thelerner

Comet Ison update. Its brightening up but as much as predicted. Best visibility is looking east and low on the horizon a half hour or so before sunrise using binoculars. It should continue to brighten through Dec 1st.

This looks pretty simple, and I need a pie to bring to Thanksgiving.

Look to the fruits of your practice. Is your mind quiet, your life peaceful? Do you move through the day with a sense of flow? I think getting closer to the Tao gives you those things.

Thus we are all straw dogs. and that's neither bad or an insult.

maybe, but seems to me he manipulated others quite a bit himself. Imo he was probably a great boxer, drugs or no, but he certainly hasn't been a great human being. Still where there's life there's hope. Could be he's turned himself around.

When I think of the languages I could have learned, the medicines I could have developed, the books I could have written..if only I hadn't posted so much on the bums oh well, it was mostly worth it.

Ohmnnn , reported.

Maybe I'm doing it wrong, but I just stir, for a minute or so. If you want to stir hard and fast keep the cut half full, stir hard, then top off and stir a little more. Probably not as mixed as a blender though. If you didn't catch it, putting an egg in coffee is nice, either whole thing or just the yoke. If a butter is bulletproof, then yolk is yummy.

At 24 I back packed around Europe and Israel. Keeping to hostels it was natural to meet people and I'd often join up with a group of fellow back packers. Hostels provided such a nice sense of shared community that when I went back to Israel with my son we stayed part of the time at a large hostel/hotel (Abraham hostel) so he could get a sense of what they are like. This year I relived some of my 24rth. I headed back to the Ashram (Sivananda in Paradise Island), Israel and Burning Man. As great as the places are, the people you meet are as important. Great sense of community and sharing in Sivananda, the hostel in Israel and during Burning Man. For those interested I wrote up some articles about my Burning Man trips here: http://thetaobums.com/topic/14600-learning-to-burn/ Haven't finished writing up the last one.

and if we add to that the value of a nightly free sex worker then it'd easily be over $160,000 .

So... the reason you wrote 'How is my house party and have I met with Ki Moon Ban' is because I wrote religious arguments are silly? Um... Reading the definition above I realize, you are silly. You live on religious argument don't you. Its your hobby. Do you realize the amount of bad press you've brought Islam? If you read through the voluminous posts and counter posts you've inspired, you see huge amounts of insults to Islam. Posts that wouldn't exist if you'd be less into religious argument. You inspire and ask for insults. Why else keep repeating nonsense like 'why don't you meet Ki-Moon'; you want a negative reaction. Consciously or unconsciously you're like..'disrespect me.. I dare you'. People do and I suspect you get off on the attention. I further suspect you write here and not on Islamic philosophy sites because your writing would be reacted to there the same way it tends to be here. ie with you calling everyone who disagrees with you Satanic and not getting the respect you deserve from your End of the World predictions.

Could you tell us more about this. Not the technique, but how much is it mental, how much physical, when it comes to such constant practice. Thanks Michael

Kosta comes off as very down to earth, what a pleasure to read.

He goes over that point in his article. Apparently having the listener, even if its a recorder (the ultimate exact listener) is necessary. I think he explains why somewhere. It may have to do with creating a little more pressure and self conscious feedback. There a method for learning to play an instrument by ear. It had you play for fun, no particular lesson, for 30 minutes (or was it an hour) then listen to the recording later the same day. You did it for 30 days and supposedly it gave you knack for understanding the instrument and playing by ear, because it made playing more intimate, like your voice. I don't know if that technique works, but I tend to write better when I have to read it immediately to others. Even writing stories in my PPD here tends to get me more into the flow, knowing they could be read immediately, then if I typed them on a word processor without any outside pressure.

WTF? What are you talking about? House party?? Ban Ki-Moon? Does this thread or my post have anything to do with them? Why the repetitive trolling? Did you read my post? Is it somehow insulting to you?? Please try to stay on topic and don't go out of your way to pick fights, especially on threads that aren't in The Pit. P.S. From now on I won't reply to your off subject posts, I'll simply report them. Thus I recommend not looking for conflicts where there are none; like my post calling for more tolerance.

Yet doesn't Taoism point out the 'good' side of apathy. Seeing all things as straw dogs, being neither high nor low..etc., Same with some Buddhists points of view, seeing everything as impermanence and accepting change stoically. hate to say it, but even Hate has a potentially good side. It's a hot powerful emotion and in bad times its kept people alive. Not always thinking clearly, but fire in your belly alive. Not recommending it though.

Along those lines, how about global tax? Nuclear countries pay a tax, its collected and divided amongst non-nuclear countries. You could even have a multiple involved, the more nukes a country has the more taxes it pays. not practical for this reason- the mice voted to put a bell on the cat, yet it never got done.

Wise words. Though I like to say: You worship God your way I'll worship him His just kidding. Live, let live and practice wise tolerance. Religious arguments are silly because people have different holy books and traditions. And lets face it, much of the science and some of the ethics (slavery, sexism, religious sanctioned killing..) is a bit dated. Personally I can't help hoping that an Infinite God isn't as tied to ancient books as we humans seem to be.

Respectfully, this is to much of a stretch. Imo Genesis is a religious allegory influenced by older myths. There are lessons to be learned but not atomic structure. People paint there own stories onto the biblical, justifying moral codes, aliens, atom theory, one religion or another. Literally if you Taoist you can just as easily use numerology to say its a secret Taoist text. Same goes for tibetan or hindu- anyone can there theology to create a 'secret doctrine' according to there religious or scientific 'template', and they do. Numerologist and Gematria people do it all the time. For example, we know physics, so we can 'paint' it onto the story. But would that make any sense to someone living before the 1900's and would it have any use pre-industrial age? I don't think so. Iif it is a cosmic godly lesson on Atoms, anything it says about atomic structure in it that we didn't know before?

I've also heard the Santi Shi is more a warrior pose also. In Ki-Aikido there was a practice holding a bokken at mid guard for 30 minutes while keeping the tip unmoved and focused at a single point. Very hard. I like the 'holding the beach balls down' (forget the name, sure its Lam's book) style hunyuan-esque pose. Course I usually do zhan zhuang listening to Rawn Clarks Archaeous audios and that works well with the gist of stacking elements.

Well..lets give a moment of silence to all the other nuns who never made it out.

I think its a credit to everyone posting that we've kept such a polarizing thorny issue civil. Especially since I've seen threads on Love and Charity go down into The Pit in flames.

Does this make sense? I'm imagining one month mentorships, where for a month one person gives another a practice that should take 10 to 30 minutes. There would be short daily feedback for advice and encouragement. Many people here have practices they find invaluable and are amazed few do them. They run the gamut from Zhan Zang to Mantras. I'm envisioning this as focused on a single practice. It should be taken seriously, done daily, with short emails to each other regularly. Trying large classes, often doesn't work well. But I wonder if 1 on 1, a single practice would be more conducive for this kind of medium. What do you think? Any interest? 30 days could start a lifetimes practice. For example I stink at dream work, but its an area I really want to get into. It'd be great for me to have a mentor who has experience. On the other hand I have experience with Ecstatic Kabalah and Rawn Clarks IHVH chants. For the right person it'd be an interesting introduction to the field. The practice could be simple or complex, its the feedback and dedication that will make it special. >edit expanding the scope of this idea: To include 30 Day Yin Yan Self Improvement Promise. 30 Day Yin Yan Self Improvement Promise: You make a 30 day commitment to subtract a habit and start a habit to fill the void left by the subtraction. The habit should be a specific easily measured thing. Example: I will not eat blank (wheat/sugar/fries) and I will have a blank each day (juice/salad/green smoothie/sasquatch) (subtraction). Here's mine- I will not watch TV in November. Instead when I feel the urge I will- meditate/exercise/walk. This shouldn't be too hard. Good to start out easy. Next month diet. No vegetable starches, potatoes, corn. Positive Have a green or colorful low sugar smoothie every day. Third month maybe something harder no baked grain ie grain/cake. Positive eat good salad and soup each day. The idea is to grow- gain some discipline and develop the 'will power' muscle. The hope is this becomes a consistent practice. Subtracting something bad, gaining something healthful. Yin/Yan, bringing life into a better balance.

derail bad. But, I work at my computer most days, so the bums tend to be my favorite distraction.