thelerner

Here is an old post of mine: Ode to Money Ode to money; the lubricant of barter, the measuring stick of perceived value. We create it, name it & play with it. A useful idea, worthy servant and poor master. It Is because we think it Is. And if you don't, I have a nice P.O Box in Brooklyn for you to send it to. Even Einstein had problems with money. In 1904 working as a patent clerk he met my great great uncle, Manny the accountant who explained it to him. Using language Einstein would understand Manny wrote this: M = E C^2. Which translates into Money equals Energy times Consumption Now and Future. You see how energy is at the heart of money? And what is energy? The potential for work. In humans terms Energy makes our lives better and more enjoyable. Flip the equation and we see E= M/C^2. Present and future consumption divides our M and cuts our Energy. Equations must be balanced and choices made. Still one can break out of the zero sum game through leverage. Creativity, creating new resources or combining old ones in new ways allow more work done with the same effort. This is how the wise tap the source of money.

I'm not Christian but I totally agree with you. Slamming others religion is easy. Living up to there true precepts is hard, but worthwhile.

Stay in the present and strangely..be aware of your tongue and keep it up; on the roof of your mouth. When I'm writing or figuring out emotional stuff I'll talk to myself. Not necessarily bad when I'm alone, but not good when others are around. For some reason the tongue is linked to random thoughts. Control the tongue, control (to some extent) thoughts. This is also the conclusion of Anna Wise who studied meditators.

Where can I get a pair of those suspenders?

The TTB's very own Shock Jock following in the foot steps of Rush and Howard I can't say which country is worse. There are some individuals though who have pretty dark souls filled with hate.

Lots of layers, two pair of socks, hat, warm stews, hot chai w/ butter. Hell put on a few pounds, blubber insulates . Also we have under mattress heater. You set it to go on at bedtime and no matter how cold it is you have a warm toasty bed to get into. Got it at Bed Bath & Beyond. The most basic tummo is long slow breaths, w/ slightly extended holds. Holding the breath is said to be warming, breath out through the nose. Herbs that increase circulation can result in warmth, just as sluggish circulation makes you feel cold.

Only if we let them. Too often we cling to pain, the burn attracts our mind.

At a Yeshiva I was told, Science tells us what things are, Religion informs us how to use them.

Ye-es, but before enlightenment chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment chop wood, carry water. People, enlightened and otherwise have often found chopping wood and carrying water is more pleasant with another person. On a practical note someone mentioned the Dhammapada. Its a good dose of non clinging philosophy. A well done, fairly deep introduction is several podcasts classes by Zencast (an Itunes Podcast, Free). They may provide some classic insights and allow for a change in how you view the problem. You could google- Zencast 49 - The Dhammapada Chapters 1-4 Zencast has many great podcasts. Michael

I think you can understand the U.S by living in it. China is so big and diverse it could take several lifetimes to live in China. Or so I'm told. Both are filled with treasures if you know where and how to look.

I never gained much expertise but others in the Kap 1 class reported heat and quite a bit of sweating. Ofcourse there's Tummo and there's TUMMO. Feeling heat and having sweat pour out may be a far cry from sitting on a frozen tundra drying sheets that have been frozen stiff. I think tummo, at least the lower level is a Siddhi thats relatively obtainable, more so then the other exotic feats. I also think its benefits go beyond heat, that at heart its a purification ritual. Best done with care.

Good luck and God bless. Michael

Not a bad idea, but my thinking is most of the correspondence will be through Private Messages here between people. Keep it simple. Slow, steady progress. Just a few lines a day on how things are going in the discipline. Ofcourse everyone is different.

Yup, sometimes you gotta hit'em in the funny bone cause thats where they expect it least .

You won't get a master, but consider putting in a call for a mentor in the '30 Day 30 minute Mentor' thread. They say the teacher will appear when the student is Ready, note thats NOT when they Want the teacher. So, to help get ready for your future master you could put in a post that says your looking for a mentor to help your .. sitting or standing .. or MCO.. practice in the 30 Day 30 Minute Thread in the General Discussion site (now on page 2). We're still experimenting with it, and its almost October. I'd love to see some hook ups. I'm very happy working with TaoMeow next month. I suspect being direct in what you want to study, as well as keeping it simple, ie sitting or standing practice may help get a connection. You could also Private Message people here you respect and ask them. Keeping in mind people are busy and the professional teachers here 'do it for pay.' Again, no master, but if you hook up with the right person, in 30 days you might be far advanced from where you are now. Not necessarily because of them, but because they inspire you and by process of reporting and feedback, you get a little more hard core.

There are problems, I just don't think as dark as people put it. The police do have accountability. There is an internal investigation on there conduct. Quote"The Police Department will look into a complaint that an officer wrongly used pepper spray at a demonstration against Wall Street last week, Commissioner Raymond Kelly said Wednesday. Internal affairs will investigate the claim made by a 25-year-old woman and others, Kelly said. Video from Saturday's Union Square incident shows an officer blasting a cluster of women with pepper spray. Two of the women crumple on the sidewalk in pain. One screams. Kelly says the video leaves out tumultuous conduct by protesters who illegally tried to block streets. There have been about a hundred arrested since the protests began more than a week ago, mostly on disorderly conduct charges. A handful were arrested on more serious charges of assaulting a police officer and obstructing governmental administration." The police deserve more then public lynching, where a camera looks and how its edited do matter, because they don't show the whole picture. It would be different if there was clear shot of the event. The shot shown is moving frantically, and I expect shot by a biased party. Some of the protest was on private property. People have the right to set up rules for there property. In the U.S. is lawyer and lawsuit crazy. I'm have no doubt people filmed are lining lawsuits now and hoping to line there pockets. The people do have power and they have cameras. I'm just thinking back to the 60's where there was a defined purpose, there was real brutality. This is the age of 'the people'. Millions are joining the Tea Party, waving guns and shouting slogans. The people aren't in danger, common sense is.

Jeez if thats what you call jack booted atrocities, you live a sheltered life. In the 60's and 70's, when my Mom marched there high pressure sprays, police dogs, being run off the road, shootings and bombings. In the 30's & 40's they were just shot. Through out the MidEast people who stood up were getting sniped, disappeared, there families brought in for torture and viginity checks. These yuppie kids are being told to move, give attitude, get pepper sprayed and cry out at the injustice. Poor babies. It not nice, its rude, its heavy handed, but Jack booted atrocity?? No. They need a handy wipe and espresso quick and they're getting it. Plus establishing there street credibility. There demands?? Who the hell knows, ask 5 get 3 different answers, none of which they have solutions too.

I guess if you work at it you can convince yourself everyone is evil or works for evil controlling ends. But, there are those who believe in universal healthcare, not for totalitarian control at home, but because it will improve preventive care, better outcomes in general then what we have now, save lives, save millions from bankruptcy paying giant medical bills, save businesses money (its 15,000+ an employee/family now). Actually from what I've seen, many neocons were against Libya, if for no other reason then Obama was for it, and the pendulum is swinging towards American isolationism.

As I recall one of the ingredients in Daniel Reids long life wine was human placenta!! male & female sea horses too I think. If his age was true (& I'm skeptical) then whatever skills he had weren't transferable. His wives, children and disciples (like the General mentioned) seem to have lived and died normally.

I really resonate with this. I love the explanations and clarity of Buddhism, but too often people get into 'how many angels on a pin' discussions based on dogma, some of it cultural bound, and not the heart of Buddhism.

I think there is value to PUA for shy guys; it could help them open up. But putting numbers on woman most often due to figure and breast size is poison.

On the site there was a pop up for a free service to see if I needed an exorcism. What the chances I would need one I'd hit the button? 100% I'd expect.

Forget humanity. In the end what counts is what You do. If you need to get 7 billion people working for the same cause you're going to have to become very very very good at waiting a long long time. In that period of unknown length, one person could accomplish quite a bit.

Awesome video, I'd never seen the last half. I've always thought a great teacher trumps the particular art. If there's a genius teaching combat sewing, then thats the way to go. With the caveat in real life classes that are closer and reasonably priced have an edge over those 100 miles a way and charge big bucks. I really enjoyed my years in Ki-Aikido. (IMO)A good art should be about more then fighting.

Mentorship may be too loaded a word. Maybe what I'm suggesting is closer to sharing. I don't expect actual teachers to be involved in this, because they're professionals and are paid(rightly so) to teach. I do hope that if you're going to share something with someone else you have a level of expertise above beginner. Honestly for many people to have a 'mentor' relationship with the goal of better sitting or zhan zang standing is perfect. If you don't have a regular practice, or if you want to deepen one getting advice and feedback from a senior student is going to help. It will also help the mentor, because to teach is to relearn. I'd recommend keeping the practice simple. There is nothing wrong with basics. I Want to have Lucid Dreams, Astral Travelings, but what I'm working on is dream recall. Slow and steady wins the race, move along step by step and you climb mountains. There is another agenda too. That is bringing people a little closer together. Send emails back and forth for a month and you know what..you've probably made a friend; and thats invaluable in this world.