Sloppy Zhang

Believing in a kind of alchemy, transformation, or what have you, is one thing. Believing someone has it, or believing that a method can bring it about, is entirely different.

[sarcasm] Your practices have given you great insight and wisdom into the workings of other people and methods. [/sarcasm] It'd be a good critique if you weren't acting so full of yourself about half the time.

Defensive? No. Standard response from spiritual groups? Yes. Don't forget this one (another Dillman protege):

There's a lot of opposition to alien visitations and big foot..... so we can trust that they're true, right? Otherwise people wouldn't be against them, right? Yeah.... no. Actually, it isn't, it'd be with Max's camp. The burden of proof lies with the people making the claims. So it's up to Max to prove that he has DNA anomalies. It's up to Max to prove that a certain set of photos are genuine. It's up to Max to prove that he can move people around with energy. And so on and so forth. It is not, say, Ralis' burden, to go around and prove that Max does NOT have DNA abnormalities, that the photos are or are not genuine, that he can't move people around with energy, etc etc. If it went by that, anyone could claim anything, and it would take FOREVER to validate anything, because each person would have to laboriously go through every process just to see whether or not something worked, when it'd be infinitely more practical for the person who claims that something does work, to just show some proof. But of course, the spiritual community has come up with some very nice rhetoric for why that can't be the case. Such as by saying that it's the nature of the lower self/ego to doubt, to criticize, and things like that. By having nice little sayings that go something like, "only the ones ready to hear can hear the footsteps of a master" and things like that. Basically, it all translates to: if you ask questions, you're a bad student and won't achieve anything. And who wants to be a bad student? Not many. So most people shut up, and just listen to whatever a master has to say.

Well it's one thing if you're talking about being open, having a positive attitude, being energized, and all that stuff. It's different if you're talking about extra strands of DNA, and all that stuff. One thing is perfectly within the realm of experience and feasibility. One is something that would require specific documentation. Of course, there's a reason why there isn't documentation. So I guess you're just left to wonder..... Just don't be surprised when people just don't accept it as the truth.

While in general I would agree, I think it's very important that we don't just abandon our critical faculty because, "oh noes, looking at something critically and being skeptical is an act of the ego! We should cast aside our egos and be accepting of everybody!" Sounds nice in theory, but in practice that just leaves everyone open for all kind of potential frauds. Many a spiritual guru has come forward with many a claim which could easily be validated by even a handful of thorough experiments. But many a spiritual guru has managed to make a career without ever really having to prove even a shred of what they say. A legitimate person with a legitimate practice should not be afraid of critics and skeptics. Their actions and truth should speak for them.

I take walks all the time. Occasionally I run into someone I know. They say, "what are you doing out here?" I go, "oh, you know, just chillin', walking around." They're like, "just walking?" And I'm like, "yeah." And they go "huh..." And I say, "so how are you doing?" and the conversation goes on from there...... If it doesn't bother you, it won't bother people too much. If you seem all self conscious, defensive, or nervous, they'll think something weird is up, and that you're an unstable person to be around.

You keep saying this, but you never quite say what real cultivation is.... So you tried it early on in your career, and it didn't work, so you think it won't work for everyone? You think maybe part of your failure in his system was your inability to understand it? Maybe you should look at some of your preconceived notions. Not everyone is going to have the same experiences as you. Just because it doesn't work for you, doesn't mean it won't work for someone else. And vice versa. You're free to guess as much as you want. Haha, you need to calm down. The only one who looks stupid here is you. You obviously failed to understand what I meant. Allow me to explain- So far you have continued to bash Robert Bruce without ever providing a solution, perhaps because you don't have one. The way you could "prove me wrong" is by providing a valid alternative to Robert Bruce's material. Is this another one of your guesses? Or is this you generalizing your experiences to everyone again? Hmmm... And you say Robert Bruce is new agey Pick up a dozen new age books, and you'll see that written a dozen different times. Is knowing the right answer, but for the wrong reasons, still the right answer? Hmm.... For some people this might be the methods of Robert Bruce. Perhaps not for you, though. That made me lol.

And just because it didn't work out for you, it means it won't work for somebody else? Maybe instead of just going after somebody, you could spend your time, oh, I dunno, actually suggesting an alternative practice? Maybe you can discuss some pros and cons about it? Oh, but for that, you'd actually have to be familiar with the methods and goals of Robert Bruce's methods, and it doesn't sound like you are. What's that thing they teach you in business school, if you don't have a viable alternative, a solution to the problem, don't complain? I hear a whole lot of complaining from you about Robert Bruce, but have yet to hear any solution. Hmm. Care to prove me wrong?

The reason it seems hopeless is because you are in a rut, and various aspects of cognitive bias are feeding your conviction that you're in a rut and that you won't change. It's also easy to get in a rut when you look at things too abstractly. If you break things down into doable steps, then things are doable. You aren't depressed and things don't seem hopeless. All you have to do is put one foot in front of another. So here are some steps: 1) Make an assessment of your life. Your habits. Your schedule. The people you hang out with. Your hobbies. Etc. 2) What about these do you like? What about these do you not like? 3) What are your long term goals? 4) How do you get to those long term goals? a. What activities do you need to do to start those goals? b. Who can you contact/meet with to start along the path to those goals? And things of that nature. For instance, you mentioned how to be successful you have to be cutthroat and hurt people. But that's not always the case, there are lots of non-profit groups that work various humanitarian projects in order to help people. Lots of very caring people are involved in those. You could search for local non-profit groups, find ones that pique your interest, then contact ones to see how you can volunteer to help out. Along the way you'll get experience which could help you get other work (non-profit or otherwise), and you'll probably meet a lot of people who share some of the same goals. On top of that, it'll get you out and about. You'll start to feel better about yourself because you know that you can start helping and you can do stuff.

Who's marketing? I am merely advocating for a balance of information. You have gone after Robert Bruce a couple of times in the past. I would hate for a newbie to come across your post and think that was the definitive review of Robert Bruce's method. I just wanted to let other readers know that there are other people who have practice Robert Bruce's method, and find it a fulfilling experience.

If you want some personal testimonies, go check out his forum.

So join a volunteer organization if you really care so much. Plenty of nice women work with volunteer and non-profit organizations. Seems like a great way to make a change in a positive way, not work within the confines of a method that you don't really like, AND meet like minded people, all at the same time!

I'm a product of the public school system. And one thing they teach you in school is to change up your writing so you aren't using the same words over and over and over and over again. When I said "some females like yin guys", that was meant as, "some females like to have yin guys as partners". I followed that up with "some yin females actually want a yang guy", meaning, "in opposition to the females who want a yin guy, some actually DO want a yang guy, it just depends." Don't read too much into it- that's your cognitive bias at work. Now I'll ask again: what's your work life like? What is your living situation? Who do you hang out with? How do you spend your free time? No judgment here, you just gotta know where you're starting from if you want to figure out where you want to go, and how you want to get there.

Well if you remember back to the days of all the wild kunlun threads out there, it came out that Max himself wasn't always responsible for (or, in some cases, even aware of) some of the marketing strategies that went on, what was said, and how it was said. So maybe Robert Bruce has really gone off his rocker. Maybe he hasn't. Since we don't know, we don't know. But it's a fact that someone else is in charge of the "business aspects" as Robert Bruce has put it, and that might very well mean the marketing. And it's very possible that Robert Bruce doesn't micromanage everything, or personally approve everything that gets sent out. These aren't excuses, they are a reality of business. And until someone makes a tell all about how Robert Bruce runs his business, then there is no way to know for sure either way, and we should all keep that in mind.

I think Little1 made a thread about that... As to your post specifically, I'll repeat what I said in the other thread: there is always yang within yin. You may be a yin person, but there are still yang aspects to you. I guarantee it. I've known plenty of guys who were seen as introverts, and who saw themselves as introverts, but they had some pretty darn yang aspects to them! Sometimes they aren't recognized because they don't always take the form of what society generally expect as "yang", but the qualities are most certainly "yang", and once they learned to see what's what, they had no problems with the self confidence, and learning to bring that yang to other aspects of life. As to the whole, yang female thing, well again I am going to repeat what I said in the other thread. People just want to find someone who will love and accept them. To do this, they need to open up a little bit. But all too often, when people do that, they get hurt. So in order to cover this up, and make themselves feel better, they wind up hurting other people. They don't get too attached because they don't want to get hurt, and they break attachments because they want to feel in control (as opposed to the situation in which they had no control as the victim), which only makes another victim which goes on to do the same thing, and the cycle continues. Deep down they still feel a problem, they may still feel agitated at life. But they may not recognize/admit this, and the cycle continues. It's important to recognize the cycle for what it is, and to recognize when people are just acting things out based on their past experiences, when they are acting in a reactionary manner to past trauma. Recognize that it's not always them, or their fault. Now the whole yang female.... well what is a yang female? There are tons of different types of yin and yang males and females, it's almost impossible to quantify! Some women are very confident in their sexuality. They know they are sexy and they will use it. Sometimes this will mean getting sex, sometimes this means getting guys to do things for them, with no sex involved. But then the guy think, "hey this hot chick was so totally into me" and so there's an ego boost all around. Sometimes these women will actively pursue a guy. Sometimes they seek a guy who is more yang then them, and who will take control of the relationship (perhaps it's a situation in which she wants to feel like a woman, but wants to establish her strength first, so as not to seem too vulnerable or too much like a potential victim). Sometimes they'll pursue a guy and then control the relationship. Then there are plenty of other girls who are very shy and quiet and overall introverted. Not like those other types of women at all. So really, it all depends on who you hang out with, and what your experiences are. There are plenty of yin females who like yin guys. Some yin females actually want a yang guy. Some yang females want yang guys who are so yang that the female is yin by comparison. Some yang females want a guy but still want to keep their roles. There are no absolutes!!!! Which is why I have kept asking you: what is your living situation like right now? Where do you work? What places do you frequent? Who do you hang out with?

There is always yang within yin, and yin within yang. It's just a matter of recognizing it, and using it when the time is right. Exactly, which is why I think it is silly that you keep on bringing up all these biological arguments and stuff like that- it's not the way you want to live your life, those aren't the standards that you want to set for your life, so your insistence on relying on them to support your argument is silly and self sabotaging. I completely agree. You need to get into some situations in which you can interact with people of similar interests, but are different in just enough ways that will help you see different aspects of life, to pull you out of the rut you seem to be in. So where, if at all, do you work? Are you in school or job training? Who do you live with? Once you get some kind of a baseline (your current situation), you can start thinking of ways to make a change. These have to be practical and tangible. So to start with, you have to create an honest assessment of where you are at currently. Don't judge yourself. Where you are isn't what's important, because you aren't going to be there forever.

This all depends entirely on who you are hanging out with. There are lots of guys who just want to establish their dominance. They are very annoying to be around. Because everything you say or do is a perceived threat. It's always just looking for a new chance to escalate the fighting, the conflict, to establish dominance, and everything. People like that just can't take a break from anything. It's tiresome and annoying. And guess what? There are even women who dislike that behavior. You need to find a group of people who don't behave like that. Where do you work, if at all? Where do you go to school, if at all? Who do you live with, if at all?

Non, you're looking at it from a very skewed perspective. The biological numbers game is a very non-humanist way of looking at the situation. I'll say this once again: if you look at it from that perspective, then if you aren't already having children by the time you can physically reproduce (young teenage years), then you are already behind the curve. And then after you have made a certain amount of children, you can just go ahead and die. Is that really the type of life you want to live? It seems like you are cherry picking data when it supports your own conclusion. This is exactly the type of cognitive bias which can lead to depression and types of warped thinking (which can feed depression). It's a clear sign that you aren't thinking straight. Because on one hand you talk about spirituality and growing spiritually and becoming a better person, but then you turn around and talk about all this biological evolution and stuff- so what is it you want? To succeed biologically? If that's the case, go knock some girl up. And there you go. You've had a kid, and there's no more any purpose to your life. But do you really believe that way, Non? Do you really believe the only reason we're here is to reproduce? I think do to your family situation and the unique way you view biology, you have come up with some interesting thoughts, which don't hold up if you just increase the breadth of your experience. So I'll ask you again: what do you do? Where do you work? Are you undergoing some sort of education/job training? Who do you hang out with? Do you do any of this stuff? Who do you live with? Alone, with roommates, family? Because it sounds like you really need to change things up. You are in a rut, and it is not helping you at all.

Seems to me like you're just generalizing based on whatever you see of your family. Though generally I'd say that you shouldn't really be dependent on others to look at how you need to live your life, perhaps you should try and find some better male role models. What is it that you do, Non? What your job, where do you live, who do you hang out with, etc? It seems to me like you need a change of pace. You gotta seriously change up the routine of your life, because it seems to me like you are in a rut. Hang out with different people, find some new hobbies, try to get a different job. Take a risk and move significantly out of your comfort zone. Let go of preconceived notions. Don't psyche yourself out of doing something before you even get a chance to do it. When you meet someone new, forget about everything you know about people, and just get to know THEM. Don't be like, "oh this person won't like me" or "I'm sure I won't relate to this person", because you are going to sabotage yourself by creating a self fulfilling prophecy. You just gotta change something up with your life.

First of all, you seriously need to get some professional help. Second, I was reading this article yesterday, interesting quote from it: Third, some women want men to be men, and women to be women. They want someone who they can trust, and they can let go of themselves. They aren't asking to be raped. They aren't asking to be abused. They just want to be FEMININE. They want to be able to let their guard down, and have someone who will love them. Unfortunately many people are taken advantage of this way, so even if they may ACT feminine, they might really have a guard up. As an aside, I find that this happens to men too. Despite wanting/having to play the role of a tough guy, many guys just want someone who they can let down their guard around. But there are lots of women out there who have a wall up, or who go on the attack so they can feel even after something somebody did to them a long time ago. As a result, people just keep playing the same roles over again- criminal and victim. You are the victim of a criminal, so you become a criminal to someone else, who becomes a victim, and becomes a criminal who violates someone else. Personal introspection and awareness of yourself and others is important in learning to recognizing when you AND other people are acting out these roles. It's not that women are all inherently aching to be raped. It's not that men are all inherently aching to rape. But so often these people adopt these roles based on society, and it's crucial you learn to differentiate between the people and the roles they assume. If you can't figure this out on your own, perhaps a professional can help you. Well if you believe that God is infinite and everywhere, then you are already one with God right now. God is all around you. It's just a matter of whether or not you can become aware of that fact right now. Furthermore, committing suicide right now is no guarantee you'll end up in a better place- it's very likely that all the negative energy and thoughts surrounding you could actually weigh you down, and get you to a spot that is worse off than you are in now. Interestingly, B.K. Frantzis writes in one of his books about the ego, and how the ego will do anything to keep itself alive. And that includes leading you to die or commit suicide. Why? If you die or commit suicide, you'll just reincarnate and still have an ego. But if you stay alive, and keep cultivating, the ego will die. The ego will preserve itself no matter what. And if you get in the way of its survival, it will turn on YOU. So either way you choose to look at it, suicide leads you nowhere.

There was actually a video in which the guy in charge of the marketing/business side was talking. My guess is that it's mostly his ideas, and not Robert Bruce's. I don't like the marketing approach to this either. But I also think it's quite possible that Robert Bruce just found some guy who looked hip, young, and had some kind of a marketing background degree or something, and let him do what he thought was best.... At least I'm hoping that's the case.

Not to say that this diminishes or invalidates his knowledge/understanding of the Kabbalah and the value it can give, just that... well, you know.

Some people really DO offer never before revealed practices, or offer practices that can and are only taught in person. Wang Liping comes to mind- a lot has been written about the practices (like in the book on him), but not many of the practices are ever revealed. To do that you'd have to pay quite a bit of money to head on over to China or wherever a seminar/retreat is being held. But for Robert Bruce specifically, I think it's kind of different. A LOT has been written on the practices. They've been described in detail quite publicly. If you do the practices, you can reach a spot where you can find the stuff that Robert Bruce teaches on your own. If you want someone to fulfill the role of teacher, and help you through problems, there's a forum for that, and a pretty darn good one, I think. Now if you aren't practicing, sure, you can spend however much money you want on something new which you think will either make you practice, or make your practice better.... but you have to practice eventually, or you won't get anything. And once you get to a certain point in the practice, the money isn't going to help you- you're gonna be the only one who can help yourself. So again I just question what exactly is so great in this program and packages that he's putting out. Because if you just practice what's out there, you can get it for yourself. And if you don't practice, then no amount of money is going to make up for your lack of practice, and you're just paying to hear something which, for you, is only going to be little more than a fictional story, as without the practice you'll never get it yourself. Which is why I think for some people (the kinds who don't practice seriously), it's more about paying money to be part of a larger spiritual movement, being in a spiritual "club" of like minded people. Which I guess is okay. Or they can come join TTB And I guess that's all I have to say about that.

But my question, though, is: what exactly is he spilling? What exactly is so new and worth that much money? He's already put out practices which are very cheap, and if you develop them to a reasonable level, can work things out for yourself. I haven't seen anything from him, so far, that is so incredibly new and that can't be attainable on your own if you just go through the practices he's already put out. I laud the manner in which he has put out practices and information prior to this program- they've been easily accessible and quite comprehensive. But let's get real, that's not a good way to make money. It seems like now he's (or maybe the people around him) are trying to get more money, and to that extent they are trying to get something out of his material which I just don't think is there. Maybe if they had tried this at the beginning of the career, MAYBE it might have worked.... At a certain point you HAVE to practice. At a certain point, money is going to get you nowhere. If you've got the practice and know the theory, that's it, it's all on YOU. Robert Bruce has put out the theory and the practice LOOOOOONG ago. If you practice it, you'll get it. Which is why I feel this program is more for people who just don't practice, and I'm skeptical about what the content can possibly be- if it's too basic, then it's not worth the money (as it's already out there), and if it's too advanced, then you won't get it unless you've practice, but if you've practiced to that level, you won't need the program to begin with!