thelerner

While here in Chicago ..

Moslems have also inflicted an amazing amount of punishment on other Muslims in recent history. Numbers running well into the 100's of thousands a year for a quite a while. The West is certainly not innocent but much of the murder and mayhem is imo home grown. The pictures you show, are you sure they're not all Moslem on Moslem violence? If you researched each one, could they have resulted from the millennia long Sunni Shiite conflict? I don't know, but you may very well be showing pictures resulting from that religious schism and blaming it on the West. <sorry if this is a side track, but this happens quite a bit on the internet> Also to the above post, Islam gives Judaism and Christianity special rights as Peoples of The Book. Buddhists and Hindu's do not get that 'special rights' and in some darker fundamentalist Islamist circles are open game. Unfortunately B'ai Hai's can be subject to scorn and punishment because they're considered by many heretics.

Question, did you learn the Four dragons from Damo Mitchell at a retreat or from a video? Also what can you tell us about it. His site describes them as 4 short spinal 'awakening' sequences. <I always like short and easy anything>

That's not a bad idea. Might be worthy of a thread in itself, ie having people say what they think is Reality vs Illusion. What I find is when you fake it, act enlightened when you're not, you get kinda goofy and its hard to live in the 'real' world. Cause playing the 'nothing truly exists' paradigm can be brutalizing. Unless you're truly egoless. <oh, and the opposite of an egg is Colonel Sanders. .so much the opposite, it blows your mind>

For some reason I am reminded of this.

Beware letting off murderer's to easily. Most poor disenfranchised people who don't kill others. Beyond basic morality there is common sense intelligence of what comes next and these terrorists reap more repression, violence and prejudice for there people. France is not Saudi Arabia or Iran, they cannot dictate what a free country does. There social mores and taboos do not have to be universally accepted by other countries. Though if you choose to live in those countries then yes you should abide respectfully. Things are not equivalent. In some ways its an insult to Islam to say they 'don't know any better, that's the way they were raised'. Because the vast majority do know right from wrong and know such terrorists acts are counter to the spirit and law of there beliefs.

Would you recommend people go intense (5 -8 hours a day) for a period of time? Just to try it, hammer out some consciousness issues.

I agree to dwell on, to look long into the abyss, it stares back and infects us, we risk becoming the horror we oppose. I'd also add, we need the big hearted people in the world (like Manitou) who point the way to being real human beings. There is a time to mourn and a time to celebrate the lives of those who have passed. The best justice is a life well lived.

I kinda have to agree, maybe not spamming, but a little over posting. Nothing wrong some of this enthusiasm into a personal page. Writing so many times a day (6, 7, 8) into the same thread, dilutes its value and sorta interrupts the flow of the site a bit. Sometimes too much is too much. and i notice the admin agreed with Brian's post.

In my professional opinion, its slightly better then a Vogon's. Vogon Poetry -http://hitchhikers.wikia.com/wiki/Vogon_poetry

I've been various forms of yoga nidra lately. One thing they have in common is allowing you to repeat a culpa 3 times; asking for a benefit, an aspiration. Today I did a longish one, 42 minutes. I was pretty deep and I requested an open heart. and I'd still kill them (or lifetime imprisonment). I understand why they did it, recognize there uniqueness and value as human beings. I don't buy into an automatic assumption of poor repressed childhoods nor if true does that move me too much. Often these guys are simply murderous thugs. I see an ultimate aim of a world with no music or dancing, forbidding any news, literature or expression that's doesn't fit a tight fundamentalist narrative. A dystopian where all views must conform to the leader's religious zealotry.

Taking your practice forward in a slow steady way, ie not too much too soon especially for energy type practices. Long walks, quiet sitting, keeping the mind and emotions calm. Keeping the body in shape, working out; getting a decent sweat. Zhan Zhuang, ie standing practice is good. I'm mostly repeating what people have written above. Here's something a bit new. Talk to friends, see if your getting too airy, too.. well ungrounded. Take it seriously. If you are then slow down your practice a bit or if its bad put it on hold for a while.

There was some early insanity. One of the founders went by the handle Ron Jeremy, was quite the practitioner of crazy wisdom and that cut both ways. When he'd get angry he'd lash out IN FULL CAPS RAGE swearing and posting pornographic pictures at the object of his scorn. Good guy normally, but without restraint when angry. Bad begets worse and creates multiple flame wars. These days they're put out very quickly. Maybe too quickly. But the site has thrived. The mods and administrator are always looking for the right level and its not easy. Its a hard volunteer job done with love, patience, humor and exasperation.

I take it the OP is a plea for understanding for the men who murdered 12 human beings in France? I have none. I would see them painfully killed and call it justice. The psychopath who kills the family next door because of some perceived slight is still guilty of multiple murder. To excuse them is to give a green light to any fanatic of any religion who feels they have they the right to kill others at will for any argument new or old. Historical rationalizing is easy, protecting the innocent not so much.

Indeed.. still let us not confuse looong with amazing. if we knocked out some of the repetitive posts I think we could get it down to 8 or 9 pages .

Couldn't sleep at all.

I collect guided and self hypnotic meditations. I found a 21 minute Yoga Nidra meditation in my collection that I didn't remember using or where I got it. I been listening to it the last week. Its very good. I've always considered Yoga/India to be something of a motherland for spiritual practices and it was nice to find a whole group of meditations called Yoga Nidra that work so well. The Yoga Nidra I've been using is from Kharmanidhi Sarasvati Acarya Yoga mandala studio of Berkely. It begins with a very deep powerful voice chanting a long involved Ohmn a few times; you can really feel it moving through ones body. It quickly calls out body parts for you to relax, then moves you to refocus above your body looking down as it sends you into deeper relaxation, including the mind away body asleep you find in Monroe style audio's. I assume Monroe was highly influenced by this type of practice. Then runs you through heat, cold then emptiness. Then light up chakra centers.. connecting you through the heart center to all other beings. Good stuff. Well paced. Having discovered it, there are many more. I just found http://www.yoganidranetwork.org/downloads which has a number of Nidras from a group of teachers. I just downloaded the Yoga Nidra Sleep, Yoga Nidra Pain Management (I collect these), and a long 42 minute Beach and Stars. I'm looking forward to listening to these.

A couple of my practices look to unite the 3 dantiens, lower middle upper. As we advance- we awaken, develop and link them. While they have specialties, in essence they are are not so different and each has aspects of the others within.

Going back to the OP, here is another long time human foible often bred by fundamentalism: The world is going to end. I like what Jay Michelson wrote about it: "Today, fully 77 percent of U.S. evangelicals believe that we are living in the End Times, the last period before Christ returns to Earth to judge us all. That’s compared with 40 percent of Americans, and 51 percent of Protestants overall—still high numbers, when you think about it, but imagine a huge crowd at a mega-church or Christian Right political event. Three quarters of those people believe the end of the world is nigh. Sutton’s new book, American Apocalypse: A History of Modern Evangelicalism, argues that this belief is not incidental to the evangelical movement, but central to it. Focusing on the birth of fundamentalism (roughly, the 1880s through 1940s), Sutton marshals quotation after quotation from the leaders of the movement. For example: “We are on the brink of a world catastrophe and impending judgment,” said Billy Graham, who also asked, “Are the last days here?” way back in 1949. Perhaps more disturbingly, Ronald Reagan said privately in 1971 that, “For the first time ever, everything is in place for the battle of Armageddon and the second coming of Christ.” One wonders if his subsequent battles with the “Evil Empire” were animated by this belief. And the bestselling nonfiction book of the 1970s was Hal Lindsey’s The Late, Great Planet Earth, which calculated the year of the apocalypse to be—wait for it—1988. I admit, it’s hard not to read American Apocalypse without smirking at a century of such failed prophecies. Will we ever learn?"

We've witness this phenomena many times on the bums, strangely it happens on discussions of love and god.. Writer 1: Flowers, love and peace to all. May tears of joy flow like gentle rain upon the desert. Writer 2: Well, that's just a piece of sanctimonious self serving shit. Writer 1: Fuck you. And that's why we need a metta practice, because compassion and understanding are so hard to 'do' consistently. Especially in the face of those we reconsider rivals or others.

true, but there is a certain value to writing simply in plain understandable language aimed at the general public. That's actually what attracts me to Buddhism, the simple clear explanations of human dynamics and psychology; its use of simple self evident statements of truth. Analysis of Loving Kindness shouldn't have to take place in a jargonistic setting where every sentence contains words outside the vernacular of lay people. One shouldn't have to shpittle the phalangies in order to gshpungch the extopicies as if it were a bypolar transversed quantum effect. Maybe its needed for concepts like dependent origination, but for simpler subjects, clear English should be possible and encouraged. Unless ones concept of Buddhism is so complex and convoluted it can't be explained without dictionary's, history books and frequent google searches.

Like Liminal-luke I know there is some good stuff here but every sentence has 2 or 3 Buddhist jargon that not only do I not know what they mean, seems many are controversial amongst well intentioned Buddhists. I wish every now and then you'd throw us a bone and explain things in terms a layman would understand. Maybe using simpler terms things would be less contentious (or not).

I probably repost this every year. Its got some good advice from a solid traditional serious practitioner who has posted here. It covers things from thought (being on guard against sexualizing woman) to practical (don't use heavy blankets) to spiritual practice (do an 1 to 2.5 hours of meditation before bed) By Dao Zhen I think for serious students, this is a big hurdle to overcome. It is best to not get into the habit of gaining depression when an emission happens in sleep. It is natural, and go slow and do not force anything, nor become obsessed with "saving" jing. Keep practice, follow solid methods and guidelines. With time, all will become secure quite naturally. I have found the following to be a help for me in my practice. Yet this is by no means advise from an expert, as I have very little experience. In the tradition I am learning, it is generally accepted that a serious student is celibate. - Points to help prevent emission during sleep - 1. Change conditioned habits and patterns in regards to viewing and interacting with women - on the street, and in the manner we speak and deal with them in public situations - If we flirt, and have playful interaction with women, it may stir things up quite a bit, and cause trouble during sleep. Honor and respect women as your sisters in Tao, yet do not view them as sexual objects, nor project sexual fantasy on women. 1-a. Do not view pornography video, magazine, or sexual movies. 2. Diet. Do not over eat, and do not go to bed while full. I have found it best to eat the last meal of the day around 5pm or so. Also in the tradition I am learning, it is thought best to follow a simple vegetarian diet, with no spice, garlic, onion, scallion, chives, and cilantro. 3. Do not have very heavy blankets on the body that will create too much heat when sleeping. 4. Do not sleep on the stomach. Sleep on the back with one leg crossed over the other – hands resting below the navel, or on the right side with one leg tucked behind the bottom leg at the knee level – right palm cupping the ear – left palm below navel area. 5. The most important point I have found that helps is to sit for 1 - 2.5 hours or so in proper seated meditation practice before sleep. This is perhaps the most important point, and will yield the most results. In this tradition, we have a method to transfer Jing to Qi that is taught. It is termed - "Lighting a Fire", or "Burning a Soft Fire". It is very effective, and yields the effect of the Jing being transformed to Qi, and really is like something burns away and evaporates. There is great warmth generated in the Lower Dantian area that moves, and steams upward during the process in a manner that is very pleasurable and uplifting. One is left with a feeling of great expansion, and the sign that the Jing has been completely transformed, and it is safe to sleep is one has a feeling like a vast, expansive, clear blue sky. The sign that one has made some gain in transformation of Jing over a period of time, is generally one will stop to have dream activity. There is a great stillness in the sleep state, and no real strong dream activity. This is also related to the pattern of the Metal conquering Wood; Or the Po suppressing the Hun during the night. When the Hun is suppressed by the Po, it wanders away from the sphere of the liver, and the resulting experience is dreams. As Jing is transformed into Qi, and the Hun is strengthened, there is less and less dream activity during the sleep state. One sign I have also come to notice is that if I was lazy and just lie down for sleep without practice, there will be a feeling of something stirring in the lower Dantian, like a movement, or maybe even a worm or something is really moving and stirring. This is a sign that one will experience an emission during sleep, and it is important to have a strong will power, and sit up and cross the legs and sit to Burn the Soft Fire. It is also a good idea to get into the habit of getting up from sleep at any time in the night when you awake and there is a stirring in the sexual organ, or a strong erection. Just sit up, cross the legs, and lightly gaze over the Lower Dantian area and sit in stillness. In this system, they also teach a standing method of body movement, contraction and breathe retention in the first stages to strengthen the lower gate, to help prevent the emission during sleep. This stage does not last forever. It is as if the body and being is at first in a habit to let the liquid flow out, and loose the essence. Yet with slow and steady practice, the body and being learns another way. It becomes the natural state to preserve the essence, and no loss is experienced. It is an investment of time. So it takes a strong and steady will power. Constant and steady daily practice over a period of time. Persevere.

From fellow member Aetherious 'For instance, "happy" doesn't mean to get what you want, such as a new car...it means more to have inner fulfillment or peace. Or if negative emotions were likened to clouds and happiness was likened to a clear sky, then to have the clouds removed.' What a useful definition and recipe for happiness.

There was a thread here on a supplement called Serrapeptas here. Looking into it I found a site called examine.com . The site seems to look at supplements through a western lens, looking at various studies done, acknowledge the results as well as the quality of the study. Seemingly independent, which is rare, maybe not possible. It was interesting looking up Serrapeptas, ginseng, fish oil there. Looks like a good resource.