thelerner

1

We seem to have many members interested in dream work. I'm imagining a Tao Bums Dream school. There'd be a live chat 3 days a week. Tues, Thurs and Sunday, at 10:00 Central Standard time(?). And perhaps its own PPF. Dreams, books and techniques would be discussed. Is there interest in it. I would be. Particularly if we had a good leader. Or a leader could evolve, or it could be leaderless. There'd be reminders of it on the 3 nights it went live. Any interest?

If we can get 10 people interested, I'd ask the mods to create a subforum somewhere innocuous to get the ball rolling. I'd envision a weekly live discussion 2 or 3 times a week. A weekly group reading, a free flow of topics people are interested in and if desired a short personal threads where people can journal there own dream work projects. Going back 10 years. An old crazy wise member talked about dreamwork. He said forget technique, its all about intention. Another member here recently said, plans and learning are a neophytes trap. Hmnn 3 parts intent, one part technique, one part relaxation. To me, serious means sacrifice, few things come for free. I envision dream school starting at 4 am (or would 5 am be better?). Twenty or 30 minutes of preparation, then back to sleep and on the clock. Taking advantage of the last one or two deep Rem cycles. Experimenting, figuring out what works individually and as a whole. Cause maybe that's a bad idea. How do we combine the modern neurological discoveries and age old dream traditions to gain skillfulness? Experimentation. I'd want people who were willing to on 3 week experiments.

True, in the same way one can claim to be a Kung Fu master .. of soup! I don't think we should ever 'diss' Tai Chi schools that don't stress the martial art. They offer many benefits. Still, it's better they're upfront about it to students.

I was told its a sign you need more sleep. A possible solution is meditate in a less comfortable position. That could be meditating in Seiza position (sitting on your knees) or wearing a stiff starched shirt/jacket.

The beer that can be named is not the real beer, but the beer that can be drunk is satisfying and refreshing. Confucius taught malt is the yin hops is the yang water is the essence and yeast is the spirit. gānbēi

The beer in the hand is real. The beer in the commercial with its glitz and girls is an illusion.

My sensei was a 'serial' dreamer. He'd be mostly lucid and live in the same dream world/scenario each night. As a child if I was awakened I could go back to the same place in a dream. I've lost that ability. How many people revisit the same places over and over in there dreams?

Spring Forest Gigong has a good reputation. But realize its no panacea. You're not inviting 'love generator' Chunyi into your home. You're doing some energy based practices. If you decide to, take it slow. Realize energy arts can make crazy; crazier. Imbalanced, worse. Chi gung is not a magic wand. It won't change your family. Maybe it'll change you a bit after a long while of practicing. You're already seeing black mists and windows thumping and doors banging, feeling presences, assuming you're frightening strangers. Not great signs. Traditionally these arts were only taught to people who'd done years of meditation and passed strict tests of character and balance. The best would be if you had a reputable live teacher who could give you feedback, otherwise either wait until you're at a balanced point in your life or take it very slow. Less is more, slow steady practice and back off if things get strange or emotional.

Lets see, 89-90.. carry the 2, divide the postnumerator... take into account curvature of space and speed of solar system vis a vi the black hole at the center galaxy, ignore the number 1989 and 1990 that appear under the title question and I get 2 or 3 years ago

I'm always amazed at how emotionally charged and angry some of the Buddhist discussions get.

The danger here is did one really understand, or did one learn that it disagrees with you and then dismiss it? Study enough, care enough and you can get a deeper understanding and connect. Study enough politics and you can find rare gems of people who are trying to make the world a better place. Study the best in religion and you can find value, practical and spiritual in many mystical traditions that run through them. Study rush hour and you find some routs are reverse commutes are better then others and actually move pretty well. Family knows all your buttons, but if treated with respect will help and be a basis of lifelong support. Media.. its optional, but I find it valuable to occasionally take the pulse on the right and left, and have a few sources that seem honest. It can be dangerous to ignore what you disagree with, there is stuff to learn from it, plus it keeps the mind sharp and juices flowing.

Oz, in some ways the reaction is 40 years behind the times. The golden age for UFOology was the late '70's. Huge amount of reports and many books coming out each year. There were shows, serious ones like Project Blue Book, as well as the actual Project Blue Book information coming out. The sighting he mentions in such loud OH MY GOD CAPS. Is actually not all that unusual, matter of fact in the 70's and some places in the 80's it'd be pretty normal, radar images and all. If some of the older guys are ragging on his style its because its not so OMG for those who've put in some study in the past. It's a little bit same old, same old. We've been through the, this is a world changer, quite a few times in the 70's. And we've seen it really doesn't. Hell the event was 2 or 3 years ago wasn't it. Plus we simply have a good sense of humor. Lastly Zoom has a reputation for being a skeptical, 'I don't believe it' writer on many threads here so its natural some of that negativity bounces back at him.

I was there. I'm a first hand witness with first, second and third degree close encounter's. I know where John's Frum. Actually Burning Man would be a great spot for aliens to land. Relaxed open friendly people. Who'd only be interested in bumming a ride or sharing a smoke. I've got a couple of friends who are very into UFO's. One wrote a book on it, and talked of her psychic contact w/ aliens. Two meditation teachers I respect, Glenn Morris and certainly Max of Kunlun fame were both true believers who also spoke of psychic contacts and had stories. I take it with a piece of salt. I tend to think todays UFO stories are yesterdays stories of meeting with Angels and/or demons. Not necessarily made up, but a .. I don't know, couple of possibilities. I ask.. if the government announced tomorrow, UFO's are real. We've communicated with them. They came, studied and left. They didn't leave any tech or miracles though. If that the case, would it really effect anything? Would anyone really freak out? I think it'd be business as usual the next day and next week.

I find that question often posed by missionaries as bait. When I collected pamphlets I'd find it in about a third of them. There's a wonderful wicked supposition added that THEY KNOW, what will happen and poor little you doesn't, but WAIT, because they know THE TRUTH, they can save you. Meh... If they're floating in the air or showing off there super powers maybe I'd listen if I had time, but generally I have better things to do and tend to stay and away from missionary types. edit> If the hidden assumption is the Askers know the real truth. What is their end game exactly? In some Christianity its we're in G-ds loving hands, though 'Loving' G-d has set a system where people are tortured through out eternity. Yet what is the end game of the proposed enlightenment system? What exactly happens to the Enlightened once earth is destroyed by the meteors, aliens or whatnot. What are they up to for the next couple months, next couple thousand years? I assume, if you're honest, the answer is no freakin clue, its speculation and spit balling. Course no one said theology had to provide happy endings. Who knows.. maybe folding back into universal consciousness is better then keeping a tiny dated speck of personality for eternity. Or could be the materialists are right and when the brain stops, its game over and all theisms and theories are just mankinds imaginings to combat the fear of death. On the other hand if there was an impending apocalypse in 2 weeks, I would put even greater priority on hanging out w/ those I love, my family and friends. Chill enjoy life. I'd meditate some. Maybe even dabble in substances. I don't think I'd strive too much to solve the mystery of life, rather I'd strive to appreciate and enjoy it. And when death comes, I hope to meet it as I have in some of my dream work. Face down the fear, relax and accept it, remember what's been good and compose my soul for what may be next. On the third hand, in the face of a predicted apocalypse I'd probably keep most of my assets in reserve too. In my lifetime I've heard many a prediction of apocalypse and seen the sad and slightly humorous aftermath of those who bought in and suffered the slings and arrows of nothing much happening.

I've enjoyed his book. I didn't realize how young he is, or maybe I should say looks. I imagined him as much older. The forms look nice and flowing. Unless you have quite a solid background I'd imagine they'd be hard to learn from a DVD, I could be wrong about that. GreytoWhite, how much prior practice do you think a person needs to learn competently from the DVDs?

In the movie Pleasantville, at the end the main character spouts out some simple but deep wisdom. His mother complains that life 'isn't working out the way its suppose to be.' He says back with a smile 'It's not suppose to "be" any way'. The tao of Relationships is often about dropping the suppose to's and enjoying the way it is.

Interesting. That's one of those mirror facilities. Cool, but there are pictures of unlucky birds going down in flame from above'em. Even there in comparison they do less bird damage then convention power plants. Though when they 'get' a bird it is spectacular. Someone pointed out if we could put a windmill behind it the birds would cooked, chopped and ready for the table!

Still, life is best as a total participant sport. Trying things that seem stupid and ridiculous. Seeing if you like them. I think if your friend jumps off a cliff, so should you. As long as there's water underneath. Which reminds of some cliff jumping I did in Elmira Canada. Good times, good times. * note: the importance of the modifier: As long as there's water underneath

Nice link. Very generous of B. Alan Wallace to provide the public with so much information from his seminar. There 40 separate long lectures with chants and meditations there. Info from link: B. Alan Wallace 21 Aug 2014 – 16 Oct 2014 Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand This eight-week retreat will focus on three of the six transitional processes, namely: the Transitional Process of Living, with teachings on śamatha and vipaśyanā, the Transitional Process of Dreaming, with teachings on dream yoga, and the Transitional Process of Meditation with teachings on Dzogchen meditation. All these teachings will be based on the text The Profound Dharma of The Natural Emergence of the Peaceful and Wrathful from Enlightened Awareness Stage of Completion Instructions on the Six Transitional Processes, an “earth terma” of teachings by Padmasambhava, revealed by Karma Lingpa in the fourteen century. The English translation of this text has been published under the title Natural Liberation: Padmasambhava’s Teachings on the Six Bardos, with commentary by Gyatrul Rinpoche and translated by B. Alan Wallace.

Hmnn, back to the OP. This is the Saving the World and Solar Energy thread. Save the philosophies for other threads and the long dark nights of winter. Nothing wrong with a bit of straying, but please don't let off topic comments gather too much momentum.

Many lines of Taoism and meditation traditions have a practice of 'sealing the senses'. One interesting approach is in the work of Rawn Clark (Western Hermetic tradition). He has a free mp3 guided meditation called CSM, Center of Stillness Meditation (at abardoncompanion.com ). It has you displace; separating yourself from the 5 senses as well as thought and emotion. You visualize them as containers separate from your self. It allows dispassionate awareness. Its not an easy meditation to 'get' but its worthwhile to try a few times to see if you can experience a little of it. Its probably not a path to the heart though. For me its a deep stoicism. I generally stay away from absolutes or being at a saintly level, its too much, too philosophical, not me. A path to the heart I like is Glenn Morris's Secret Smile technique. One part where you imagine a time of that brought on great feeling of love, lose the memory but keep the feeling/emotion and circulate it through the body. <It also involves the same circulation with relaxation, confidence, humor and sexuality).

My wife will do more, because she's a doer. Its her natural state. See problem, fix it, do it. My natural state is one at rest. Until I'm acted on by a greater force or my conscience. I chauffeur the kids, I clean up after dinner, I'll get the groceries, do the odd jobs around the house. Today she was tired, so I bought dinner and cleaned up afterwards. Whereas 9 times out of 10, she makes a wonderful homemade meal and I'll clean up. She definitely does more work then I, but again, its her way. I respect it, and thank her, and if and when she needs me, I'm there.

One hopes there is life on other planets, but these re-creation shows that dramatize events and re-create them with actors and video effects probably do a disservice. They end up one sided and telling lies of omission. The government is a couple 100,000 people (in some ways). I wonder if the wide spread meme that all governments would immediately throw resources into a vast cover up of any related UFO evidence is outdated. A little like the Da Vinci code plot where The Church kills dozens ruthlessly to keep the information that Jesus had kids secret. Yet the reality is people really don't care. I think solid information that UFO's are real wouldn't really change things a whole lot. Especially if it was simply fly by stuff. Even if it was communication it'd be big news but not necessarily world changing unless something world changing was due to come out of it.

I like Gabrielle Roth's Wave and Sweat your Prayers practice. More free style dancing qi gong. Very liberating. She teaches you to dance and let go. To work within the natural recurring rhythms of nature. You can fast forward this to 2:00 to get to the lesson part.