thelerner

I kinda agree with the sinner.. If I have an immortal soul, given choices of heaven, reincarnation or destruction of all parts of my soul, I'd choose heaven first, reincarnation next. For all its trials, there's enough good in the world, at least this life time, that I'd rather gamble for another shot at it, rather then poof, be totally gone. Maybe after enough heaven I'd also choose reincarnation or even a few weeks sun bathing in hell. I don't know, probably won't be asked and not sure how much the Universe cares about little old me.

Course nothing wrong with wisdom and .. not so much power, but understanding. What's behind the tic toc of the world. To understand might not be to control, but .. it means we're not in the dark, and when you really understand the rules, maybe you can bend them.. a bit.

You'll go further with a live teacher. You may want to start your search in San Francisco. There is a huge China town, at least one Taoist temple there. Spend a day or two there, walk around, ask questions, you may get a lead on something thats closer to you. You may want to look into the KAP program taught by Santiago who's a member here. Its a skyped program so you get some teacher feedback. Its based on Glenn Morris's esoteric teachings, his attempt it distill the best of several esoteric energy systems with a strong dose of Taoist techniques.

A clean little secret is this: Work long and hard enough for 'powers' and a funny thing may happen- You acquire wisdom instead and put attaining super wealth or super powers in the same silly wasteful category.

When the board was updated a month or two ago it became very slow. For the last few weeks I'd move to a section and it would take 20 or 30 seconds, often I'd leave the board to search somewhere else. Since the last update a few days ago, the board has been responsive again. Yay. If its more expensive to keep the forum up on a new server consider doing a pledge drive. The board was missed when it was down. Yours Michael

I like what snowmonki said. Though I was tempted to say pycogenol works well to increase blood circulation (at least it did for me). I like gigong/ tai chi balls-the metal ones you roll around your hand. Many qigong routines end(or start) with a vigorous rubbing together of the palms until they're very hot. I find holding the breath while rubbing increases the heat quite a bit.

If the two parties can bend a little and we avoid the coming fiscal cliff then the U.S might be in pretty good shape. I particularly like the example of cognitive dissonance at Hotair.com, a very right wing site where 90% predicted a Romney win and this morning they're trying to figure who to blame and how fast hell is coming. If only they'd seen the South Park episode 4 years ago showing the Obama win, where Dems were being rushed to the hospital for partying too hard and Repubs were being sent to the hospital after failed suicides. Personally I'm glad Obama won. The Republicans may have sound fiscal ideas, but they've moved too far to the right socially, and I'd hate to have a president who's beholden to the Tea Partiers. I hope Obama leaves ideology behind and becomes or continues to be a pragmatist.

The best revenge is served cold with beer and happens when you make someone once perceived as an enemy into a friend.

It'll take more then a picture of an ancient Egyptian getting kicked in the balls by an ostrich to convince me.

Best revenge is .. a life well lived. Today's drama consumes us. We end up reacting emotionally and stupidly, blinded by pride, ego and our worst imaginings. A year or two or five from now we have enough perspective to realize 'what the hell was that all about', and realize it was really nothing. We could have walked past it and spared ourselves drama, trouble and excess karma. I don't know the appropriate action to the situation, but realize there is a yin approach of ignoring it and getting on with your life. Not exactly folding, but contracting to your center and saying and acting 'Whatever'. Others can do what they want, I'll go watch a movie each day realizing there's fakeness to it, silly drama being played to entertain me. Or find something to occupy ones time while the drama blows over.

I've also wonder for all its popularity how many lives has his work really changed? Personally I like it, but it hasn't changed me. At times when I'm tense or worried I'll listen to one of his audio's or read a page or two of his book and it helps me then. I do see it as hammering an important point of Buddhism, though it may be too anti thought too narrow a focus for its own good.

Yes, very wise. I'm no expert but it seems like grounding is what you need. Long walks in nature with as few thoughts as possible. Just sit and don't worry, time is an amazing healer. We all go through cycles, have faith that this too will pass.

I really enjoyed Like a Knife. I'll have to listen to more. You've got a really mellow folksy sound.

I usually just sigh and keep sitting. Guess it helps not to judge or 'think' about the thoughts. Though sometimes the mental trick of saying to myself 'What will my next thought be' blanks me nicely for a bit. Sometimes I'll use mental imagery of watching my thoughts from far away, like I was in the back of a vast theater and the thoughts are a play going on. Ultimately you got to let go of the tricks and sit and accept.

People must ask you how real, how accurate such mediumship is. How do you answer?

So..is it useful today? I say yes. Its not going to replace physics or chemistry, but I don't use those intimately (more tangentially) in every day life. For decision making I find there's value looking at things through 5 element theory. It sorts and streamlines problems into clear solutions. Its an invaluable tool. It categorizes but not statically, allowing things to evolve according to natural and psychological rules.

I'm curious, what did they say would happen at the tantra meeting. I get the feeling some (maybe most?) places are lecture series that may be close to Healing Tao PG13 stuff, others might be take off your clothes and lets get started.

I can't help thinking if you want to get off the big wheel, you have to be neutral. Neither chasing or running away from anything. I don't know if you need to end the concept of Love because it may be the field that emanates and vibrates all, but you may have to drop 'likes', hatred and aversion from your consciousness. The person who constantly rants about woman is probably more connected to them then a PUA fanatic.

I kinda think its unlikely for you too and I'm glad we can agree on something. If you're not going to have sex with a korean you should at least try there food!* In the States I find it the most authentic of Eastern cooking, plus it tends to be very vegetarian friendly. They are masters of pickled vegetables, no cuisine does it better. And dishes like Bi BimBop, have just a little bit of meat, laid out on a huge bowl of fresh veggies, and its served with an additional 7 or 8 little dishes of pickled vegetables, sweet and sour that are tasty and increase digestion. Order without the meat and its still a filling dish. Everyone, SunLover in particular should go Korean and get some BiBimBop, its great to eat and fun to say; sex with the waitress is optional depending on your karmic situation.

I was under the impression a tie goes to the house of representatives which is...da da Republican, 269 + 269 = Romney!! <Later Add- apparently the senate picks the vice president! So we'd have a Romney/Biden ticket. House Selects the New President As directed by the 12th Amendment, the 435 -- many of them brand new -- members of the House of Representatives would find as their first official duty the selection of the next President of the United States. "Welcome to Congress!" I can't get live chat to work since the new update. It'd be cool to have some live chat on election day when things are heating up.

Hmnnn perhaps another reason why monks don't have children.

I like the 2nd story. I've been following the inexpensive SODIS method to clean water. It could save many lives, nice to see an intelligent tweaking here. US Wind Industry Adding Record Number of Turbines 2012 has been the strongest year yet for the U.S. wind energy. The success of the federal Production Tax Credit and wind energy's increased affordability are helping drive wind turbine installations to record levels in 2012, said the American Wind Energy Association. Girl, 14, is Top Young Scientist: Her Solar-Powered Bottle Cleans Water A 14-year-old New York student was named "America's Top Young Scientist" for inventing a solar-powered water jug that changes dirty water into purified drinking water. She won $25,000 with her dynamic 5-minute presentation about the plight of a billion poor people who have no access to clean drinking water.

If we're still on the debates. I consider myself an independent. Clearly Obama lost the first debate by a large margin, and won the last 2. As a former business owner I respect the power of lower tax rates being able to raise all ships. But I can't vote for Romney. His numbers don't add up. I'm afraid he'll decide things along party lines that are now ultra conservative because the tea party has pulled Republicans to the far right. Its my hope that Obama is a pragmatist and his decisions will be made less from a conservative/liberal viewpoint and more for what will be best for the country. Maybe I'm naive. In any case being in Illinois means my vote and most peoples won't mean shit, unless they're in a swing state.

There's a beautiful location in Chicago on Lake Michigan. Its on the beach right off Fullerton, its a gazeboish structure I call the chess pavilion with long cement benches and chess boards set in. Most days you can find a few games going on. There are quite a few chess hustlers, mostly older russian who'll play for a buck or two a game. The first game or two will be close, but when they feel you're going to leave they'll quickly wipe the board with you. Its such a gentle hustle and the game is so good that its a pleasure to be conned. Let's see..what does that have t do with woman & samsara..hmnnn.. hate to say it ladies, there are more men playing chess there then woman. So uh really nothing.

True, a big part of life is finding where you fit in. Its a big world with lots of people. It may take some searching but eventually you'll find a like minded group, even if its a small one. If you can't it may well be 'you' who is the problem. I also have trouble with the notion that its the king who spots the problem. First off he'd be a bad king for not stopping people from getting to the well. Doesn't he have any power? And again, why is the lead figure a king? Why not have him an every day person, not special enough? And is that an underlying message, I'm special, you're crazy, a theme every special interest group loves to peddle.