thelerner

You'll be missed but taking a break is good. You've gotten too political. Letting it inform every post. Even nutritional ones. This is a frickin philosophy and cultivation site. You haven't been starting or joining many conversations on anything other then politics. Thats bad. Take a break, get politics out of your system and come back and give us some good thoughts on cultivation. You've got experience and wisdom, but becoming too one sided knocked out your equanimity, imo.

nvr mnd

In the ashram (Sivananda) I visited drinking with food was frowned on. Though I noticed they did have herbal teas and soups at times. We ate twice a day, vegetarian ofcourse, the food was superb.

Imagine Burning some sage then passing out Because you're the negative energy In the Room

excellent suggestion. I will take one too. g'nite all, may we wake up refreshed and mellower.

Not easy being a dad. It's a lifelong gig requiring patience, wisdom and love, full of trials. A tug of war between conflict and connection. So.. happy Fathers day to the Dao Bum Dads.

My only 2 observation are- We teach best by example. Also some things, ecologically are improving. As you stated 'there's always a chance real progress can sprout' and that is a gift our children give us.

The book Natural Born Heroes is a great read. Half of it is recounting the heroes, native and British who fought the Nazi's in Corfu during WWII. The other half is finding modern people who have rediscovered some of the secrets of endurance, strength, bravery, trail running/climbing, outdoor survival that made the fighters of the 1940's so tough and formidable. It's brings history alive, and is very inspiring. With fascinating characters from the past and today.

Qicat mentioned they were leaving California for North China. I recently listened to a podcast of a woman who'd left New York City for small town Italy, and loved it. A simpler life, no rushing, meeting friends in a cafe, daily after work. Small gatherings around the TV. Simple delicious food, 1/4 the expense. It was an escape from a world of busy and competitiveness. Who of you have made similar trips? What did you find? Hoping for stories of the good and bad.

bump interesting topic seems like the rat race has slowed but we're all still rats.. busy and anxious

Sadly, that sounds about right. addon Why sadly? <Cause I'm a 'Merican and I want it now>

It's a cop-out for serious work, but after 30 years or so of meditation, looking.. somewhat half assed for the mystical.. well I'm growing psilocybin mushrooms, not for fun or to get high, rather to see where they may take me, mystically.

This has always fascinated me. People seeing gods, ghosts, dragons, out-of-body teachers. I've met a few who've had close personal encounters with Hindu Gods, Voodoo Gods, been visited, talked to them and gotten answers back. Those who've seen dragons. I've read of skeptical professors visiting India, being shown the 'real thing' where during services, metal statues come to life. A rabbi of mystical bend, asking another participant at a seminar, 'did you see that on his shoulder?', and the answer was 'Yes, looked like a leprechaun, didn't it'. As a guy living in the tik tok world, I have not experienced such. My mind is half open, half skeptic. Thus I accept the world may be multi-dimensional, filled with things unseen. Seeing them has some benefit and some problems. Plus some people see things that aren't there, and when real, most have filters that interpret what they see through personal and cultural lenses.

I think we have to work on being positive. Search out good news. Be thankful for what we have. Help others. Otherwise soul rot can creep in.

Wicked, the best Musical of the decade, imo

What you guys working on in June? Anything strange or new? I'm gonna take a step back meditation wise. Simplify, work on breathing exercises. Particularly those on a youtube Breathing Mantra. They have some nice 30 minute practices with tones. Start with the tri sets of 7-7-7 (in, out, hold)and see how high I can get comfortably. And they have quad sets of x-x-x-x, In, hold, out, hold.. 30 minutes w/ nice spiritual music going. Maybe supplement with my old Silent Grounds tones that were x,x or 1,4,2 rhythm, ie 6in, 24hold, 12 out. At one point I'd worked up to 10in, 40, hold, 20 out. Such breathing practice is a bit of crutch, in that real meditation isn't listening to things outside. Yet good breathing makes for better meditation, so why not refresh myself; see if I can get back to longer breath cycles of a minute or so. I want to work on strength. I've been turning into a Covid potato. So, at least 100 (easy) pushups a day and a 100 squats, maybe 50 squats if done w/ kettlebell. Maybe one day of rest, if I've done 6 days in a row. That along with long walks. With pushups I should build up to 200 (easy countertop) pushups in two weeks, but not if I don't start. Lastly, I want to raise some mushrooms. The mundane, like oysters, and the exotic. Supplies coming.

I've heard good things about the aneros. <kdding> mostly

Some meditation systems like Max Christenson's Kunlun recommended people practice using an animal skin below them, for that kind of isolation. I got a small cheap sheep skin rug from IKea. Don't know about its isolation properties but its warm and natural. I'll usually keep it under my zafu with my knees in contact with it. (Or the balls of my feet if I'm doing the Kunlun art) On the other hand I also like meditating in nature. On the earth. My favorite being on an old tree stump, facing a stream, river or lake.

Its not hard to get a feeling.. turning an MCO practice into a kind of 'nerve' mantra.. but the real thing.. the kundalini-esque power of the real MCO.. thats not so easy and takes long practice and dedication. not that I'm there.

Yeah, safety and security are largely an illusion, needful ones that gets us through our days. & you know what? So far, so good. little blessings, fall like rain, but we tend to overlook them.

Season 3 of Stranger Things had the teacher use the word apophenia. The human habit to connect things, when we shouldn't. An interesting phenomena and one that tends to be hard wired into our brains. The continual search for patterns, when they exist and when they don't. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/reality-play/201207/being-amused-apophenia

I got a snippet of it from God of the Dao: Lord Lao in History and Myth by Livia Kohn 1998 - snippet view. Lets see if I can post it- <boom baby, I'm good> Lord Lao, interesting guy, 10 feet tall and possessor of immortality formula.

That is really good. I've always found ethical training; listening to wise men, there dharma speeches is a necessary part of spiritual training. Without it we tend to wobble. We are like stones in a river, hoping a little of its essence will slip into us.

I believe @soaring crane had some experience with it. Mentioning his name with the ampersand might bring him to this thread.

I'll take a book with practices over philosophy most days. An ounce of good method is worth 10lbs of philosophy. Getting 1 or 2 techniques that move me along makes any book or seminar worth while.