thelerner

What do you do when all men doubt you?When even 2 or 3 guys doubt me I'll often spend some time considering that they could be right and ponder what I could have done to handle the situation or philosophy with more skillful means. When everyone doubts me I'll usually fall back on the truism 'The opposite of a great truth, is another great truth', odds are we're approaching a problem and looking from 2 different angles.

The Tao is a path. You can fill it up with all the thoughts you want, positive, negative, self loathing.. whatever. Thoughts don't mean much other then making you feel good or bad temporarily. What matters is are you on path? Are you heading somewhere? Figure out where you want to go. Often a pencil and some paper are your best tools. Start easy and keep going. Sometimes when life hands you lemons, its time to get a new life. And that takes bravery, energy, planning and chutzpah. But you can do it.

Look at the one long enough You see infinity. Look at infinity long enough You see emptiness. byme

Well Nungali, I did buy the Aerospace 3.0 for you. Matter of fact I bought 2! Unfortunately while flying to your place, they crashed together.. sniff sniff.. now I have none . So just wanted to say Merry Christmas & Nungali, you owe me 2 aircraft. love Michael

We've lost so much intimate connection with the sky. Go back a couple hundred years and probably all mankind knew the stars and planets like there own neighborhood. The heavens were literally the greatest show on earth. Unfortunately living in a modern city, the stars are barely visible. Even worse, there are so many distractions that spending hours looking up, with eyes and spirit is rarely done.

we tend to pay taxes several times a day. Every time we buy things as well as for.. listen to the Beatles song Taxman https://youtu.be/MbQiVQuiu04. Your 'values' seem to be that paying taxes makes you a victim, going so far as using a Nazi comparison. Seems like a bad way to live thinking you're being robbed every day, several times a day and not appreciating any of the services you get for it. You realize it's not about where you live? If you left your province, you'd still end up paying taxes and living under another governments laws, regulations and tax structure. Nobody likes it but its part of the social contract we make to live in our civilization. Other then a fantasy in your head is there a place where there's no taxes, regulations or laws you'd have to follow? <and would you be strong enough to defend your stuff against others who live there> Your values are you want to be a total libertarian.? Pay no taxes, follow no laws or regulations unless you voluntarily agree to them before hand. Fine, but you don't live that way, rather you live and complain loudly that the world doesn't match your anarchic utopia. It seems.. pointless. There are guys here who actively seeking out or at least researching anarchic utopia's. Which is great, I've actually written up some of the Anarchic communities in the Anarchy thread. Personally I'm a Burner so I live a week or two outside the constrains of many societal rules. (Nice place to visit, but Burning Man is not long term sustainable) You want Utopian community you have to be the one who moves, cause society isn't going to change for you. Getting back to the OP, its silly to live your life hating- thinking your being ripped off by the Sicilian mafia and your a Jew to to a Nazi government. If you truly feel that way, that's awful.

What you consider 'high ideals' are what I consider living in fantasy world. One where the Sicilian mafia is robbing you several times a day, every single day of your life. Course you admit yourself you don't live your high ideals, you just complain bitterly and with great exaggeration about how things are.

I bumped it up in the 'Group Studies' section. Here is a link to the 'Secret Smile' practice by Glenn Morris - http://thedaobums.com/topic/9719-dr-morriss-secret-smile-breathing-basic-kap-1-giri-for-the-tao-bumbs/?p=116420 Its a great exercise to brighten up ones mind, body and spirit, one I should do more of.

bump. Someone was talking about the Inner Smile practice and thought this is a powerful similar kind of practice.

and yet, you compromise by living in a society that does those things. I assume you further compromise your high ideals by taking advantage of the many benefits that come from taxation.. like streets, public education, even such things as clean air. There are crimes that morally anger me, but taxation and distribution are part of the social contract we make. They are unpleasant realities but I don't think they rise to the level of hatred. You can avoid'em by going to a third world country where life is more caveat emptor.

Well if it makes you feel any better the US's last nuclear test was in 1992, over 23 years ago. With treaties and cutting edge computers they're not really needed. Its shocking there were as many as 140 in 1961. Much of it was simply an expensive dangerous cold war pissing contest between the US and Russia with France being curiously high, perhaps a Napoleonic complex from - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_weapons_testing A summary table of all the nuclear testing that has happened since 1945 is here: Worldwide nuclear testing counts and summary.

Tearing down other people's religions is easy. Maybe there was a time it was intellectual or even brave. These days I think it is those who are religious who are the brave ones.

Life happens and we catch people at there worst. When random factors align in horrible ways and people.. we, do bad things. What we see is only a tiny slice of the reality there, people caught in a bad instance. When someone hits a child or does something that seems pretty evil, its good to breathe out the anger, clear the head, create a little mental space that acknowledges you don't know all the factors going on right then and there. Without that pause we're likely to add and make the situation worse. Fighting is easy, moving towards peace is hard. That's not saying you don't act (if you have to fight- fight, let the universe decide), it's saying gain a little control over the fight or flight hormones running through your body so you can think clearly. Breathe out the anger. It allows your first words and your presence to be less confrontation and opens up options beyond a straight up pissing match and fight.

I see hate in similar terms as anger. Don't deny it when its felt but don't feed it either. See if if you can figure out if its correctly aimed, its roots and pay special attention to the role you played in it. Then don't let if fester, that's the worst thing you can do. If you can't get over it, then strategize, come up with a something you can do preferably positive (or not) to move the situation in a better direction. If there's nothing you can do about it, then either focus on doing some good somewhere else or work on controlling your mind better. Do not be controlled by the whims of your emotions.

Seasons Greetings and wishes for a fun and productive New Year to all.

I've always found you can find something useful from darn near everybody. Doesn't mean you want to pick up there whole system, but there are excellent forms and ideas you can pick up from most teachers who have been out there for few decades.

Its the exact same in the martial art world. We are right to hold masters in high esteem but put them up too high on a pedestal and we risk getting crushed. For them and for us the worst thing we can do is pretend our flaws (or crazy) are somehow signs of progress. Or worse that our insights allow us to rise above common morality. On the third hand when you're a star in any field, 1,000s of people want your time and act like they deserve it. To protect it you get a little callused. So some degree of aloofness comes with the territory.

Welcome. I've taken classes with Michael Winn and been very impressed with him. Be aware there are many groups of people here. Many positive, some negative and depending on the subject we tend to flip around. So if you find negativity, understand in some cases its people making assumptions without experiencing the teacher. Plus a fair amount of chauvinism that only there system is the true one.

Meditation is good. Lots of benefits to it. Try a few styles, see if one clicks with you. Most people do just fine and don't need any special precautions. Though in the beginning once you've learned to quiet your mind, the thoughts you do notice will seem louder. Then the job is to accept and quiet them, til there's another layer.. A few people do too much too soon or are particularly sensitive. In both cases, just slow down or even stop for a while. Ground.. take a walk in nature, do some exercise. Don't obsess. In the case of energy style meditation where you move energy around your body, its good to have a live teacher. Though many of us started without one. But there especially when the going gets hot or strange, back it down a few notches or stop. The easiest meditations (imo) are hypnotic audios, guided meditations things like yoga nidra's or even biaurals sounds. All of which put you in a trance state. While fun and useful, ultimately they're crutches that have to be dropped and the student has to learn to sit quietly, face and tame ones mind.

Where you use the word force, I see the word law. We live in a nation of laws, you'll like some not others. There are countries you can go to without them, but they tend to be very nasty. Also its not about liking people. You don't have to like those with a different accents.., but you can't legally discriminate against them in terms of housing and employment. Maybe that's the point you don't understand. You think there's mind police forcing you to 'like' others, maybe at gun point or something. You have the freedom to be prejudiced and bigoted, just not for some legal and commercial transactions. It's not about the world. Its about countries making laws to protect there citizens, even the minorities against bigotry. They're not forcing you to like people, but for certain legal transaction, you have to treat people equally. All in all, such laws make these countries better places for everyone to live. Where could you go to escape from these draconian rules against discrimination in the work place and housing? Most of the civilized world would be abhorrent to you. There is a reason you'd have to leave kinder gentler places and look for dictatorships and nasty places to find your logical society where prejudices can flourish. Probably you'd find it a nightmare. As I see it, most people want to live in progressive countries with laws that protect minorities. You keep going back to 'gun pointed at my head', being forced, and violence becoming acceptable. So much fear. addin> on the third hand, I admire your bravery in standing up for the very libertarian view you believe in and the vigor and consistency you have in defending it.

Good question. My answer: They'll have to learn to respect others, even minorities. Actually many (most?) do already. Prejudice will/is still be very easy to get away with. Ultimately you can't legislate it away, but civilization is evolving mostly towards tolerance. Not quickly, but for the past few generations have been much more tolerant, in general, then there predecessors. Course often that was a low bar. Karl.. I'm guessing you're a white dude, as am I. You have no idea what its like to be turned down for jobs and housing because of your color. No clue to the fear that comes about losing your job if people find out your gay. Thankfully, modern civilization is turning the tide against man's prejudices. You are gonna be forced to live in a society where you can't discriminate based on sex, color, religion or sexual preference. Get used to it. No one is gonna put a gun to your head, but if you just get in the habit of showing people respect, you won't even notice. It really is a good thing.

me too, yet the call to go bland has a certain masochistic appeal to me. Later this year I'll have to try it for a few days or a week. Keep it simple, mostly one food at a time.

Turning dark to light I fool myself once again Only mind changes

When you are losing an argument your writing becomes even more exaggerated and twisted. If the only way to rationalize your beliefs is to see the other side putting guns to peoples head then you might want to adjust your beliefs a little closer to reality. Laws against discrimination are not a magic wand, but they've worked for woman and minorities. Perhaps if you were in a minority that faced discrimination or straight out ban on where you could work, live or marry you'd gain a little more sympathy. Maybe even hope for a law that would help you and yours.

and always changing and always returning back my awareness stays