thelerner

I was looking for the link to the official TaoBums member google map. I couldn't find it. There are so many new members we should probably bump it up. It's to see and update who's around us.

My thanks too. Great book and he has many profound audio talks on the web for free. I'm slowly going through the Drop Dead Healthy, by A J Jacobs, funny and thought provoking on health.

I don't know. I close my eyes and don't believe in it, but poof, it's still here. <humor received at this end, the lol was the giveaway. humor transmitted not so goodly > These days my litmus test isn't whats true, but what can help me. (My old Aikido sensei used to say 'What I'm teaching you is a lie, but a necessary one') I see the placebo effect as a very powerful force I can use and not psychological aberration. I can't tell my body what to do, but I use combinations of breath and mental imagery to gain control of it, and over my mind. There is a time to use uncommon sense. In the real world one plus one does not equal two (ask a rabbit). There are leaps of faith that require surrender. Course after a leap or two we should probably grab back some common sense and look around and evaluate where we are.

Beware, action cuts both ways. Who's action, Occupy?? Tea Partiers?? A mostly sane right wing friend of mine predicted a 25% of Civil War! Or higher if Obama's reelected. Crazy. We call people to action and then are surprised when its the extremists that take center stage or hijack it.

I'm really digging the Ajahn Brahm audio's I've found http://diydharma.org/search/node/ajahn%20brahm, and it turns out I already owned the book that Anamatva recommended of his. Some how I bought it and never read it (Mindfulness, Bliss & Beyond). For a monk, he's hip, very clear, great sense of humor and he makes clear that Jhana's are within our reach not lifetimes away and that the road there is not thorny, it just takes patience.

biodiversity may be getting smaller, but the world is shrinking and everyone is mingling with each other and every thing in unprecedented fashion. I'm reading Drop Dead Healthy and in one chapter the author explores the extremes between Dr. Germ who's pushing for a national campaign on more hand washing and a doctor who's the opposite number saying we need to get dirtier. No particular conclusion other then dirtier people tend to be happier and less likely to be Republican. Go figger . I'm in the middle, getting very dirty, then getting very clean. On one hand I garden and I'll take a day or two between showers on the other I'll avoid touching public hand rails and use anti bacterial pumps when I see them in community centers.

I'll take reporter K's question. Thank you Miss K., As part of my Pro Child Anti crime platform the first thing I'll do in office is have public service announcements to eat there boogers. My plan for Mideast peace is similar, I'll...

I think I'm happiest when I give up on being happy and just work on being satisfied. For example asking the question; if the state I'm in now lasted a very very long time, could I find a way to be at peace with it? Usually the answer ends up being yes, I could find a way and somehow that calms me down and brings some peace.

okay, I can understand questioning lineage and the problems of studying only from books. DNB how do you distinguish quality sources from trash? How do you keep real without going offtrack into delusions?

Its nice to find Abraham Abulafiah's name on the Qabalah chart. I've studied a bit of his work. I could see where many would not define it as Qabalah since there's no classic theory instead it's more on how sacred sounds influence the body and its connection to the soul and outer realms. Unlike what I consider the dense, head heavy practices of 'straight' Qabalah, its experiential. My main source for it is Ecstatic Kabalah by Rabbi David Cooper.

old practical me thinks-eat bitter, get the nursing degree, it will help insure security for the rest of your life, then hit the road. Keep your eyes open for opportunities, a nursing/medical degree should open up more doors for you then you'd otherwise have. and screw your dad, you seem like a pretty smart cookie to me.

You seem pretty experienced. I look forward to your participation on the board. Michael an old Ki-Aikidoist

Here is a Michael Winns version of the Pan Gu qi gong form. I find it to be powerful and relaxing, and there is only hand movements. Here's the youtube He's sells a DVD of it, which includes a few other forms. P.S. I think boat living is pretty cool. What body of water you floating on?

If she's doing yoga I wonder if she's tried a neti pot? It's old fashion but putting boiling water in bowl w/ eucalytis then covering your head and the bowl with a towel works. If it stays bad after trying natural remedies, an antihistamine might give some relief.

I read that colored mucous is a sign your body is fighting an infection. That the color is from dead invaders. The article went on to say eating it is like taking in a vaccine of deactivated virus. I don't know if that makes sense, if the color theory is correct and if such a thing would survive stomach acid or do any good. But..when I'm sick, I'll eat my colorful boogers. There's a salty sweetness to them that tastes good. Well.. there goes my chance for political office.

It's rare to look deeply into someones eyes. Its such an intimate act that its considered almost taboo. Generally I could only do it with my young children. a little with my wife, but too much and it freaks her out

my god its like looking between my legs

We're talking about the TTC it's purpose and who its aimed at. The subject of Lao Tzu's existance is very interesting, its been discussed in a couple threads. If mrtiger wants to discuss Lao Tzu's history instead of the point of this topic he should create a new topic. I get the feeling is mrtiger lives and breathes to nitpick and will probably do his best to derail, or pull most discussions away from there topic. Might be best to ignore him. Michael

I learn best through metaphor. Esoteric wisdom comes in different colors of packaging, gods, angels, aliens(!), biblical, sutras, parables, quantum. Many of these point in the same direction. Some will appeal more to some then others and logical rationality blurs as we move from metaphor to reality. If your bridge to understanding element theory is from King Arthur's tales, then its less about history then how well you've internalized the truth through that metaphor. My Aikido sensei lived and breathed the philosophy of ki and ki extension. A doctor told him there was no such thing as ki and the things he was doing could be explained through leverage and body mechanics. But the doctor couldn't perform even the simplest of ki exercises, much less use them in practical or martial ways. Again, we learn from metaphor and they can become pretty real to the practitioner and give them great power. Still the map is not the territory, but a map is pretty damn useful, even if you have change it up every once in a while for perspective. Let's not get hung up on other peoples maps.

Hmnn, the only way to find the Tao particle is take some Tao, accelerate it to near the speed of light then smash it into other Tao moving in the opposite direction. Then we could write a book about it called Tao Go Bang.

Hmnn, help the bird through action (temporary result unless you kill the squirrel), no action (help the squirrel). Seems like Wu Wei would favor the second, but I think the action done naturally without thinking, without motive, without regret is the one that is most proper. So the specific action is secondary to the pureness of mind when its done. Because hopefully and ultimately that state of mind takes in factors the conscious mind can't.

I can't help but think 'repair' work on love and money 'karma' is a method of religious control. In religious Taoism as in Appleism there's a App or Fu for that but paying for luck or better fate leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I agree with Mokona, service to others, good (will) begets good; not always, but enough so that it worth doing for its own sake. Maybe the Universe treats us as straw dogs, but we can treat each other better. Even a straw dog has its value in the right space and time.

from TaoYoga, thought this picture might be relevant, guess we'll have to guess at the other 5 stages

Since Bardon keeps coming up, I thought I'd add that Rawn Clark has some interesting lessons from Bardon inspired element theory. They're his Archaeous system, free MP3 audios lessons that build on each other. I like to do them standing up. They stack the elements onto your body, Earth is feet to hip, Water is the belly, Chest is air etc., They go progressively deeper from the gross qualities of elements into there subtle nature, laying them out on the body. If you connect to them, they're very good, take it slow, especially if you're doing them standing. They're at abardoncompanion.com.

Its interesting to explore the hidden depths of classic 'myths'. I've heard the Illiad has a pretty accurate map of the skies hidden within its stories. These stories survive and thrive for a reason.