Sloppy Zhang

You want some more synchronicity? I'm nineteen right now

Hmm, that's interesting. I've heard a lot about the Screwtape Letters but never got around to reading them. That one was an interesting read. Also, don't bother about your forum name, I don't really care about someone's forum name, as it's just an identifier. It points to the person speaking, and doesn't necessarily represent them totally. As for the subject matter, it's incredibly ironic, because in my experience using logic (argument) actually DOESN'T work in favor of Christians. As soon as you start pointing out things that aren't logical, things that contradict other things, and such inconsistencies, Christians get all up in arms and suddenly the conversation goes right out the window. And, if your argument is especially strong, and you are able to support your side of the argument with quotations from the Bible, they get REALLY angry and accuse you of twisting the words of the Bible for your own fiendish purposes. So, I must disagree with C.S. Lewis. The fastest way to turn someone off of Christianity is to use logic, to use argument, because the vast majority of Christians (not ALL Christians, I've met some very good, and very nice, Christian apologists) can't even defend their faith. And, as a disclaimer, I'm not anti-Christian. I really like Christianity, there's a lot of good stuff. What I am against is people who follow dogma blindly, and they can subscribe to any faith (or lack thereof). If you have truly done study and self reflection and come to your answer, great, fine and dandy, but if you're just along for the ride, and WORSE, bugging people because of THEIR faith, when you yourself have no strong basis in your own faith..... just not cool.

Because somebody decided that B looks kind of like glasses so if you put it next to a ) which looks like a smiley face it looks kinda like which I guess goes to show you that in life you always need to keep your B's from your.... uh.... parenthesis?

Keep at it- Rome wasn't built in a day. On some days you're going to feel like you're on top of the world, that you hold the keys to the universe, and that anything is possible. On other days, you're going to realize how far you are from everything, you realize how far the road stretches out before you, and you wonder if you're ever going to get there at all. Just keep doing what you are doing. Look for the man behind the curtain- throw out the dogma, don't just follow the rules just because they are there, try to find out WHY they are there. See the building blocks of the material. To this end, learn about other systems, listen to other teachers that are out there. You don't necessarily have to incorporate everything that everyone teaches into your own practice, there's just not enough time, but sometimes learning of a different practice can help shine light on your own. They're all going to the same place, and sometimes another system can reveal a lot behind your own practice. It's not about the practice, that's the curtain, it's about the deeper meaning. Always look to see the deeper meaning. Then you realize we're all doing the same thing, no matter what system/religion we're in. *insert something profound*

Interesting insights Ramon25. As for the overall goal of magick, well, the goal of "high magick" anyway is to realize God, unite with God, be one with the big plan and move in such a way that you help God's plan/framework/whatever come about.... so it sounds very familiar with uniting with the Tao and all that. Hm, that's definately something to think about, thanks very much Kate I understand the analogy, thanks Also, I think it was Aleister Crowley who started the whole "magic" with a "k" thing. Though I don't really agree with all that Crowley said or did, I think the spelling is handy. Basically it separates stage magic (just a c) with "real" magick (with a k) that is actually about spiritual development and all that. Just wanted to say thanks to everyone in this thread so far, you've all given me a lot to think about

I was thinking more like Franz Bardon but I guess them too Hmm, that's deep. Gonna have to think about that. Thanks

As real as you want it to be

I'm not familiar with it, please share

I don't "control" my emotions per se.... I just try and see them for what they are. The first time I really noticed myself doing it was when I was playing this game of dodgeball. Some dude threw a ball at my legs, and I was already out, then this other guy ran right up to the line (just two or three feet away) and threw a ball right into my eye. Sufficed to say, I got pretty pissed. I was thinking that if I saw that guy I would beat the snot out of him and all kinds of good stuff, but then I realized that I was getting really pissed, I mentally took a step back and observed what was happening to me. My mind was getting crazy, my body started tensing. And for what? It's not like I was going to beat the crap out of that dude, potentially start a huge fight, then get myself thrown out of school. It's not like the guy who threw the ball at me cared, he was just being a jerk and after 2 mins of observation it was clear he was like that to everyone, so it's not like he was losing any sleep over the incident. So I just let it go and was good and happy

I've actually given a lot of thought to this, especially recently. When I was in high school my parents said, "work hard so you can get into a good college, then in college you can take the courses that appeal to you, you can pursue a career that you want. Just buckle down now and you can get to what you want later." Now I'm in college and everyone's like, "work hard in college so you can land a good job. Sure, you might not like all the courses you have to take, but it will be better once you land a secure job. Just buckle down now and put off what you want to do for later." Then my parents have started talking about marriage, and how I could get a job and get settled. And I'm thinking: when is it going to end? I mean, I get out of college, get a "secure" job, then get married and have a kid, well, I'm gonna have to devote time raising my kid, I'm not the kind of person to just abandon a kid and do my own thing, then the kid's going to have needs, is going to be in college.... it just seems like it's just one thing after another. I may be exagerrating it a bit because I'm young, but this is the first major time in my life when I'm looking down the beaten path and wondering how I'm going to not end up just like everyone else. And I'm also talking to people in their 40's and 50's who said that when they started their "secure" jobs, they didn't have much time to do what was important to THEM, and it was only when they quit going down the "beaten path" that life really opened up for them. So, I dunno. If it happens it happens I guess, you know, if I fall in love and we get married and I have a kid, well you know it'll be that. But I definitely wouldn't want to do that because that's what you're "supposed" to do.

Thanks for this Pietro! Haven't met the many myself, but I do have his books and they are great.

I'd say in that situation it's because that person doesn't have a strong enough willpower to make decisions on their own. In that example they're not much different than people who blindly follow what the church or government or their parents tell them to do Society says it's not right to twist the heads off of cockroaches and eat them, so someone doesn't. An evil spirit tells someone to twist the heads off of cockroaches and eat them, so someone does. Neither of them are thinking about the actions, they're just doing what they are told. Of course, maybe each of those people NEED that direction because they're not at the point in their development when they can make their own decisions. But maybe later down the road they will take that experience into account when making their own opinions. Then again, it's so dangerous that there are SO many people out there, and the ONLY reason they do "good" is because they are TOLD to. What happens when someone gets in power and tells them to do BAD? We can't just look at the result (good actions because of what society says).

Yes Lost is awesome That was very insightful! I also believe that you really have to examine and really think about things for yourself, rather than just following orders, and to be honest that takes a lifetime of effort and it also means that no one can answer what is right or wrong besides yourself.

Before you get all sad be sure you research all the facts.... YOURSELF. The problem is that there AREN'T a lot of facts. There's a piece here, and a piece there. The rest is how you consruct the story. You can construct the story in a pro Hatsumi way or in an anti Hatsumi way. Also, study Japanese history. For instance, let's assume Hatsumi's lineage is authentic, and Hatsumi's teacher Takamatsu DID study with someone who instructed members of the Shogunate. Many members of the Shogunate were targeted and assassinated during the time of Takamatsu's teacher. It would have been quite reasonable for Takamatsu's teacher to hide what he was teaching, and probably told Takamatsu "if anyone asks you learned Judo." This can't explain everything, it's just an example. The anti-Hatsumi people are just as fanatic is as the pro-Hatsumi people. But when you look at the FACTS, you realize there's not a lot of them. Then throw in Japan's history of war, strife, bombings, fires, killings..... it's just crazy. Though rumor has it Kacem Zoughari has found some stuff (namely the grave of Takamatsu's teacher). But until his book comes out we won't know how much info he's found. And we still run into the problem of piecing the facts together. Anyone can make a few stray dots connect into whatever shape they want.

Just wanted to give a thumbs up to Pietro for the very insightful posts.

You could have found some pictures of some better looking kids... I mean just 'cause they're dressed as cheerleaders doesn't mean they're automatically ho- That's disgusting how could you even think such a thing........ But no really I'm not into kids.

Of course that could also be explained by the fact that, since you are thinking about that certain subject, you become more aware of that subject in your life, even if the number of occurances doesn't change. It's just that you perceive them more often. Not to rain on your parade..... But my opinions on synchronicity are still the same

I try to keep the taoist stuff on the down low as much as possible Most people who find out I do meditation or stuff think I'm some kind of closet hippie

Yup, that pretty much sums up my view of it. Make that 4 cents

Oh boy.... the Bujinkan.... can I say this in such a way that I WON'T get sucked into a never ending debate? The Bujinkan marketing is misleading. Sites like koryu.com says that Bujinkan is NOT ninjutsu or ninjas and stuff like that, and it appears to totally discredit the Bujinkan... but that's not entirely true. The Bujinkan is made up of 9 lineages, only THREE of which are supposedly "ninjutsu" (or contain ninjutsu techniques). The rest of them are more or less some form of jujutsu that was used by various families and which, over several generations, got funneled down to one man, Hatsumi (well.... there are other people that studied with Hatsumi's teacher and inherited some stuff, and there's some debate over whether Hatsumi is the sole inheritor, or what of those 6 arts are valid and whether they are compilations of Hatsumi's teacher). Two of the 6 jujutsu ryu are traceable and verifiably legitimate historically. The other 4 have known names (so if you go back and look at records you can see the name of that style), but it is unclear if it is legitimately that style, or if it was a new style that was just given that name to sound credible. On to the efficacy issue.... depends on the fighter. Hatsumi has himself admitted in several books that as the Bujinkan grew training became less strenuous. The people who trained in the Bujinkan back when it was founded trained hard and they could really do some serious stuff. There are some people that even accuse Hatsumi of already having picked several top students to which he would pass on and reveal his true skills, and the rest he'd more or less string along for the money, teaching a few techniques but not really pushing any students beyond a chosen few to the limits of what they could do. So, opinions vary on Hatsumi's credibility, his moral character, business ethics, marketing strategies, effectiveness of the style, and naturally theories abound on what exactly, if anything, Hatsumi learned from his teacher, whether it was really ninjutsu, maybe Hatsumi's teacher was just a genius at martial arts, slapped some well known ninjutsu names on his ryu ha, then Hatsumi publicized that like crazy. Who knows? On historical legitimacy: a few styles are legit, a few styles are questionable but have known names, and the rest are unknown, and Hatsumi has refused to show some stuff that could prove legitimacy, doesn't mean he doesn't have it, he just won't show it (though the book by Kacem Zoughari is supposed to have some good info to prove legitimacy, and I eagerly await the release of his book) On effectiveness: depends on the practitioner and how much they really push their training. Training from school to school can be different, but one thing is clear: the Bujinkan as an organization won't push you to really "earn" your rank, you push yourself.

I'm pretty sure that somewhere in one of B.K. Frantzis' books he mentions that the methods taught can be done sitting, standing, lying down, etc. Whenever and wherever you are. I think he also mentions sick people and those injured who are stuck in bed who can also do the methods. I also think there are methods of meditation and qigong that are specific to lying down, so I think that lying down would be great if you can do it and not fall asleep. I think that some people have mentioned not doing anything when lying down because it prevents flow in one of the channels? But I don't know if that's fact or just what people have passed on.

From my point of view, and in my experience, don't fight it. Fighting it, or trying to "control" the urge creates tension, either physically or mentally, and tension creates blockages. Yes, doing exercise, eating right, being a busy person in general, can lesson your desire to masturbate or to have sex or whatever else may cause you to ejaculate. But ideally you reach a state of "wu wei" with the issue (isn't that the goal for life in general too? Hmm... connection? ) You don't ejaculate and it's not an issue. And there are plenty of times in which you just don't even feel the need to. So, if you get the urge, do it. If you slightly get the urge, do it. Eventually you'll reach a point where you realize that all the stuff you've been shooting off isn't really helping you. You won't have to FORCE yourself to FIGHT the urge. You won't even have the urge to begin with. That's just my experience.

One of the things that I realized pretty early on (which saved me a lot of headaches... .though I DO give myself headaches pondering OTHER things.... anyway) was there there's just no way to rationalize it. You can't say, "well this says this and that means that therefore this has to be this way. Even though I can't experience it that way just yet, this is what it must be and it's what I will experience once I reach a high enough level." Then tailor your practice and expecting to arrive at the same thing you rationalized. First of all, you shouldn't put those expectations on your practice. When that happens you're just trying to force an abstract concept into some little box, and then you might miss out on awesome thing that might be outside your box, however open you think your box might be. Not to mention, when you don't have expectations, you can never be disappointed! (that was the slacker in me talking ) Instead of expectations, try having "aspirations". Whatever the truth/answer/reality/etc may be, "aspire" to find out what it is. It doesn't matter if you find it or not, because then you'll never fail your expectation. If it happens great, if not, oh well. Well maybe "aspire" may be too strong a word as well.... And second, if you can rationally arrive at some answer (and by rationally I mean using your brain to think things through), then the intellectuals of the world would have arrived at the truth centuries ago. It's painfully obvious that you can't find the answer that way, and it can be painful because you read about all the philosophers and how they can't explain things, painful because you spend a lifetime studying physics only to see all the rules break apart when it comes to black holes or some complicated quantum theory, or because you yourself try to sit and figure it all out in your head and it just gives you a headache. Just let it all go, do whatever practice is in line with you.

Go ahead and do it. If the people behind you try to tell you to stop, tell them that trying to fight it is causing resistance and tension within their own practice, and if they hope to ever become good at qigong, they need to quit trying to fight against your farts and just accept it.

See here's the only thing with the law of attraction: What about the free will of the person you are attracting? Maybe that person has their own life ahead of them and it's going great, but then you come along with your law of attracting. Who knows what that person is now NOT going to do in their lives. Were they always meant to be with you? Or did you just throw a monkey wrench into the universe? Most people have no way of knowing what effect their actions will have until it's too late. My advice is to not have anything to do with this law of attraction business unless you understand perfectly how the universe works, which includes, but is not limited to, fate vs. free will, human emotions, cause and effect, how decisions are made, and love vs. lust in general. Otherwise you may realize what a mistake you've made, wonder what effects it will have on your life, and more importantly, THEIR life, not to mention life in general, then spend the rest of your life trying to make up for the mistakes of your youth.