thelerner

The same thing I do every night, Pinky—try to take over the world!

There are threads that run for pages with only a single user posting. Its obviously there focused on a personal interest and one that few or no one are answering. Yet its at the top of the screen every day for weeks. There's nothing wrong with it, but it more properly belongs in a PPD. I'm particularly thinking 'Compound Bow Hunting'. Drew is posting on it every day, sometimes multiply. Its his personal diary, which is fine, but it'd be better in a PPD. Frankly so would the 'Fukishima' thread. Its his daily posting obsession not others. I'm not a fan of the 'America is Declining' but it gets a variety of posters and views represented. Whereas the other 2 are Drew using the board as his diarize his obsessions. To me the best solution is to ask him if he'd allow the mods to put them into a PPD. Odds are he won't. Which might be his right. Still I don't like the clutter.

From Marksdailyapple.com If you've tried butter & ghee then its time to take the next step . note. Just found this and haven't tried it yet. Primal Whole Egg Coffee Think of this as a whole foods-based protein shake. Ingredients: 1 cup (240 ml) coffee 2 pastured eggs 1 tsp sugar Pinch of salt I started by beating the eggs together, whole, as if you were making scrambled eggs. You could also blend them. For a 1 cup dose of coffee, I did two whole eggs. Once the eggs are beaten or blended, slowly drizzle in the coffee. You don’t want to cook the eggs. You want them to stay creamy. If you’re really concerned about the avidin in the raw white, dump the coffee in to ensure maximal heat exposure. Otherwise, just drizzle. I think a higher egg:coffee ratio (using a large shot of espresso, for example) for a stronger coffee flavor would work really well. Also, two eggs in this recipe created a nice and creamy concoction. I suspect three eggs might even be better. Again, I added a little sweetener plus some salt. It made the coffee taste a bit like a liquified custard. Really, really tasty.

I gave out a crazy idea earlier(and got 3 likes!). Here's an illegal and immoral one (not fattening though). Create an identity 'A Mo Pai Guy', then create Personal Discussion page. It'd be the first one in the PPD and the creator would have full editing control. box, what box? I'm already outside.

I don't like cluttering up the board with too many stickies and sub forums. It gives less screen space for Thread tittles and once things go page 2, they're more likely forgotten. Here's a crazy idea. The Confucius subforum is under used. Throw it there. Hopefully the flamers won't notice and the virtue of Confucius will leak in, making it a more polite focused space.

Pretty cool. That gives me some new ideas for uses of the Royal Belgium Vacuum coffee maker I have that TaowMeow recommended. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbVwvI9P7lU I liked the easy yogurt making idea.

I believe in the interview the woman said she did yoga. An instructor level could have given there styles founder, a lineage list and said 10,000 or 100,000's, depending on if you want to include hard core yogi's over the millenniums. Enlightenment is a slippery term meaning different things to different people. Immortality too. In classic Taoism there are many levels, some not so nice. Look around, try some things, don't fall for grandiose literature unless there's someone you know and respect giving it a good review. Once you have experience, get married to an art and go deep. You may not get enlightenment, immortality or majick abilities but you'll get a lifelong discipline with fruits of peace, health, flow and perspective that put you ahead of the game.

""How long has your guru been teaching?" "Well, uh, over thirty years." "And how many of his students have achieved enlightenment?" "Well, uh..." "That you know of personally?" "Well, uh, I never..." "That you've heard of?" "It's not" "That there were rumors of?" "I don't think..." "Don't you think it's reasonable to ask? They're in the enlightenment business, aren't they? Or did I misunderstand you? Do they have something else going?" "Nooo, but they..." "If Consumer Reports magazine did a report on which spiritual organizations delivered as promised, don't you suppose that the first statistic listed under each organization would be success rating? - Jed McKenna - 'Spiritual Enlightenment:The Damnedest Thing'" I've listened to this on Youtube. It always struck me as verbal bullying, he was picking on a woman who was clearly freaking out. He could have asked someone with experience and confidence but then he couldn't manipulate the conversation. It was like demo's I'd see where a 6'5" instructor picks a 5' woman from the crowd to 'prove' his martial expertise. Speaking of expertise- I noticed he didn't answer the question himself. What's his enlightenment rate is. As long as he's guru busting, he may as well come clean about his own wonderous method and the 1,000's he made as egoless as himself <sarcasm. Back on topic: Majick and immortality are pretty grandiose. A little bit like saying 'I want 10 billion dollars, how do I get it?' Personally I'd say worry more about gaining good fundamentals for the next few years and put Majick & immortality on the backburner. What are the fundamentals. Breathing, sitting, meditating, moving strongly. It could be a martial art, yoga, tai chi, chi gung, look around your area. Watch a class. Ask to try a free class. Talk to students afterwards, see if they're level headed. An exception I'd make would be Franz Bardon system, IIH, someone mentioned above (abardoncompanion.com has good info on it as well as a few indepth audio practices and they're free). Because its slow and methodical and heavy into knowing yourself and learning self control. I'm sure there are others. The 30 Day Mentorship thread pinned is for people who want to learn a simple thing in 30 days. You could post you're looking for a mentor in beginning meditation, or breath work, or some simple aspect.

In our culture suicide can be real dick move to friends and family. Despite whatever rationalizing a person makes it often causes massive pain and lasting suffering to those close, who don't share ones transcendentalist views. Few emotional events can ever be as wounding to a parent. And if you go by the rules of karma, pain given will ultimately be pain reflected (something like that). I understand the happily I live, happily I die philosophy, but it can too easy to call it quits when your at a trough in life. In despair people forget things change, life can get better. Cutting off new experiences, lessons and joys. In hopes for something that might not come. It may be different for the elderly and those in chronic pain, but many of the same concepts apply.

Still tangental, but I found an interesting article on Neanderthals I thought I'd share. http://blog.23andme.com/ancestry/find-your-inner-neanderthal/?utm_source=outbrain&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=owned&utm_blog=inner_neanderthal&utm_content=23c_Digital_Media&cvosrc=content%20engine%20.outbrain.inner_neanderthal and since I hate 'naked' links, here is an excerpt. Find Your Inner NeanderthalPublished by ScottH under Ancestry They had bigger brains and muscles, but for some reason Neanderthals —thick boned humans who thrived for hundreds of thousands of years in Europe and parts of Asia— died out about 30,000 years ago, while we modern humans survived. Why we, Homo sapiens, flourished and our Homo neandertalensis cousins died out is an evolutionary mystery that biologist are trying to unravel. In the last few years, scientists have uncovered clues not just to what the lives of Neanderthals may have been like, but also clues that tell us more about what it means to be a modern human. Most interesting of all is that, although Neanderthals disappeared long ago, their DNA lives on in all non-African people. 23andMe now offers a lab allowing customers to connect with their prehistoric roots. The lab, developed by one of our resident computational biologists, Eric Durand, compares two modern human genomes with the Neanderthal genome to determine what percentage of your own DNA is Neanderthal. Before coming to 23andMe, Eric worked on the first draft of the Neanderthal genome and on analysis of the Denisova genome, another of our early human cousins. The method we use to determine the percent of Neanderthal DNA a person has is similar to the one Eric helped develop while working at the Department of Integrative Biology at the University of California, Berkeley. See Eric’s white paper for a technical explanation of the methodology. Most people have Neanderthal DNA, on average about 2.5 percent, but there are outliers, who have much more... Me> In the comment section they have results from people who've taken the test.

Hi and welcome. Many of us started with Glenn Morris's book. His work has been carried on through the KAP program. Take a look at this video from one of the instructors (I picked this one at random). If you like it subscribe to the Youtube site. Tao Semko and Santiago have quite a bit of free material out there.

Tomorrow's a new month. Not too late to offer lessons or ask for mentorship in a discipline. edit> We've had 2 set up this month.

Sadly war weary and low moral doesn't equal surrender. Japan was in no way a democracy listening to peasants in news polls. I've also read reports of high level generals prepared to kidnap the emperor if he'd declared peace. There were also reports of WWII Japanese Soldiers reluctant to surrender, in THE 1960's! They were fanatical because traditionally the loser was killed, often his bloodline was too. Hindsight is 20/20. All we can do is guess. The truth is there were powerful Hawks in control who'd kill there own before surrender. They were actively assassinating government people who use the S word even after A bombs were dropped. I thought this blog condensing the work of 14 Japanese Historians was very insightful, short & accurate (I believe), it should be read regardless of sides. http://www.warbirdforum.com/end.htm excerpt: " SWC HAWKS Army Minister General Anami (the leader of the hawks) Army Chief of Staff General Umezu Navy Chief of Staff Admiral Toyoda It is a curious fact that the Navy was so important, even though it only had a few destroyers left. Since these six people were unable to agree to end the war, there were two other sources of authority which could possibly break the deadlock, although, since Japan was already at war, the hawks had no desire to break the deadlock. THE ARMY The Army was in physical control of the country and Tokyo. The Army had a tradition of murdering political opponents. Many middle level officers in the Army believed that the Army should murder all the doves and take control of the country. This would mean, in effect, kidnapping Hirohito. Many officers viewed this as preferable to surrender. Everyone believed that a surrender order would be followed by an immediate coup attempt and assasination spree." The above was from Japanese historians. Its a very good read. In truth during war there's more misinformation then solid intelligence. Plain and simple, there's a nasty mix of hatred, blood lust and racism. Most of all priority number one is to end the damn thing as quickly as possible. That usually doesn't make for pretty endings.

Ohmmm. yeah, that's right, Ohmmm, YOU GOT A PROBLEM WITH THAT

thelerner, on 26 Sept 2013 - 22:08, said: Just so we're all on the same page. What does ending rebirth, mean to you? Poof, we're completely gone? Memory and soul? A simple complete off switch? Are you saying Yes, its a complete switch off? or hinting at something else?

People think that story is literally true? The pages shown here read more like fiction then true accounts. Reality tends to be less colorful and descriptive, there's longer pauses and less operatics.

Apologies in advance for taking the thread on a tangent. I don't want a gun in my house. Too much chance of shooting one of my own kids, when they come in unexpectedly at 4 am and they're dancing in the dark, wearing head phones and knocking things down. On the otherhand air bb guns are getting pretty powerful these days. If things got rough around here or if I felt paranoid I'd buy a top air gun and use the heavier bb's. They can be used to hunt small game to. Things like the Crosman C11 are relatively cheap, hold 18 shots. Sticking a gun out the door and putting holes through some of your dry wall might dissuade grab and run home thief. Here's info: http://www.airgundepot.com/crosman-c11.html or something crazier, like this airpistol http://www.topairgun.com/product/PY-2652-5233 as far as strange (& somewhat Taoist relevant sorta kinda) goes, I found this: In an earlier video this guy stated 90% of the time showing a gun ends the problem. No idea if that's true. In this one he shows the puncture power of an air gun. A shot goes through denim then half a can of spam, that's hospital type injury, or lethal if you're a can of spam. You can fast forward to the third minute.

Not a right or wrong kind of question. Odds are huge it wouldn't be it. I'd guess over 99% of campers/travelers do just fine without. Crazy scenario's are not necessarily made easier if you have a gun, despite popular movies. Myself, no. But being a hunter you're more experienced with them. You understand they're a double edged sword, lots of sticky karma involved in there use. Sometimes in the face of the unknown, I let my intuition decide. I'll play this game. Decide to bring a gun along. Spend some time imagining driving along the road with it, where you'll store it, etc., How do you feel? Then imagine not bringing it with. How does that feel? Maybe that'll give you direction.

Thought about it. I'm willing to give all people perfect happiness throughout eternity, but there are a few I'd like to kick in the balls in the here and now. still evolving M. edit> thinking further. I'm willing to give people the choice of perfect happiness; the ability to experience or not. To slip in and out of it. I think my perfect happiness would include a spectrum of emotions, ups and downs, strivings. 100% perfect happiness, 100% of the time, might be unpleasant or boring. I might want a kick in the balls myself just for a change of pace.

Zencast is long running worthwhile podcast to listen to. Zencast 48 is Surrender to the Now, it features an Eckhart Tolle lecture accompanied with biaural sounds in the background. Free, relaxing and trippy or very annoying depending on your mood. Zencast has some excellent series on Dhammapda, going chapter by chapter, as well a 7 week Mindfulness meditation course Zencast 147-152, Intro to Meditation Zencast 249 -254 etc.,

Let's see describing a Taoist in 2 sentences. It was a dark and stormy night. The Taoist stepped outside to enjoy it.

Here is my best description in 2 sentences x 15. Essence of Taoism Story From NonTien There is an old story that once Confucius, Shakyamuni Buddha and Lao-tzu were drinking some peach wine together. Buddha opined that it was bitter, Confucius that it was sour – but Lao-tzu, smiling, found it to be sweet. The wine, of course, represents human life. Taoism is not a philosophy or religion of salvation or of escape, but of appropriately enjoying and dealing with the real life which we have. Taoism finds perfection in imperfection, and taking the eternal and universal viewpoint of the Tao, realizes that the good is not to be finally judged by personal or human preference. Taoism suggests that happiness is found in accepting our situation. There is no reason not to do anything reasonable to better ourselves, of course, but resentment, denial or a negative outlook on life do nothing towards increasing our happiness. Cheerfulness, humor and a freedom from fussing are the attitudes that will stead us best in life. This is not to say, however, that Taoism is any kind of forced and strained "positive thinking". It is fine to be sad or melancholic from time to time. This is a perfect occasion to read or write sad poems, listen to sad music and complain to our friends, and (in moderation) can add to the overall enjoyment of life. Taoism is also unconcerned with ideas of "advancement" and "success" through some special mode of thinking. A Taoist is only willing to struggle to survive up to a point, after which he is content not to survive, death being a natural commitment of life. Lesser considerations such as career, popularity, fame and wealth are then obviously highly trivial, and not such as to cause serious unhappiness. The Taoist takes his positive pleasures from the enjoyment of love (in all wholesome forms), learning (of interesting and worthwhile things), productive labor (of a kind actually beneficial to human beings), contemplation (whether of the taste of tea, the beauties of art or the moods of Nature), and Taoist practice (of meditation, t'ai-chi ch'üan etc.). Above all, he or she endeavors to preserve the basic human integrity and innocence with which we are all endowed at birth, and not to be subverted by the concerns of worldliness. The Taoist strives not to want and get, but to enjoy what is already present with gratitude and grace.

Yes, yes, yes and Yes. A chance to learn sword throat swallowing from the A of T. What's the url, where's the youtube? Damnit man, we need details. And an address to buy swords. Sorry, couldn't resist. I agree with most of what your saying, but believe most of the people here know results are going to come from long years and decades of training. Hell for all the contention on the Mo Pai threads, people know Mo Pai requires extremely long hours daily practice. There may be newbies who look for the instant secret, but I think the majority here know results are going to come from a steady practice. I bet if we did a poll we'd find most people know its a game measured in decades not secrets. That being said, I don't think its bad to try new wild things and report back. Sometimes its a dead end, other times you find master level people who can teach you a thing or two. Its not a substitute for long training, but it can add spice to it.

War crime. I suppose so. No time machine though, and if you had one, would it be right to roll dice and change history? An invasion of Japan would have killed millions. There's that. Okinawa isn't Japan and over 149,000 people died during that fight. Homeland Japan, would have made that look like a skirmish. Not to mention Russia was aching to get into the fight and avenge itself against Japan. If the war dragged on they would have and Japan might have been split into communist dictatorship and democratic free area.. Somewhere in the middle of WWII civilian bombings became tit for tat. Civility was thrown out the window. Japan threw huge resources into a death ray (literally). If it had worked, they'd have destroyed us. No question. It didn't, the nuclear bomb did. We won and created a democracy there. A very successful one. Looking back at history you have literally 100 year wars. The damnable thing about the cold war was its proxy nature. Powerful sides feeding small conflicts making them last for years or decades. Horrible. The point is.. you may need total war at times to end a conflict. A sad horrible thing to say, but true. To doubt it is to wish away horrible tyrants or to lose to them. I know there's huge antiAmerican sentiment on this site; that America is the Devil. Your opinion is your opinion and I'm sure we'll break Godwins law within 3 or 4 posts. But personally I'd rather live in the U.S then the aftermath of victorious Nazi Germany or Militant Japan.

Is it a dream? Or is it all we have? Do we want to get off the ride, if it means a total off switch.