thelerner

Just back from New Orleans, where bar hopping with the food and music was amazing. For centuries, bars were places where guys got together in community. Its still there, at good bars, where conversations are struck up, hair is let down, and talk and connection flow.. drinking is secondary, though perhaps a lubricant. You don't always get a good connection, but sometimes you do. Sports.. your team heading into the finals, can make for a camaraderie of bar mates that is too often missing in our lives. A group cheering, as one. Sharing the ups and downs of a game. It can feel good. Just had a graduation party for my daughter in our backyard. Good food, good people, cheap drinks- Trader Joe $12 Shiraz in a box. Good times, hours of good conversation. Perhaps liquor helped.. extended the reverie.

Maybe I'm not a natural, but I've found it takes work. Usually its not worth the effort, but sometimes it is. Fashion may be pretend, but I like pretend. Sometimes you don't know the real person until you can play pretend with them. Strangely, then you get to know a person much deeper. Perhaps I like bars, drinking til I'm tipsy but not drunk; you meet people and at a certain point of inebriation, pretend.. stops. You're just hanging out, shooting the shit. You've stopped editing yourself, which can be hard to do. Kind of Brothers (or at times partners) for a night. And in the real world, good luck with a 'no make up' rule with your wife and daughter. You'll probably need it.

Maximize sex appeal- lip stick, make up, shine your shoes and dress to kill .. birds do it, bees do it, even educated fleas do it. I could also have picked A Tale as Old as Time from Beauty and the Beast or Sharp Dressed Man by ZZ Top It's part of the mating game unless your living amongst the Amish or extreme prudes. After that its a point of self pride for many. Few do it better then the French who (often) have impeccable taste and consider looking great and sexy part of life's savoir faire. How we dress and look is part of human communication. It's not my thing, but I admire those who put work into there style. Whether its ballgowns or blue mohawks, it adds to lifes color and adventure.

I agree with Wilfred and Aetherous, nasty problems due to energy work is not in the scope of Western medicine. An oriental expert might have a much better understanding of the problem and its solution. That still gives you a choice of dozens of modalities and each doctor in them might have a different approach. So it might take a few tries to find the right one. Also, famous and expensive is probably no better then cheap and local, as long as they have formal training and certification. Good luck. If you would.. could tell us more about the turning point, where the practice went from feeling good to beginning to do damage? When did the benefits (if any) stop and the problems begin. Lastly, other people have gone through similar things, you're not alone, and you will recover. Thanks.

I did internet research years ago. What I came up with is there is a sweet spot for Fluoride, a little bit is good for us. Knock out fluoridated toothpaste and strangely tea (which is high, but I still drink it) and the little bit you get water is probably not bad. I never was able to find serious scientific research on the pineal gland and tend to put it into the urban myth category and I disregard many of the 'scare' sites in favor of scientific and general population studies. I could be wrong. Though its not like spiritual masters are against tea (that I know of), which tends to be one of the more concentrated sources.

I agree. We get so lost in tv and movie representations of 'good looking' that we downgrade ourselves. When the best thing we can do is ask people we love 'What's so good about us' and find our eyes, our smile, the way we move, our hips, our lips, our spirit.. we've got some good things going on. side note: I hit the Report button on CelibacySeeker for insults to a group and a member.

hmnn, confidence can be a kind of charisma. and charisma will often trump beauty.

I was going to write- You tell me. Seriously, like many siddhi's, I think it exists but is generally not a consistent easily called on experience. Thus at times it happens, but even for those gifted its not an on demand kind of thing.

bump. good subject. (I was looking for a Spotless posts on fasting and found this one)

Advanced stuff for one so young. Good for you, but remember to stay grounded. You'll find some people on similar paths here. Taomeow is very knowledgeable about Wang Li Ping, taken seminars with him and written up how the experience went. You can look up her writings.

Please die and let live when you were young and your heart was an open book.

So.. X really does mark the spot. One healing system (Kaishan Golden Bell) I studied had the bottom of the lower edge of the rib cage being very important and stimulating areas around the body. So many infact as part of its health regimen you knocked along the lower rib cage for stimulation and healing.

They don't post here often, which is probably a sign of there advancement, but we have a few heavy hitters with bonafide masters who walk a hard true path.

Thangyu for those.

I suppose we raise your vibration with the difficult task of monitoring our thoughts and weeding out negativity. Maybe 'blank slating' all the things we think we know and being open to what life gives us without expectations. Accepting people and situations with openness, knowing they're just doing there thing.

This thread was inspired by a post I made in The Pit. see below I'm looking for a polite thread on how the various arts interpret and practice yin and yan energies. I spent most of my time in Ki-Aikido which had a mostly singular definition of Ki. A useful one. Most Eastern arts seem to split chi into many types of energy. The biggies being yin and yan. How does your art work with yin and yan chi? As well as other forms. What develops yin chi, what yan? Do we need to separate them? What is the framework understanding in different systems. As well as practices if permitted. I'm hoping we'll get some of the sites more experienced people weighing in on this and the discussion stays open and respectful.

Wow, no understanding of what I wrote, especially when you bring up its Fox network. I get news from many sources and divide them into very bias'd, bias'd and batshit crazy. I regret the loss of Al'Jazeera which I considered a much better resource then Fox. Still Fox while is highly bias'd and at times goes beyond spin into creating its own news, at times its.. right and covering things other sources don't. Thus good to read. Imo you get your news from conspiracy sites, (you recently linked to Alex Jones). A con men, who literally claims every year we'll be rounded up into slave camps as well as the imminent collapse of the economy. Every single year since he's been on. He makes money scaring people into buying gold, silver and prepper gear. There world predictions are either wrong or ludicrously wrong. I'm not worried about you, but what of the seniors and people who are more gullible and take his frequent rants and predictions literally. IE, they spend every year waiting for- WWIII, Obama to put them away in FEMA camps, or the there money is about to disappear. Every year, often several several times a year. Its hell and its wrong. Wrong in timing, wrong in scope. He and his ilk play people for fools because fear is such a potent seller. They fall for the same schtick time after time, year after year. DISASTER, POLICE STATE COMING SOON. When something disastrous does happen (and it will) these people are so used to cries of wolf they won't recognize what is bad.

Spoiler alert. I thought this was ironic. George Martin complimented the writers of the show on how they fleshed out Osha, the wildling protector of the Stark boys. I believe in an interview he said he'd give her a bigger part in his coming books because he liked the actress and the potential she brought. Then for no particularly good reason she gets the dagger this week , and no Lord of Light priest or priestess around to bring her back . Rest well, wise wilding

this one- http://www.wimhofmethod.com/ A post on facebook talked of someone who got very far just practicing what was written in the Higher existence article on Wim Hof. The formal 10 week course has more supplemental material and support.

I don't think we need a conspiracy to shut down America. Plain old fashioned stupidity works well enough.

Controlling the money supply (& interest rates) is a way to keep the boom/bust cycles of the economy imperfectly in check. You could knock out the Fed and replace it with something like the 'Med' (Money Elucidation Department), do your best to make it less political but as soon as it makes a decision some group doesn't like they'll protest, call it part of an evil conspiracy, when in fact, its simply moving a direction they don't like, using the limited tools they have. That is the nature of the beast. In my opinion the US weathered the great recession better then most of the world because they didn't go the austerity route and instead turned on the money spigot; Reassuring the nation by keeping banks, businesses and insurance agencies liquid and open. People in charge made hard, daring decisions that kept us from falling into a Great Depression where most banks would be bankrupted with savings, checks and credit cards becoming void. Without there action there was a real danger of financial Armageddon. Few understand or appreciate how close we came and the people who kept it from happening. Financial bubbles are terrible things, and when they involve real estate, which most people own, is so expensive to begin with and already has such a high

Stale thoughts swept away new thoughts rush in unasked I breathe out, they stop

Why do people fall in love? When the fires of biochemistry lit on the tinder of species survival, simmer into symbiotic relations til the coals of genuine affection keep a person bonded for life. I wouldn't downgrade initial attractors though. Good looks, charisma, being funny, having a car, exuding confidence or being awfully nice, being a good conversationalist, competent in things, mature and having good financial prospects.

how to solve it..? here's what I got. Money- more guards, more cameras, maybe microphones that automatically detect 'safe words', add psychologists. Less people- stop imprisoning people for minor drug offenses also if they can't make bail for minor offenses. Stick- have and encourage anonymous reporting and easy testing. Punish severely, longer terms, losing privileges, for repeat offenders solitary confinement. Carrot- allow safe sex times as reward for good behavior. Shaming- you rape, you wear pink or I'm a rapist.. something like that.

As I recall (and I could be wrong) the site creator was looking for a catchy title and partly inspired by the Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac. I don't think the intent was to lean us to Tao as much as be a discussion site for philosophy and meditative arts. Course we're also originally a breakaway from the Healing Tao USA site. Perhaps its a call to discuss (at times) serious topics but not take ourselves too seriously, we're bums after all.