thelerner

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.

If you ever want to share links to pictures, game theory or youtubes of sample play.. please do. I bet such a game would connect to many people here. <and you could have a sub-game on semen retention to increase its controversiality> kidding.. mostly. inside joke

Wisdom: when you can't sleep, meditate Cooking: add a splash of vinegar at the end of soups, particularly beans soups, adds dimension. Meditating: you don't have to be still, a little movement/bobbing can be uniquely helpful.

Sounds good, though hard to imagine the actual aspects of game play. I like the creativity and dealing with fundamental forces that allow people to create there own story of what's actually happening, because creators can't really control what the end users think is going on.

I think we'd be way healthier if doctors nutritionists prescribed diets. Not that we'd listen.. Or if we could be 'arrested' for one month, get house arrest and have to eat all meals at the house, delivered and healthy. Have to give urine or blood tests too. Orwellian, but maybe it could be volunteer. With the hope being after one (or two) months of eating healthier food, you'd get a taste for it, and better focus on portion size. There's already a dozen sites that will bring you cooked or pre-cooked healthy meals (we did Blue Ribbon for a bit). I believe Amazons end game for purchasing Whole Foods is to create a mass home shipping system.. healthy Orwellianism. <addon by the way ignore everything I say on the subject. At the moment I'm baking brownies. and you wanna know the worst part? They're from a box . On the other hand they're Ghirardelli and dark chocolate. Plus I added peanut butter and a little espresso powder to the mix. Forgive me Dao for I will sin, and it'll be delicious.

Welcome, fellow retired Aikidoka. I don't use my phone much to see the site, but when I do, I always hold it sideways to get more viewing. Sometimes even with that I'll need to adjust perspective.

doesn't make sense to me either which is why he added the link to the explorer who reported the phenomena. The question is, has the reaction been duplicated? Western explorers and traders would carry mirrors as well as beads, thimbles, trinkets for trade. <searching google> Like photography, to some tribes mirrors had the ability to 'see the soul' which also could freak people out. So imo legit, but hard to say how wide spread, especially since there was historically propagandic impetus to make newfound tribes seem stupid, savage and naive. The author isn't always right, but I find him very thought provoking. I've read a couple on cults, and against common sense, they tend to get smart intellectuals, much more then you'd think. Once you get a little buy in, people minds fill in the rest. During the Korean war brain washing wasn't some exotic drug induced phenomena, often it was done little by little, an extra ration, a sympathetic ear.. getting a person to say a little bit what they didn't like about the states.. and soon some soldiers would convince themselves, that they were on the wrong side. And our side used it too, during WWII, softer friendlier interrogation to 'turn' the enemy. An axiom I live with is Man is more a rationalizing animal, then a rational one. And until we realize that, we're vulnerable; to our bias's, to friends, family, social pressure.. and especially our ego; that this is what Real smart believe, not the sheep. That one's often irresistible bait for the intellectual. Good book on the subject, Life 102; What to Do when your Guru sues you.

Here's a piece of the latest David Wong articles on Brainwashing. I found it interesting, reminding me that one of the first exercises in Franz Bardon's IIH practice is building the Magic Mirror, a journal with lists of your good and bad qualities, broken down elementally. http://www.cracked.com/blog/4-creepy-things-that-secretly-control-your-personality_p2/ #1. You Have Probably Brainwashed Yourself Into A Completely False Idea Of Who You Are Here's an important question almost no one thinks to ask: Do cult leaders believe what they're saying? After all, L. Ron Hubbard clearly knew his new religion was a scam at first -- he borrowed its mythology from his own sci-fi stories, which he wrote to make a quick buck. But by all accounts, he later spent endless hours "auditing" himself to try to purge his soul of the evil alien spirits -- you know, the ones he had invented years earlier. It's almost as if by repeating his ludicrous lies, he indoctrinated himself. That, it appears, is exactly what happened. And almost every deranged cult leader in history followed that exact path. Do you remember that weird terror attack that happened in Tokyo in 1995? A Japanese doomsday cult unleashed nerve gas on a subway, killing a dozen people (which would have been thousands if they hadn't fucked up the release of the gas). The cult was led by a guy named Shoko Asahara, who had been a small-time con artist going back to his teenage years, running a number of scams which he eventually expanded into lucrative businesses. He sold snake oil cures out of an acupuncture shop for a while, then started putting ads in sci-fi magazines offering to teach mind powers like telepathy and levitation -- for a reasonable fee, of course. In less than a decade, he went from telling silly lies to get cash from gullible dupes to unleashing nerve gas in order to trigger Armageddon, believing that he and his followers would then ascend to inherit the Earth. That's weird, right? That garden-variety shitheads wind up joining their own cults in suicide pacts to fulfill some "prophecy" that they themselves wrote late at night over a bottle of wine? But that, my friends, is the magic of the human brain. Not only can it be reprogrammed by anyone who knows the method, but it can also reprogram itself, unintentionally, without realizing it. But that could never happen to you and me, right? Haha. Ha. OK, let's now think about all of the little self-deceptions we pile up through the day -- like how nearly everyone thinks they're an above-average driver, even though that's obviously impossible. Well, you remember George Costanza's rule that the key to lying is making yourself believe it? There's a theory that humans evolved self-deception specifically because it helps us deceive others. In order to survive, you need other humans to cooperate with you. In order to make sure they do that, you need to be able to convince them you're great. In order to convincingly tell that outrageous lie, you need to make yourself belief you're great. You lie to yourself, then you believe the lie, then you make others believe the lie which you now believe is true. It's lies all the way down. This is why if you go to a primitive tribe without access to mirrors or clear reflective surfaces of water and show them a reflection of their own faces, they freak the fuck out. ("They were paralyzed; after the first startled response -- covering their mouths and ducking their heads -- they stood transfixed ...") Living their lives without a clear reflection as a reference, they each had built up in their minds an idea of what they surely must look like. Maybe they always secretly assumed they were among the most attractive, despite their public shows of humility. Then bam, the disgusting reality was suddenly staring back at them. "That's what I look like?" Well, if you had a magic mirror that could reflect back upon you exactly how others see your attitudes, mannerisms, emotions, habits, etc, it would be the same, only about a hundred times stronger. A hand clasped over your mouth, feeling sick, staring at the "reflection" of a total stranger.

First of all, my comments weren't aimed exclusively at you. Maybe you're referring to a July thread with Yinyangisvoid? He has his good points but can be pretty long winded, manic and has gotten several suspensions and worse. I'm pretty sure he's called me a Nazi, a sheep, sperm something.. Instead of arguing, the remarks were reported and I moved on, ignoring him, happily. Why, cause it doesn't make sense to argue with angry nuts. It really doesn't, though again Yinyang has some powerful good points along with.. baggage. When dealing with someone like that, don't drop down to there level. Be mature. Getting into a flame war with the guy is pointless. There is no winning. These days learning to deal with internet trolling is taught in high school and grammar school. And lesson one is- there are those who are nasty and want attention. Don't give it to them. Better to report them and either leave it alone or keep your tone civil, which makes them look even worse. Limit engagement though. We keep a thread on reported members, when they pile up, take action. Sometimes take action immediately but some threads are so tangled its hard to assign blame to just one party, instead it tends to cancel each other. If you re-read my post you'll notice it mentions other strategies too beyond suck it up, walk away. Like keep it civil, take the high road, in other words, disagree and continue the discussion without playing their game. Be Mature. You can try that route, but it'll get you banned. If you enjoy the site. Ignore the trolls, don't become one. Or as I've stated above continue to argue but keep it higher minded, civil.. don't swear, get personal; try to avoid personal insults- best done by going after ideas instead of people. It can be done. Your idea of shit for shit, doesn't get you anywhere, its just fills the site with shit. Ultimately shitters get flushed.

Ah, the old 'he poked me' gambit. No he didn't, he disagreed with you and it got emotional and angry. Well listen up- We're not your mother. Here's the solution. Suck it up. Gain a little maturity. Maybe walk away, maybe de-escalate by taking the high road and remaining calm, maybe ignore the whole stupid thread for a while. In general those who are really crazy and angry get banned. The rest of you, Mature. Be polite or state your peace and walk away. Or engage in debate, civilly. Don't get personal or takes things personally. No one wins internet battles because most often the other side isn't even reading your long researched well thought out posts. They just want to piss you off. Realize that and win by leaving the table.