beancurdturtle

I would extend my hand to you in a hearty congratulatory handshake. But considering you have of late been using poo in the fashion of a lariat - allow me instead to bow in reverence.

You need some of my good chick pea stew. Carmelize onions in some good olive oil (don't skimp), drop in some cubed fresh tomato, toss in the overnight soaked chick peas and a couple teaspoons of good masala spices. Then stew it up until its mush and firm little tidbits. Put it in a bowl and sprinkle some black sesame oil over it. Then eat up. Try lentils, chick peas, and other legumes. Cook them with good spices and healthy oils. You'll be a happy camper. Nuts are a hot tip too. Almond milk is good - especially homemade.

yes yes immune to abstraction, at harmony with now and substance.

A woman after my own stomach.

Oh no! Our wild and crazy bookworm is departing? It wasn't a slice. You always delivered the whole pie. Take care buddy.

Don't I know that. It's amazing what you can find in an open food market, or on a street vendor's grill, in China. I really miss Chou Dofu.

All my life I have had incisors. Well, except when I was an infant. I don't think I got them for ornamental reasons.

So, like, stop me if you've heard this one. A Buddhist, a Mormon, and a Jew walk into a bar-bq...

Anything that doesn't include trapeze equipment and a safety net.

I agree with you on this I think. There is a meta-reality we all are a part of and participate in. And we each participate in it separated by the tuning of our senses and beliefs. So each of us experiences the meta-reality (or the Tao if you will) through layers our own gauze veils of senses and beliefs. At a physical level, even the hue of color that falls on optic nerves is effected at least minimally by the hue of our iris. At a non-physical level the meta-reality is colored by our belief sets. As a Taoist (wannabe) I'm trying to get down to the sheerest of gauze possible while I inhabit this physical vessel. Peace,

Though this may be true, it seems to be back asswards. Starve yourself so you don't have the energy to to have the thoughts you feel like you need to control? Doesn't that mean you are controlling your diet rather than your thoughts? The objective for controlling the thoughts, seems to me, would be to change behavior. Why not skip all the subterfuge and just eat appropriately and behave appropriately? Like Nik days, "Just do."

Further more, furthermore : A taoist is a living, conscious, human, person, attempting to exist with awareness while being less aware of their existence

Well said. Though I would possibly say "consensual reality" instead of "mutual reality." Even with only two people I doubt a "mutual reality" can exist - perception being as individual and dynamic as it is. But when there is two or more people present we come to an unspoken concensus for the condition of our shared environment.

Go here: http://www.taoofwellness.com/index.htm I have personally seen both Dr. Maoshing Ni and Dr. Daoshing Ni accomplish things that some might call medical miracles. Once for me and a couple other times for other people (completely different issues) as well. I mean permanent physical changes that western medicine would say is very improbable. If you can't go to Tao of Wellness, ask them for referral to someone in your area, a graduate of their Yo San University: http://www.yosan.edu/ For myself personally I had severe and debilitating sarcoidosis diagnosed as "early onset rheumatiod arthritis." After a few years of the disease getting progressively worse, and western doctors giving the same old diagnosis and same old drugs (numb the pain without treating the cause), I went to see Dr. Maoshing Ni. After four months of treatment - acupuncture and herbal tea - I have been completely disease and symptom free. That was 20 years ago, and I'm still free of any arthritic conditions. This long ago experience with Taoist based Chinese medicine was the genesis of my study of the Tao. Oddly enough the illness created opportunity for me. I wish you well,

ditto and I'm strong to the finish, cause I eats me spinach. toot toot

So what makes a living thing also a living being is consciousness 吧？ Hmmmm.. food for thought. hehe Peace,

Some serious questions - though they sounds silly. If I eat a lot of Tofu, will I come back as a soy bean plant? If not, why does the principle apply to one kind of living thing and not another? Or are there two different principles for different types of living things? How does one know the different types of living things that belong to the different principles? If it's based on a class of living thing, who decides what class applies to which? If it's based on sentience, who decides what level of sentience applies to which principle? I have no argument with your assertion. As you know, I've learned a great deal about Buddhism from you and I greatly appreciate it. I'm asking because I would like to know more about the details concerning your assertion. Peace,

Your rules should be a stepping stone in your cultivation. A way to turn your behaviors to what you eventually want them to be. Ask yourself, "how will I act and be when I have actualized The Way?" It's a blunt stick approach to breaking old habits to allow your harmonious nature to emerge. Eventually, through actualizing The Way, your harmonious natural way of being will fit into the rules (assuming your rules were correct). Then you can leave that stepping stone behind. The rules will change as you grow until you change enough to let go of them and still act rightly. Peace,

Welcome! I hope you find something useful to your cultivation here.

Gotcha. 我明白。

Hmmmm. Now that's an interesting concept. Personally I don't fear much. That just kind of happened over time and I'm not sure why. I don't fear death - I don't even fear speaking in front of hundreds of people. But I'm curious about your opinion. What is it that makes people cling to their perception of conditions that results in the experience of them as fear.

Cool! Nice document to have. If you like comparisons, check this out... Go here: http://home.pages.at/onkellotus/TTK/_IndexTTK.html Click on Compare Vertikal Then choose a translation on the top left, and another on the top right. Play with the little buttons and numbers in the top middle. You can choosetranslations, change chapters, keep both sides in synch & etc. Quite cool!

Gosh! You guys! Group hug!