thelerner

Reminds me of Shakespeare “This above all: to thine own self be true And it must follow, as the night the day Thou canst not then be false to any man/Farewell, my blessing season this in thee!” Not a bad saying. I give it qualifiers, ie if actions based on 'being true to yourself' have led to good things in the past, keep going, be true to yourself. If on honest reflection 'being true to yourself' led to self aggrandizing folly, don't; make up a set of intelligent rules and disciplines that set forth a solid path to live by, instead of your native instincts.

forget Mars, I'm heading to Venus, that's where all the woman hang out and I like them odds.

I don't think of such things in terms of jing. More as a tonic or adaptogen.. its one of those common practices in the East that are mostly absent in the modern West (more so US then Europe). Its one of the reasons why China towns are so fascinating, the herbal shops filled with a dizzying variety of ingredients from sea horses to crazy expensive ginsengs. Probably best used under the guidance of someone knowledgeable. Yet when older, in the winter, it might make sense to find a tincture or combination that strengthens a weaker system. I've found Pine Pollen to be that for me. For those younger who scoff at such things, wait.. you may find as a body gets older, the right tonic is of great benefit.

I love sky gazing as much as anyone, but it can be a little boring at times. I say move the earth somewhere a little more interesting. A place with Saturns and Jupiters over head, 100 times bigger then the moon creating solar eclipses that last for hours. You wouldn't want to live in earthquake prone areas or within 1,000 miles of any large bodies of water, but it'd be damned interesting.

The great teachers of the world have stated: There are no dumb questions. As middling to poor student, I question that. Maybe they are right. There are no dumb questions, but some questions are asked at the wrong time. What is volition- is a very head heavy inquiry that may seem profound but will probably have zero impact on your life. Better to spend time in practice or honing awareness then playing mind games. Unless you have a cozy beverage, a few friends around and its after 9pm.

Don't know what SoG's answer will be, but often to keep drugs and herbs effective and potent, its good to cycle off and on. Otherwise the body builds up tolerance.?

The TTB's turned me on to Pine Pollen years ago. I bought this https://www.etsy.com/listing/252925448/pine-pollen-tincture-wild-harvested-from Pine Pollen Tincture on Etsy (on my 3rd bottle). Not cheap at $40, but it lasts a few months and its the only supplement where I see results. At North of 50, taking it, I usually wake up a bit.. tented. So its definitely works some mojo on my yang hormonal systems. From the same company I've bought there cheaper tumeric and ginger tincture and a wellness tincture called Perpetual Youth Tincture w/ -Reishi, Astralagus, FoTi, Schizandra, Goji and Maca- (which I rarely use, waiting til I'm feeling low). How well do those work? Who knows.. its not like they give you powers or grow you another arm. I haven't been sick in the past 2 years but some of that (I guess) is due to cold showers. Sadly writing that will probably bring my long health streak to an end. Even that is good, the body needs its seasons too.

I was writing about dreams and how mine were influenced by the movies and shows I watch. I realize I'm hooked on some pretty dark shows, like HBO's Game of Throwns, HBO's West World. I just started watching Stranger Things on Netflix. These are all very dark paranoid shows. They say there's a part of our consciousness that can't tell fiction from fact. If so, watching some of these ultra violent shows, like West World and Game of Thrones can't be good for my and perhaps societies collective unconscious. These types of shows aren't anything new, but the quality of them, and there graphic, often shocking nature probably is. Take Game of Thrones, good guys bite the dust more often and painfully then the bad. Woman, children even babies aren't safe. For all that, West World might be darker, with its paranoid musing on free will. We see the past(?) good guy rape his first love, and murder woman and children just to explore his bad side. Older shows on regular TV could certainly be violent, but rarely created the deeper attachments that these shows do over there long costly (West World episode 1, $25 million!) runs There is an emotional depth to these shows, especially once your hooked. I don't think such shows are part of a conspiracy, rather they're giving us what we want. Yet they're also costing us our.. well.. innocence. On some level these shows affect our collective subconscious.

Yet its not without merit. Take West World which I considered 'worse'. Its well done and entertaining. Much graphic violence and gratuitous nudity but it also has its share of philosophical gems. Few shows have you questioning the nature of human consciousness; what is free will, what is freedom, like West World. In its sophistication it doesn't allow easy answers, few are totally good or bad. For all its violence there is, imo a sympathy for all. Karma is at work, violent delights do lead to violent ends, but there is a deeper theme that for hosts and guests, the true path is finding your Real Self and being fully aware. And the key to awareness comes from solving the maze by going inside.

To be fair, giving away free $1,000+ computers doesn't seem as negative as 'buying' native land with trinkets. It's not like what they wrote using them belonged to Apple. A mild villain might be Microsoft (isn't that how they start out). There long 'accept' or screw you button needed to activate every Windows 10 gives them incredible rights and opens the door for many possible abuses. Don't know if Apple is any better but I remember reading a relatively scary article on Microsoft's latest and worst Cyber agreement. Again to be fair, they claim the nasty clauses are just 'in case' and not being used.. but they could.. Even now, Apple is reaping huge rewards by cornering the education market by giving schools sweet heart deals on computers and ipads. The Ipads end up screwing the user because some/most text are now mandatory on the computer and there is no way to get them used or at a fraction of the price like physical text books can be had.

I'll take the Apple question. I'm not the Apple fan boy I used to be (using a small whisper quiet Mac Mini, but have an android phone). But there was a time they came up with (or at least ran with) fresh innovative ideas. Revolutionized the home computer and hand held music devices. They started out in a garage, lots of legendary dramas; huge ups and downs. How many CEO's have 3 movies a dozen books about them. They also sponsored amazing free concerts back in the day. They positioned themselves as the opposite of stodgy old IBM. Still, the rebels became the empire, thus the pendulum swings.

There are racists who crave attention and would use this board as there soap box. This board was NOT meant to give them space. These racists quickly jump from issues, that should and could be discussed, to why entire races, religions, colors, identity are bad and evil. There are lots of neo nazi, Klan and White Power sites that cater to crazies on the far right, and websites that cater to delusional bigots on the far left. Everybody vents, everybody has issues and hot buttons, but when we see a pattern of an individual insulting and degrading entire ethnic groups, I think we should give them fair warning and send them packing. Cause that is not what the Dao Bums is about. I'll give people a pass or two, after that let them wallow in there hate, fear and prejudices somewhere else.

The best answer isn't going to be found in lineage or other people's opinions. If this is very important to you, the best way to know is save up the $ and hit there seminar's. Even if its only hitting one seminar a year or every other year. There is simply no substitute for experience. Similarly how much can we trust answers about 'Dragon' and 'Rainbow' bodies from anyone who hasn't truly experienced it themselves. Such discussions devolve into 'angels on a pin tip' arguments because the real thing is so rare and legendary.

I'm no Trump fan, but I'm taking this approach. To get too hyper partisan is to make yourself half blind. There will be some interesting dynamics going on in the new administration. I hope they have the good sense to be less partisan, more dogmatic and carefully study the myriad unintended consequences of there actions. We shall see.

Have you ever taught young children, spent a few years teaching kids classes? Just wondering if you're speaking from theory or experience.

Does this mean Every Thread that mentions Wu Liu is going to have your comments on how bad it is? You realize you've written those exact statement in multiple posts. At this point we get it. You don't like Wu Liu. The only question is whether you are a troll and it is suspendable? Which would be a pity because you are very knowledgeable and have so much positive experience to contribute. But a smart troll or dumb one is still a troll. This has nothing to do with Wu Liu, or qi gong, its simply board etiquette. The pro and anti groups are looking very immature with the constant insults and arguments on so many threads. Some of you are going to have to grow up and be able to leave the repetitive arguments behind and talk about something constructive .

I think so. Yet that is to some extent what I like about it. Very, very simple. One main practice, 2 or 3 additional. No philosophy, no guru, mostly just hit the position, let 'it' happen. It can be powerful and with power comes danger but it is stressed to sit quietly digest after practice. As I get older, I'm appreciating the old time martial art classes more and more. The shut up, do this variety. No explanation; focus, do. Too often I see people stuck in low level scholar mode spending more time arguing and discussing dusty old books then shutting up, focusing and doing.

Without strong buy in from the kids themselves, forcing kids to do strange (from there point of view) things usually back fires. Still if the kids are young, things like the 5 Animal/Healing Sounds might be a fun gamelike activity. Likewise in the first couple grades letting them hear short guided meditations aimed at youngsters, gives the teachers a rest and lets them develop some skill in stillness, focus and imagination. So K through say 3rd grade might like- https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwRp13WDIrMOSH7pzcrCME5e9TBaJ3wGs Older kids might like https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLuaZRqnBYUg5tCwrkcJd0wcbvkoaH8k6_ an entire hypnotic series based on Lord of the Rings. If it proves popular you can transition into meditation classes. If professional qi gong teachers want to donate there time, that's great, but if its too foreign or ambitious, you'll have some parents up in arms.

It'd be great to see a company take them up on it. With modern tech, you might not break even, matter of fact you're undoubtedly risking your life with untested technology (WRONG this is for an unmanned probe that's on a one way trip), but it should be possible for maybe double that (yeah, right- allow me to heckle myself)(And to heckle the heckle comment). NASA is very expensive because it requires multi fail safes on every system, for all the good that's done them. So you get sponsors and use a Boeing, Lockheed, Airbus, Space X or some smaller aeronautic hotshot that wants to make a name for itself. In the same vein- http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/12/17/how-much-does-it-cost-to-go-to-the-moon.aspx ' t's almost here: 2017 -- the year America begins mining the Moon. Before 2017 is out, space pioneer Moon Express will make its maiden launch aboard a Rocket Lab Electron rocket. Its mission: to land a robot on the Moon, beam back high-definition video proving its accomplishment, and collect a $25 million "XPRIZE" from Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL). Once that happens, Moon Express will have become the first private company to visit Earth's most famous satellite -- and that's only the beginning. In rapid succession, Moon Express plans to launch up to four additional lunar missions, landing equipment and science experiments on the Moon for a variety of government and corporate clients.'

Don't know about perfect, but I'm sure we could come up with hundreds of millions who are excellent examples of rightful living. If you don't believe that you should visit a mosque, get to know more Muslims.

I admire your courage and thanks for writing about the things that helped you.

So, Wu Liu Pai is mentioned and it immediately goes into the same silly circular arguments that happen in all the other threads. Was it planned that way? Or are the writers here stuck in an infantile time loop? Either stick to the question in the OP. Or create PPD's all about insulting each other in two languages and stay there Here's a secret, the great majority of people don't know anything about Wu Liu Pai, other then it tends to be a magnet for immaturity. I'd suggest you break the loop and stay on subject. It'd be nice if both parties can show maturity in these threads. Stay on the subject, please.

Loose 15#s by June 30th and get 2 articles published within 3 months. I'd like to find 2 or 3 longer term projects I can do, preferably with group support and some shorter challenges. Maybe do at least one month of Krav Maga. Do another Polar Bear plunge. Get tickets to a Burning Man Event. Do something memorable at least once every other week. Concert, new restaurant, play, concert, cultural event etc., Bike and kayak more. Get to know the Skokie lagoons. Do a Road Scholar Trip. Maybe a golf one. Do more meditation keeping attention on tip of nose, whilst connecting middle eye and heart. Take some mini classes at local University. Keep better more complete Financial Journal.

Truth.. how do we separate it from opinions and bias's? When does a preponderance of facts become the truth? Is there absolute truth or shades of grey? Getting very close, but not so much. I suppose our best tools are the Socratic method and basic logic. Truthfully, I have 10 fingers. Not that you can be sure of it, but I do. There are basic truths about my identity. I'm a man, I'm a citizen of the U.S, where I live. I can provide proofs of such. These are small things, but I'm thinking small proofs are like platforms, building on top of each other. Maybe we can get away from bias's and generalizations by keeping known truths stacked on one another. Looking for proofs and internal consistency before adding each building block. Still, nothing wrong arguing opinion, but its important to know we're dealing with opinion and bias's not fact. Course some opinions are more self evident and logical then others. That's one thing I like about Buddhist philosophy; the tendency to keep things self evident and experiential.

As insightful as this and the other political flame threads are. I'm kinda hoping we can start the New Year with a spirit of.. screw love, you want love, hire a prostitute, rather friendship, fellowship and tolerance.