thelerner

There's a clover machine at a Starbucks by me. Its good, particularly in that you have a choice of exotic beans and they freshly grind them. It makes a very tasty cup. On the other hand I don't notice the same 'oil' slick on top that I see when from using a french press. Maybe I'm not looking closely enough. Edit, sipping some Sumatra from the clover machine now. The 'barista' confirmed no oil slick created. There may be a double soak system that knocks out the oils.

You're hard core and way more experienced then I am but.. WTF. In my limited understanding (I did a couple months of Kaishan Golden Shield) the line between building up and hurting yourself is very close in iron crotch training. I'm not sure the rewards are worth it. If you had an experienced instructor it'd be different, but without one, I think the risk is higher then the potential gain. There are so many things to work on, why mess with the family jewels without expert advice. There are other practices for vitality with much less risk involved. And the risk can be long term and permanent. I'm thinking of TB old timer Plato who'd done such weight lifting and decided it wasn't a healthy practice. edit>You may want to ask the question on the http://forum.healingdao.com/practice/ site. They may have people who have experience since Mantak Chia had included it in the curriculum in the past.

also http://blog.lolwall.co/content/dolphin-comes-nowhere-asks-diver-help/2014/01/10# There are worse things to reincarnate as.

First season is great, most of the second is good, third season going downhill, fourth meh. If I had time traveling powers, I'd stop it at the end of the 2nd season. Then I'd keep Star Trek going for a few more seasons. Actually just messing with TV would take up decades. Then I'd move on Spielberg mistakes.. these repairs would take up most of my time travel time.

The above comments are all good. On a short term practical note. I'd say starting in the first 2 weeks of March masturbate every other day. When the urge strikes.. just hold off one day. Listen to music, practice kata.. know you can do it the next day. Figure out what substitutions work best. Often its retraining the mind, not to go there.. or there or there. Obviously quitting the porn habit will help, finding another internet subject will help and reset your computer/browser with a kid guard so it can't go there. Literally a change of underwear styles or body position in bed can help. If successful, two weeks after that wait for the weekend. Hold off, you can do it in a few days. Imo while frequent masturbation may be problem, I don't think some masturbation is all that big a deal especially in the teens and twenties. There are some traditions that demand celibacy or at least 100 days, but if you're not involved with them, don't worry. Don't beat yourself up over it

I think I got this concept from a Buddhist reverend (Kubose?): A truth spoken in anger, harshly or offensively is no longer the truth. He may have used the term false speech instead of the word truth. Seems contradictory yet in person to person matters I've found it quite true.

Thanks, I like the idea of a rotating pool and hope all mellow members choose to take turns moderating and in doing so give back to the board that they've enjoyed. I expect its a good learning experience and chance to exercise ye olde wisdom muscles. My goals- to have an iron fist that squashes pointless, petty. circular arguments and also have a velvet fist that will sop up the blood from when I use the iron one.

The interesting thing is.. we kinda do have super powers already. No telepathy but I can talk people instantly a thousand miles away, no super speed, but I have a car and can get on a plane. I can't move faster then a speeding bullet, but I can fire enough to stop most things that are moving. What would we want to accomplish and what would we need such super powers to accomplish? The reality of the world is you push, things push back. Try to accomplish something exceptionally good and you may wind up creating a monster. Try to punish a criminal and you may well be giving brain damage to some poor womans disadvantaged son. Huge wealth, immortality may well be nasty traps. To rule is not so sweet. Technology has already given us incredible super powers and we use it to distract ourselves and for pointless entertainment. We could become ultra powerful and all we'd do as masturbate all day. Better to seek .. something else. Super powers or a few months alone with a good books, a journal, food and provisions. Maybe the quiet cell is better.

Hmmn, what would I do?? Same thing I do everyday.. fight crime and poverty while keeping a secret identity.

I don't know, I think there's been more then one zen student who received a whack or lost a finger being a little too clever. The Koan after all is not about an intellectual answer.

I definitely put Max in the trickster category. Thats not a bad thing, it just means more allegory then literalness in his stories and aims.

Sadly.. nope. looks like this is an internet rumor. later edit> Going through the internet its a fascinating study in internet rumor-ology. Its easy to check out, yet you see it championed on a dozen sites (like David Icke's) when even a cursory look would prove it wrong. On the other hand she did sue her lawyers for $150 million and while there may have been a judgement against them, I can't find if it was monetary or not. Which I find highly doubtful since the only person confirming it is herself, while she hawks her book. http://www.snopes.com/politics/business/matrix.asp Snopes rates this story as FALSE here is an excerpt: ... The Matrix in 1999 she was struck by how closely it resembled her story. She filed suit against the makers of the film, seeking over $1 billion in damages. (This page provides links to a number of files and articles about her lawsuit.) Stewart's case was dismissed in June 2005 when she failed to show up for a preliminary hearing of her case. In a 53-page ruling, Judge Margaret Morrow of the Central District Court of California dismissed the suit, saying Stewart and her attorneys had not entered any evidence to bolster its key claims or demonstrated any striking similarity between her work and the accused directors' films. As of this writing, Stewart's case is no longer before the courts. She has announced that she does not plan to let the matter drop, so possibly this case could someday be re-filed and heard, but for now it is over. A less than accurate newspaper article about Stewart and her case (quoted in the Example box above) caused many to believe the woman claiming authorship had won her copyright infringement suit and was about to receive a multi-billion dollar settlement. That 28 October 2004 article, penned by a second-year communications student for the Salt Lake Community College Globe, erred in mistaking Stewart's 4 October 2004 successful counter to a dismissal motion for her having prevailed in her suit. The article asserted Stewart "will recover damages from the films, The Matrix I, II and III, as well as The Terminator and its sequels" and would "soon receive one of the biggest payoffs in the history of Hollywood." What Stewart had won was the right to proceed with her case, but nothing more. The Globe subsequently posted the following correction: In reference to the recent article entitled "Mother of the Matrix Victorious," some information has been deemed misleading. Ms. Sophia Stewart has not yet won her case against Joel Silver, Time Warner and the Wachowski Bros. The decision on October 4th enabled Ms. Stewart to proceed with her case, as all attempts to have it dismissed were unsuccessful. Ms. Stewart's case will proceed through the Central District Court of California. Thanks, The Globe Staff A number of web-based news sites (such as Thaindian News and African Globe) have continued to create confusion over the case by republishing the Salt Lake Community College Globe's outdated and inaccurate article from 2004 which erroneously claimed that Sophia Stewart had won her case. Barbara "case closed" Mikkelson Last updated: 20 November 2013 Another good article on it: http://www.examiner.com/article/debunked-sophia-stewart-vs-the-matrix-story-still-circulates-web from Examiner.com excerpt .. Winning a copyright infringement case against a studio is nearly impossible. While humorist Art Buchwald sued Paramount over Eddie Murphy's Coming to America and won, it's rare to triumph over Hollywood studios because of the high number of people who claim studios stole their ideas but have no real proof. After awhile, cries that "Hollywood stole my idea" start to sound like shouts of "I'm innocent" behind prison bars. A few people have a righteous cause. Most, however, are lying to themselves...

demi-godlike?? I've seen Mo Pai videos. Its generally things like John Chang having a 1/50th of a watt diode bulb in his hand; he tries to light it, fails, tries again, fails, brings it the corner of the room, success.. demonstrating with a few tries 1/50 of a watt of power. Same with Jim McMillian a practitioner and teacher for a decade or two. In his video he moves his hands back and forth a few times and some small stacked boxes fall forward. Maybe 1/2 ounce, even an ounce of power has been shown after great concentration and decades of study. The Mo Pai demonstrations I've seen aren't demi-godlike; even if legitimate they show tiny tiny amounts of power, so small it'd be easier to light match or just blow to get the same effect. Compared to humans athletic abilities, these 'powers' are laughable. They make lifting up spoon and feeding yourself seem demi-godlike. With that being said, I'm sure J.C should be considered a master. But. If I gave him a 20 watt could he light it up? I doubt it. If I dropped a sheet of paper on the ground could he lift it up and waft it to my hand. I doubt it. Does he have healing ability? Yes, I believe that and I'm impressed. But, I also believe the top Reiki people do too. Are they as powerful as J.C. at healing? Maybe. The problem is Reiki's got a well deserved reputation for giving away master titles like they were popcorn, thus there are a lot of low level people going around calling themselves Reiki masters. But there are also, I believe (no studying), people with actual juice that use Reiki and are high level. And while I doubt I'd ever formally study Reiki, if there were a high level practitioner I'd give them respect, they'd be interesting to talk to and I'd try to learn something from them.

He's written so many times that 99% of all paths (other then his & 3? others) are garbage that he's closed his mind to new ideas. I find the majority of his comments have little to do with cultivation and mostly just arguing. If Mo Pai comes up (as here), don't expect to learn anything, it'll be a rehash of hundred of pages of childish back and forth, over and over.

I've been making lots of lentil soup lately. Red lentils cook up quickly. chopped carrots, onion, celery, a potato or two skinned and cubed- cooked in oil for 5 or 6 minutes. Then put in 1 cup red lentils- stir 4 cups broth or water w/ some soy secret ingredient, lemon peel, just outer yellow, cut into small pieces. Works as flavoring and tastes good. other ingredients..whatever.. cumin, salt, pepper, garlic powder, hot sauce, (whenever I add cumin I like to add chocolate powder) Cooks up beautifully, the longer you simmer the better it tastes.

One thing I just noticed about Chat. There's an icon that breaks it into its own window. Thus you can hang out there and wait for a 'bite' and still look through the rest of the internet. I'll have to see it it automatically updates or only show new text when I'm in that window.

SoG mentioned this site and I wanted to put it in here for later views. A free 72 hour online course on Permaculture, interconnecting gardening, recycling, building- creating Intelligent Holistic Systems.

Honor is a tricky thing. Much egoism is disguised as honor. As I've gotten older I'm more suspicious of actions done for one's honor.

To get more chill To get more juice To see more Think less Breath slower Intuit more Reduce mental and cultural filters Better health Better Flow Experience the nature of God.

Welcome aboard. I admire your aspirations, my niece spent 2 weeks last summer in Mexico working with a Mayan village, she found it very worthwhile. I hadn't realized Mayans were still around. You're opening up a kettle of worms with the question of who's dragon, who's snake. Like online reviews you tend to get many extremes either 4 star or 0. Personally I like Damo Mitchells work, I'm leery of Kostas's work, if no other reason the school of Mo Pai isn't teaching Westerners. The usual advice is find a teacher your resonate with, take a close look at there students too. Not easy with a book or through the internet or if your traveling abroad. Being in a primitive setting will give you a great opportunity for practice, whichever ones you pick. Ultimately, and particularly without a teacher, keep it simple. Foundational practices tend to be similar, ie work on breath, quiet the mind, develop the hara/dan tien. A standing practice and moving practice are ideal. Post these questions in the general section when you can and do use the search function the site has to look at similar topics. Personally I like Ajahn Brahms, his book Mindfulness, Bliss, and Beyond:A Meditator's Handbook, and you can find many good free audio dharma speeches of his online. I like Rawn Clark's Archaeous Series at Abardoncompanion.com a series of hermetic elemental practices that work very well with a standing practice.

I've got a book Diary of the Way. It looks at masters of 3 different arts. One is Lily Siou a Tai Chi master. In the interview she looks knowledgeable and fascinating. I think you wrote her name correctly. If its out there google should find it. Don't know if this link helps: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/936511.Lily_Siou

I found this very interesting. How introducing 70 wolves back into Yellow Stone Park after 70 years of absence, changed the eco system drastically, even to the point of changing rivers. Nice optimistic piece on how when nature is given a chance for balance does surprisingly well. kind of dove tails on how a huge disasters be it volcanic eruptions or even nuclear disasters can help the environment because mans presence tends to have such a negative effect. Remove man for a while, and nature .. finds a way.

Religious Taoism seems to hold a special place for luck, though perhaps that isn't the right word. In the world of Fu's there seems to be a special consideration towards Joss, what makes you lucky or takes it away. I've always considered myself lucky, born into a good family, healthy, given possibilities. I'm thinking about luck because yesterday I bought 3 lottery tickets. 2 for super powerball paying $400 million with odds to win 1 in 250 (or was it 175 mil) million. That much is too much, more likely to break a family apart then make living easier or more pleasurable. To much travel and you move away from those you love. Too much luxury and it becomes a new set point and anything less becomes an annoyance. The third ticket i bought was an instant ticket. I won $10, so up $5 in total.. so far. What role does luck play in life?

I have a lot of problems with the Bhagavad Gita for those reasons too. I can't help but wish the hero had said no to fighting his Uncle, had forbidden hunting/sacrificng the lions or tiger etc.,

Random recollection on 'luck' and/or its appearance. I collect old 'wheaties', pennies minted 1958 and older, so I always check my change for them, I have since I was a kid. Needless to say they're getting rarer to find in change, but a few weeks ago I got a nice 1929 penny. It traveled through time, unmolested and uncollected for 85 years to wind up in my change. My greatest find was in college. At bought candy and got 4 cents worth of change. All of them wheaties. I asked the woman to look in her penny slot to see if there were any more. She said 'They all are.' I gave her a buck and got them all, many of them were from the 40's with a few being '43 steel pennies. Not a financial windfall, most wheaties are worth a few pennies, but it makes for an enjoyable hunt. edit 2/24/14 my son just gave me a 'fake' quarter that wouldn't work in his schools vending machine. It's a real 1936 silver quarter. It shows its age, but its amazing to find these in the public. He doesn't know where he got it. Interestingly enough I'd just been looking at youtube on how to make quarters into rings. Its very simple and silver quarters come out quite beautifully, especially after polish.