thelerner

The only solution I've found is rolling my sleeves and getting to work. The purpose of life is the reality of living your life. Do it well, pay attention. Occasionally ponder the imponderables, but not too much, lest it take away and darken the present.

I wouldn't be too surprised at echoes from ancient cross cultural ties. Egypt being at the heart of China's identity.. no. Egypt was the extraordinarily powerful for 3,000 years. Its trade and culture reached far.

I'm quoting 9th quoting Jung. Other cultures from Chinese to South American have holidays to communicate, honor, do things for the sake of their dead. In general we don't. We tend to ignore our elderly and even more so, our dead. We consider ourselves, self made and lose our lineage. I'm just wondering, what could and should we do to for the sake of our dead? To reclaim and relink our heritage? I'm not a big believer in hungry ghosts and the like, but with my parents in there 80's and ailing, it seems like I need to tell there stories more to my children. To do something to reconnect with my ancestry. Personally, there is something like a family plot, its full now. One nice thing is each grave has protected locket with the deceased picture on it.. of my great grand parents and my grandparents and there brother and sisters. I've taken my daughter to it. Next time we're all together we need to visit it as a family. Put down stones on the markers, sit there, in remembrance.

<allow me to edit and shorten for readability> My strategy for avoiding arguments hold on, I'll come up with the right word.. .. people.. is to only look at and post to the troublesome thread only once a day. Thereby not getting entwined in tit for tat garbage arguments. Matter of fact after a day or so, they're so inconsequential I either forget about them or they've drifted in some new direction so that a reply no longer makes sense.

Sometimes I like to howl at the moon. I like sparks of crazy wisdom in my dharma lessons. I like jokes in my philosophy. I like occasional laughter to break up my meditation. I like water in my whiskey and whisky in my beer. everything else.. I tolerate.

I paged through it, but never owned it, but Eric Yudelove wrote a book 'Tao and the Tree of Life' that looked into the similarities in the two systems.

I'm surprised, especially if you posted in the Esoteric and Occult Discussion section- http://www.thedaobums.com/forum/223-esoteric-and-occult-discussion/ . Its pretty open in there. No guarantee there aren't skeptics and hecklers, but for the most part, you'll find people open for discussion with pretty open minds.

On the third hand. What if.. <grr, I shoulda read the above post a bit closer, since we end up in the same playground> We're in hell now? Living a short life, in a heavy physical realm, in deteriorating needy bodies. Born into a world full of strife and want. This is hell, we've merely adapted well. In that case, its still cool. Living in Chicago has prepared me well. I might find heaven kinda boring after this.

It's a little sad, but also inevitable, maybe even needed, that the forum lose members, gain members, grow, shrink and change over time.

reminds me of my favorite drink 1 part espresso 1/2 part cherry juice 1/2 part cream shaken then stirred vigorously topped with a squirt of whipped cream a Sexcafe. actually that sound pretty for a made up drink

We tend to handle religion well. To bad politics is so polarizing. High stakes year though. Still the antidote for tension tends to be a sense of humor. Keeping it, sharing it, making a joke. Here's a good one. So.. Hillary, Trump, a prostitute and a priest walk into a brothel. The madam says: (whoops doorbell write back later)

hmnn, wonder if I could work it into conversations with my wife..?? 'Hey honey, pass the butter..and uh, have you noticed alot more sexcapades going on lately?' or 'Remember the sexcapades we used to get into? Down by the sexcaporium? Ah, those were the days.'

I'm thinking meditation, energy arts aren't the whole ball of wax. They're good stuff, but if you feel empty, which is common, then they alone, may not be the cure. Not that you should stop doing them. More.. juice may not solve your problem. I've certainly felt similar to you many times in my life. Feelings of melancholy. Beyond survival and 'practice' we need meaning. We need to feel accomplished, that we're building something. Something important to us, personally. We need to find It, and It is different from person to person. Its worth spending time to contemplate the question of what It is. And then going after it, with a passion.

I think appreciation and generosity are two sides of a golden coin. They compliment each other and make our lives better. Be thankful, be giving. On my phone I have a Notepad app. One page is titled Things I'm Thankful For- where I remind myself of all the good things I appreciate that happen to me. Cause they're easily forgotten or taken for granted. On another page I have Generosity- which is things I do for others. Looking at it, makes me feel better and perhaps more importantly closer and connected to the people I help. It opens the heart a little. Connection.. maybe that's what its all about. Those who help us, those we help.. Knowing we're not alone, part of a system of humanity. We have power, to be a conduit for good. Appreciating and passing it on.

I'm not a great spokesperson for Kunlun. I just did one seminar years ago, so there are things that I don't know- that I don't know. I never became a regular practitioner, least never hardcore. Its too bad that the Kunlun Forum run by the organization only lasted a 2 or so years. There you could get information and feedback from long time practitioners, teachers and Max himself. 1. I find it very different then HT, hard to compare. Kunlun is two main exercises (maybe one) and a few extras. Healing Tao is gradual process with lots of exercises, many years long curriculum that you move through. To me Kunlun was mostly, hit the position.. that's it.. maybe some Red Phoenix and a little standing. 2. Goal of Kunlun.. the goal.. hmnn.. different vocabulary then most. You kinda got where you got. I suppose the ultimate was enlightenment and rainbow body. Max certainly had an otherworldly air about him as well as juice. I met Khan, a very nice guy.. I'm sure very open and accomplished, magic.. above death.. no idea.. i tend to be skeptical but don't know. I find most practices oversell there possibilities including HT and Kunlun. I think a type of enlightenment is possible through both, but most practitioners won't get there with either. Though they'll see some wonderful benefits in terms in terms of mind and body. Talking about after death is above my pay grade. Kunlun really isn't. No more then any discipline that takes time and should be done every day is. The main practice of hitting the position is relatively easy, certainly so is the cool off which experienced people say should not be ignored or abbreviated. Hell, I find sitting for long periods boring and keeping the hands in that position can be tiring, as is the body movements that come from it. Not being very energy sensitive I never got the high energy opening affect some people did. Those it effects hard should be careful and back away if things get hot or strange. Do less, or stop for a while, let the body normalize. Some could get 'it' from the book, most found seminars with Max to be the push they needed. I don't know what his teaching schedule is like these days, or even if it exists or even if he's teaching the same things. Mysterious guy. Another route, perhaps safer is Jenny Lamb, who's practice is very close to Max. He may have learned some of it from her and its reputed to be part of her larger system. Double checking her name I found this thread fwiw- http://www.thedaobums.com/topic/9003-sifu-jenny-lamb-on-learning-kunlun/?p=106022

A healing Chi gung style might be up your alley. There's a style Stillness Movement (SM) that has a teacher here- Ya Mu. Tends to be a seminar and a video or two kind of thing. Good stuff. Sitting, movement, healing techniques.. We've got a couple of threads on it. info: http://www.qigongamerica.com/

I don't think so. It has an 5 Element standing practice, standing still in poses representing the elements, a hard zhan zhuang practice. No colored pearls that I know of. Its approach, philosophy and practice seem totally different then Healing Tao. Very little philosophy imo, and relatively simple (but not necessarily easy) practices.

Not as dramatic as DifferentlyAbled but here's my story. For years before I'd meditate I'd start with a preamble I consider from the vispassana tradition. I am not my body, I am that which inhabits it. I am not my thoughts, they are like clouds passing through the sky I am not my past, that is patterns I can choose to follow or not I am not my future, that is imagining and fears that mean nothing I am not my emotions, I honor them and let them fade like ripples on a pond I am not possessions, I am not family.. yada yada About 2 years ago I was having chest pain, went to the emergency room, stayed in the hospital and that morning I had an operation, not too major, but they put a spring into a vein to keep it open. They asked if it should go through my nose or groin area. Ofcourse I said nose. In any case.. they don't put you all the way under. I was woozy but could still hear them. At one point the doctor said, 'This isn't going well..' Not a good thing to hear during your heart operation. But what can you do. I repeated the vispasanna sayings I'd done for years and fell into a nice state of peace. What ever will be will be. Whatever I am.. I am.. for now.. Nothing as dramatic as dying, they just couldn't thread the tubing through the first choice and had to go through the groin area after all.

I am not so charitable as to give 20's or a 100 to street people, organizations yes. Similarly 'love thine enemy' seems too charitable and makes you vulnerable, you may feel loving but enemies want to hurt you, best not keep let them get too close. On the other hand it its good to give change or a buck or two to beggars. To realize circumstances make people enemies and circumstances change. I don't have to love or like them, but I can try to understand there motivations, see them as human. Know and hope that in the future things will work out, especially if I put effort into gestures of conciliation and finding common ground. But to love my enemies, no, can't do that, not the way I understand love.

The above quote came from a member. It reminds me about the problems that arise with sensitivity. Increased awareness can have the side affect of making us much more emotionally vulnerable. Even to the point of being swayed and highly affected by the emotions of the crowd we're with. Beyond that, its been said enlightenment is the obliteration (at some level) of self.. depending on ones definition. That the threshold crossed for enlightenment is dropping ego and/or thoughts, in any case to cross the line you must first drop much of what you consider to be you, at least the you in your head. At some level enlightenment is death of self or at least the you, you are now. Lastly to open up, has dimensional meaning. Being sensitive means seeing things others don't. On my side of the fence its easy to postulate others third eye, visions, entities.. gods.. are self made creations. But straddling the fence and crossing means accepting whole new realities with a different set of rules. Ones that can alienate you from friends, family, civilization.. Interesting subject to chew on.

don't do it, you'll run over the poor pokebeasts.

Congrads. I just have the basics. Look very presentable, get there early, have pen and pad nearby at all times. Go out of your way to try to connect to one person, especially. Meeting 40 people can be overwhelming, but spending extra time with one can cement a long time relationship with a friend or mentor.

Karl, you did fall into a trap. Not recognizing a modern form of bigotry in action. Maybe you recognize an outright rascist who simply screams .. the N word or outright calls Jews despicable, but you're ignorant of modern styles. The extreme language still happend but mostly in privacy of there own meetings. Here's how up and coming racists play it these days. They look for stories in ethnic sites or papers that are thoughtful deep exposes. They find them, and link to them, with titles like, in this case, Mass Murdering Jews. Boom they get there headlines. Maybe I'm wrong, maybe Sionnach did find that article because he looks through Jewish sites for insightful history. Dollars to donuts he didn't. He got it off of a racist site, and felt a duty to put it up here along with the racist title of Mass Murdering Jews. Not being a minority means things are invisible to you. Never facing prejudice some privileged tend to think it doesn't exist. Sadly it does. Things worse then prejudice exist and evil people exploit it and at its extreme it causes murder.

I wouldn't sign the petition. I don't like hate speech and I support some libel laws. I'd rather not see hate speech given a free pass, or allow libelous speech to get off scot free. I'll admit, saying which is which is not always an easy task, though sometimes it pretty clear. I'd even argue such penalties should judged on the lenient side, but there are evil people who use such language to destroy and divide. There should be a legal rout to stop them. I've seen forums that have unconditional free speech. They devolve. The worst actors take them over, loudly and vulgarly. Out posting others til rational people leave for saner sites, ones that have some rules of moderation. It's sad and in a better world it wouldn't happen but here it does. In that way forums are a microcosm of the world. You believe whole heartedly in that petition then start a forum, one that declares no moderation, free speech for all. You'll find the crazy nasties sooner or later make a mockery of it.

hmmn, we think we are calibrators, when what we should be is mufflers. catalytic converters. using the platinum in our souls to make our emissions cleaner. reconsidered