thelerner

On Monday there are some new meditations to try. We've gone through Barry Long's which is excellent for teaching the mind to be quieter and opening the heart. This week Kim Walsh's very pleasant trip Hypnosis for Happiness & Contentment. Next weeks lets be productive. Part of being productive isn't listening to long inductions. So here are 2 short ones. A morning and an evening meditation on setting your day right. I've played Evening Inventory Meditation (11 minutes) for years, its by My Meditation Station, a great podcast. Nice short induction and instead escaping your problems, you recall and face them. Make mental notes to apologize and do better. Morning Meditation Setting Intentions (11 min) is a newer addition. Lina Grace has a beautiful voice that is a pleasure to listen to. The battle for productivity is one that pits our now self- who prefers instant gratification, against our future self- who wants grow and thrive. This meditation has you imagine fast forwarding to the evening and feeling good about all you'll accomplish, helping to focus you on getting things done. Do one, do two, do none.. let me know what you think.. Evening_Inventory_Meditation.mp3 MORNING_MEDITATION_Setting_Intentions_1.mp3

Love Rawn Clark. Beyond his Bardon work is YHVH canticle practice and his Archaeous system which I do standing ala Zhan Zhuang. Deep stuff. As for strange guided meditations his Center of Stillness meditation is a classic with lessons parallel to Taoist 'sealing the senses'.

The above is my generic answer. Personally I started out reading books, probably got too 'top' heavy. These practices should be done not read about. Got into Healing Tao US, enjoyed seminars with Michael Winn and enjoy some of the forms I learned in it, but not really my cup of tea.. would I recommend it.. yes, in that its a thorough multi level progressive program but not universally loved, little is, but its open and you can try a seminar or tape and decide for yourself. I don't do yoga. but have been known to hang out at Sivananda Yoga ashrams.. cause I like the meditations and people there. I did a seminar Stillness Motion seminar, enjoyed it, found it improved my sitting practice quite a bit. Years ago I joined some fellow bums for a seminar with Max Christenson's Kunlun, far out, yet simple, enjoyed it but not something I do regularly. I've gotten through 2 10 week courses of Wim Hof's, very physical kind of practice. Great but not chi gung or all that spiritual though the breathing technique helps with other practices. Up until last year, I've mainly been sitting and doing a couple of simple forms.. enjoy chanting in the shower (actually Rawn Clarks YHVH canticle). Late night on the John I'll do Kunlun postures. I collect and listen to guided meditation, enjoying the strange ones. I'll do rounds of Wim Hof Breathing then rounds of yogic 10in, 40hold, 20out loong breath cycles. These days I'm adding a little more energetics to my sitting.. a little more 3rd eye attention and quieter and self aware. What I like and connect with, you may not. There are good and great teachers and programs out there without the red flags (paranoia, angry vendetta based, cultic self aggrandizement and commercialism) that I've found in Mak Ti Sins various incarnations. Though even that I may be wrong.. maybe's he's gotten past it.. As a beginner good if fine, build up the basics, quiet mind, time of the mat, good habits and a sincere practice.

I'm always been leery of people who keep changing there name and web sites. There was a time I thought Mak Ti Sin might be a source for old school Daoism, but the more I watched his videos and read his writings on various sites a strong paranoid streak became apparent as did commercialism. Hopefully he's better now, but for a while he seemed very imbalanced. That doesn't mean you can't learn some things but I'd avoid any system he promoted. There are better teachers and systems out there, without his negative baggage.

I found a site Zeemap.com and created this map - https://www.zeemaps.com/map?group=2826065 hoping it'd be of use. I asked another member to put down a pinpoint but maybe to do it for free is more complicated. Perhaps the wise members in Tech support can iron out the details to get working properly. Or suggest another mapping site that would work.

Thank you tech support. I see the map has been incorporated as one of the options on top. That's great, I hope people use it and it helps with connections. That being said, the Bums here are generally good people but usual internet precautions on meetings still exist. ie Get to know a person and show proper caution before setting up meetings or giving out personal information.

Who indeed. Afraid, it's need to know only. And if you haven't earned your official taoist badge then you're not eligible.

You're great and you have friends here. While online forums are second banana to in-person relations, bananas are still healthy.

Great & Thanks, guess it works after all. I hope to see lots more names popping up on it. and wish I could knock out one of the 2 names I put down. Oh well, at least one blocks the other. addon> deleted my extra pin. Under the name, bottom right, there are some icons for editing.

Here's something a little off the wall and sci fy techy that I'm looking forward to. It'll remind me of the days in the late 60's and early 70's when I'd watch the first moon launches. https://www.theverge.com/2017/12/29/16821862/2018-space-missions-rocket-launches-nasa-space-x-elon-musk March 31st, 2018: Deadline for Google Lunar X Prize competition Finally, we’ll find out which of the five remaining teams in the Google Lunar X Prize will complete their mission to the Moon before March 31st, 2018, the competition’s deadline — and the answer may be none. To win, a robotic spacecraft must land and explore the Moon. The first team to reach the lunar surface and complete all of the contest’s requirements before the deadline will receive a grand prize purse of $20 million. It doesn’t seem likely that anyone will actually launch before the deadline However, it doesn’t seem likely that anyone will even launch before the deadline. Four of the five finalist teams have yet to complete their landers, and two still aren’t fully funded. A fifth team — Hakuto from Japan — has completed its lunar rover, but the vehicle is meant to ride to the Moon on another team’s unfinished lander. It’s unlikely we’ll see any X Prize missions before the deadline at all. " I've been been following it and it should be a very interesting race. Get to the moon, launch a rover, record the data. Should be fascinating. As I recall there are a couple contestants that will launch on the same rocket, so should be neck and neck. Space wars indeed. https://lunar.xprize.org/about/guidelines Guidelines With the $30 million Google Lunar XPRIZE competition both Google and XPRIZE seek to foster a new space economy of innovation and entrepreneurship through low-cost, efficient access to the Moon and use the Google Lunar XPRIZE teams’ moonshots to inspire and engage citizens around the world with science, technology, and innovation. In order to accomplish these goals the Google Lunar XPRIZE has put in place rules and guidelines that are summarized below. Mission Requirements The Mission Requirements for claiming the Grand or Second Place Prize include the following: Landing – A team must land its craft on the surface of the Moon after providing advance notice of its launch and intended landing site to XPRIZE. Mobility – After landing, a team must move its craft a distance of at least five hundred meters below, on, or above the lunar surface along an interesting path in a deliberate manner. The distance can be a straight line or may be a series of waypoints approved by the Judging Panel. Mooncasts – A team must transmit two “Mooncasts” from the surface of the Moon. The first Mooncast would be after lunar arrival and the second would be at the completion of the mobility requirements. Each Mooncast must contain eight minutes of video in both high definition (720p) and near real time transmitted as high priority that can be in a lower resolution, a panoramic photograph to give a 360° view of the arrival or mission completion site, images showing a substantial portion of the craft and payload, and set of data provided by XPRIZE including a video and audio message, an email, and a text message. Prior to their launch the team must submit technical details of their mission for review by the Judging Panel. Data Uplink – A team must transmit to the craft as much as one hundred kilobytes of data provided by XPRIZE and then retransmit that data from their craft back to Earth. Payload – A team must carry a payload consisting of a data disk and commemorative plaque to the surface of the Moon. The data disk will be mounted in a manner that permits easy removal from the craft so that it can be accessed by future Lunar explorers. Private Funding – A team must not receive government funding in excess of 10% of its total mission cost. This limitation includes the value of in-kind support or as well as any discounts they receive on the value of services or hardware. In instances when the government purchases or provides services to a team at fair market value, those contributions would not count against the 10% cap. To facilitate review of this requirement XPRIZE will seek the services of an external auditing firm. Deadline – Teams have until March 31, 2018. Prize Purse The total purse for the prize is divided amongst several categories including the following: Grand Prize - $20 million awarded to the first team to complete all of the Mission Requirements. Second Place Prize - $5 million awarded to the second team to complete the Mission Requirements. Lunar Arrival Milestone Prize— The spacecraft must complete one orbit around the Moon or enter a direct descent approach to the lunar surface to win $1.75M. Soft Landing Milestone Prize— The spacecraft must transmit data proving it soft-landed on the lunar surface to win $3M. The Milestone Prize purses will be evenly distributed between all teams who have achieved each milestone by March 31, 2018 No team may win the Second Place Prize with a substantially similar craft to the Grand Prize winner, however a team may win the Second Place Prize with a distinct Craft that accompanies the Grand Prize winning craft to the lunar surface. Milestone Prizes – To date $5.25 Million in Milestone Prizes has already been awarded across five teams that demonstrated advanced progress in their mission preparations. Teams that won Milestone Prizes shall have those winnings deducted from any Grand or Second Place Prize awards that they win. Bonus Prizes – A purse of $4 million in Bonus Prizes is available for teams that successfully complete additional scientific and technical achievements in addition to the Mission Requirements. There are five bonus prizes ranging in value from $1 million to $ 4 million each. Once the purse’s $4 million limit is reached no other bonus prizes will be awarded. Apollo Heritage Bonus Prize - $4 million will be awarded to a team that can produce an Apollo Heritage Mooncast from the site of Apollo 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, or 17. The Mooncast must include eight minutes of dynamic video in both high definition and lower resolution near real time video, a panoramic photo of the Apollo site, and an image showing a substantial portion of the craft from the Apollo site. Heritage Bonus Prize - $1 million will be awarded to a team that can produce a Heritage Mooncast from a site of interest on the lunar surface, approved by the Judging Panel. The Mooncast must include eight minutes of dynamic video in both high definition and lower resolution near real time video, a panoramic of the heritage site, and an image showing a substantial portion of the craft from the heritage site. Range Bonus Prize - $2 million will be awarded to a team that can move its vehicle along the surface of the Moon five kilometers. This five kilometer path is inclusive of the five hundred meters already traveled for the Mission Requirements. Survival Bonus Prize - $2 million will be awarded to a team that successfully operates its craft on two separate lunar days. In addition to the Mission Requirements on day one, on the second lunar day the team must transmit a set of data including a video, email and text message, and produce a survival Mooncast including a panoramic photo and an image showing a substantial portion of the craft. Water Detection Bonus Prize - $4 million will be awarded to a team that can provide scientifically conclusive proof of the presence of water on the Moon to the satisfaction of the Judging Panel.

One thing I like about the meditation is how near the end the stars come down and cover your body with good energy, awakening the endorphins within. Not that I heard that part this morning. Some time after the leaf count I lost awareness and when I got it back she was talking about a cup found along the walking path. I'd fallen asleep and awoken during her Jung meditation. for those interested the cup I found was a simple tin one.

1/1/18 Last month success. Needed to go from 200.4 to 195.4. On 12/31/17 after normal morning weigh in I was 194.7 :), (note on 1/1/17 I was 195.3# after sauna..) So I consider last month successfully completed. For January I'm lowering the weight loss in the Promise to 3#s. I want to focus more on lifestyle and developing good habits rather then losing weight. I'd rather add an extra month then develop bad habits trying to lose 5#'s a month. The Consequence if I don't lose the 3#'s by 1/28 are the same. 1/18/18 Not going well.. about 195ish. Tired of dieting and feeling guilty when I don't. Would like to quit this month, but promise is a promise. Just gotta buckle down. By the end of this month I need to be 192.3#'s I think I'll take next month off. Not goodbye but a month off. Get back to no pressure normal for a month. 1/27/18 Not going well.. about 197ish. Tired of dieting and feeling guilty when I don't. Would like to quit this month, but promise is a promise. Just gotta buckle down. By the end of this month I will hopefully be 192.3#. But to do this will require foolish and extreme measures. Thus as of Saturday night, I am fasting. Not that fasting is foolish, but the plan is to lose weight through intelligent life style choices, not through extreme measures. But ce'est la vie, better to starve for 4 days then pay Trump $150. But this is not a responsible way to lose weight long term. Much of the loss will be water and that's a foolish game. Still I'm 10#'s down and must keep a stiff upper lip with nary a fork or spoon in it. Last month talked to sister. She persuaded me to not take a month off. So I won't but I'll keep it to 3#'s. Should be easy, if I could get out of my own way. Again, weight is measured from Feb 1st to 28th. The ultimate plan is to get back to 185#. Better to get into athlete mode, then focus too much on weight loss.

You say wu wei I say no way I'm hoping for some action in 2018. 2019 will be my wu wei year.

No particular expertise, but my guess is that simple Zhan Zhuang would compliment most things in that while it works with energy, you're not 'doing' anything. Though I'd guess if you're standing long or holding a difficult positions it might make sense to wait a couple hours til you do another form. For more exotic 'elemental' holding positions, you might want to ask the specific teacher. Who knows, maybe they'll tell you a form of ZZ that they use.

I'm really digging my Instant Pot. A multi-function 7 in 1, that actually works well. I haven't used it for for bone broth yet, but for stews and soups and casseroles its been great. It saves time and clean up to be able to saute then pressure or slow cook in the same pot. Pressure cooking allows me to use leaner cuts of meat in stews that wouldn't work well slow cooking and things that would take hours are done in 45 or so minutes.

Liminal reminds me that so much of the good life is knowing what makes you smile and doing it. A simple truth we forget. A second thing is, that many of the best things in life start off hard, take initial effort. Aren't fun at first, requiring time and effort. But once over that hump are the good things, be it playing an instrument, learning a new skill or sport, or trying to make a new friend. So the good life also requires pursuing the hard.. at times. I like contrasts, hitting highs and lows. When I travel I like cheap places but also to visit (maybe not stay in) the best and most expensive place town. To hit the dive bars and honky tonks but also terraced roof bars; gawking at $100 cocktail drinks and ordering a beer or coffee. I like finding a great TV series (GoT, Stranger Things..) and watching it twice, preferably with a friend.

Next week, Monday January 1st, I'm thinking a new Guided meditation for people to listen to and write about and discuss. Less a learning experience like the previous one rather for simple enjoyment. Hypnosis for Happiness and Contentment by Kim Walsh. She has a beautiful lilting voice. The audio is about 23 minutes long. Once you get into you can start it around minute 6 as I recall. Here is a link to the youtube version- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veETG-PczWk A link to it as an mp3 below. Nice to put it onto your phone or mp3 player for morning listening. Hypno_for_happiness_and_contentment_1.mp3 A classic pleasant relaxing hypnotic reading. One with more bells and whistles then the previous. I encourage people to give this one a try or one of her other audios. Let me know what you think.

The two themes I'm hearing the most are circle of friends and 'being at peace with the world and content with what is' (from Cold). Much truth in both. Yet, so often looking from our ideas to how we spend out time there's a disconnect. We know friends/family are important yet too often put our relationships on autopilot, and sadly stop making new ones. Same with being content with what Is. We say it, but we don't enjoy the common things in life, forget to notice them, forget to enjoy them. Our thoughts dwell in the future or on the negative, or just bland nonawareness. Effort and awareness are needed to pull us out of these slumps that degrade our precious lives.

Depends.. some systems (& teachers) specifically say no. They either want to be exclusive or worry that moving energy one way for one practice and another for a second leads to problems. Hopefully one can check with there teacher. For example Max Christenson's Kunlun didn't want people playing with other energy meditations when learning his practice. He wanted to develop energy moving a certain way. Another example; some types of chi gung like the Micro Cosmic Orbit, others see it as forced and others are simply against it. Perhaps with enough years under one's belt an experienced practitioner can decide for themselves, but it's probably best to listen to one's teacher.

That might be like the saying about the accused being there own lawyer.. probably.

My Forecast app is saying it's a high of N/A and a low of 2. Tomorrow high of 5, low of uno. New Year's will be colder still, brr. Still.. as they say, no such thing as too cold, only under dressed.

We are biochemical electrical beings. The West's direction of understanding went with a very physical paradigm, breaking down and looking at the bodies various systems mechanically. The East took there paradigm from nature, looking at the bodies systems like a garden, with seasons and interactions between the organs and the environment. Both have good points and areas they excel in. Though they can seem ludicrous to the other point of view. The question- Can anyone nudge me to the most straightforward school or system of Nei-Kung? Is much argued. The top guys in most systems are amazing.. but there are also many mediocre teachers and students. I'll often recommend seeing what's close by, observe a few classes, paying as much attention to the students demeanor as to the teachers ability. A nearby teacher who's good is better then an expert 1,000 (or 100) miles away. Especially when you're beginning. Don't disregard seemingly common Yoga or Tai Chi classes, there are hidden gems around. We all start in kindergarten and to be a babe taking college courses doesn't make sense, for you or the teacher. So.. look around, try new things, flirt with some, marry one. See what you connect with, not the flashiest or that makes the most marketing or extravagant promises. One can spend a lifetime and gain mastery.. just sitting. maybe.

IQ's is great, but often I think we'd do better shooting for wisdom.

I've heard one day, he wants to become, a law. sorry.. don't mind me.. as the pope of Taoism once said 'sometimes fingers have a mind of there own'.