thelerner

bump Damo Mitchell been getting some good discussions on some other threads.

Welcome to the site. Great to have experienced practitioners here. I'd be interested in learning which books you'd recommend. thanks Michael

Not magic, just tax law. In the US, in the 40s, 50s, 60's the top tax rate was about 90%, that kept people from earning too much. Course it was a somewhat golden age of tax write off loop holes, but the tax rate was very high. New stock releases create many new billionaires, I suppose you could create a tax law that would limit that. History of Tax Rates: 1913 – 2021

random thoughts. I usually sit on a zafu (stiff pillow) in half lotus, I can't do full lotus. Kudos for those who can, but comfort and knee safety are important. FWIW I find the feminine Right over left to be more comfortable. If I'm feeling particularly stiff I'll sit 'looser', legs not tucked, one slightly infront of the other. When I'm good, sitting a long time, I accept the numbness of my legs. On the otherhand I don't want any damage either. Lately I'm doing more stretching, 10 minutes morning & night. It's made my sitting easier. As we get older we get creakier and can't take flexibility for granted.

What is the transgendered person's name? What do they do for a living? When were they born? What is their major? These things may affect how said Taoist will react to the question. imo the best of Taoism doesn't fit into any neat stereotype. A true Taoist may be hard to predict. For example if their name was Jon, they did carpentry for a living, were born north of Peking and dropped out high school to apprentice carpentry, then a Taoist who needed work done on his back porch would probably be quite welcoming. Taoist can be a very practical lot.

I'd rather not waste 5 precious minutes. If you want to spend a minute or two explaining or rebutting what I said, fine. But I don't consider Veritas to be a very accurate source. Is the point, you're anti-vax and searching the web for anything that will back it up, even if its past views that people no longer hold today?

I think the video it referred to is from July 2020. He expressed caution, in the past, before the vaccines and the data and testing came out. You may want to compare his current stance with Facebook policy. Or his July 2020 stance with what it was pre-vaccine Facebook policy. There's a good chance it will change again in 2022 or 2023, cause more data and different vaccines will be available.

The Monroe stuff is fun and interesting. Like most astral projection stuff it promises more then it's delivers.. at least for me. On the other hand the programs are intriguing. You can see the influence of yoga nidra, biaurals, new age.. all rolled into one tech.

I kinda hope an opportunity to experience a Quaker Meeting comes my way one day.

From Tigersplayastrology.com- http://www.tigersplayastrology.com/tigers-play The only thing you can control is your mind, and you may have noticed it is noticeably out of control. Reality, Dào, is beyond concepts/unknowable, and death/disaster can come at any moment to anyone regardless of their “good” karma. Empires collapse, good/innocent people die, and we have no rights other than the ones we give each other. Nature goes the way it goes and is just way bigger than our human agendas. In the face of this, the last year asked us all the question – what do you/we do when things fall apart? The only sane answer from the Metal Ox perspective is – you put things back together, you just keep going. YOU LEARN FROM THE PAST, you rebuild, you get back to work, and you do your best to do it better the next time, knowing full well that it will all fall apart again. Everything is impermanent and constantly in flux; cyclical time demands that all things grow, decay, and die in endless cycles of renewal, and Autumn/Winter demand that we face our mortality. Ideally, however, we should not invoke entropy before its time.

Here's some quotes from the article- ".. Xīn Chŏu 辛丑 – Year of the Yīn Metal Ox Welcome back to Xīn Chŏu, 辛丑, Year of the Yīn Metal Ox, which begins officially on Friday, February 12, 2021! After the events of 2020/Metal Rat Year, the task of prediction in the coming year seems daunting to say the least. But of course, as Liu Ming always said, Astrology is not fortunetelling; we’re in the business of symbols here! And the symbols have been spot-on! With 20/20 hindsight, the Year of the Yáng Metal Rat perfectly expressed the essence of its Chinese Astrological Symbolism, and before you read on, I suggest you re-read my blog from last year and reflect on your experience of the Metal Rat. I think you will find it most revealing. In short, last Year was all about the bigness of small/hidden/unacknowledged things going to extremes. The Heavenly Stem combination called Tōng Tiān Fú, 同天符, generated the atmosphere of excessive Yáng Metal Qì in the form of the Rat, which together created a razor-sharp dismantling force of titanic proportions. Unfortunately, the image of the Rat as a harbinger of disease came to pass, and the Metal Rat’s association with Confucian social harmony, justice, and order inversely played out on a global scale. Here in the USA, the pandemic, the protests, the election, and so on, all initiated massive social change so profound that the consequences will take decades to unfold let alone understand. I will emphasize that last year was a time to initiate change, but it was not a year to make change, and this is an important distinction. Here, we can understand all these events as nothing other than the natural unfolding of the cycles of time. Many would like to propose the narrative that our global consciousness is evolving toward a higher vibration, but the spaciousness/openness of the Chinese View denies this with any certainty, for evolution is only temporary in cyclical time. With open space/emptiness at the center of everything, the auspice of all movement is unfixed and without reference points to give us certainty. We are left only with our perception, and we are driven by the mind and its concepts/conditioning. So, how do we proceed after such a year? The same way we always do, lol. No matter the situation, the practice of Path Astrology remains the same – we study the symbols of the Calendar; we study our own Character and Karma/Fate, and we engage in natural flow of our experience as it unfolds from moment to moment, reflecting on this multifaceted interconnected web of relationships that have no weaver. When combined with a stable meditation practice and good spiritual hygiene, this engagement catalyzes a process of insight into Nature, Dào 道, and Self-Nature, Dé 德, that can free us from the misperceptions of an abiding self and world. In such complex times, astrology becomes most valuable when we stop trying to predict and control what will happen and get back to the essence of symbols as a gateway into Nature. I thought it fitting last year to begin my exposition of the Metal Rat with a discussion on Confucian teachings and social harmony, and although the Metal Ox in many ways continues and strengthens those themes, the destructive/dismantling force of last year prompted me to open this Year’s discussion with a return to the fundamental View Teachings on embracing the chaos and paradox at the heart of all experience. Wisdom would suggest that we embrace chaos and uncertainty rather than spin a positive outlook to make ourselves feel better. Predict as you would like, as I will offer my take, but I think the previous Year surprised all of us. The Ox symbol, though, appears surprisingly stable and boring by comparison. But the last thing I want to inspire is hope, lol. I would rather inspire wisdom. And wisdom has no preferences, for it knows that everything is 自然 “self-resolving.” Everything from here on out is a confident “maybe.” As I mentioned last year, Metal Rat is the first of the 4th 12-Animal sequence, so it was a renewal, a jumping off point, a catalyst for change somewhere in the middle of the 60-year cycle. The Yáng Metal Rat was a new beginning, and although I said it would be a small one, it felt pretty damn big. The Rat is an accountant that moves forward by evaluating the past , and we got quite a report. The fruition of this change has not yet arrived, evidenced by the ongoing uncertainty, and in the sequence, it does not get a push forward until Water Tiger Year, which in a Fire Monkey Country (1776) is set to be explosive (60-60 diametric opposites). However, the first step of the Rat is always very important. The Metal Rat was retrospective, an evaluation of the last 12-year cycle, and so is the Ox. The Rat looked backward, analyzed, and took things apart to be rebuilt more efficiently. We are now looking at the framework of our society lying in pieces on the ground. The nuts and bolts of American culture have been laid bare, and we are all left with the question – what now? The Ox answers – to build anything enduring, we must first re-establish the foundation, and to do that, we must acknowledge our lack of control. We do not control Nature, but we can learn to work with it; such was the experiment of Chinese agricultural society, and such is our task now. If there is a positive outlook to take on the current situation, it is that we can re-build, re-shape, and re-establish our world. But will we? Maybe. No guarantees. To fully understand the foundation available in the Metal Ox Year, we must look to its symbolism, Qì dynamics, manifestation, and applications. 象 – Symbolism In many ways, the Ox is a symbol of China, for if China is anything, it is perseverant, and its traditions are enduring. Dynastic China was the longest continual civilization of the modern era. China and the Ox represent the virtue of the heroic preserver, the continuity, stability, and convention of Tradition. In the face of Chaos, it represents a return to the wisdom of the Ancestors, who survived countless generations. In the scheme of the 10 Heavenly Stems, this continuity of tradition is represented by the Ox and its Native Element Yīn Earth. The Chinese character for Earth, 土, tŭ, contains two horizontal lines, representing a surface and a deep sense of stability. There is no Earth season in Chinese Astrology, but rather Earth represents the continuity or ground beneath the changing seasons. And while Earth suggests solidity, the Chinese Earth element is also like Space, the indestructible openness in which all things happen. The symbol of the Ox is related to the Yīn (rather than Yáng) aspect of Earth and expresses the malleability or spacious quality of Nature represented by the strength of the plow animal, shaping the Earth beneath us. Medieval China was the old world’s greatest agricultural society, and the Ox was the main event which made this possible, breaking away from tens of thousands of years of nomadic culture. In the process of become agrarian, the Chinese attempted to domesticate the Mongolian Horse, but after hundreds of years, the wild nature of the Horse could not be made to plow. After the unifying of tribes, the Ox Clans brought the Ox up from the swampy regions of southern China, and as soon as they attached reigns to it, they were amazed to find the Ox walked in straight lines, plowing even furrows with no goading. Farmers could let go of the reigns, and the Ox would plow forward, turn around, and come back on its own, making more even/straight furrows. Because of the Ox, then, China’s agricultural productivity and population increased exponentially, and in a few centuries, China became the most successful and wealthy society on earth. The Ox was always then associated with the rewards of consistent hard work and the Confucian value of perseverance in what is right. It came to represent a new contract with Nature to shape the Earth and create a new human realm, free of the hardships and uncertainty of nomadic existence. The Ox is a gentle giant, embodying a natural/Yīn strength achieved through gentleness rather than aggression. In Asia, it is not uncommon to see children running fearless side by side with these enormous animals. Oxen are strong, made of confidence, but they are not aggressive, and this is a valuable symbol for interpreting Ox Qì. The Ox represents “the way things are done,” exemplified in farming, craft, religion, martial arts – systems of knowledge and custom passed on and preserved through the repetition of skill and experience. To preserve these systems, tradition must maintain an integrity that is unchanged, lest they be altered and lose their strength, becoming something altogether different. Animals like the Tiger, Monkey, and Goat represent innovation and revolution, but the Ox represents the integrity of conventions and customs that are unchanged by time. In Classical Chinese Medicine, the Ox is associated with the Liver and likened to a General. It is associated with hard work ethics, physical/mental endurance, and with the strategizing and responsible decision making associated with the military. As such, it is a stern, disciplined, and rather serious symbol, representing the stable foundation that cultures need to maintain integrity. However serious, like the animal, this strength is peaceful and gentle in nature, and in Chinese Spirituality/Religion, the Ox is often associated with Guān Yīn, the goddess of compassion and wisdom. Lăozi is depicted riding an Ox, representing the natural wisdom of Wúwéi. In Chán Buddhism, as depicted in the 10 Ox-Herding Pictures, the taming of the wild Ox is an ancient simile for the discipline of meditation practice that leads to humility and service. Likewise, in India, the Cow is revered and worshiped as a symbol of abundance, nourishment, non-violence/harm. This Year represents a natural return to convention and stability; we fall back to whatever it is that supports our continuous presence here. To move forward, we must look back and remember…but remember what? For now, I pose this as an open-ended question, for many of the values and conventions of our culture are being challenged. So where is the thread? What stays valuable regardless of circumstances? What is proven effective? How can conventions change and still maintain their positive integrity? 氣 – Qì Dynamic To understand Metal Ox Qì, we must look to the Tōng Shū or Chinese Calendar. The Ox rules the 12th Moon, the dead of Winter (roughly January) and the hour 1-3 am. Ox exemplifies the still, silent, calm, and slow power of Winter. In the cycle of the day, Ox represents the middle of the night, the time of deep sleep, rest, and rejuvenation. So, what is it like to have this Qì dominate the entire year? Rat Year was a kind of retrospective dream (11pm-1am), but Ox is dreamless sleep. Everyone knows they should be asleep at 1-3 am. Qì wise, this is the time of day when we are most able to get deep sleep. Ox hour draws us deep into the dark silence of “don’t know,” where the unconscious automated functions of the body are most efficient. During Ox hour, you should be like a catfish, hidden in the murky depths of your unconscious. The Native Element of the Ox is Yīn Earth, which is described as sedated, solid, nourishing, grounded, sleepy, calm, and stable. Ox is the wisdom of orthodoxy and establishment, of thoughtlessness, steadfastness, and automation. Yīn Earth represents alliances, wealth, leadership, mothering, and balance. It is the center, Yīn and Yáng unified, associated with borders and boundaries defined by the empty space at the hub. The Native Element of the Ox is Yīn Earth, but the Heavenly Stem for this Year is Yīn Metal. Since Earth is the mother of Metal, the elemental balance of this Year is supportive and generative, which means the positive attributes of the Ox are more available, and we are less likely to struggle against them. They are empowered and strengthened for better or worse. Since Earth generates Metal, the direction is of the inward moving outward while the outward moves inward (which is the opposite of last year). The Metal Ox is less outspoken, but more forward moving, and opinionated than the other Ox. It represents a hardening of the Ox Characteristics, like ore smelted to gold. Metal, then, adds refinement, discretion, and fastidiousness to the Ox image. The Metal Ox is therefore more withdrawn, confident, and self-reflective than other Oxen. The Metal Ox is both outspoken and opinionated but has great thoughtfulness, maturity, and restraint (Obama, for example is a Metal Ox), contrasted with an image like the Fire Ox, who struggles with being too brash, blunt, and belligerent (comedian George Carlin is a great example of a Fire Ox). Yīn Metal is associated with the downwardness of falling leaves and the dryness/decay of Autumn, and its representative emotion is grief/sadness/loss. The burden of grief is heavy this year, and the great loss we have all endured will continue to bereave us all. We have lost lives, relationships, institutions, businesses, communities, personal freedoms, and so on; our culture has changed irrevocably. This is no small event. We are deeply encouraged to continue to contemplate the death and mortality initiated by the Metal Rat. In the Wŭ Yùn Liù Qì, the Elemental configuration of this Year is called Tōng Suì Huì, 同歲會, or “Total Annual Agreement.” This means the Heavenly Stem of the Year aligns with the unfolding phases of Qì throughout the seasons, creating a stable alignment of Qì that is milder and more temperate than the Tōng Tiān Fú from last Year, which generated chaotic extremes. Beneath the atmosphere of Yīn Metal, this is a Year of Tàiyīn Damp Earth, which governs the first half of the year, with deficient Taìyáng Cold Water governing the second half. Since Earth controls Water, the weakness of Water will create an overall increase in Cold/Dampness. The whole year has an atmosphere of heavy wet snow, and the dynamic is slow and sleepy with an element of drowning. For all you Chinese Medical folk, this may lead to an increase in symptoms like diarrhea, stomach aches, low appetite, fullness of the abdomen/chest, chest pain, heaviness of the body, lower back and leg pain, stiffness in the knees and hips, cold in the lower body/feet, swelling and edema in the lower body, swelling in the jaw, and difficulty with urination. Kidney and Heart disease may increase along with sexual dysfunction, and any weakness in the Lower/Middle burner will be bogged down by damp earth and poor water circulation/metabolism. The Qì dynamic of this year is overall very different from the last, and we should keep our eyes open to both the positive and negative potentials given the current situation.. " The article goes on. A worthwhile read. I found my of it hopeful and look forward to Yin animal's influence. It's a minor thing but when the author writes 'Everyone knows they should be asleep at 1-3 am. Qì wise, this is the time of day when we are most able to get deep sleep', I find they're correct. Tracking sleep with the Oura ring, shows consistently, my longest sequence of Deep Sleep happens between 1 and 3. Deep Sleep being the most body healing part. <<I was reading his article (http://www.tigersplayastrology.com/tigers-play/category/all 2nd from top)from last year on the Yang Rat. His outlook included warning about flu due to the Pigs damp nature. The paradoxes between the Pigs caring maternity and the Boar's potentially destructive ferocity. A good read. >>

from the article, #4 is a phenomena that to me explains how the left is complicit in creating the Trump monster. That the extreme negativity pushed people with an inclination toward conservatism and Republican party further than they'd have gone if the criticism had been less emotional and toned down. from article "..4. Trying to convince. Paradoxically, the worst way to convince someone of anything they don’t already believe is to make a confident argument for it. Instead of communicating I want you to understand or I want you to see what’s best for you, it actually communicates I want to push you over. The other person stops listening because they feel threatened, and they push back with whatever weapons are at hand - irrationality, aggression, silence. They do anything except concede they’re wrong. Psychologists call this “reactance”. Reactance is generated when the persuader hasn’t made the other side feel that they are being treated as an equal - only then will people lay down their arms and listen. course how do you not 'try to convince'? I suppose you look at the specific instance and discuss how it could better handled. Honestly listen, give and take. Not grand philosophies but keep it specific, don't be a zealot. See where you agree, keep the discussion less emotional without dogma.

Often the greatest danger we have to protect ourselves against is.. bum bum.. Ourselves. finding the sweet spot where we're pushed; learning and expanding without getting hurt. I guess we pay either way. Too little is as bad as too much. I had a friend taking a boxing course. I asked what it was like. He said, Its like paying $60 to get beat up. I asked if he had a class that night, he replied Oh yeah.

In my late 30's after 17 years I hung up my gi. At meetups I'd see two old war horses meeting and like you say, how's the knee? How's the shoulder? What's been ripped or torn lately? And we were in relatively gentle Aikido. The people I knew in competitive sports did even worse, some with Arthritis in their late 20s. I don't know if such is the rule or what percentage are still practicing in their 60s, 70s and above. How many old grandmasters and simply non-quitters are out there. 30 some years ago I rose in rank w/ a fellow practitioner. I need to look him up, hear he's taken over the ever humble dojo.

In my various writing classes it was hammered into me, Good Writing, is personal writing.. letting it all hang out. Cathartic too, but it's not strangers I worry about. It's the people involved. But so far so good. For the worst of it, I think the friends involved assume the writing is about someone else.

Wise or Foolish? A place to write up what one is doing, and get the crowd's opinion if its smart or not. Mild-mannered supermen are held in kryptoniteAnd the wise and foolish virgins giggle with their bodies glowing brightThrough the door a harvest feast is lit by candlelightIt's the bottom of a staircase that spirals out of sightThe carpet crawlers heed their callers:"We've got to get in to get outWe've got to get in to get outWe've got to get in to get out"

What are some of the most important things/concepts you've learned from it? thanks.

1. I drink 2 cups of coffee and 1 cup of green tea each day. gotta think this is wise, I try to stop my coffee intake by 2pm and green tea by 3:30pm. 2. I don't floss, except for the week before dental apptmt so I can lie w/ a straight face.

From my perusal, though it was on Fox and said by a Republican legislator, the fact checking I've found have counted the claim as false. It's a huge problem, I don't think its a bipartisan one necessarily. Full explanations- https://www.wkyc.com/article/news/verify/verify-biden-administration-insulin-costs/531-57ea96f8-bcbf-412e-8d25-6aaaa37319b4 https://www.factcheck.org/2020/09/viral-post-wrongly-ties-cost-drop-to-trumps-prescription-bill/ this one looks at another meme that is incorrect. https://www.statesman.com/story/news/politics/politifact/2021/02/12/insulin-prices-us-rising-uninsured-biden-mark-walker-fact-check/6740566002/ ".. Mark Walker: “President Biden is raising the prices of insulin and Epi-Pens on those with high costs and the uninsured.” PolitiFact's ruling: Mostly False Here's why: A Republican running for U.S. Senate in North Carolina says Joe Biden is already raising drug prices for some of the most vulnerable Americans. Former Congressman Mark Walker hopes to replace U.S. Sen. Richard Burr, who won’t seek reelection next year. Two days after Biden’s inauguration, Walker took aim at the new Democratic president. "The disdain for President Trump and his accomplishments are so deep that President Biden is raising the prices of insulin and Epi-Pens on those with high costs and the uninsured," Walker tweeted .. Our ruling Walker said Biden "is raising the prices of insulin and Epi-Pens on those with high costs and the uninsured." Biden froze a directive that would have ordered some health centers to provide insulin and epi-pens at the same price they purchased them through a government program. But experts say the health centers were already providing the discounts. Furthermore, Biden froze Trump’s order before it ever took effect, so it’s inaccurate to suggest prices are going up. The program’s status quo will continue until a final decision is made. We rate this claim Mostly False.

Hopefully its a minority few who tend to be loud. They'll have their day, then the counter flow and string of nothing happenings, quiets them down. There are only so many times one can cry Storm! before people get that it ain't happening and they bought into a load of bull.

Wish I did. January has been a chronological wasteland for me. I got nothing to show for it. Not even blisters. Looking for inspiration or vicarious living.

That's smart. Wouldn't be surprised if Swedes were healthier in general compared to England. Exercise, fresh mountain air.. perhaps even less tourism and travel might help in the current conditions. I'd rather see the above chart against Norway, Finland or Denmark. It'll be a little more apple to apples. <fwiw From Scandinavian Journal of Health in July https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1403494820980264 Mortality Higher case incidence corresponds to overall higher COVID-19 specific mortality rates. Sweden, with a COVID-19 attributed death rate of 0.54 per 1000 population as of July 5, has a higher death rate compared with its neighbours (Figure 1(c)): 11.5× compared with Norway (0.05 deaths per 1000 population), 5.1× compared with Denmark (0.10 deaths per 1000 population), and 9.1× compared with Finland (0.06 deaths per 1000 population).. course I'd also expect most of Europe did much better than the US. >

God can be a heavy/loaded word, filled with pre-conceptions. Every now and then it's not a bad mental exercise to substitute another word.

Boom. This is exactly it. A live teacher, you can understand and contact, beats a semi-legendary recluse. One can also look to advanced practitioners like Wang LiPing, amazing man, he's got good books available, but any training means long travel and many many thousands of dollars and perhaps some translation problems.

I collect guided meditations, biaurals, breathing apps, have an Oura sleep ring. I think they're a great addition, but not substitution for meditation. Just sitting you have to face your mind and body, its thoughts and anxieties, the body's squirms and itches.. Your weapons are concentration, relaxation, surrender and practice.