

    999

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    7

Everything posted by Walker

  1. In northeast China foxes are a major part of folk spirituality. One can even find shrines to fox (as well as, typically, snake and ferret) spirits in Daoist temples. If there are statues they are of human figures (highly cultivated fox immortals can take human form, the lore goes) and the character 狐 is changed to its homonym 胡, which happens to be a common surname. They are often called 仙 instead of 神, but my hunch is that generally speaking that is a term of respect or a usage of the character 仙 that is not meant to denote achievement of anything approaching 神仙-hood or 天仙-hood (in fact, Daoists in that region may say that somebody who performs spiritual feats with the help of fox or ferret spirits "有仙," but that borders on being derogatory, as it implies the person in question is not the b source of their power and may later pay a price for their dabbling, even if they are doing good deeds at v present). Tablets (牌位) seem much more common than statues in these shrines. Often the spirits are ritually compelled to take up residence in the Daoist temple so that they will cease causing trouble for a person or family who might have offended them and therefore has had a spate of bad luck or been haunted. The spirits are converted to Daoism, get to continue their cultivation in a temple environment, and enjoy offerings at their shrines, usually contained in a small hall housing this type of shrine (you would not typically find them in a hall devoted to immortals and major deities). Crucially, they also become protectors of the temple and even their previous victim, who will have made a donation to the temple in order for the Daoists to facilitate this process. If you hike in the mountains off-trail in that part of China you will also regularly come across small caves or holes in rock walls that have been labeled as homes of fox, snake, or ferret spirits, often with a wooden tablet or red paint right on the rock telling you who is honored there. Offerings of liquor, cigarettes, and snacks may be left before the cave or hole. The caves I've seen are so shallow and exposed that they never seem to be likely homes of actual, living animals; rather, they are places for spirit worship and maybe shamanic activity, which is still common in that part of China. I've hiked quite a lot in different parts of China and Taiwan and only seen this stuff up in the northeast. Although fox lore is known everywhere, the people in the northeast take it the most seriously by far (amid people I've met, anyway). Ferret lore is also so common that I've witnessed a 50-year-old woman bouncing around the parlor of a Daoist temple, temporarily possessed by a ferret. Nobody found it strange, but all eyes were on me to see how I'd react! (Spoiler: I was like what the fuuuuuuu... 😂) Given the above, if I had to put money on it, I'd guess the book in question came from Liaoning, Jilin, or Heilongjiang province. Given that heavy Han migration to that region is quite recent, I would guess the scripture dates to the Qing dynasty or later.
  2. You are just staple-gunning your hypotheses onto everything in sight, to the great offence of many people! That's called spamming! The entire theme of the second article I linked to is about how Fred Rogers woke the writer up. The end of the first article shows how he used his spiritual power to do so. Your "barbiturate" analogy is based on nothing but prejudice! I doubt Fred Rogers would have supported colonialism if he lived 500 years ago and the royalty of Europe asked him his opinion about whether or not they ought to go fuck up other lands. However, He did not live 500 years ago, and nobody asked him whether or not to invade other lands and subjugate their people! But he apparently was a man who did the best he could to use the means at his disposal to help lots of people. And he succeeded! Had he just been a Bible-thumping wacko who stuck to his guns and refused to be flexible in any way, he would have been about as influential as you, an alien conspiracy preacher who has convinced not one person of not one thing, reduced others' well-being, disrupted countless attempts at sharing knowledge and energy, and generally managed to leave this miniscule corner of the world worse than it was when he found it. Fred Rogers astutely diagnosed certain illnesses in the world and spent a lifetime crafting and delivering effective medicine. Sorry if he failed to undo 10,000 years of history with his children's TV show, but as your near total lack of tangible accomplishments in life* ought to teach you, Gendao, that it is not that easy to fix the problems of billions of human beings! When you can do just 1% of what he did for the world, come back here and I guarantee you'll get a different reception. In the meantime, please pretty fucking please take your conspiracy mongering and prejudices elsewhere! *You did get your neighbors to switch to recyclable dog poop bags. Kudos and congratulations. We're all holding our breath till the day you and Jeff Goldblum blow up the Annunaki mothership... 🙄
  3. Exactly what I wanted to say if I had time! I have a lot of respect for Silent Thunder but this strategy often does not work in life, and has not been very effective here, either (conversely, Sean taking firm and decisive action in the summer was effective). Speaking of time, I pray for the day we can use ours having actual conversations about Daoism and other topics of interest here, when we do not have to waste precious minutes every day begging agenda-pushing obsessives from flying off into mad tangents every three posts! Everybody, including the body of the Dao Bums, needs an immune system. I'm glad this fever has flared up. I'm glad this fever is in public for all to face and see. May it get rid of the bugs, and not end with the people who have long represented the soul of this place retreating once again. They might not come back--many great cultivators have left this place over the years, not to be seen again. Each time that happens it is a real loss for all curious seekers brought here by a Google link, hoping to find the Dao!
  4. History cannot fit in nutshells! This has nothing whatsoever to do with this thread! Please respect this conversation and take your non-sequiturs elsewhere!
  5. 1. How were you able to judge the socioeconomic status of people from a TV broadcast? It is almost impossible for me to tell if a person wearing their Sunday best for TV is from a ghetto, trailer park, or affluent suburb. Do you think people from poor neighborhoods must be incapable of having harmonious relationships and speaking eloquently? Puh-lease! 2. Per your second point, of course PBS is not perfect, but that tells us little to nothing about the point of this thread! If you want to view the budget for PBS see if you can find it in Google or file an FOIA request... That has nothing to do with this thread! One need not say a single original sentence to have great spiritual cultivation! If you would actually read the two articles that this thread that you are participating in was inspired by you would immediately find out!!! Here is a pasted copy of my concise answer to the question you asked, from page 1 of this thread: In fact, part of the reason I was hoping that people would read those articles I linked to is that the older article concludes with the author's firsthand narration of evidence of Fred Rogers' ample spiritual power. I don't think there was any imagination, hyperbole, or exaggeration at work in that vignette. Rogers was able to trigger what we might call a "heart opening" or "heart chakra opening" in the writer using small-group prayer. I don't think the heart opening was an accident; I think Mr. Rogers knew quite well what he was doing. The second article, written two decades later by the same author, shows how life-changing it can be to meet a person with the kind of compassion and spiritual power Fred Rogers cultivated. It shows that what transpired between two men was no mere flash-in-the-pan episode of "spiritual fireworks."
  6. This is an interesting post. You could have kept silent and ignored this thread, but something motivated you to make suggestions. Although there have been less-than-couth descriptions of the man here and elsewhere, I think the people who have voiced exasperation with Everything (and those with similar posting habits) here actually have motivations quite like the ones that brought you to join the discussion. You might not share their/our goal, but you, too, have a vision of this community that is important enough to you that you submitted your recommendations for others' consideration. In my opinion, turning a blind eye is irresponsible if that which one's eyes have fallen upon appears to be in the process of turning good things to shit.
  7. Prior to a ban, I would prefer flood limits (time between posts), post count limits, and word count limits on guys like him, Void, and others who can't help but ignore repeated entreaties to pipe down and listen to what others are saying. Are there mods here any more?
  8. Congrats on finishing your first novel, and thanks for letting us know. I've enjoyed your posts over the years and also a couple of things you've linked to that you wrote elsewhere, so I will try to get to it one day when I have a bit more time. Bump the thread and remind us now and then, eh!
  9. That is most kind of you. Thank you.
  10. But that is not what I am doing. I am simply trying to facilitate a small discussion focused on the life and times of one Mr. Fred Rogers. If you believe that you can open a portal to people's "own personal source of being," that is wonderful. But it would be very kind of you to do so either in: Your own threads specifically created for the purposes of showing people their source of being Threads where people ask you to point out their source of being Thank you. Edit: Also, in a nod to Taomeow's (temporarily) successful attempt to create focus in her thread that was being continually derailed by Everything, if others share my concerns, please make use of the "report" feature here.
  11. @Everything I have reported your post. Would you please show some respect to the many members of this community who have asked you in so many ways to stop writing these letters to yourself everywhere? Your omnipresence is making it difficult for other people to have simple conversations about topics that interest us. You are, as always, more than welcome to create your own topics about the issues that concern you. Thus, there is no need to barge into discussions willy-nilly to hose them down with non-sequiturs and endless repetition of the same theme of "evermore, eternity, infinity, allow, become, evermore" etc. If you could do this for us, It would mean a lot to me and, I'm quite sure, to several others. You would earn our genuine gratitude. Please also ask yourself whether refusing to honor other people's oft-repeated requests is not in some ways quite aggressive, antisocial, and rude. Thank you in advance for your consideration.
  12. Amen.

  13. How do I get rid of these sensations?

    Walker replied to Tryingtodobetter's topic in General Discussion

    I feel you. I don't think you did the wrong thing. I agree that he seems like a petulant venter, too. Two people close to me killed themselves, both suddenly and without any clear warning--everybody was shocked, especially with the second guy, who had been a radiant source of joy and enthusiasm in the life of everybody he touched, and as he was a generous person, he touched many! Others I have met (and worked with) who sound a lot like Tryingtodobetter strike me as more pitched towards energetic/emotional vampirism. They're suffering, for sure, but they've stumbled into a type of habitual malingering where attention and the stimulation that comes from putting people into a druthers with suicide threats becomes an addiction. That's quite possibly why he returned recently seeking another round of sympathy and care like he got in the (northern hemisphere) summer. Perhaps, because addiction always requires an increase and diversification of dosages, he has added more angry lashing out, since causing fights also creates a thrill and puts the instigator at the center of attention. I tend to think that behavior like this reflects an underlying desire for cheap, easy dopamine and adrenaline hits, and not an underlying desire to truly change. A swift kick in the ass is probably what people in this rut need more than anything else. All that said, I still think it's good to be conservative with calling people's bluff, especially online, where it's all too easy to misread situations. We might be totally wrong about the guy! I have a person in my family who is high functioning autistic and I have heard him go on rants like Tryingtodobetter's many times. In my family we all know that he is, for lack of a better term, retarded (he lived in a slum in a war-torn country till he was four and was severely malnourished and orphaned; whatever genetic predisposition to autism he may have had was severely exacerbated by all of this, putting him at a severe disadvantage in life that no amount of therapy and medication and prayer will likely fully fix). Objectively we realize that it is almost impossible for him to change himself, but this does not make his rants less frustrating. The thing is, he's actually quite eloquent, and were he to show up on a message board, it might not be obvious that he's truly not playing with a full deck. And, as harsh as it may sound to say this, the fact is he is also dumb enough that he might cause himself physical harm if encouraged to do so, even by random online strangers in a web forum (petty arguments he has with his online gaming friends are enough to ruin his mood for a week). And that would be a tragedy, because as frustrating and seemingly senseless as he can be sometimes when he gets to ranting about how he's the worst human being on planet earth and should die, he's still a much-beloved and important human being. Final thought, though... lest it seem like I'm saying that disability or deep psychological torment is an excuse for abusive language, ingratitude, or attempts to start fights, I do not think it is. Even those at a huge disadvantage can and should be reminded to use decorum, gratitude, and circumspection. Anybody capable of tying his shoes is fair game for being firmly told not to be an irascible narcissist, in my books. Wise words.

  14. How do I get rid of these sensations?

    Walker replied to Tryingtodobetter's topic in General Discussion

    I feel that this message comes form the right place (I know you do not wish for the kid to harm himself and, as suicides inevitably do, dozens of people in his family and community). Having been in the martial arts world for a long time, I'm also accustomed to this kind of tough love talk, and obviously--for better or for worse--I used quite a bit myself in this thread. But I think it needs to be said that it's really playing with fire to ever say what you did, lest he hears the exact opposite of what you're hoping he will, and goes and does something truly stupid. The news every day proves that lots of people really do take plunges into all sorts of scary deep ends. Those who are potentially so close to the precipice probably don't benefit from this kind of reverse psychology, I think!
  15. Yeah, that was beautiful and powerful.
  16. I was also surprised to learn that he was ordained, and have no recollection of religious overtones in that show. I have the deepest respect for people who are so fortunate as to draw from the well of spirituality throughout the course of their entire lives, and to be committed to the utmost degree to sharing the waters they are so lucky as to have found, and yet have no requirements whatsoever regarding the shape of the vessels others bring to have water poured into. And yet, at the same time, when it was appropriate for him to do so (i.e., when talking with or writing to fans who shared his Christian faith) he most certainly taught from the standpoint of the Bible. This kind of flexibility, which includes the ability to be totally "formless" at times, is really worth meditating upon. It is indeed one of the places where the difference between having an agenda and truly having a vocation lies. In fact, part of the reason I was hoping that people would read those articles I linked to is that the older article concludes with the author's firsthand narration of evidence of Fred Rogers' ample spiritual power. I don't think there was any imagination, hyperbole, or exaggeration at work in that vignette. Rogers was able to trigger what we might call a "heart opening" or "heart chakra opening" in the writer using small-group prayer. I don't think the heart opening was an accident; I think Mr. Rogers knew quite well what he was doing. The second article, written two decades later by the same author, shows how life-changing it can be to meet a person with the kind of compassion and spiritual power Fred Rogers cultivated. It shows that what transpired between two men was no mere flash-in-the-pan episode of "spiritual fireworks." Of course everybody is free to talk about more or less whatever comes to mind when they hear "Mr. Rogers." But who knows what gifts they might be so lucky as to receive if they were to read the links in the OP and reflect upon them. It might be a pity to miss out on such gifts.
  17. Ok, thank you for your warning and for sharing openly about your own life experience. Your point is well taken. It is always best for people to do their own thinking. The whole point of linking to the articles was to give people food for thought, which they could use to further inform their own thinking. May I suggest you start a new post to talk about your personal experience and your ideas about how to react to situations so that we can keep this thread somewhat more on topic? Although it is interesting to hear about how his TV show did not mean much to you, this thread really won't make any sense to you unless you read those two articles. They are not even really about the TV show, and in fact are very much about a man who had a very painful childhood (not Fred Rogers, but the author of those two pieces). Maybe you would find that you can relate to the author's point of view in some way if you read them.

  18. The scandal of me sitting in full lotus padmasana

    Walker replied to voidisyinyang's topic in General Discussion

    Yo guys, I couldn't believe it... just now I saw an ad on the Atlantic's website for $0.00 business shoes sold by Alibaba.com!! Drew! Nungali! Mak Tin Si! Where are you guys!?! These fucking shoes mean business, and they're hot-damn FREE like it was the last day of school! I swear this is real. I'm just trying to figure out the maximum number of pairs I can order, and whether shipping is going to be five million bucks or not. Can't wait to wear these with my Daoist robes. Gonna be fucking FLY!!!!!
  19. Did you read the articles I linked to in the first post of this thread? What did you think of them?

  20. The scandal of me sitting in full lotus padmasana

    Walker replied to voidisyinyang's topic in General Discussion

  21. I read this too quickly today, and I was all like, "[expletive expletive expletive], is one of these clowns actually pushing a conspiracy theory that [expletive] shoe fetishes were invented by the CIA and then pushed on the world via Mr. Rogers [expletive] admittedly sexy feet???" Hours later it popped into my head that that was an ilumairen post, and I thought, naahhhh, she's not that QAnon, right? Then I thought it must have been a hilarious joke I hadn't noticed. Then I came back and realized that I had just sorta Freudian slipped my way into that misunderstanding there... meaning... THE CIA WON AFTER ALL! THAT EXPLAINS THOSE DREAMS ABOUT SEAN'S SEQUINNED SHOES! YOU'LL RUE THE DAY I CATCH UP WITH YOU, VONKRANKENHAUS! Also, that was a nice link, ilumairen. Can't believe he answered very letter.
  22. If you were a CIA agent you would not admit the factual truity of my observation. In denying the factorial trualisticality of my inference, you suggest there is not a conspiracy on the DARPA-controlled internet to keep Agent Vonkrankenhaus' secret identity a counterfactual subtersecret. Ergo: Vonkrankenhaus, IF zat ees his real name, is a High Ranking Deep State CIA operative. The CIA controls everything. The CIA keeps secrets. The CIA filled the internet with claims that it runs PBS, unsecrefying the secret. Therefore the CIA cannot run pbs. Conclusion: The CIA probably DOES run PBS. Question: Is it down with OPP? (Yeah you know me) I am indeed upset that the Men in Black wanted me to be kind and neighborly. How dare they? Or should I say, how dare YOU, Von-If-That-Is-Your-Real-Haus?!
  23. Lol... My, you were a precocious child! The internet was not not set up to entertain people or give them presents. It has been built as an agent of influence, period (the period is the best part, because it's a just this teeny-weeny widdle-diddle dot, but it magically allows you to explain how millions and millions of people actually have no personal agency whatsoever and how there is no diversity of motivations and outcomes in a ginormous human effort spanning generations whatsoever, period). Ergo Vonkrankenhaus is a CIA agent. Ergo The Dao Bums exists to keep us all busy instead of cleaning our bedrooms. Ergo Sean is J Edgar Hoover incarnate, which explains why I keep having recurring dreams of him riding roughshod over my civil rights in fabulous red sequined pumps. At least, I think that explains my dream... IF that is your name, Herr Agent Special Secret Field Officer Von Krankyhouse

  24. How do I get rid of these sensations?

    Walker replied to Tryingtodobetter's topic in General Discussion

    Sigh. You just want games. I'm blocking you. No games.

  25. How do I get rid of these sensations?

    Walker replied to Tryingtodobetter's topic in General Discussion

    You just wrote a very long and eloquent post, belying the notion that you can do anything because of your legs. If you can write that post, evidently you're neither writhing in physical agony nor in a stupor or raving mad. Therefore, you can also use the body and mind that just typed all of those paragraphs to go out into the real world and get professional help. You may need to try all kinds of biological and psychiatric medicine, alternative therapies, or even interventions such as shamanism or an exorcism if the cause actually is supernatural. So: GO! People here cannot solve the specifics of your problem because they are 1000s of kilometers away, and because you got unlucky and you have a tricky problem that even experienced professionals who can see you in person will have trouble diagnosing and treating. So: Stop asking for what CANNOT be found here. YOU and you alone have to go out into the world and choose life, which involves huge dosages of setbacks, ups and downs, suffering, confusion, mystery, and so on. Healing IS possible but you've already gotten ALL the sound advice that can be given to you here, and most of it you've ignored.