thelerner

I have a couple friends who are true believers, hell one of them even wrote a book. But I tend to side w/ Marblehead. It's not that I don't have an open mind, I just think much of the evidence can point towards other things. Extraordinary claims need extraordinary proof. That plus I'm not that interested in it.

Tulku/Rebel -You're still too focused on sexual desire. When you're free from it, you'll stop posting about it. You'll even stop seeing it in such a dark fashion. It may not be your path, but it'll stop being the enemy and be natural human condition you can choose to indulge in or not. I don't think its food that makes you horny, its being a young man. It's a million years of evolution, nature programs the young to procreate. Don't confuse that with food being evil, though some spicy foods and herbs are more stimulating then others. Going veggie is fine, there are cook books made by monks that are probably right up your alley. Be aware long term continual fasting can cause lasting chronic painful problems. You are your own experiment, don't fast to the point you have health problems. Find a middle road, even one that leans a little toward the ascetic where you keep your body strong.

The shows addictive. Great writing, unexpected twists and turns, high production values and only a few episodes a season..makes me feel like an addict needing a fix. It's a shame HBO won't let you go back and watch the first season, only 2 and 3 are available.

I type this w/ dirty fingers. I've got two small garden patches, one is a 4 feet in diameter circle of bricks where I grow tomatoes, the other is a 16 foot x 1 foot raised garden bed, where I'll put in mesclun, carrots, broccoli sprouts etc. The long square foot garden was inspired by the Mother Earth magazine. I started it last year, very simply. As recommended in the article on lazy gardening, I bought cheap 40lb bags of soil ($1.25 each) and simply laid them out in a row. Splitting the bottom and ripping off the tops. Bam, instant garden, most of the work was putting a little hedge around it. I added a bag of miracle grow to the top, cause its good stuff. Things grew quite well from it last year. My only regret was putting in cabbages which grew to monster size and took up too much room. After the harvest I pulled up the remains of the bags and left it covered in grass and leaf clippings as mulch. This year I did some weeding of grass that popped up in it, I added a bag of miracle grow soil and it looks ripe for planting. The tomatoes I grow in the circle are usually cherry or grape 'size' varieties. I particularly like the hybrid orange grape tomatoes w/ the Sweet 100's coming in a close second. In the past I've grown them in containers and gotten good results. When things go well, you end up with 3 months of sweet cherry berries that you eat every time you come in or leave the house. As far as the controversy on weeding, the best, and most real answer is grow a garden. Gardening is Tao. Getting your hands dirty and living life is the Way, wordy philosophizing is not. Michael

bump. Last year in an experiment or as my wife might say, due to extreme laziness I didn't trellis my tomatoes, cucumbers or squash. It was kinda cool the way the cukes hid in the grass and under leaves. Still I don't think I'll do it again, too much waste on the ground. This year I'll cage'em early. I had good soil due to composting. Instead of buying tomatoes I had many 'wild' ones sprouting up. Most of them are probably sweet grape size varieties. I separated them out and replanted them. I think they'll be hardy survivors. I spread out some sweeter versions mesclun leaf lettuce in one area. I let it grow thick and carpetlike, then use scissors throughout the summer to harvest the tops. Taller plants should give it some shade during the hotter months too. What kind of gardens do you have goin on?

Seems like unlikelihood upon unlikelihood. Not only is George Bush a homosexual, but he's also a pedophile, not only a pedophile but he brings boys into the white house, not only does bring boys into the white house, but he has sex with them infront of others like, Leola McConnell (Liberal Democratic Candidate for Governor of Nevada) who dutifully reported it after taking part in it. Bush needed a sexy Liberal Democrat there?! Really?.. seems an unlikely choice. I'm sure there are plenty of closeted homosexuals in office, but can't help thinking they're a little more discreet. I'm also sure there's a lot of political fictional porn out there tailor made for the gullible. Fictions created just to get hard core opponents salivating. I just saw a story similar to this on some right wing rag, Obama as raging homosexual. Its a cheap easy way to slander those you don't like. You can come up with with real rational reasons to oppose these guys, why turn to fiction? Its offensive. Like another Immortal post about a woman who was abused by .. father, uncle, CIA, Illuminatti through ancient Egyptian and Nazi techniques and carving on her vagina.. I'm sure the woman has been through a lot (if she actually exists), but its too much, a tad too inventive. A little too Indiana Jones-ish. It gets to crazy to believe, but its the kind of thing lapped up by indiscriminating conspiracy theorists.

Koichi Tohei who founded Ki Aikido wrote about doing this and making the step system 32 steps in, 32 out, but he was also able to consciously walk in his sleep in the army. All walking is good. When I do it meditatively I'll slow it down, walk gently, minimize my thoughts. Focus on hearing nature. Sometimes I'll close my eyes and 15 or 20 seconds blink, repeat. Lately I'm focused on Chi walking, where I take shorter but quicker steps, keep my gait rounded with an accent on kicking behind me and a slight forward lean from the ankles.

ego trip, nah. My Buddhism is about tripping my ego. <warning label: Michael is not and should not be considered a Buddhist despite great respect for the system and philosophy>

There was hard core, drinking the middle half of the stream, ie not first or last third of the 'stream' <Michael Winn writes about this when he stayed in Taoists caves hard core style>. Then there was an easier approach, sorta homeopathic of just putting a few drops into water and drinking it.

People are posting some really long videos these days. That is almost 2 hours long. Gentlewind, I've heard some good things about urine therapy. What form does she recommend in the video? Signed thelerner the lazy

If you have a bad liver and are getting punched hard in the stomach area..that's bad. As cool and tough as the school sounds, its probably not worth screwing up an organ for, especially one that's not 100%. I did some golden bell chi gung and most of the practice was hitting oneself in the belly area, but it started with gentle slaps and over months went to self slapping w/ a closed fist. Many months before others took shots at you. There are other schools.

I do medium to slow squats. Legs spread apart a bit more then shoulder length. I keep my hands together, fingers gently interlocked, as I squat down down, trying to sit back (not forward, keeps the knees safer) and go as low as in comfortable, I swing my hands between my knees in round natural fashion. As I come up, I swing my arms over my head, they naturally bend at the elbow and hand swing behind my head. Then I sit down, the action of the squat with the large hand motion is repeated. Sometimes as my arms swing over my head I'll arch my back so it get a complimentary stretch. I'm not in great shape, but it doesn't take to long of this pumping squat to start getting me out of breath. Round relaxing and a bit of a work out.

There's something to it, but its a dangerous practice. You only have 2 eyes, damaging them is really bad. My own version is to with a low sun and I'll keep my eyes closed, I still get beautiful phosphorescence light coming through and 'fill' my body and bones up with them ( a healing tao exercise). Only time I'll really stare at the sun is when its covered with clouds to the point its appears more like the moon. If I had an experienced live teacher it might be different. The riskier a technique, the more you need a teacher there with you. It doesn't bode well that some tao bum experimenters ended up stopping the practice.

I'm a bit in the middle, but closer to Ish. It can have benefits if you work up to it slowly. You may not want to be starting in a class where other students with more experience are hitting hard. Definitely take it up with your instructor.

This can be hard to understand because it's not logical. But it seems to be true for mystics. Is it because they have a wider non personal view of things? Or maybe they exist in an eternal now, and despite threats and worry, right exactly now, is pretty good.

I like this. Choice and free will as power. We're inevitably shaped by what has come before, whether we agree to it mindlessly and even when we rebel. We're still playing according to that tune. Before choice comes knowledge. Who are we really? How should we view the world? Accumulate some knowledge, discipline and wisdom; choose a path and walk it.

Shine light on darkness and it (eventually) goes away. There's a lot attention on Monsanto right now. Mass protests, youtube movies and perhaps most importantly some <more progressive> countries are beginning to ban its products. I think there may be a reversal and farmers and organizations are going to start suing Monsanto for invasion of its crops. Just today a rogue strain was found in a field in the U.S. I think the wheels are in motion for the problem to take care of itself. These problems arise over a decade, have much buy in from number of special interests <good and bad> and take another decade to solve once awareness is made. Personally I think there's good Monsanto can do. I'm not against all genetically modified foods. They have the potential to end world hunger, prevent nasty malnutritional diseases that cause blindness and deformities, as well as survive drought better. Dark as they seem now, they're likely to greatly benefit mankind. If used and developed intelligently. We shouldn't throw out the baby w/ the bath water. Monsanto and its sciences can be a force for good, it just needs to refocus, get its head out of its supremely for profit ass and end some of the harmful processes, but if you look at the whole picture, they're not all bad and there potential is enormous.

I have much respect for Santiago and did Kap1. 6 or 8 week course to full blown K.? It's possible for a dedicated pratitioner who's 'ready', but for most its steps on the journey. The course improved my Secret Smile, I think the flexibility of the early movements are great and I still do them. Not so much the 5 point breathing. I did feel a blender going off in my belly during some of his Shaktipat's. Interesting because there was no verbal suggestion for such a feeling. Bottomline. I recommend it to anyone. You're getting an experienced teacher in a live skype class. You'll learn things you can use. No guarantee of K., though, but I wasn't really expecting it either, course I'm a slacker.

I'm doing 30 days of Rawn Clarks Self Healing Archaeous system. There are 7 levels. Its loosely based on Franz Bardonian work, a Western Hermetic take on Element theory as it applies to human body and psyche. Its mostly short 15 minute lessons. But to integrate it you need to spend time on each one. Here is the link http://bardon.dnsalias.net/Archaeous-Links.html I add I'm just a beginner/dabbler at this. I look at this as a chance for a shared practice to explore with others. He has you do them lying down, I think they're perfect for standing meditation. The way he 'stacks' the elements onto the body makes 15 minutes of zhan zhang go by quickly, and by stacking earth (feet to waist), water (hips to solar plex) etc., onto the body it gives a feeling of strength and connection. Like many of his series what starts out easy goes esoteric quickly. I'm starting this to see if any else wants to 'do' the series with me. Its free, simple but not easy, doesn't take up too much time. best of all its experiential, no debating philosophy or books, but discussing what we experience. See where we get in one month. I did it today. It goes by quickly. I do it standing though he recommends laying down. When I do it without listening to the tape I start with my feet and build up. He starts with relaxation messages, then orients first from the head down to the feet, then back up. The first lesson is relatively simple and very physical. He want you to repeat it until you can comfortably repeat the experience without listening to the audio, ie throwing the 'crutch' away. Don't be fooled by the simple nature of the first lesson. Here is a taste of where the program goes: (from his site) "Practice: Begin with the complete relaxation of your physical body. Become aware of all four Elemental regions of your physical body: the Earth, Water, Air and Fire regions. This is the Earth region of your temporal mental body -- your direct perception of physical sensation. Now shift your awareness to your astral body and release your awareness of physical sensation. Focus exclusively upon the perception of emotional significance contained within the four Elemental regions of your astral body. This is the Water region of your temporal mental body -- your direct perception of emotional significance. Now shift your awareness to your thinking mind and release your awareness of emotional significance. Focus exclusively upon the perception of thought and the four Elemental types of thoughts that fill your awareness. This is the Air region of your temporal mental body -- your direct perception of thought and idea. Now shift your awareness to your perceiving mind and release all awareness of thought. Focus exclusively upon pure perception and an emptiness of mind. This is the Fire region of your temporal mental body -- your direct perception of essential meaning. Take a moment now to perceive the three regions that you have shed. Below you lies your thinking awareness, your awareness of emotional significance and your awareness of physical sensation. You perceive them as separate and distant from your focalized awareness -- they lie at your feet like clothes that you no longer wear. Yet at the same time, you know that they are your clothes and you have only shed them temporarily. Now turn your awareness away from what lies below you and perceive what surrounds you. You find yourself still within the realm of time and sequence but you are no longer stuck in physical space and matter. Here, your surroundings stretch infinitely in every direction and you stand at the exact center of the infinite universe. Now, as a focalized awareness composed only of Fire, you must release your focus and expand to encompass the whole infinite universe that surrounds you. You must let go of being a flame and become the infinitely radiant Fire itself which merges with the Akasha. This infinite expanse of Self is your eternal or Akashic mental body, your Greater Self. You now are the Akasha and below you, you now perceive your entire temporal mental body, surrounded by the entire temporal realm. You are free from space and time, and from thinking, feeling and sensing. Yet at the same time, you know that they are your clothes and that you have only shed them temporarily. You are pure perception, awareness and will in their non-sequential state, yet still you are focalized and do not encompass The All. You do not yet experience the infinite number of other similarly focalized awareness in the same way as you experience yourSelf. You can experience many of them individually as yourSelf, but not all of them simultaneously. To do this you must expand and become them all. Let go of your focalization and expand. You must become pure Light. You don't stand within The Light; instead, you are The Light. Nothingness surrounds you and you are focused inward upon Self."

When you watch the DaVinci code movie, you see the bad guys killing more and more people to stop the outbreak of news the chalice was Mary. The real world reality is; its not earth shaking or even big news. The reality is there've been rumors for centuries as well as books postulating it, most people don't care. In the movie, they didn't have to do anything, the news didn't change anything. Same with an alien satellite. Governments may want to investigate it first. We do have shuttles and space travel ability, but if you came out with news would it be such a big deal? It'd make headlines, but actual panic? It'd be a blessing because it'd wake up interest in the sciences.

There's a couple thousand pieces of space junk orbiting, some pretty large. My take is its a big piece and its being erroneously tied to the golden age of ufo hype from the late 50's. These things take on a life of there own as unknown scientists after unknown researcher confidently declare its 13,000 years old and it comes from quadrant x and has ties to the god father of all conspiracy science Tesla <not knocking Tesla's many achievement, but sadly he's become thee symbol for many pseudo science>. Thus I'm pretty skeptical about it. Least its not the usual killer planet/comet that makes the rounds every other year.

End the confusion and become a scientist. A 'my life' scientist. Pick a paradigm, write out a hypothesis, set up the life experiment, journal the results, be faithful, be honest, give it enough time, find out how it works. Hell, your young, a 6 month experiment is nothing and may be the best way to really know. Cause its not so much 'truth' we're after, its what works for the me, the individual. You cut through the chaos by putting yourself on a path. It's confusing because there's so many of them. Which one is right? Don't know, can't know, its an individual thing but once you start faithfully walking on a path, like a scientist, seeker, or adventurer, you won't be so confused cause you got a plan. Yours Michael

There's a lot of it, especially here. Lately I'm thinking the religious side is the braver option, not necessarily right, but gutsier and strangely a little more open minded, just like the atheistic idea was in the past. Fundamentalism in any shade tends to turn me off, and there are plenty of 'non-holier than thou' atheists running around. Me, I'm relatively agnostic, hoping to get silent, long and deep enough to hear something.

A vision board is great but having written long term, short term, and daily goals is better imo. Maybe some things come to those who visualize and do plenty of affirmations, but my paradigm is you want fish, you gotta go fishing, they're not going swim to your bedroom. Death.. I agree w/ Pythag, we don't know so its best to Live Well Now. That may mean chasing more then tail and cash. Study on what a worthwhile life is.

There are enlightened people on earth right now. Imo they live good simple lives. They don't teleport or walk through walls. They aren't not trying to become the scify movie dujour, matter of fact they may not watch a whole lotta TV or pop culture movies. Most importantly they're not trying to escape into fantasy. That's what taking drugs and watching fantasy movies is about. I bet all of them had a practice stuck to it faithfully. We live in a world of distraction, if your eyes are on what other people are doing or thinking you're not giving your practice full attention. <Constantly> Comparing yourself to others and wanting to change them is the ego's game, if you're constantly doing it you're moving in the wrong direction.