thelerner

I find my normal 'crack' ride to be bumpy enough. I don't think atomic crack would be good for me . kidding, giving it a like don't cost nothing.

It's cliche but virtue is its own reward and evil, stupidity and selfishness tend to self destruct; though it may take awhile. Course so much depends on definitions. This being partially a Daoist website, then virtue is sorta 'Te. Not so easily defined. Here's one way of approaching it (http://www.spiritandflesh.com/Taoism_Three_Taoist_te.htm)- Three Taoist approaches to te from (http://www.yakrider.com/Tao/Taoism_Daoism.htm) The Spirit and Flesh Sacred Texts Online Library: world religion and spirituality. The little word "Te" in the title Tao Te Ching is usually translated "virtue" or "power." Virtue is a good translation if it is understood in the old sense of the word, as in the healing "virtue" of certain plants, medicines, practices, etc. There are occasions where te seems to translate well as virtue in the sense of goodness, but do not confuse it with the moralistic sense in which we think of virtue in the West. Te is the Tao at work, so te is goodness inasmuch as person of te is adept at living in harmony with the dynamic flow of Tao in the world. Indeed, goodness in this sense has nothing to do with societal conventions of goodness (Taoists decry conventional "goodness" as too contrived, shallow, or complicated), and has everything to do with living in understanding of and harmony with the Way (Tao). The character's typical translations include: power, virtue, success, effectiveness, integrity, and goodness. So "virtue" or te as goodness here must be seen in light of these other translations; what is good is living by the supreme effectiveness of harmony with the powers of the natural universe and unity with the unnamable, ungraspable reality underlying the universe. The title Tao Te Ching might be translated "The Classic Book (Ching) of the Way (Tao) and It's Power (Te)." In his book "The Way and Its Power," Arthur Waley quotes a description of Te: It is close at hand, stands indeed at our very side; yet is intangible, a thing that by reaching for cannot be got. Remote it seems as the furthest limit of the Infinite. yet it is not far off; everyday we use its power. For the Way of the Vital Spirit fills our whole frames, yet man cannot keep track of it. It goes, yet has not departed. It comes, yet is not here. It is muted, makes no note that can be heard, yet of a sudden we find that it is there in the mind. It is dim and dark, showing no outward form, yet in a great stream it flowed into us at our birth.

Imo potential for violence runs on a spectrum in both sexes, but men being awash in testosterone, are clearly getting a boost in that direction. Add to that cultural mores and men are clearly and statistically much more violent then woman. A world without violence sounds good, but strangely, sometimes those selling it, are psychopaths (see cults & communism). Maybe I'm wrong, hopefully someday in the future I clearly will be, but without strength and the ability for violence an organism is in grave danger of extinction, sooner or later. Shades of Robert Heinlein quote 'A second rate military is very expensive thing' (not exact). I like the many of the Miyzaka anime that explore and celebrate gentler heroes. see https://myanimelist.net/featured/945/Top_27_Best_Hayao_Miyazaki_Anime_Movies_Updated Especially Spirited Away, Nausicaa.., Howls Moving Castle.. almost all his work, a type genteel heroism of inner strenght and pure virtue not seen in Western ethos. Yet even they fight, when they must.

There's some truth to that, but often before you begin walking its good to know the general terrain. Also, the fastest path is not always straight. And on the third hand, the goals and assumptions of one's youth, change as you get further along.

I agree. Mastering something lays the foundation of concentration and integrity to learn other things more easily. The more you learn the more connections you see. I'm taking a Pool/billiards course now. And the teacher is constantly bringing up other arts, from rifle to golf. Whereas I bring it back to Aikido, lots of connections that help you learn. When it comes to picking a meditative (or martial) practice I've always thought marry one, flirt with others.

I was just reading about a Kick ass queen of the Chinese pirates bought as a slave/wife marrying chief and later son. Ruled with iron fist until she made a pact with the government to settle down. Lived to old age, running a brothel. I recall a famous Celtic queen who gave the Romans much trouble. Again, not the most motherly. Perhaps the saying that well behaved woman rarely make history is true. Yet its also true that as mothers and teachers, wives and confidantes woman have been both behind and a guiding force of great men, particularly the most moral ones.

The discussion got me looking up silver cups. One of the biggest hits was baby cups, made from silver. An age old tradition, have a baby drink from a silver cup and eat with silver spoon. Beyond luck and sign of privilege I can't help thinking there is some energetic, hygienic or nutritious property operating.

Similarly one of the best financial proverbs I learned was from a Little Orphan Annie cartoon. Daddy Warbucks was telling Annie about another Tycoon who always offered the toughest deal, ie the one that benefited themselves the most. Annie asked 'Isn't that what you're supposed to do in business?' Warbucks told her 'No, the best deal is the one that benefits both parties the most.' That may seem naive, but if you want return business and be seen as honorable, at times taking less profit and helping out other business people where you can tends to lead to greater prosperity in the long run. All things being equal or even slightly in-equal people will prefer buying from a friend or one they've found trustworthy in the past.

For what it's worth, looking back, the strategy here has done pretty well; I'm talking about the breakdown of the investment near the bottom- Course it's still short term, yet in the long run we're all dead. Though if there's one thing I've learned from 30 years in the stock market; strategies are traps. Like newbies at a casino new investors find an initial strategy works well, and get dismayed 5, 10 or 1 year later when it either stops or slaps them hard in the wallet. Trends and excesses reverse themselves. What worked brilliantly today, may not tomorrow. For me that means having different portfolio's with different strategies. Also letting them 'run' into each other slowly. With the worst performing strategy slowly moving into the better performing one. And having at least one portfolio/strategy with good loss prevention, ie following Moving Averages and having rules to leave at certain dropping points or another taking out preventional Puts to make up for sharp market drops. Course maybe such cleverness will beat keeping a simple portfolio of mostly low cost index funds, maybe it won't. Simple is hard to beat.

Some of the above reminds me of people who've made beautiful meditation areas. Some indoor, some outdoors; special places that express quietude, simplicity and spirituality. You see such attempts on grandiose scales in some churches, small scale in backyard gardens even miniature in altars. I think creating such a space should be part of one's practice. One I'm lacking right now. To build a sacred space.

Welcome. I don't know if chi gung and philosophy are always the best answer. Sometimes keeping things gut level and real is better. So, feel free to start conversations on survival jobs, crappy hours etc., Sometimes we move from the mundane to spiritual, sometimes it goes in the other direction. Sometimes the best thing is to bitch and drink beer.

When my daughter had nightmares I got a small dream catcher. When that didn't work I got a nicely made doll, some might call it a witch, but I called it a wise woman and set it over my daughter's bed and let her know the wise woman would stop some bad dreams, and if some got by, she'd be there for comfort and security. That worked.

I used to want to be right, but years of marriage has slowly beaten it out of me. <kidding..sort of>

Nice, especially because they're authentic. Tell me, how do they work? Better dream recall or does it go beyond that?

Too often I/we judge a story before getting the facts. Here an article that explains it. We were all thinking the boy scouts were going co-ed. Not exactly. The girls program will be separate from the boys. From ABC http://abcnews.go.com/US/boy-scouts-admit-girls-cub-scouts-create-program/story?id=50417637 The Boy Scouts of America will now allow girls to join the ranks of its Cub Scouts program, as well as create a Scouting program for older girls, the organization announced today. Cub Scout "dens," as they are referred to, will be single-gender, allowing the organization "to maintain the integrity of the single-gender model while also meeting the needs of today’s families," the Boy Scouts of America said in a press release. "The historic decision comes after years of receiving requests from families and girls, the organization evaluated the results of numerous research efforts, gaining input from current members and leaders, as well as parents and girls who’ve never been involved in Scouting -- to understand how to offer families an important additional choice in meeting the character development needs of all their children," the press release reads. The program for older girls, which will allow them to attain the rank of Eagle Scout, is expected to be formally announced next year and is projected to be available in 2019, according to the press release. The Boy Scouts of America "has offered co-ed programs since 1971 Exploring and the Venturing program," the press release notes.

My thoughts exactly, but it doesn't explain the shock.. or does it?, ie static shock, yet it seems more controlled. There are masters who can 'shock' you, or so I understand. We are bio-electric creatures. Nor does it being reproducible mean in my eyes that the man isn't a master and worthy of studying from.

unisex scouts.. hmnn, unfortunately the problem with getting the older boys and girls together, ie 15, 16, 17 (the oldest) like for camping, is it might not be unisex, but regular sex. On the other hand what I've witnessed is there were simply less boyscout troops and they were smaller. It's not as popular as it has been. I wonder if this is an attempt to survive by growing. In truth they know there situation. So.. best luck to them. If that's the case, I wonder how the Girl Scouts feel about it? If its a flagrant attempt at poaching.

used to be a fanboi. no longer, though I am typing this on a Mac Mini, that they upgrade/downgrade every 6 years. So funny, in the future it's $500, ha haha

I used to keep a Gratitude journal, then I realized it's not enough. I added Generosity to it, recording things I've done to help others. To be truly thankful, you also have to add to the pot.

Itunes has a long history of screwing people on the updates. It's happened to me in the past. Google the nature of the problem as exactly as possible and often you'll find someone posting a solution or at least a hint. Also try a global search for all the music .mpeg and aac audio files. Maybe you can round them up and use a different music program.

Thank you, but justice.. there's no crimes here, just people annoying each other in midst of stating there opinions. When we start taking the forum too seriously, letting it affect our mood in real life then its probably time to take a break or ignore the nastier heated threads for a bit. Arguing and even reporting is fine, but after a while, state your truth and walk away. Generally that shows more eloquence and maturity then the wittiest insult or come back.

It's probably not good to judge a group by the behavior of there worst members. At least learn about the whole, and get perspective before you paint a group as villainous. Throwing out tradition and lineage.. isn't that throwing out the hard won knowledge of those who dedicated there lives to there art and teaching it to others. We should use our brains to discriminate intelligently, not stereotype everything. There are jewels in the teaching and teachers of Tibetan Buddhism, apparently there is some rot too. Judge wisely, don't put people up on pedestals. Yet imo, there are saints and masters in this world and connecting and learning from them is tremendous. But even with great respect, understand there are cultural biases and even the greatest can be seduced by human foibles, especially when they think they are above them.

On this and other forums over the last decade its been made clear that John Chang is retired and not looking for any attention. Thus if you find you find a connection, its probably not him. On the other hand, there are healers out there. Caveat emptor, and I'd recommend looking closer to home rather then heading 1,000's of miles away to find a recluse who was in a book. Best to talk to those who've used them, find out the modalities and prices. For some the treatment is an single energy transfer, for others its having you do 5 hours of gi gung each day for years.. a nominal price or 1,000s of dollars. Addon> I'd add before or while looking for a healer, get the fundamentals of health down to the extent possible, ie wholesome diet, healthy sleep schedule and exercise regime.

cloudy, but I'll look tomorrow. It'll still be full moon.

Here in the Midwest (Chicago) the moon rises at 6:47 pm and the sun sets at 6:24. Should be worthwhile seeing, especially since the moon rises over the Lake, so often you get a moon and its reflection becomes an hourglass then separating as it rises from the water. Plus a good chance it'll come up orange or red.