thelerner

Sounds good. I might add because it has a history of contention there could be a special Buddhist posse of moderators created. They could rule with an iron fist or soft one (hopefully settling on the middle way). But they would be the final authority and regular moderators wouldn't have to deal with it. But where could we find such Buddhists ?

For the sake of balance let me be contrarian. Tulku is extreme but he's not wrong. I don't know if the woman he names in this post is a Bodhisattva, but there are numerous cases of regular joes getting sick, doing extreme 6-8 hours a day of QiGong and regaining health and dare I say it..I won't. As Tulku said changing there Karma. His main point is good and correct. Course he can't help but bring up how some woman are alright but he despises the ones with families, to be fair he also despises men w/ families too. Adding that last bit of personal craziness is why he gets so much crap. Tulku has a point. Families & friends are hell of a distraction. Yet there is a valid tradition whereby when your obligations to them are done, you head off to do the deep spiritual work. In the meantime you're living, loving and learning. Many monastic traditions welcome such middle aged men. I don't think monastic traditions sneer at families as much as he does. Lastly there are no guarantees on Enlightenment. I think by linking Enlightenment with attaining Godly powers, people actually move the goal into impossibility. Whereas those who use other traditional measures don't become gods but move through life with grace. And those special people are found throughout the world in every place and religion. Living an angry ascetic preachy life, probably isn't the way, simple and dedicated maybe. Here's a lesson inspired by Tulku that I used yesterday. I was with group at a large concert picnic. A young woman joined us. At a wedding I was at, there was a rumor she'd been in the mens washroom giving her date a blow job. That story set up in my mind an aversion to her. Then I thought, Tulku would really be averse to her. Which gave me pause. In reality she could be great, she could horrible, knowing(or not) one tiny aspect of a person tells you absolutely nothing. Such prejudice blinds you. Indeed she was a very nice person. If I'd moralized intellectualized and judged, I'd be the poorer for it. To despise whole groups because they're married or say monks isn't to see the truth, its to put on blinds.

There's always worse. Here in the states, private medical insurance for a healthy family of 5 (in my case) is over $400 a month, and thats with a $3,000 deductible! I wish we had universal health care. Without it emergency rooms have become the swamped by people who use it for regular (though often late) health care and the public pays for it anyway. The U.S. pays more per capital and has much worse results then the European and Canadian health care models. Still don't smell any world war. I'm relieved 9/11 went by smoothly & solemnly in the States.

Works for me. 0 is the old lady 1 is the old guy (who comes later) They get together, have sex the 1000 things are born.

I think Green Tiger is onto something. I was just giving my young kids 14 & 11 the speech about going through hard times. When school is done, life will be harder. Long hours, low pay, scraping buy. Be smart and it ends after a few years, be stupid and you're indentured servant the rest of your life. Seems like you've got some valuable skills in electronics. That puts you a few pegs above the rest of the population. Maybe you can find a way to use those skills in a setting that isn't 12 hours a day. There may be possibilities, some hard to find, that your missing. Where are the electronic jobs? Start hitting them, big..small, not even for a job, just look in, see if you can talk to someone, see what they're doing, where the money is. Look at them like an investigative reporter getting the facts. Don't give up, or in to despair. Look at the big picture, big creative and willing to eat bitter for a while.

Maybe my way is the lazy one, but its worked for me; Its good to look around, get a feeling for different practices and philosophies, but at some point you have to 'marry' one. Put in the daily work, be dedicated. Ah, but how to choose. Forget the best, choose one that's convenient for you, has a good teacher and a philosophy you jibe with. Sometimes the yoga at the local community center is better then the exotic guru. Especially if they're especially good & inspiring, ultimately they'll be a doorway to other deeper things and the experience they give you will make moving to a deeper level simple. Money, job, whats close by, convenient and will net you the best pay per hour? From what I've heard spiritual arts make great life hobbies, but poor jobs.

Personally I think doing MCO is fine for most. For some sensitive people and people who over do it, there can be problems, big ones. If you're concerned don't go that route. Or do it with a live experienced teacher, not from book or video. (KAP, a 'live Skype' course' is a viable alternative). Many respected teachers and traditions say its better to stay in stillness meditations and let your dantien fill up naturally, over the years. Course others don't, but I suspect having a few years of solid sitting practice is nothing but a plus.

Please don't get him started. He'll only write up what he's written in his other couple hundred posts these past weeks. Only immortality will soothe him, extreme asceticism (the only way) to the point of any fun being wrong. Keep an empty mind, except for hours of posting and setting himself up as a (divinely )inspired knowledgeable writer.

RJ was a master of crazy wisdom, though at times the crazy mastered him. One thing about crazy wisdom is its hard to predict. Rj was passionate about fucking fighting, lucid dreaming, and the need to conserve jing. We'd sometimes agree, often argue, a few times curse at each other. We always had mutual respect (I think) and a safety word during our nastiest arguements. I believe it was beer. I think he posted under a new name a 3 months back, but didn't stay. Too bad, he's a cool crazy dude, and a breath of fresh air.

There is a psychedelic playlist I'll lay down and listen to. Just 4 songs, Across the Universe by Fiona Apple, theme of Pleasantville movie (Very Good) Comfortably Numb by Pink Floyd, The Classic psychedelic rock song Breathe (2 A.M) by Anna Nalick Building a Mystery by Sarah Mclachlan, live version wonderfully creepy

Yes, and I am one. Not that I do it myself, but there is a practice of medicinal urine drinking in Taoism. But that doesn't interest me. What does is Michael Winn's writing about staying in Taoist caves in China. To be authentic he doesn't bring food or water even though he stays a couple of days. With no water he does as he believed the ancient (and not so ancient) Taoists cave dwellers did: he drinks his urine. He wouldn't drink the first 3rd of it. Tasted warm and brothy he said. Fascinating story, It may still be on the healing tao usa site under articles. Maybe the day will come when I'll try it. Don't know. I do know there are some medicines derived from urine so the Taoists aren't totally crazy (example.Pergonal). There are homeopathics who use highly diluted urine. In a similar vein, I observe and sometimes eat my mucus. The color is an indication of whether my body is fighting a virus or bacterial disease. The darkness of the yellow or green is caused (I think) by dead virus cells. I kinda believe by ingesting inactivated cells my body might gain some immunity advantage. Also I kinda like the taste. Hey most of is slipping down our throats anyway.

This epiphany you have: So..are you deciding to become less opinionated and judgmental? or is that for other Humans. or Are you deciding to become vegetarian? or just staying away from cat purses. Really it don't matter what the cat lady or others do. And seeing a strange video or two doesn't mean All people are like that. I'm sure a sizable population agree with you on the cat issue but so what.. Whats important is what you do. Can you say its wrong of me to decide whats right and wrong? 4 bits Tulku "The cat has benefited from the suffering and deaths of more animals than 10 cows. Wouldn't you agree? " I wouldn't put it in those terms. You can't blame a cat for having cat nature. Get rid of the cats, too many rats, too many rats disease and famine. Circle of life, Balance of Nature stuff. Harsh, but nature moves toward sustainable systems. We humans are blessed with a choice. We can (most often) allow a code of ethics to decide what we eat or not.

Hmnn this is the first BDSM topic I've seen in a long time and you started it and have more posts here then anyone else. Hmmmnn All BDSM fans do what..? Are you sure? If you know that much maybe you should be the BDSM arbitrator, or maybe not visit so many BDSM sites. Witch was being her playful self, you didn't understand it, felt threatened and went into threat mode. Totally unnecessary. Like everything else BDSM is fine between consulting adults. Good sex goes way beyond rubbing genitals, it involves a universe of possibilities. Gentlemen keep there eyes on the prize and don't peek into or judge others bedrooms. You may have a mountainous sword, but the bedroom arts require an open mind, flexibility and good breath control.

Actually I was given this choice prenatally and turned it down. I chose 85 years and lots of sex. Looks like you did too. Things given are worth less then things earned. The stuff (cars, house, etc) are worth more because I worked to pay for them. Life is worth more because it is a struggle and it is limited. But if I was offered the deal now.. I..wouldn't take the first offer. I'd counter with 300 years of robust life, bungalow in Bahamas, hybrid Honda and sensational sex. If I can't get my act together in 300 years, I wouldn't have much use for forever. If we're not happy now, why would we want immortality. Actually that was a lesson in the Yeshiva. If you can't handle Shabbat (24 hrs of peace, family, no work), what use do you have for heaven?

Big war? I don't think so. We've been at war(s) for a decade and unless you had a family member or friend involved (we did) it was mostly invisible, except news clips. People are now seeing what we don't have because of the foolish war mongering. A trillion dollars that could have spent on schools, infrastructure, etc. People are waking up to it and the reality of it is devastating. The Soviet Union was torn apart by over spending. They have no stomach for it these days, and frankly the big players don't have the finances for it (China's conquering the world through production so it needs live customers). If for no other reasons then financial I think the powers that be (which is some ways is Us) will keep out of any major commitments. There will undoubtedly be bumps and skirmishes, but I think there is a hunger for peace, or at least cheaper entanglements; almost humorously its not Star Wars, its drone wars. I consider myself an independent, though I lean liberal. But part of me wants to see Ron Paul win (crazy, yes) and have 4 years of isolationist, libertarian policies, slashes to military spending, foreign aid, etc. A thorough house cleaning. Writing this on 9/9, 2 days to 9/11. For the last 9 years I've held my breath every anniversary. I think we've been very lucky so far to have had no attack on our shores, fingers crossed the luck will hold. But if it doesn't I doesn't I don't think we'll see a war. Just more drones, and seal attacks. Interesting history book I'm reading now "Thinking In Time, the uses of History for Decision Makers". Good depth to it, looking deeply into recent past it shows how personalities shape history more then policies.

I think i read somewhere the Buddha > 9000!!!

Its a public forum and it looked like you were resorting to tacky threats and 'beware me I'm a dragon' nonsense. I asked if you were being sarcastic and you didn't answer. You make threats in public; statements of grandeur and violence that can seen as delusional you will get negative feedback. shave and a hair cut 2 bits

I like. Speaking of cheaper energy, a university in Japan found putting a 'ring' around wind mills doubled there power output. Sorta like they worked for years on hover crafts before discovering all it needed was a relatively cheap curtain to make them work. (http://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/most-popular/japan-wind-lens-breakthrough.html) Simple stuff is more powerful then we might imagine. Another university found a great solution to water purification, calls it Sodis. So simple. Put water into clear bottle, leave it in the sun, a few hours later UV rays clean it up. Its been tested and works very well. One idea, a million children potentially saved. Supplies needed, discarded pop bottles and the sun. (http://www.sodis.ch/methode/index_EN) Big picture wise, I think the world is flattening. I see the most developed countries losing some of there living standard, and 2nd, and some 3rd world countries gaining. Its not neccessary a bad thing, billions lifted out of poverty, less consumption on our end. Not so bad. Here's a TED video by a optimist possibilist, a cautiously optimistic look at the state of the world

From the last standing into the present moment To many Cookies

I can't believe there are only 4 bums in the Chicagoland (IL) area. Full Moon meditation at IMU is happening soon. Cool event.

C'est la vie, our sense of wounded justice often causes more harm then good. No biggie. With respect Michael

witch said something kinda playful to him and he reacted like it was a death threat!? Then he posted how he'd strangle such a person. I asked (posted) him if it was sarcasm. Often its hard to tell on the forum. He didn't answer, I suspect it wasn't (could still be wrong). I guess his second comment that Stig posted above suggests it wasn't. Tulku has inspired much conversation and thats a good thing, he's been a champion for the extreme ascetic view, but he might be in need of some down time here. I hope there is mystical master deep in the Himalayas, far from woman, good food, and entertainment waiting for a man such as he. Or maybe just the Taliban.

What naked lady? If only they'd move all those dolphins.

I have a plaque on my night stand that says 'Masquerading as a normal person, day after day, is exhausting. There are times I feel that way. I look, live and play pretty normal, so its nice to let down my hair at Burning Man events, Midnight meditation groups, even my writing group has wild improv moments. I don't think its about being 'normal', but we do need to live and thrive where we are or look for another place. Thriving where one is, may be the top Taoist art.