thelerner

Few ideas are totally new, see what you can find on the internet. With the right phrasing you may find people who've experimented with this before. Maybe waay before. PDE's created many side show acts (& public animal executions) when it was being rolled out. <pde = public displays of electricity>

Ironically spending time looking at a computer screen and caring about others opinions and what they think is also a source of leakage. In the scheme of things are hours in front of the computer better or worse then an nocturnal emission? <at least the nocturnal emission gives us a really great dream>

From a far away perspective much of human behavior seems like herd mentality. Yet (imo) from close up when you get to know an individual, you see they are unique and have different ideas, hopes and dreams. Get to know someone intimately and quite often stereotypes break down.

ah, sex with Neanderthals.. it can be rough and they don't take break ups well, but in general its worth it.

i think.. OUch. A tiny jolt from static shock hurts, probably worse when you're non insulated, might be very painful. You get a tiny bit of salt water in your eyes, that hurts, get a little in your mouth, you gag. Get all 3- pain, stinging eyes and gagging in a dark enclosed coffin and you might be in trouble. Water + electricity = trouble (usually) so experiment carefully My idea- a person in a small tent enclosure (so its dark) hammock suspending person in a small raised tub of salt (epsom?) water, either a good sound system or decent headphones (water proof & long cord). Then play a good hypnotic routine with appropriate light show focused above and around them on the tents ceiling and sides. You might be able to run the sound and lights off a ipod and cheap projector, and go relatively cheap on the

I can't justify buying Lululemon for myself, but my wife will buy me one item a year. Great quality and utility. by the time I'm 65 it'll be the only thing I wear ;0

usually the ass. judging by some recent conversations.

As I recall using a large straw can be act like a kind of Resperate, ie used to train the breath. Even the thicker ones can be challenging. I haven't done it in while, but I remember straw breathing practice reminded me of 'Buddy breathing' in scuba diving; where you had 2 people sharing one regulator (breather).

For unknown ailments I think this bit of advice just posted is a general tonic: http://thetaobums.com/topic/37506-42-lessons-of-life/?p=606317. Perhaps there's some synchronicity. Though like medicine, advice is only as good as the dose taken.

Cool. That I have an experiential reference point for. Otherwise these concepts are cryptic words translating poetic and coded references from a tiny subset of vastly different culture and time.

chi gung war, chi gung war, or maybe death match rap. back on subject. With an impasse about book interpretation, I'd be interested in hearing about how you've personally experienced the phenomena you're talking about.

Wow, that clip is almost unbelievable. I just watched the last Hobbit film and was thought they were giving short thrift (of necessity) to the archers. Like when 2 dwarfs are unfazed having to battle 100 goblins, they're like no problem. Whereas why didn't a couple of goblins have bows (or even throw rocks?). warning rant ahead When the hobbit threw rocks it was one throw, one kill. I don't understand why the dwarves weren't shot by a dozen elven archers as soon as they said 'We're keeping all the gold'. Why didn't the elves use there bows instead of rushing at there enemies? Why was there so much slow motion? Why did the head dwarf keep walking on top of his under ice super enemy when he could have just stopped and waived goodbye to him?

<One, I'm sorry this thread is getting side tracked into pissing contests.> Two, I think the above is an important point. Practice and progress are much more important then intellectual jargon and concepts. Knowing the full history and philosophy is nice, but counts for little.. practice is the key. The person who knows a few things and practices diligently with integrity will be light years ahead of the scholar who spends more time on research then on the mat. Imo in the West we truly need to know less and do more. We tend to be way too top heavy, living in our heads. Dropping the books and internet and spending time in secluded cabin would probably advance us far more then learning any 'secret' technique.

Lately I've been making custom CD's for friends & family. I'd give'em a best of collection from some guided meditation or my latest interest, Nidra Yoga meditative audios. Something tailored to there interest. You can get a portable DVD player w/ mp3 playback capability for about $35 at Best Buy, then create an mp3 disc that has dozens of audio's on it.

Well.. at leasts googles motto is Don't be Evil, Whereas Yahoo's 'Sure we're Evil, you got a problem with that?' and AOL's is 'We're really old'.

nice. I'm reminded how an old sensei of mine used to say 'Everything I've taught you is a lie, but a necessary one.' All his teachings were metaphors to be dropped once you reached a natural state.

As far as http://thetaobums.com/topic/20714-what-are-you-watching-on-youtube/?p=604150 is concerned, I kinda see Vmarco as the brown bear. Maybe unfair, since they're not here but I wonder what they'd say about the video.

Lets keep a little open minded. A valuable practice I picked up at an ashram was using a neti pot. Who'd of thought something as strange pouring salt water down one nostril til it flowed down the other would have such benefits (for allergy, congestion, cold avoidance). Yoga goes incredibly deep, with neti use probably in kindergarten level. As Dwai's earlier post pointed out this stuff moves slowly yet builds foundationally. As you move on from posture to breath to mastery of body, mind and spirit to spiritual reunion where you talk to the (Hindu) gods themselves. Mercury has a special place in most alchemical traditions. It wouldn't surprise me at high master level, I'm talking those who've dedicated there lives, practically every waking moment to yoga and have been doing it most of there lives have a frickin crazy practice involving mercury. And unless your at crazy master level, its ridiculous and perhaps suicidal. Highest level yoga is indeed down a rabbit hole. Not my cup of tea, but they're fascinating to talk to. Let me throw the conversation a bit back to the OP. How high a level should we consider Kundalini? In the West its often considered very high, but is it really just mid level?

Its not either or. You can be self taught and still seek out lessons, advice, mentorship of advanced teachers or peers who are self taught. Maybe true genius's don't need it, but most others should get some guidance/check ups in all stages of development because we don't know, what we don't know, and that creates blind spots.

By itself getting you to enlightenment, don't know. There may be no cookie cutter recipe for it. Each person might need a different recipe as well as a heaping help of Grace. But I think for most emptiness meditation is a necessary tool to have, a foundational practice. Half the value is in itself (mental & physical benefits), the other half is how it leaks into your life off the mat and you can see how loud and cluttered your mind generally is. Good emptiness meditation acts a bit like a reset button. Its not so much about getting anything. More about taking away. I don't know if its enlightenment but there's wisdom in subtraction. Especially in today's loud materialist distracting world.

The more Ism's we identify with the more baggage we have. Ism's are like stuff. The more one has the more they have to worry about and the more 'it' controls you.

Sounds like you're young, so its wise to look around, yet I find the time will come when one should 'marry' one art and be dedicated to it (and still occasionally flirt with others). You could do worse then SFQ.

yup, killed or brought to severe justice.

An interesting perspective I picked up in the more advanced Aikido classes was the 'first punch' is thrown when you see there intent to attack. That can be a tell tale pull back, gleaned from a look in there eye, or intuited. We can move defensively or offensively on that 'first punch' level before a physical attack begins.

The placebo effect is powerful indeed. Medical testing has to be double blind, because doctors knowing who is getting real from placebo effects the test. So even if people don't know, just the doctors knowing is enough to change results. It makes good sense to empower our medicine (and food) with mental good wishes. In Roman times physicians had prayers that accompanied the medicines they gave out. Its worth noting the placebo effect is unpredictable, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, sometimes its partial. It can be great (sometimes) for pain, even inflammation but shouldn't be trusted for conditions that require antibiotics.