thelerner

Walk into a Zendo or anyplace where an experienced group meditates. Silence your mind and watch them. How do they sit? Who has a posture both still and alive? Can you see differences? Are some more steady? Look at the faces? In some can you see the cloud of a thought passing through it, where others stay perfectly calm? In Japanese there is the word Wah. A word for the air around a person/meditator. The experienced radiate a silent peace. Most are just sitting, they'll rock, there faces will slightly contort, no particular feeling comes from them. How they settle down to sit, how they get up. What is there composure afterwards? All these things make up the experienced meditator. Master is a loaded word, but as people progress over years of meditating and have good teachers who guide them, you can see it.

Interesting. I imagine this as eyes half open and focused, or a sort of defocused on the tip of the nose. With the 'mind feeling' out there, instead of internal. Often the practice of staring at the tip of the nose is overlooked, but its in a few traditions, on a physical basis I theorize it balances the brain. Japanese sources consider the practice a step towards enlightenment. Thus pictures of saints and warriors are sometimes shown cross eyed. The practice feels like its aimed at the head's 'crystal cave' or pituitary stimulation, yet it's considered a channel albeit an acorn shaped one. Very interesting. What else is in the book?

To be considered useless takes consistency, dedication and willingness to break several hundred dollars worth of home appliances. The washing machine and dish washer are easy. To destroy an oven requires disabling several smoke alarms and daring edgemenship between melting down the unit and blowing up the house. But once a certain core incompetency is established you're pretty much home (work) free. mostly kidding. To add positively to the conversation I'll say in Taoism the (seemingly) useless survives. The gnarled tree is not the one cut down. The sage who talks and publishes little can go on with his research and learning without interruption.

As a husband and sometime taoist I've tried to cultivate my uselessness in the face of many honeydo lists and requests.

I've never heard of it, and I'm a Chicagoan. I'll have to check it out.

If Star Wars taught us anything, its that the Sith (& cults) deal with absolutes. The more black and white a group paints the world, the more cult like it may be. Course in many ways the Jedi were a cult, extremely controlling, indoctrinating members when they're very young, forbidding its inherents to marry. Hmnn, that didn't work out well for them.

In Chicago we're lucky. We have the Full Moon meditation at the IMU, and the Full Moon Fire Jam at Lake Michigan (near Foster beach). I hit the Fire Jam on Monday. Big crowd, dozens of fire dancers, doing there thing 5 at a time within a cordoned off area. Lots of classic flaming poi as well as staff, hula hoop and fan dances. Saw a flaming double whip for the first time, very visual.

I'm getting back into putting a thin slice of lime into my tea. Even nicer when its got a little sugar on it. When I'm good I'll slice one up sprinkle a bit of sugar on both sides and keep it in my freezer. A slice goes on the bottom of every glass. Pretty to look at and it gives a brightness to the flavor. cools it down a bit too which I prefer.

My generic advice is when things get strange in a negative kind of way, back off energy practices. They tend to amplify things. You've dipped into esoteric waters, the kunlun, crystals, spirits etc., its not giving you a positive experience, Maybe go 'Normal' for a while. Drop the practices, drop the discussions of spirits, entities and curses. Work on your material life, jobs, relations, hobbies etc. Concentrate on making 'the real' better. We increase what we give our attention too. Wait until things have cooled down and leveled off, a few months, even a year or so, then if you want get back into the esoteric. It'll still be there, but you'll approach it with better balance. Now, its an area of your life that seems its doing more harm then good. Perhaps give it up for a while and see if things improve.

In college I read the book Cults of Unreason, a fascinating book on the cult phenomena. Including a great expose on Scientology. A book 30 years later is Life 102, What to do when your guru sues you. Great book by the author of Life 101 series. It shows how an intelligent guy and smart people can get sucked into cult life. The very thought you're too smart for such a thing actually makes you vulnerable. Which leads to something I read recently. That high IQ people are more likely to believe in conspiracy theory then average ones. Not because conspiracy theories are true, but because they can be masters of rationalization.

or in a more humorous way: though Wolverine probably was born with claws though Are we really pulling out the 'I'm right, because I'm so smart, argument?' Asunthatneverrests's opinion is important and meaningful because he's a long time practitioner of Dzoghen. Imo in a real discussion such a person's opinion can't be intelligently dismissed. You may not agree with it, but its important to listen to people with a vast amount of experience. I tend to give them more credence then nonpracticing theoreticians. I also wonder.. is rainbow body really the goal of Dzoghen? Is it about gaining a rare super power? Or gaining wisdom, truths that allows you to live a better life?

Just curious. On the board I see tarot, astrology and Iching being used to answer questions here. I rarely use divination, tending to see its value more as a Rorschach test then future sight. As such I prefer the symbolic nature of most systems which give me food for thought. What system do you use? How do you recommend its use? Lastly how has it helped you?

There are churches near me. Don't know much about them, but I assume they're full of good people. They have nice architecture, nice lawns, seeing them I don't feel any dread or antipathy. (matter of fact I went to a Greek Orthodox one today for Greekfest, ate souvlaki, drank Greek tea, listened to Greek music. Had a nice time w/ nice people) Clothing choices, well I'm a Burner, I applaud the colorful and unusual. I see alot of smiles. Maybe its because I look for them, maybe because I smile at others and they smile back. for all my hopes and cheerleading, alternate energy stocks are treacherous, best invested in as a momentum trader rather then long term investor. FWIW I like natural gas and liquid natural gas companies for long term investing, particularly those with excellent dividends.

I don't know. That brings to mine this: Quoteth Einstein “Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe.”

bump good thread to re-read

There are brilliant prickly people I might question but never argue with. It'd be pointless and like the fabled chicken they often put out nuggets of gold.

Out West and in Florida its common to see the term Grey water, and it's widely used in irrigation. Here in the US Midwest such unclean for human drinking but fine for plants water is ignored and relatively unknown. Pity.

I thought this was impressive. Great solutions have to be found looking at nations that do the best job. http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/99-of-sweden-s-waste-reused-more-imported-from-other-european-countries/article1-1261185.aspx?htsw0023 excerpt: 99% of Sweden's waste reused, more imported from other European countries Last Updated: 15:30 IST(7/9/2014) Around 99% of Sweden's garbage is now recycled and the country is so efficient at managing waste they are importing it from other European countries. The Scandinavian country has 32 waste-to-energy (WTE) plants, where garbage is incinerated to produce steam, which in turn is used to run generator turbines and produce electricity. The Swedish generally waste as much as people in other countries - around 461 kilogrammes per person each year - but only one% of that is ending up in landfill, thanks to the country's innovative recycling programme, the Huffington Post reported. The country imports garbage from the UK, Italy, Norway and Ireland to feed its waste plants, a practice that has been in place for years. "Waste today is a commodity in a different way than it has been. It's not only waste, it's a business," said Swedish Waste Management communications director Anna-Carin Gripwell. Sweden uses a programme that involves incinerating over two million tonnes of trash per year. The process also converts half the country's garbage into energy, the report said. The programme involves a waste-management hierarchy designed to curb environmental harm: prevention (reduce), reuse, recycling, recycling alternatives (energy recovery via WTE plants), and lastly, disposal (landfill). Before garbage can be trucked away to incinerator plants, trash is filtered by home and business owners; organic waste is separated, paper picked from recycling bins, and any objects that can be salvaged and reused pulled aside. - See more at: http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/99-of-sweden-s-waste-reused-more-imported-from-other-european-countries/article1-1261185.aspx?htsw0023#sthash.gNk0zUFO.dpuf <me: Course devils in the details. Some trash to energy units just end up sending there pollution elsewhere in the form of smoke. Still, it seems like they're doing something very right.

Sadly, we have been. They were able to get past our old system and dump garbage posts all over. Sorry for the limitations, but its helped keep the forum clean from spambots.

You've got a good sense of humor. That gift alone is pretty powerful. There's an aspect of humor that doesn't take life too seriously. Whether its curse or some handicap, the humor keeps the person going. With it, the worst handicaps are overcome.

All hail TTB..

I don't know, for mere mortals who are doing there first water only fast, often the first day isn't easy, the second is hard, the third can be worse. You want to keep pets and small children away, lest your hunger overwhelm and you lose one of them. Spotless is right it does get easier as you go along. I'm exaggerating (slightly), fasting has many good points. Be careful doing it though, no strenuous exercise and keep your schedule to a minimum. Take it easy, listen to your body.

As you wish: From Cracked.com http://www.cracked.com/article_19266_5-movie-fan-theories-that-make-more-sense-than-movie.html #5. Harry Potter Isn't the Chosen One; His Inept Classmate Is In the world of Harry Potter, Neville Longbottom is the resident doofus. He's not really good at magic, he constantly forgets stuff -- even Rowling hates him, as evidenced by the fact that she included a synonym for "ass" in his name. Neville only seems to be there so that readers who aren't smart, capable or attractive will have someone to identify with. Also to make Harry Potter look like less of a dork in comparison. However, just like that shy kid from your school who went on to become a porn actor, later books seem to hint that there might be something more to Neville than meets the eye ... The Awesome Fan Theory: Basically, that Harry Potter dude was just a distraction. The "chosen one" was Neville all along. See, the plot of all seven books revolves around the idea that Harry's life fulfills this prophecy: "The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord [Voldemort] approaches ... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies ... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not ... ". "Also, he'll have a goddamn sword." The thing is, all that stuff applies to Neville, too. His parents had thrice defied Voldemort, and he was born on July 30, one day before Harry. So what power does Neville know that Voldemort doesn't? According to the theory, that could be either "the power of love" (as in Harry's case) or "herbology." Or both, considering the way he looks at those plants. The "Voldemort will mark him as his equal" part was a little trickier, but then again it wasn't clear how it related to Harry, either. Neville had a messed up relationship with his parents, mainly due to the fact that Voldemort had them tortured into insanity. Voldemort had some serious mommy issues, too, so in that sense Voldemort made him his equal. But the best part of the theory, the part that makes it all come together, is the idea that Dumbledore, the principal of Wizard High, was intentionally allowing Voldemort to think Harry was the chosen one just to protect Neville. While we're not saying they should have just ditched Harry in the last book and turned the other kid into the protagonist, it would have been pretty cool to have Harry find out he wasn't the center of the universe after all, if only because it would have made the character slightly less insufferable. The later books do flirt with the idea, however briefly. And it would have fit right in with Rowling's habit of pillaging the first three books to turn all the one-off magic items and half-serious gags into game-changing MacGuffins. Read more: http://www.cracked.com/article_19266_5-movie-fan-theories-that-make-more-sense-than-movie.html#ixzz3CY4ivoOh

I was always hoping he'd end up with Luna. Hands down she's my favorite character in the series.

You may be right, but the style of sword play I learned (Ki-Aikido, done with bokken) put great emphasis on precision. There was particular emphasis on how the blow ended; did the sword stop perfectly, without the slightest waiver at the end of the strike. According to that standard, Sato's control of the sword was better. I also agree with the philosophy, the best move- blocks and strikes in the same fluid movement. That's something easier seen in sword and staff work. The block that strikes.