Sloppy Zhang

Well perhaps it's not so good to get caught up with the semantics If the outside is also within, then looking inside will tell you what's outside. Conversely, looking outside can lead you to what is inside, since the inside is reflected on the outside. So you can go: Inside: I am inherently distrustful of people, where is this on the outside? Outside: I don't have any friends Or Outside: I don't have any friends- why? Inside: I am inherently distrustful of people Of course, to do this you MUST be able to examine and appraise yourself AND your external environment honestly. As for this: That and what you are doing all depends or your framework or what you are trying to do. For me, it's healthier and more effective in the long run to work WITH things, rather than against them. Acceptance does not automatically lead to allowance. So it's not that you sit there desperately wanting to fuck something, but then tucking it in because you have to try, or are still in the midst of trying, to transcend. It's more like you don't even think of it as a big deal, and you move on with your life.

My concept of enlightenment is that universal realization that you get which lets you get liberated and all that good stuff. Vague, yes. Sure it exists, no. But I find it hard to believe that someone who can escape the bounds of this universe with their realization can be so psychologically, socially, energetically, etc crippled. I don't know if enlightenment or transcendence actually exists. But I do not think that advanced energetic cultivation is enlightenment. I do not think some physical process is enlightenment. I do not think some mental process is enlightenment. I do not think it is anything remotely understandable in those terms. However, that is not to say that I don't think those things aren't good to do for yourself.

Well that depends, again, on your own framework. If you're just working with a universal transfer of energy, it's just the actions and reactions. If you've got a deity who's the Big Man with the Big Plan, and you choose to go against the plan, well you're screwed. Even thought you're just doing what you are designed to do. I agree. Well that also depends on your flavor of Christianity My family was moderately Christian, but for a couple of years I attended Catholic school, so I familiarized myself with most of the apologetics from that denomination. I also have several good friends who are Baptist, and we've had some good conversations in which they've outlined their belief, which have many nuanced differences. Even in Christianity, different denominations and different people have some very different shades to it.

My understanding of correct standing practice is that it uses the natural alignments of your body. The human body really is an amazing, magnificently resilient machine. It can take a lot, because it is meant to deal with a lot. What it CAN'T take is repeated misuse. Many people in modern society are so out of touch with our bodies, that even if we intellectually want to do something (like standing), we might be overriding the natural effectiveness of the body and wind up doing something wrong, hurting us. Internal martial arts and qigong can get REALLY specific in how it uses the alignments of your body. When you are doing standing correctly, you are engaging in every function of your anatomy that is meant to support itself. Your practice strengthens it. It is building upon a good foundation. I highly suggest B.K. Frantzis' book "Opening the Energy Gates of Your Body" to get some really good info on some alignments used in standing. But you've got to be VERY careful, because since most of us are out of touch with our bodies, when we think we are doing something right, we are not. So teachers are helpful in that respect. To do it alone requires you to be extraordinarily diligent. Now some other martial arts and stuff have developed specific postures which are designed to build strength. These do not necessarily use the same body mechanics that other types of standing, and were made to be a "workout" to develop strength and endurance. They are supposed to be hard to do. So watch out for these, because doing these incorrectly can mess you up too!

It depends on what framework you are looking at free will and consequences. If you drink a bunch, and organs start failing, well then that's a consequence. Bodyoflight specifically brought up a Christian story, and I mentioned how, in my opinion, the Christian concepts of free will rub me the wrong way- because you've got an entity which is saying "you can do what you want", but then leans on you for exercising that will. It's a bit different, for me anyway, in the karmic cause and affect, because in the Christian paradigm the universal force has its own agency- it isn't merely cause and affect, it is an entity that is making a conscious choice to do something to you because it personally didn't like your choice.

I'm sure you can message the Creator on facebook, at least.

So you gonna help the rest of us? Or just hoard the wealth?

You should make your own decisions, and not give your power over to others to decide what you are going to do. Like I said, if I was looking at a mountain in the distance, and someone came to me and said "excuse me, do you know where I can find a mountain?" It'd be no problem for me to point and say "I'm looking right at it." Not saying I know the best way to get there. Not saying I know how to climb it. Not saying any of that. I'm just saying that there is a mountain. It's a sign of weakness to clam up every time people start asking questions. You should be strong and confident enough to be out in the open.

I don't know that I would pay someone who didn't actually WANT to teach. Who sat there saying, "I don't want to teach you, but your money is good, and I have to eat, so I guess I'll just pull something out of my ass and teach you." That would be awesome. Not because I think it's necessarily good to try and escape from life, but because it'd mean your experience was so intense.

Everybody has to work on different aspects of themselves in this life. Some people just don't have problems getting laid. Approaching a woman, turning up the heat, going back home, gettin' it on, leaving sometime later. That doesn't mean they are somehow better off- they may be much further behind in other areas than you or anybody else. What worries me, Non, is that you tend to deal in all absolutes, and you have created a system of hierarchies based on just your perspectives, where someone getting laid is better off than someone who isn't, as if that is the measuring stick, the proof that one can connect to another human being. But there are many a sexual relationship, many a marriage, many a friendship, that is hollow. A sham. Everybody has to face their demons, but not everybody has the same demons. The demons you face will be the worst for you, personally. You will say "why is it this? Why can't I fight a dragon, why can't I battle an army, anything would be better than having to face this!" And someone else will look at you and say "why can't I have Non's problems? At least then I could work something out" You will be targeted at YOUR weakest point. You can't act according to the scales of others.

No one asked for teachings... yet you speak of... money so soon? To point a finger costs no.... money. When a passerby asks for directions to a nearby mountain, what kind of of a person refuses to point to the horizon before their very eyes?

Sounds like you are beyond your capacity to teach. I don't know if I would want to pay money to someone who can't even articulate a point to someone who disagrees. Fear not, Twinner, for when the higher sloppy spake the sloppy sutra through the zhang, the zhang started the quest to realization. This occurred in a past thread. It all happens due to the.... higher.. self. Bodyoflight plays no part. Despite what he may... want to think.

Who are the masters... that you hold in such high..... esteem? If someone else does it..... why does.... it mean that you have to? Don't you have.... the power to choose for yourself? A million ways to eat.... you home in one one specific one.... why..?

If all you paid was money..... Then you do not truly understand.... You might..... know, but do you..... embody the teachings? You can copy and paste..... but can you.... write from scratch?

If you have to charge, you are weak. If you lose energy just from talking..... You should increase your shields... How do we know... that you really understand.... the physics behind something? Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm....... This is fun!!

As I mentioned in another thread, all humans are weak. Most animals, even domesticated ones, can run much faster than the average human. We have weak muscles. We cannot fly. We have no natural weapons. We cannot naturally camouflage ourselves. We cannot naturally create a home (I'm thinking of spiders who can make webs to accomplish any number of tasks). We have brains and intellect, but for the most part we can't use them on our own- I have a really good IDEA for how to build a house, but lack the physical capability to build one on my own. Human survival and our ability to thrive thus far (and our ability to screw ourselves over!) has hinged on our ability to help each other and work together. A human that relies on others is not weak, but strong.

The topic came up in another thread, and you dodged it there. It's one thing to be a critic, to analyze how things "should" work on the drawing board, to see how things should work in theory. An actual practitioner (keep in mind this can go for anything- sports, business, martial arts, cultivation, etc) knows that things aren't always how they should be. Plans don't always worked, and the best theory can, for no discernible reason, fail in application. Knowing someone's practice helps to know where they are coming from, what certain aspects of their worldview are, and knowing what life experiences they may have had. I'm not sure what cat was asking for, but for me...... yeah, thanks for posting this.

If you only ever look up, you miss what's below. From Southpark? I love that guy Do you remember that episode about gingers? He started out hating them and wanting to kill them all. Then the other kids turned him into one by applying makeup and coloring his hair when he slept. He then embraced the change, and went on a crusade for ginger superiority I just found that whole episode to be so interesting. Concepts of identity, dealing with change, relating to others, maneuvering through a situation, etc.

It's and interesting notion, but like many other things, I do not think that there is any one hard and fast rule. Different people are going to require different things to grow. There are plenty of toxic relationships out there. Many parents who use their kids to get back at their spouses. Plenty of parents who use their kids to relive their glory days, or push them to do something that the parents themselves weren't able to resolve in their own lives. So in those situations, it'd probably be best to stay away. But in other situations, some people have gone as far as they can on their own. Or they are stuck in their own self destructive cycles. In those situations, someone from outside that cycle has to step in and change it up. Give you a perspective that you've never had before. But I don't think that people are all always one thing or the other for their whole lives in every situation. You might be confident socially, but need time alone to work on your thoughts, but at the same time be really bad at exercise, and need someone else to help you out of your unnecessary habits that you couldn't break out of otherwise.

This is how I treat everything on the internet. What kind of free will is it if you are punished for making certain decisions with your free will? It's like if someone puts a gun to your head and says, "go ahead, say whatever you want about me. But just to let you know, the last person who said something I didn't like got shot..... by me.... with this very gun. But go ahead, I'm not making you do anything." You have the free will to bad mouth the guy, but are going to get shot in the process! I don't consider coercion and threats to complement free will. Though there are those that say getting "shot" is just the consequences that you have to lean to deal with. Thought if the consequences are coming from the entity that gave you the choice, I find it somewhat contradictory to punish someone for doing something you knew full well they may have chosen. But that's a huge tangent. Sorry all.

I agree, that was a really good video. Incredibly well put.

Marken is right, it DOESN'T make ANY sense. As markern has said, for a long time and in many cultures, women who have a lot of sex do not generate a very high opinion for themselves- they are loose, not good women. Fine to play with, but never with any sort of dignity or respect. I think you are confusing some different ideas. In some cultures (I'm thinking very much of the western one here), women are given the attribute of hyper sexuality. Not in the sense that it is "okay" for them to have sex, but in the sense that they are the "weaker" sex- they will succumb to temptation more easily (think eve, the apple, original sin, etc) They can be a little less intelligent as long as they have tho looks to make up for it. They shouldn't have an attitude. But it's not like this is even really a "good" thing. Society is "okay" with it in the sense that that's "just how women work". And it's something a lot of women have spent a lot of time fighting against. Though in SOME situations it can be turned to an advantage, overall I wouldn't say it is "acceptable" in the sense that it is not looked down on for people to do it. Non, I am amazed and saddened at how you routinely display such lopsided thinking! On the one hand you say you just don't care, that you are going to just cultivate, but on the other you speak of how people will judge you and think of you- it's obviously a topic that weighs heavily on your mind. Denial and repression, refusal to acknowledge that part of yourself, will not lead to liberation. You talk about how ridiculous "other people" are, but then you hold yourself to their crazy standards! Each time you take a step forward, you take a step back. There are some good points in your post. But there are also points that are just going to weigh you down. It's why I keep strongly encouraging you to look at your thought patterns and question where they are coming from. Because until you do that, you aren't going to get very far.

Do we have any confirmation that there is ANYTHING out there which can lead someone to immortality? Do we have any confirmation that immortals exist in the first place, regardless of how they got to be that way in the first place? Or is it the type of immortality where you're around, but no one can see you because you're one of those spirit immortals? I appreciate your enthusiasm. But let's think about what's being said. Then again, this isn't the skepticism thread, so.........

Well here is part of the problem- seems like you've had some bad experiences with a couple of women. Feeling a bit inadequate? So everything you do you are not only judging yourself, but you are judging yourself by an impossible, unrealistic, fictitious standard. She probably judges all guys by some ridiculous standards- none of them are fit enough, none of them are rich enough, none of them are nice enough. Just like all guys have probably judged HER all of HER life- not sexy enough, not willing enough, too clingy, etc etc etc. Not only that, but you, her, and everybody else carry that memory with them, blow it out of proportion, and allow those mental shadows to judge everything you do in life which will NEVER be good enough. And so I ask you- WHY???? WHY are you living life for other people? WHY do you carry those people with you LONG after they leave your physical life? WHY do you let these disembodied ghosts judge and control a life that they have no part in? LET THEM GO! Really? Because I'm sure a lot of fuss has been made about how it's the opposite in the world- if a guy fucks a bunch of women, he's a man. If a woman fucks a bunch of guys, she's a whore. Nor do all women. Hugh Hefner is an old guy who most people generally agree is ugly as fuck (even as a young man, he looked like and old man, or so I hear). Yet he enjoys young women. Age don't have nothing to do with it, if your goal in life is to fuck a bunch of bimbos for no reason other than that you can. But you don't want that, you've said so in the past, so why are you still attached to this idea? So start practicing something that will help you resolve these issues NOW, rather than after aeons. Because if you get bogged down in how bad you feel about yourself, enlightenment will never happen, methinks. Plenty of energetic practices don't involve dual cultivation. Consult the quote from Arthur Ashe in my sig. Just because something CAN be the case doesn't mean it will, nor does it mean that you won't get sidetracked and set further back. He's looking at the Scrabble board right in front of him, about to get a triple word score against the wonderfully intelligent woman with whom he is playing. What were YOU thinking of???? (New game idea: what IS Seth looking at???? )