thelerner

Always thought this poem had clues on the nature of heaven. Which in turn are insights on the nature of man. Please Call Me by My True Names Thich Nhat Hanh Don't say that I will depart tomorrow— even today I am still arriving. Look deeply: every second I am arriving to be a bud on a Spring branch, to be a tiny bird, with still-fragile wings, learning to sing in my new nest, to be a caterpillar in the heart of a flower, to be a jewel hiding itself in a stone. I still arrive, in order to laugh and to cry, to fear and to hope. The rhythm of my heart is the birth and death of all that is alive. I am a mayfly metamorphosing on the surface of the river. And I am the bird that swoops down to swallow the mayfly. I am a frog swimming happily in the clear water of a pond. And I am the grass-snake that silently feeds itself on the frog. I am the child in Uganda, all skin and bones, my legs as thin a bamboo sticks. And I am the arms merchant, selling deadly weapons to Uganda. I am the twelve-year-old girl, refugee on a small boat, who throws herself into the ocean after being raped by a sea pirate. And I am the pirate, my heart not yet capable of seeing and loving. I am a member of the politburo, with plenty of power in my hands. And I am the man who has to pay his "debt of blood" to, my people, dying slowly in a forced labor camp. My joy is like Spring, so warm it makes flowers bloom all over the Earth. My pain is like a river of tears, so vast it fills the four oceans. Please call me by my true names, so I can hear all my cries and laughter at once, so I can see that my joy and pain are one. Please call me by my true names, so I can wake up and the door of my heart could be left open, the door of compassion.

Definitely not. He'll connect with some people, not others. Will those he 'connects with' get enlightenment. Probably not, but they'll get a sense of calm from his writings. Thus he might be the light beer of Buddhism . We probably need more then a book and a pithy saying to break out of our conditioning. Hell, I don't know what we need. On the third hand, there was a member here who said they reached enlightenment after suffering depression from there mother's death. The event shook there operating paradigm.

You've got a good point. I was thinking once learned, they're good to do at home. Most katas has subtleties that take an experienced teacher, weeks and months to bring out. Then they're good to do at home solo. Or you can have a friend with experience show you the ropes, not as good, but better then nothing. For example what looks like a simple staff thrust is really starting out aimed at a (imaginary) swordmans hands then ends at there throat level. Or what looks like a sword striking left then right, has a the sword touching and curving around (the imaginary) opponents sword, and if that connection breaks or is weak, then you get killed. Little things that aren't apparent seeing it or in simple explanations.

Few people know, that Tolle had a short career as the 5th Beatle. If you dig Tolle, you might listen to the man he considered his mentor. Barry Long. Lots of good dharma talks. He's a less commercial, in some ways more practical and direct, version of Tolle. I also like his guided meditation though I tend to start it at the ten minute mark.

article in Owledge link said a standard Ven. loaf was mandated at 180 grams or 6.35 ounces. Kind of like a large roll. In the U.S a loaf of white bread is typically 16 to 22 oz.

Probably the only ones remaining are capitalist minded (ie make a profit). I assume ones run by the government went under years ago. The Marxist model of artificial price controls inevitably leads to shortages. Human nature plus the law of supply and demand are working against the Venezuelan government. Two forces that cannot be held back by bureaucrats or wishes. Marxism/Communism leads to financial ruin. Price controls sound like magical solutions and they work for a bit, then inevitably they back fire and create shortages. There are so many examples of Marxist and Fascist countries that have taken over land, factories/production and seen surplus's reverse themselves within a few years. It happens so regularly and predictably that this is Economics 101. That's not saying Unimpeded Capitalism is without problems, but Marxism is a quick guarantee of ruin. That's why the two largest communist countries, China and Russia, after literally creating conditions that starved millions of there own people turned to Capitalism, and saw life expectancies increase and dire poverty go way down. Brians OP request (for an honest answer from a normal citizen) would be dangerous for someone living there to answer honestly.

hmnn, then how does anyone learn anything? and what happens if one who knows, talks? does that make truth reverse itself? or do they get whacked by those in silence?

There are things that teach aspects of the martial arts. Like mountain climbing teaches strength, technique and bravery. Course can't do that at home. I've found some of the longer breath holding techniques are a link between physical and spiritual. For example Wim Hof breathing which includes long holds after you exhale. You come up against your will. Your ability to control and calm your body in an extreme situation. Yogic breathing patterns, where you get into longer holds like 10in 40hold 20exhale- repeat, where you struggle a bit against yourself, remaining calm and mentally poised as you stay in rhythm, fighting your own mind and limits at times. Closer to the OP's point is learning some weapons katas can be great 'at home' solo practices. Learning the moves, there inner meanings. Great for mind and body. I guess all katas are good, but weapons particularly sharpen the focus and tend to build a bit more muscle. Particularly bokken (sword) and staff. Just doing 1,000 sword cuts properly each day is a workout and meditation all by itself. Often the question is, in the eyes of someone experienced, can we do even one.

and that's why we shouldn't stare into the abyss to long, or too hard. Its there in much of human history. scattered in modern newspapers. very very dark stuff. It can cling to you, draw your soul down. History shouldn't be ignored though, past or present. Yet the darker things need to balanced by the 10,000 ordinary good events we take for granted. The common love and sacrifice in families. The everyday smiles, blue in the sky, green of grass, the jokes that make us laugh. Needed anti-dotes to the darker studies.

Reminds me of 'purist hypsters' who think once a band reaches a certain level of fame, they're automatically sell outs and no longer worth listening too. Sometimes you gotta separate the music from the performer, or get to know the artists better, so you stop making pre-judgements.

I like the Karezza idea, but beware too much strangeness with diet. If you're low energy and sick I'd beware of doing a 3 day water fast. Use your own judgment but some diets don't work for people and what they assume is detox is the body saying 'stop'. Finding a good qi gong routine would be good. I like Pangu, Stillness Movement qi gong, beginning sequences from Michael Winn's basics- short simple ones. See if there are any classes near you, even yoga or martial arts can provide a lift. During long pregnancies (my wifes) I enjoyed the oft painful touches from Aikido. Even the simple things like starting a standing meditation practice like zhan Zhuang is good to increase energy. You can do searches here and on the web and find out more, see what connects to you. Or see what is close We're all different. Often times working on the basics, sleep, healthy diet (not extreme), exercise, perhaps a tonic especially during the winter (I like pine pollen tincture). Get the basics down before moving towards the esoteric. Good luck. Your energy may be low now, but you're looking around, trying new things.. on the path and that is good. Addon> Free and online... let me add. I'll do zhan zhang while listening to Rawn Clark Archaeous series, 15 minute lessons on the elements in the 'energy' body, here's a link scroll down to find Archaeous http://www.abardoncompanion.de/MP3-Links.html . I like most of Rawn's stuff... influenced by Franz Bardon and on the practical side of Hermetic magic.

Got a call from someone saying they were from tech support and they were calling to help me. Sounded suspicious, my sister fell for such a scam a few months ago. I listened a little out of curiosity, then hung up. They called again, and again. Same person each time. Telling me how important it was to go to support.me . Out of curiosity I typed it in, no way would I hit return. The browser gave me alternatives like 'support.me spam' where I read to the person a number of headlines stating they were corrupt virus spreaders. I thought I was doing my civic duty, but it didn't dissuade him, he kept talking. I hung up and he called back a 4th time. Persistent with a very distinct Indian accent. I expect if I'd typed it in, it'd download a virus requiring $$ to get rid of. Probably several sets of $$. So folks, its out there bold and repetitive. I doubt most of us would 'bite' at such an obvious ploy but newbies, the old and naive might be caught by such a schemes. Gotta wonder if there's an army of them calling 1,000's every day. I read an article about a hack the Russians did by sending 1,000's of cheap usb memory sticks to stores around military base. It worked people plugged 'em in to PC's and things were stolen. User beware. Technology.. it has it downsides.

Thankfully the great majority of restaurants have a couple of vegetarian options. If not main dishes and salad then a couple of appetizers or side dishes. But I hate to see vegetarianism affecting your social life poorly. There's always a bore in the crowd but if you ignore the one, most often others won't even notice. What I'm saying is, watch your own prejudices. In some ways they're as 'out there' as the bore who comments that you're not eating meat. Eating is bonding, let go of your judgements at the time, and enjoy the meal and the company. Let the philosophical and ecological discussions happen later. I had friends in high school who were militant vegetarians walking around with books like 'Diet for a New World' and trying to turn meals into conversions. It didn't work, they only solidified opinions and got into arguments. Not the time and place for the discussion. That's not to say discuss if asked, but keep it light and positive. As soon as you drop (or think) a guilt trip, your getting entangled.

Maybe the program logmein? They're not (hopefully) affiliated with them, but on the web, they seem to have a shady (hacked?) link to them. Years ago I downloaded logmein, which might be the source for my phone number. I'm floored by the persistence of 'my' guy, 4 call backs! They've hit so many people, are we talking 1,000's of scammers? Maybe a work out of your home, incentive program with high payback?? And the spiel.. he gave me the names of the 2 people who've hacked my ISP and kept getting how part of the payment for my computer goes towards his companies defense against hackers. The important thing now is to go right to support.me and yada yada yada. They got my sister but they didn't get me. She ended up realizing what she'd done afterwards and had the credit card payment stopped. You'd think with such a wide spread scam the credit companies would have huge incentive to close them down. Put a dozen men on it, work with local enforcement agencies and put an end to the scam. addon> Same guy called me back today. I explained that I thought it was a scam, told I'd done a write up on a forum about it, then put him on hold.. A minute or two later the line went dead. Then he called back!! The persistence is mind boggling. makes you wonder, do I sound like an idiot over the phone? an easy mark?

I dunno. Not sure if anyone does for sure. Or if I'd trust them if they told me. I'm hoping some personal insight is gained through deep meditation. None yet . I've had dreams where I've died. After some moments of panic, I relax, accept, repeat who I am and unafraid, see what comes next. Course I've also had minor heart surgery where I've had enough consciousness to hear the surgeon say "Well this isn't going well" and done pretty much the same thing in real life.

Glenn Morris of 'Pathnotes of a..' fame tells a similar story after meeting with his Teacher.

I don't think its an illusion. Looking at the amount of animals we slaughter, is far far far beyond what is gotten through culling or hunting. I have no problem with those. Hell I'm a meat eater, I like venison. Nothing wrong with hunting. What I'm getting at is for present society, if you look at the incredible amounts of animals slaughtered yearly, the amount of wild animals hunted is minuscule. I don't think you can justify killing 50 Billion Chickens a year (in US) because some rice farmers invite hunters to shoot ducks on there property. Good for the rice farmers, and all farmers who protect there crops. I don't think that justifies the waste, and inefficiencies, and plain cruelty in the ways billions of farmed animals are treated. Course that makes me a bit of a hypocrite, but that's how I feel. I dislike militant vegetarians, but but.. I'm kinda glad they're around for balance.

One of my first girl friends was vegetarian and inspired by the simple credo: Do the least harm. In general, when all factors are added in (land, water, resources, waste), vegetarian diet does less harm and creates less cruelty in the world then eating meat does. Certainly in the quantities we do in the West. Not in all cases, but in total, it is imo a more ethical diet. And without some big collapse, we're not going back to hunter/gatherer days. (many of them were destructive enough that they had to move around)

Please, they're just murdering people, one by one, back then, right? How I long for those pacifistic days. The last few seasons, If you don't see a body count between 100 and 5,000 per episode then you've taken one too many washroom breaks.

Sorry DiamondEye, as you see on the forum there's always someone pointing 'Squirrel' As far as the latest intellectual conundrum: I'd unbuckle my seat belt, get out of my seat and get ready to jump high just before impact and so far so good. kidding, i'd unbuckle the seat belt, run to the cabin, knock politely, enter, tell them I have 3,500 hours on Flight Simulator and Star Wars: Rogue Squadron and it'd be best if I took over controls of the falling airliner. I am (according to the games) both a senior Flight engineer plus a Red Team Flight commander who's killed more tie wings and womp rats then anyone else alive. Squirrel. kidding actually, the best advice is less time reading forums, more time practicing.. but where's the fun in that.

I'm not a veggie, but I've always had friends and kids who are. I admire the diet, but 'because energy' some people can't stay on it. For some as they get older the diet robs them of 'juice', they have less and get more susceptible to colds and such. They add some meat, and they feel better, have less illness and more..vitality (there are many, undoubtedly more, stories that go the other way too). Maybe its psychological but these are people were hard core. Probably the majority can do very well on a vegetarian diet, but since I know people who've crashed on it. I worry that there is some sizeable minority it's not compatible with, and instead of having a little meat or fish a week, they see being meatless as a religious duty and it hurts there life quality. addon> fwiw just made a pot of delicious veggie minestrone soup. The ultimate peasant garbage kitchen sink soup.

As a business man he got millions if not tens of millions from the government. For most of his life he's been more liberal then conservative, though it does depend on the audience he's speaking to. More then most politicians his trade mark is to demonize people and spread wild rumors. Not just the other party, but against his own. From childish name calling, to Insulting there wives and even insinuating there fathers were involved in assassinating Kennedy, Trump sets a new low. There is a paranoia to him and it will probably get worse as the years go by. Everyone around him signs very strict, high penalty non-disclosure contracts. He's cut off his wife's divorce payments when she breathed to a magazine things he didn't like. He relishes power over others, particularly the ability to fire them. It's his power move and makes him feel stronger, as does adulation from nearly any source. We can expect he will continue to fire his top staff as he did those who ran his campaign. He is a creature of the media (even pretending to be his own made up press secretary!) and lives for applause. cough cough Mussolini.. On the other hand every new regime and there cabinet gets called fascist by the opposing party. It's part of the political game. But Trump is a different animal. I'll give you that. Freedom and fascism runs on a pendulum. Right now there are alot of cross currents fighting, particularly on the extremes. Trump has stated he will be the law and order president. It will interesting to see how he handles the next Ferguson and how it runs.

With time, love and experience we can shape our souls around another.

Hmnn, what if they said what you are doing is wrong? I haven't studied those guys, I take it they're all dead and probably being human don't have perfect agreement with each other. If masters of mussar or H'oppo'no'no said what you're doing is wrong, how strongly would you take it? Obviously they're acknowledged masters and you're not. So.. While I admire those who follow traditional systems, I do think there are traps in them, ie cultural conditionings and dogmas that work against them. As an (ex) martial artist I admire those who preserve the old systems, yet to be balanced and to cut out the cultural time wasters, I prefer training with those who've gone deep into tradition systems and found the 'heart' of them and teach from there; sort of the Jeet Kun Do (Bruce Lee's) philosophy. These are excellent teachers who have read and studied the classics and understand there strengths and limitations. They don't argue translations in the classics because there aim is not to produce scholars but deep cultivators. More personally, I'm into keeping it simple these days. I've got kids, responsibilities. Going deep can wait. Long Walks in nature, medium sitting, some energy work, a chant now and then in the shower. Good enough, for me, right now. A lazy householder.

In our reality, maybe not, depends on the situation. Still its all about having options. The stronger and more aware you are, the more options you may have. I was taught, being good doesn't mean being stupid. If you have to fight, fight (and win). Heck I'm thinking of ordering a Salt Gun. A co2 pistol that shoots balls of salt very hard that explode into a tear gas like substance. Not the perfect weapon, but non-lethal. Why, options. Good to have them. Trust in God, keep the salt balls dry.