thelerner

Hmnn, maybe real. Serious..I don't know. The serious spiritual cultivators I've met, come from respected lineages. I've met some very impressive people in yoga, Taoism and Buddhism. There aim seems to be wisdom, discipline, open heartedness, truth. Siddhis are recognized but not dwelt on, signs along the way that can too easily be turned into a road blocks if pursued or obsessed about.

Its not widely recognized, but you can indeed see its influences in them.

Let me ask you questions about this in Off Topic .

I could say bless my new health program and kiss my kettlebell, but that's stuff I've got to do myself. The blessing I'd want is safety for my family during the holiday season. Particularly my daughter who'll be off doing charity work in the Everglades. By the way my kettlebell is pretty cool, a 35#er from demonbell.com with the face of a Japanese Hannya demon.

Hmmm can't post out of the box. So, what are JC's powers? I have great respect for healing, but the other stuff is dime store power. The power of a light blow, the power to light a tiny bulb. It's interesting, but on such a weak level that its inconsequential. So can he light a 10 watt bulb for a few seconds? Can he lift more then an ounce? Does it really matter? Such 'tricks' are gonna attract the kid factor, joining for the comic book effect, not serious spiritual cultivators.

I'm not plugging my ears, I watched the video and I'm familiar with other people who have 'electric' gi gung skills. If read my post, I actually believe its not faked, but it sure didn't like 1% of his power to me. It looked like he failed the first time and had to reposition the tiny LED bulb once or twice. If the man had power on the level you say, he wouldn't need to go to a hotel room, get out a tiny LED bulb for demonstration. He'd simply levitate or point to a bulb on the street light it up, hell just unscrew a damn bulb from the socket and light it up like Uncle Fester. Or would that take 2% of his power and tax him too much. I think you're the one with blinders on. You want make a great man into something he's not. You sell him as an ultimate, almost an immortal, and as far I can see he's a very talented man. Thats a lot, its enough. You've taken a rather aggrandized book and made it into a bible of sorts. Imo such thinking is what has created the ban on Westerners in Mo Pai. You talk about wait til we see a level 50 can do. Is there a level 50? Real, not Easter bunnyish? Legitimate arts have real teachers. Who teach and do. No need to invent fictitious super powered beings. Just find them and go to there class. When doing esoteric energy work its an important to have a live teacher and get feedback. Mo Pai seems to be a dead end in that regard for Westerners, which is sad, its probably an excellent system.

I just saw the LED light up by John Chang video. I'm willing to believe, though they certainly didn't show the set up and its naive to think any skilled magician couldn't hide a battery from a someone with a slow moving metal detector. I believe some gi gong masters have some electrical ability. I know the Healing Tao has hosted at least one person who has the knack. Still, a tiny LED light takes only a tiniest amount of electricity to turn on. Miniscule. Same with giving someone an electrical shock. What I'm saying is, if he's the final endzone master. Its not very impressive. Certainly not of itself. Someone with a AA battery is probably more powerful then 'the master' since he had problems lighting it and had to reposition it etc. On the third hand, I'm sure he's a great master. He seems friendly, calm and knowledgeable. Its too bad Westerners seem to have hung a level 72 around his neck. I'm sure its stifling.

In the old days Yoda (he was a member here, really) and I got some (legal!) dried amanita muscaria shrooms from iamshaman.com . Colorful red with white dots. I had a couple and can't report any effects. Yoda had one, like me had nothing significant happened, except his wife a biologist found out, mentioned potential liver damage and flushed his 'stash'. So.. nothing to report from a tiny sample of dried ones. Iamshaman is still around. The shrooms, like many other things they once had are now illegal. Still they tend to be one step ahead of the herbal law. Personally I rarely rarely do drugs (except alcohol), they should be approached with caution and respect.

You know what I believed and was sorely mistaken about. A bug. A damn bug crawling at the bottom of Sonofgods post. Now I don't know what to believe.

I don't like adding new forums because it lessens the space for general discussion. I don't like threads on Christianity much either, its just not my cup of tea. Still there's been a lot of them lately. Perhaps we can combine two things I don't like into one.

I'm just surprised at the whole issue. I always thought those Duck guys uh, feathered the nest both ways.

I think.. I think.. I don't really care.

<Derail> (These days I'm trying to write 'derail' when I'm writing on a subject that is not relevant to the OP, its not a criticism just admitting we've strayed and maybe a new topic should be made. Unfortunately that'd be a 'saving the world' kind of topic which ended up getting derailed.) I don't know if the world is worse then ever. We don't need nuclear weapons to destroy a city, haven't for a couple thousand years. Its just flashy. The world might be more peaceful on several levels then we give it credit for. Europe was at near constant war for centuries, its been peaceful for decades. Cold war, which I consider as WWIII has been over. Actually, nuclear threat is extremely low and relatively out of our consciousness, especially compared to 50's and 60's. We have entire continents at peace. Still, fear and greed tend to rule the day. Feeding off each other. Thats where something, some rebirth of fellowship needs to happen. I don't think it can legislated, though fairer economics can be.

<Derail> Some grievances may be appropriate, but all in all you go to far, into exaggeration, imo. Are You so intolerant you'd ban churches if they were too close together. Are You so intolerant that you'd knock down churches confiscate the land and build playgrounds and homeless shelters there? Really, have you ever built any playgrounds or homeless shelters anywhere? There's nationalism and its often overtaken by racism, but honestly we don't send out armies out singing Onward Christian Soldiers. That and a many more comments might have been justified decades or hundreds of years ago, but not now. Tarot readings, astrology, hell they're in the newspaper, at least astrology is and I don't think tarot are the contraband you claim, there are decks and books on them available online and at most book stores. Religious history like most things is a mixed bag. There has been a lot of charities- food, hospitals, and orphanages set up by religion. Wars too. Still last century the atheists won as far as body count. Hard core atheists showed they were every bit as bloody, if not bloodier then religious zealots. I get the feeling your Grand Vision is closer to Mao's Cultural revolution then you might think. Not pretty. I think the cancer isn't religion its in the intolerant point of view. The 'Ban what I'm Against and the World will be a better Place' crowd. If someone wants to rub mud on there belly and dance naked in the moon light, more power to them, as long as they're live and let live types, and don't track in the mud.

I think Ajahn Brahm (Monk/writer/teacher) summed it up well. Monk has monk suffering. Poor man has poor man suffering. Rich man has rich man suffering. He explained it much better but the way out of suffering isn't to become something else. Monks work very hard, being poor sucks, being rich can have a thousand worries. The monk, poor man and rich man can move beyond suffering by following Buddha's precepts. Or attuning themselves to flow with the Tao. 'For What' lies between Skillful means and surrender. Mindfullness and emptiness. Wisdom and naturalness.

Even fundamentalism isn't so bad, there's often great learning and dedication there. If only it was followed by one more step, tolerance..live and let live.

Hmnn, I did 13 years of Ki Aikido. We'd have one weekly ki class where instead of martial arts we'd work on ki related stuff. Ki is subtle. Easier to demonstrate then feel, easier to see the results of, then feel. We'd often use the metaphor of 'it' being like water flowing through our extended limbs. Not really correct, but when you're in a state of relaxed extension, you're sending Ki. Physically a relaxed extension. Not necessarily different then a good dancer. Mentally, a sharp but relaxed awareness, not grasping and having no gaps, of whats going on all around you. Ofcourse Japanese are (in general) much more into the hara center then chakras. There intent and definitions much simpler then other oriental cultures. O'Sensei learned calligraphy because it was a way to see Ki. Frozen in time, ink on paper. Within the lines of great calligraphy you see the relaxed extension, sometimes extending out through details of the smallest hair of the brush. The lines move without break or hesitation, gliding in a perfect timing to spread ink just so. Many great martial artists were master calligraphers. Thus a roundabout way to genuinely feel and show Ki, is the Way of the Brush. Hopefully this isn't moving too far away from the OP's direction.

Abrahamic.. really. How long from sub pit to The Pit can the Jews, Christians, Moslems and the fundamentalists amongst them live and write together in peace?

Um, so You are telling Him things like 'Because of persons like you we have war on the planet..'? <later edit>Whoops my misreading, sorry. If so, then I can see how that is met with sarcasm and isn't effective. Maybe you need visuals? Show him pictures, bloody bodies, rape and scenes of mass destruction you're pinning on him. kidding, I assume he thinks you come off as a self righteous and holy er-than-thou offensive. If you want to reach him imo, you'll need a different tact. Often the best thing is wordless, being a good example and open to conversation with him. Thats conversation, not preaching, about weather, sports, life, groceries not about how they should change. Being a good example is the best way to effect change in a person you're close to.

I don't think its so much a 'Law' as a suggestion . Man tends to be more rationalizing then rational. We can wish for stuff, pray for it, work for it.. but there's a certain amount of luck/karma/crap that takes place in the universe. As the Rollings Stones put so well, You Can't Always Get What You Want.

thelerner, on 15 Dec 2013 - 12:45, said: You don't have to believe in anything - that's the whole point repeated again. You also have to learn to be cool with those who don't buy into your particular interpretations. As logical as they seem to you. They seem semantic to us and pushed with the emphasis of any old fundamentalist. Fwoooshh, over your head. Turtles, turtles all the way down.

You don't have to believe in anything - that's the whole point repeated again. You also have to learn to be cool with those who don't buy into your particular interpretations. As logical as they seem to you. They seem semantic to us and pushed with the emphasis of any old fundamentalist.

Optional lyric added. See bottom

Hmnn, lots of Pope's in the pictures. Didn't realize so many Catholic Taoists in the olde days .

we could finally get serious discussions of sea men going.