eighty4proof

Everything that you're referencing is based on your personal perception. Suffering and happiness are emotions which are unique to the filter that the events are being processed through. Your quest for finding perfection may lead you to find imperfection where you expected perfection as defined by your ideals and cause you disappointment because things are not as you had expected. You see parasites and disease and think that they're horrible. Another person will look at the same parasites and diseases and see them as necessary to weed out the weak of the herd so that the species can continue to evolve with the traits most necessary to survival in the current world being the ones that are passed along and view them as great. As long as you view the world through your perceptions you will also find disappointment because your expectations are not as complex as the workings of the universe and you do not have the understanding of how everything comes together, as no human does. Just as these words limit my ability to pass on the full concept to you. They are filtering my ideas through the best choices out of a limited inventory I have available but much is lost in the process and it becomes subject to further filtering for meaning by your brain. I have no way of knowing what meaning will be the outcome of your perceptions

Well, China just put out a proposal yesterday to form a global currency: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090325/ap_on_...bal_currency_12 And Obama rejected it: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090325/bs_af..._20090325032632

Practicing bonsai teaches you the subtle and major workings of plants; intricacies that most people never realize, even some avid gardeners. It is a hobby that truly aligns you with nature and its Way. "A bunch of years back I was told that you can't bonsai an oak tree because of the tap root it has. So for 10 years now I have been trying to do it. My next idea is to run the root in a twisty pipe to keep the pot shallow......." If you cut the tap root as a seedling you'll have no problem. The alternative (when collecting) is to slowly work on cutting back the roots over a few years, a little at a time until you have sufficient fibrous roots that the taproot is no-longer needed. Here's an example of an oak bonsai http://walter-pall.de/oaksmaidenhair_oak_n....dir/index.html and you can find more at walter-pall.de Or if you want to purchase a seedling try http://evergreengardenworks.com/quercus.htm as they sell primarily for bonsai cultivation. Don't give up on them yet!

You can either take the trail that's well-worn or you can blaze your own. Taking the one that's well-worn will probably be easier and faster with fewer obstacles, and you know where it leads. Blazing your own you'll encounter more obstacles, which IMHO, makes the process more meaningful. It gives reason to why things are done rather than just because "that's just the way it works". And maybe the trail you blaze will cross one that's worn. Just like anything else in this world, there are tradeoffs to either approach. And so I'll leave you with the words of Robert Frost... http://www.bartleby.com/119/1.html

http://www.horizonherbs.com/group.asp?grp=48 has salvia aplana and many other herb seeds. Under $3 for a pack of 100 (approx.) or if you want 1/2 lb to 1lb try ebay.

Try working with CNBC droning in the background for 7 hours a day and then you tell me

I thought this technology was pretty cool and figured I would pass it along: http://www.bastwood.com/aphex.php http://www.synestesia.com

An interesting article on just how bad the world economy really is at the moment: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11...s-collapse.html

even snake venom can be used to cure http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/74253.php

Most likely, yes. However, society won't allow it

I think hope distracts you from reality and the truth.

if this is what Gossamer feels is his path, I will help where I can $10 paid PS. And if you would like advice on securing your computer just ask and I'll give you a few things to try.

He got it all wrong, of course it doesn't work! It needs to be a DeLorean and it needs to be traveling at 88mph!

"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both." - Benjamin Franklin

Hellraiser: "Demons to some, angels to others."

I've always viewed "luck" as something happening despite the statistical odds being unfavorable.

I for one have been giving Mak a hard time. Although I disagree with a lot of what he says, and he definitely has a different stance of what Taoism is (classical), I think there's a lot I can learn if I listen a little more. So Mak, I offer you an apology and one more set of ears.

Are you using drugs when you see these things??? I think that would scare the shit out of me if I saw such things!

Reminds me of a case that the Warrens investigated: http://www.warrens.net/annabell.html

That makes a lot of sense to me.

Sounds like selling your soul to the devil

Well said!

That's the EXACT reason you were given your own personal practice section the forum, so people won't HAVE to read through your "shit". VERY WELL PUT!

LOL right over his head on that one hua_na_da... I still completely agree with you though!

The only thing more to learn than the Tao Te Ching are the things that your religion makes up to keep charging to learn. It's like saying that you're not a true Catholic if you just read the bible and do good deeds, you also need to go to church every Sunday to go through the rituals. The only "real face of Taoism" that you have portrayed on this forum is that of a business fueled by elitist attitude making claims that nobody's interpretation of the Tao can be equal to your own because you paid for yours to someone older than yourself. Your religion is so perverse from its source that it bears no resemblance to its true origins. It's a copy of a copy of a copy. Each one gets progressively further from the original quality. I will make my own copy of the original rather than a copy of of your own. That is the only way my interpretations are real; pure, and derived from observation rather than being accepted blindly, and they do not fuel greed in the process. You can keep your articles, traditions and your lineages and I'll keep my copies of the Tao Te Ching.