thelerner

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Everything posted by thelerner

  1. Can't, you'd find out I'm on it, and keep all my followers locked away in the basement forbidden from logging in and wasting time on the internet. Many are progressing quite nicely
  2. There's even a rate-the-guru site which names and analyzes many famous gurus, explaining why they're all such evil bastards. kidding.. sort of. It's a pretty negative site.
  3. When a few of top guys say the same thing, though, I listen pretty closely. Especially when you see the same recommendation and similar practices across different cultures. addon> I've always assumed Jiddu Krishnamurti is what happens when a cantankerous old man gets awakened. They become-- 'a grumpy cantankerous guy who's enlightened' .
  4. Looking for Advise on a Daily Practise

    Good luck on your practice. Stillness Movement medical gi gung has a long pat down/rubbing at the end of its sitting practice. At the end there is vigorous rubbing of the bottom of the feet with the hand. Just like you can get heat from rubbing the hands together, you can do the same hand rubbing the soul of the feet. It's a good way to increase the feeling and sensitive of feet; there may be a reason why its called the soul. Also its giving them a good rubbing is great way to waken the whole leg up after sitting. Twenty or thirty seconds of vigorous rubbing can get some nice warmth going.
  5. Trouble Focussing While Meditating

    At times tiring out the body helps. Medium or hard exercise done earlier can drop the excess physical energy and allow the mind, spirit and focus to come out more fully.
  6. All those masters had something, why not call it enlightenment. A spirituality beyond what we have. Probably far beyond. Kinda like they've climbed a mountain and they're reporting back their view. Often the path they've taken is steeped in there culture and lineage. Different sides of the mountain have different terrains and views. I think at the very top, you just smile, no dogma, just breath, sun, and oneness. Til its time to get to work, then you come down and seem a wise fool.
  7. Life can lead us on a crooked path. We tend to base our swadharma on wishful thinking, based on a model we admire. Which is very understandable. What I was pointing out and the practice Prasanna mentions is introspection. Getting away from intellectualizing and seeing if your actions are indeed bringing harmony or if you're creating friction by following an idealized path imperfectly instead of your own. There are those who assume the role of holy man and leave a swath of destruction in there wake. Or with less drama, a string of failures, because they're not following the correct swadharma. 'How are you?', 'How's life going?' these simple questions are pointers for one's true nature. The world can be a mirror, we don't need to imagine what we look like, just look closely at our behavior and the fruits from it.
  8. Capitalism, private property and sociopathy

    I can't tell if this is sarcastic. 'Fun' is bad, a luxury and hedonistic? No, it makes life worthwhile and keep us sane. And young. It can be overdone, but imo, its a necessity of life, and when we lose our spirit withers. My friend toured Russia in the 1980. I asked him what it was like. He said 'Gray, everything was gray, the people, buildings, clothes, the faces and expressions-gray. It was like living in monochromatic world.' Hopefully the internal life was better and brighter, but Communism had a brought about equality by making everything the same.. and sad. In communism, conformity ends up required. A very pure form of communism was practiced in Israel, on Kibbutz. Generally collective farms, Some of these were very purely Marxist. Children were group raised, no money, group planning, everyone according to there needs. Most of the extreme ones failed. Maybe not the first gung ho generation, but later on their kids who worked more and accomplished more, wanted more. A brilliant kid who wanted to become a writer, was told, that was silly, it doesn't put food on the table. He loved the Kibbutz, but left to pursue his dream, and became a famous writer. Many othere followed because they didn't want what the group wanted. They wanted more freedom. There are still Kibbutz but most of them are less strict and pure then the originals. In one word Freedom. Speaking of voting with your feet, you can volunteer for a Kibbutz and get room and board and food, in exchange for work, hard work. See what a very communist system is like. Or there are Communes, but many bright eyed new comers are amazed at the very hard work it takes to sustain a farm.
  9. I find the sweet spot to be European style socialism. Where there's a strong social net in place and a capitalist market place, but that's just me. Not without problems, but I think it leads to happier, healthier, free-er people. Maybe a less coddled European style socialism. Which brings up the Question- Which European country (any really) is/was the best as far as lifestyle, freedom and sustainability? and Why? and for those with free time, What would your 'best' country look like?
  10. Even though this is in Hun Dun due to the original Poster being banned under a different name. I'll give an answer. How Do You Keep Compassionate & Forgiving Towards Your Most Hated & Your Most Despised Enemies Who Had Been Betraying You & Attacking You Forever & Who Are Still Betraying You & Attacking You? According to Ajahn Brahms, a great Buddhist teacher, you do it by starting Metta, loving kindness forgiveness meditation, start by picturing someone or something you already love. Humans can be hard, so you start off with your pet, dog or cat. Keep there imagery in mind; feel and send out love towards them. Get good at that, and work your way down, from people you love, to those you okay with, then after awhile you can start with those don't like..
  11. World changed today...

    Nothing this morning, I'll look for it tonight in meditation.
  12. Capitalism, private property and sociopathy

    In practice, I think Capitalism has lifted more people out of poverty then any other single source. Whereas communism seems to lead to totalitarianism, limited rights and economic ruin. Unbridled Capitalism can lead to feudalism. I find the sweet spot to be European style socialism. Where there's a strong social net in place and a capitalist market place, but that's just me. Not without problems, but I think it leads to happier, healthier, free-er people. The good thing is this doesn't have to be an intellectual argument, you can vote with your feet! North Korea, the last pure standard bearer of Communism awaits and will welcome you as it has so many unsuspecting kidnappees. There is also Cuba, make sure you tell them you should be considered a native, so your food rations are done correctly. And while I admire your writing and criticism of the government and economic system here. I strongly recommend you reign it in under other systems. Otherwise you'll be disappeared, even under the old communist regimes that have gone for Capitalism and seen the fruits of it, ie better standard of living, you'll still wind up in jail or worse for writing negatives.
  13. Welcome aboard, I look forward to your insights. and as you can see, the board can offer lots of advice. I'm often guilty of that myself. It's all meant in the best sense, but can come off as .. too much, take it with a grain of salt and sprinkle of pepper.
  14. Viktor Schauberger

    Hey Nungali, Take your water porn somewhere else
  15. Here is my strange way. I imagine 2 record players in my head. The first plays a loud clear voice.. 'words' in my head.. 'the narrator voice' that assumes is me.. I lift the needle from the record and get some silence for a while. There is a second one, more subtle, it plays a tune of emotion. Too often the album is 'Poor Me'.. I need to be aware of it and lift the needle off that one too. Which can be harder. Lastly there are rules, like computer code that is running both of these record players. A series of If, Then rules often irrational, that pick the music. These are even harder to control, but the more I'm aware of them, the easier it is to overcome the old programming.
  16. Is there an ignore function? Could there be?

    Yeah. If it seem egregious the moderators often start by PM'ing the party and asking them nicely to edit the offending message or back off the whole thread. Often parties get so wrapped up in arguments and insults both seem culpable and its harder to assign blame. You just hope they separate and not troll each other in other threads.
  17. Analyzing historic pictures

    The one from Mesopotamia, is muscled like a body builder. Both are armed but the one on the right's daggers look larger and better used, he has a crueler beak, you wouldn't want to mess with him. Both seem to have gotten there purses from the same store, perhaps Macy's of Coach store. The Ecuadorean seems a little more lizard then bird. It's seems a good bet to assume Mesopotamia is much much older then Ecuador, but one never knows. One of these could be copy from 100's or 1,000's of years ago, or an artist or forgers work from the turn of the century..
  18. Financial tips for the bums

    1) To Archivist- 'Substantial' is in the eye of the investor and more often in terms of percentage then dollars. Sometimes you cheer when you only lose 5 or 10% when the market nose dives. Liminal's post made me think of a Chinese proverb that said rice brings wealth. One of our members wrote that years ago, and got some flack; rice being a grain is looked down on in some Daoist circles. Yet, in a practical sense, the person who eats rice every day, becomes wealthier. Rice is dirt cheap, the ultimate meal extender, a 10# bag at Walmart is $5.69. With each pound making 11 servings (cooked cups) that's 110 servings for about 5 cents each. Not bad and thats why, for good or ill, rice feeds the world. Not that its a nutritional powerhouse. It's a blank slate waiting for the right spices and sauce. To minimize is good but be sure to enjoy life. It's all about finding sweet spot, which is moving target, and a bit of hunger accentuates future delights.
  19. 90% of medical cannabis has parthenogens ?

    This might be the answer for such high numbers. It'd be interesting to do the same deep testing on a couple of common fruits and vegetables and see if we didn't get similar numbers of dangerous bacteria and fungi. Or not.. maybe marijuana or somewhere in its harvesting is problematic. The devils in the details and unless I saw people getting sick from smoking, or ingesting I'd want more information before taking it too seriously. If any of us had our cheek swabbed or put our hair dandruff into a petri dish, we'd be amazed at the crazy growths that grow out of it. In some ways this is Bacteria's world, we just live in it. addon> reading the link in the OP, made me a little more thoughtful about the possible risk. The article isn't journalists trying to sensationalize anything, instead its a doctor who's investigating the death by pathological fungi of his patients. My kudos to him and the site for bringing this up. There could be a real problem, without (probably easy) safeguards medical marijuana might be hurting or killing people who are vulnerable.
  20. Financial tips for the bums

    A problem with investing in physical precious metals, ie gold or silver is the large transaction costs on the spread. What I mean is on a silver coin, most places will charge 5 to 10% more then face value on the initial sale, and will cut at least 5% when you try to sell it back. That doesn't mean you can't make money in the long run, just that you need a substantial move. Nothing wrong with buying a few coins if the urge hits, or when the price gets low but I don't like them as a main component of an investment strategy, except as a limited <10% holding. I understand opinions differ. Course a car has many extra costs associated with them, insurance, gas etc. but at least it can get you somewhere Whereas coins just sit there collecting dust, no dividends, just the hope they'll go up. One option if you think Gold or silver will be rising or staying the same, is buyng a stock that more or less follows the price, like GLD or SLVR. They're totally artificial but the spread, buying and selling is much less then physical coins, especially in the short run. As stocks you do covered calls against them, ie buying for say $18 and writing month calls for $19 for what ends up being a nice yearly percentage earning IF you can do it continually, ie creating artificial dividends that way. No free lunches, such covered calls options have much the same risks as stocks. One tip I'm using today is taking the time to file tax returns for kids. My son worked as camp counselor, earned $1900. I don't have to fill out a tax return for that small an amount, but by doing it he gets back $151 from the Fed and $71 from the state. And it allows me to 'gift' him $ for a Roth IRA (cause I'm here now, probably not in 45 years) At 20, over the last 5 years, he has $9,288 in it, all invested in a low expense, Vanguard Index fund, if it averages 8% a year in 45 years it'll be worth nearly $300,000!! That's with no money added. And that's why Einstein called compounded interest the 8th wonder of the world. Course for all I know in the year 2062 coffee willbe $1,000 a cup, but that still means 300 cups of coffee, probably for large too.
  21. FWIW, I remember seeing both a school for Kabbalah (calling it the original water of life, I think) and Qi gong talk about how they could turn regular water into a crystalline kind and both had pictures to prove it. It was years ago so I forget the details, other then finding it interesting that both schools had the same strange advertisement. Then there's the whole of Emoto's controversial work on water and crystals formed under human emotion.
  22. V is for Vegetable

    Good to know they earn there keep, from locust to mice, to fertilizer production. Is there anything they can't do? Each month I (technically my $25) sends out a flock of chickens through heifer.org to some family worldwide. I've been doing it for years. The hope is the family gets eggs to eat and when there flock gets larger, is asked to share new chicks with another family. Thus the old saying, Teach a man to fish, his wife will rarely ever see him, give him chickens and the family gets eggs.
  23. Some mental problems are Hardware, not Software

    Maybe this spring I'll brush up on my neuro-science. I noticed this in my inbox- http://www.soundstrue.com/store/neuroscience-training-summit-2017?utm_source=bronto&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=C170307-NTS-Squeeze1&utm_content=Exciting%20News:%20FREE%20Neuroscience%20Training%20Summit%202017&_bta_tid=332557022021392260977734893568604688265649837818679713267029177303109426996420017289566404210920376322&_bta_c=kp85cupkim7bl20xdvcpc5ql4tco3#jumplink-ns17-special-offer I think its an online seminar on brain/body/emotion link from experts (perhaps on the new agey side, maybe not) I believe its the kind of thing that is free for the day, but if you want a permanent access for later you pay the full amount. Once it starts there should be a new lecture each day. In any case I've signed up for it. Starts soon, March 20th. Hopefully the lessons will be informative. excerpt: Over the last few decades, powerful discoveries in the field of neuroscience have transformed such diverse fields as psychotherapy and medical care, education, parenting, intimate relationships, business and leadership, and even spiritual development. In many instances, neuroscience has provided the “missing key” that has helped us unlock greater understanding, intimacy, health, and well-being. For many non-scientists, however, getting to the core of this newly discovered wisdom is no easy task. It is difficult to know where to even start. Sounds True would like to help. "Neurons that fire together wire together. Mental states become neural traits. Day after day, your mind is building your brain." Rick Hanson, PhD We are excited to announce the launch of The Neuroscience Training Summit 2017, with a whole new array of presenters, teachers, authors, and experts in the field, who are committed to helping you to apply these revolutionary discoveries in your life, whether you have a scientific background or not. Not only will you learn the latest theory and research, but it will be presented in a way that is designed for practical application, where you can use these discoveries to make changes in how you live, love, and learn. Addon> Amazon suggested I get the book You Are Not Your Brain, the 4-step solution, the kindle version is $1.99, so I thought what the heck. I still have to finish Change Your Brain. Once I'm done with this stuff I can pretty much scoop my brain out, I won't need it any more,
  24. V is for Vegetable

    It'd be great to raise chickens for eggs. Sadly there are restrictions on the suburb I live at. I loved walking around Key West and seeing proud roosters and chicks strutting around, colorful as parrots.
  25. Some mental problems are Hardware, not Software

    Here is an excerpt from the book (Amen, Daniel G.. Change Your Brain, Change Your Body: Use Your Brain to Get and Keep the Body You Have Always Wanted (Kindle Locations 767-775). Potter/TenSpeed/Harmony. Kindle Edition.) Actually I'm eborrowing it from the library through the Overdrive App through Kindle into my phone (ain't tech grand). REGAINING CONTROL— BALANCE YOUR BRAIN CHEMISTRY Beyond brain-system balancing, it is also important to balance the chemicals that drive behavior. 1. Dopamine Dopamine is the chemical of motivation, saliency, drive, and stimulation. It is the chemical that both cocaine and Ritalin stimulate in the brain. Low levels are associated with low motivation, low energy, poor concentration, impulse-control problems, some forms of depression, Parkinson’s disease, and ADD. You can boost dopamine levels by: Doing intense physical exercise Eating a protein-rich meal Working at a job or organization that is exciting or deeply meaningful Being wary of excitement-seeking behaviors, which may wear out your pleasure centers, deplete dopamine, and make you feel numb or unable to feel pleasure T Taking natural supplements, such as L-tyrosine or SAMe. See Appendix C, “The Supplement Solution,” for more information. 2. Serotonin Serotonin is the chemical of feeling peaceful, happy, and flexible. When it is low, people suffer with some forms of depression, along with anxiety, obsessive thinking (such as about the caramel apple), or compulsive behaviors. You boost serotonin by Engaging in physical exercise, which allows the serotonin precursor L-tryptophan, a relatively small molecule, greater access to the brain. Practicing willpower. Giving in to obsessive behaviors solidifies them in the brain and establishes nerve tracks to make them more automatic. Practicing willpower actually does the opposite and has been found to change the brain, much like serotonin medications, such as Prozac. Taking supplements, such as 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP), L-tryptophan, inositol, or St. John’s wort. Good scientific evidence supports 5-HTP’s usefulness for helping people lose weight. Inositol is a natural chemical found in the brain that is reported to help neurons use serotonin more efficiently. St. John’s wort comes from the flowers of the Saint-John’s-wort plant and seems to increase serotonin availability in the brain. See Appendix C, “The Supplement Solution,” for more information. 3. GABA GABA, or gamma-aminobutyric acid, is an amino acid that helps to regulate brain excitability and calms overfiring in the brain. GABA and GABA enhancers, such as the anticonvulsant gabapentin and L-theanine (found in green tea), function to inhibit the excessive firing of neurons, which results in a feeling of calm and more self-control. Low levels of GABA have been found in many psychiatric disorders, including anxiety and some forms of depression. Rather than overeat or drink or use drugs to calm your anxiety, natural ways to boost GABA may help. I often recommend GABA supplements. Glycine is also an inhibitory neurotransmitter, which means it calms brain activity. It is an important protein in the brain, and recent studies have demonstrated its effectiveness in the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder and in reducing pain. L-theanine, one of the components of green tea, has also been shown to boost GABA, while at the same time helping with concentration and mental alertness. 4. Endorphins Endorphins are chemicals linked to feeling pleasure and eliminating pain. They are the body’s own natural morphine or heroinlike substances. These substances are heavily involved in addiction and the loss of control. Natural ways to boost endorphins include the following: Exercise, which is why some people feel a runner’s high when they exercise intensely Acupuncture, which has been found to be effective for a number of pain syndromes. Its positive painkilling effect can be blocked by using endorphin-blocking drugs, such as naltrexone. Hypnosis, which has been shown to be helpful in pain syndromes The Craving Solution Willpower Robbers Willpower Boosters Any brain problems Brain health Brain trauma Focusing on brain protection Poor sleep Adequate sleep (at least seven hours) Low blood sugar Frequent small meals with at least some protein to maintain healthy blood sugar Poor diet Enriched diet Alcohol Freedom from alcohol ADHD Clearly focused, written goals (see One-Page Miracle) Some forms of depression Journaling when sad or anxious Anxiety Meditation for relaxation and to boost the PFC Negative thinking Killing the ANTs (automatic negative thoughts) Focusing on problems and fears Gratitude practice