thelerner

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Everything posted by thelerner

  1. Wandering Dharmabum says Amitofo :-)

    I've come to realize that what I consider taoism is really a mish mash of Zen and some hand picked taoish philosophies. At least I have bum figured out Welcome to the board, look forward to hearing from you.. Michael
  2. My two psetas. I find it a little long and too taoish. The majority of our discussions aren't particularly tao oriented. I think throwing out the jargon so early might keep some people away. If we seem to be attracting fewer new members maybe it should be made briefer and even more inclusivy (as always if you can't find the right word, make one up). Michael
  3. How do you self- soothe?

    Long walks, long enough for my mind to settle, so I'm just steps and breath. But let me not forget alcohol. A bull session w/ a friend or two at a bar. Belly aching, bragging, beer the 3 B's of manly sanity. Michael
  4. Kids stuff

    Me and daughter potted tomatoes last week, sweet 100's. I bought a couple of older larger ones for $4.99. Its wonderful to water it each day w/ her and look to see how the flowers turn into small sweet tomatoes. One of mine already has 3 green globes. I've introduced my kids to Weird Al Yankovic. For weeks their favorites songs were Yoda & The Saga Continues. We found fantastic examples of them on YouTube where the songs were done w/ legos and redone w/ clips from the SW movies. Later we found the song 'Everything You Know is Wrong' and that has been a big hit w/ them. Michael
  5. Does Thinking Stop?

    Glenn Morris had a vispasanna type exercise he called Dr. Death's Bad Ass Mind Quieter(something like that, from his old Pathnotes.. book). You count your breaths 1 through 10, repeat. If a thought occurs restart at 1. Very difficult, getting to 10 for a single cycle is a significant achievement. Its a nice practice showing the obvious and sneaky levels of thought. At night I'll just count my breaths 1-10. As my thoughts quiet I'll just shift to awarness of breath, that gets my mind very quiet. Michael
  6. Does Thinking Stop?

    Seems to me it stops. Deep in meditation I'll call out 'Anybody there' and there's no answer. Its a nice state to be in. Michael
  7. Hello

    Its too bad you weren't willing to defend it (astral dynamics). This is a discussion site. I agree people came on a too harshly, but its up to knowledgeable people to explain it. Instead of joining the discussion you went straight to ridicule. Bad form. I'm very interested in dream and OBE work. If you're at all knowledgeable and want to do something other then flame the site, open a New Topic, and give us the dope on the latest accomplishments coming out of Bruce's work. Otherwise, flame off and go away. I expect that his style of dream work is the most likely source to take psi study of OBE's from the wacko fringe placement into the modern paradigm. Michael
  8. Hello

    Zante, your website may get people posting that its new age pablum from deluded people. But here and on other sites its considered ill mannered when self appointed morons who can't see beyond there own practice immediately post insults. I don't think you get it. This is a discussion site. We don't push anything or have any particular agenda. Our interests and practices are too wide spread. I'm sorry you got your feelings hurt when you mentioned Astral Dynamics and the people who answered were critical of it. Send a person with integrity from the site who's willing to discuss its practices. That is what this site is all about. Being willing to discuss. If you turn self righteous and can't write about what you think is important then you're no good to us here. Michael
  9. Live Chat

    See people in LiveChat ? Michael
  10. Hello

    Sorry, but we're bums, says so right there in the tittle. Also shame on you for for grouping so many here in the same manner you despise. You're the same species, different color. Back to the astral plane w/ yee. Michael Personally I like Astral Dynamics. Aunt Clair is a force there isn't she? She's very good.
  11. Finding Time

    Two thoughts, one use the inbetween time. Meditate in bed. When you wake up, stay there. I'll run through some energy meditations, HT type things such as the orbit or Fusion practices. Late at night when if I can't sleep, I'll sit on a zafu and count my breaths(Visapanna). In the shower I'll set aside a few minutes to quietly chant. Standing in line, I'll do work on the Archaeous(Rawn Clark) system which works well when you stand. Two, everything can be meditation. When you walk, walk well, good structure, awareness, quiet mind. In class sit well, no slouching, perfect your attention. When writing, write well, slow down and understand that your script reflects your mind. The question isn't when can you find time, the question is how to apply meditation to the aspects of your life. Michael
  12. pandora internet radio!

    Pandora is great. AOL which is free these days offers a portal to XM radio. You get access to dozens of channels. Categories such as rock have about two dozen offerings, soft, hard, metal, by decades etc. A nice way to listen to music. Michael
  13. Holisticism and Fate

    I don't believe in such a predetermined universe. Maybe if I saw more direction in history I would. My next move isn't la;ksjfdsa;kldf written. I see actions as pushing over karmic dominoes, but the dominoes don't flow in straight lines, the interact w/ others and fall in unknown patterns. As far as coincidences. I think we have far more choices then we consciously realize and the coincidences we notice are often just examples of greater awareness to a particular area. Michael
  14. I've started working on Franz Bardon Initiation Into Hermetics and some of practices on Rawn Clarks Abardoncompanion.com site. I'm working through Rawn's IHVH chanting series. A simple practice taken to the NNnnnth degree. Fascinating stuff. Just wondering what other people know about it and how they practice. Michael
  15. Who here is into Hermetics?

    Bardon goes pretty far out, you could say ultimately far out in the last steps of his practice and thats only his first book. I like the psychological foundation he lays out in the first steps. Nothing exotic, understand yourself, exercises like the light/dark mirror to see yourself and shadow completley. Slowly going through the steps on attention and one pointedness. Simple physical routines. Very basic stuff that is so important. Some stuff seems new age, others are almost like old time religion, ie thanking and charging the food and water your drink. Simple prayer/affirmation when you rise and sleep I've been doing a simple Hebrew chant. Rawn Clark has this amazingly complicated system based on an old classic. I'm on his level three, and there's mental, visual, emotional, vocal levels to it that are really dynamic and pretty challenging. I can't imagine what he has you do for the next 5 levels. I've always had a hard time with the concept of prayer on many levels. The usual- why should we pray and to who? Does he owe humankind a refund etc. The chants provide solutions that go beyond my head. Michael
  16. A little on David and course costs

    Here's my happy quote of the day: In this world there are only Lovers and Teachers Only that anything else is due to limited understanding. Michael
  17. In marriage are Mythmaker and Mythismaker a mythtic match? Actually rumor is that they've both gone through Kundalini. I think most of the married male bums I've talked to are in my position. I practice and dabble but my wife doesn't. Which is a bummer. Whats the scoop? Michael
  18. Chinese language questions.

    For those Yuppie Ipoders. Most libraries have CD's of Chinese Pimsleurs along w/ other language systems available. Doesn't take long to suck'em into the Pod. Pimsleurs system takes it nice and slow which I like. Michael
  19. salvage information for the next life

    What a business that would be. I'd call it Karmic Lost and Found(KLF). For $5,000 I'll give your next carnation all the detailed information you think they should have. I'd need some tibetans, a good website, an offshore account and I'd be ready to go. Cheaper rate for the bums ofcourse. And I'd offer a guarantee, any slip ups and we'd make good on your second carnation. Michael
  20. A little on David and course costs

    I wonder if Shen is his real name? Michael
  21. Mbanu, this leads to the questions. Do we think immortal exist (physically)? Any evidence of them these days? Why not? Its been a while since we've batted this around. Its fundamental to Taoism though. Religious Taoism prays to a pantheon of immortals. In shamanistic meditations some taoist connect and learn from the immortals. I think its an old mistranslation or superstition. I don't think we have living immortals around. I've paged through books about Chinese taoists hermits. Some who've been assumed by village folk to be immortals. They weren't. Live long enough as a hermit and rumours spread. I do think there may be documented evidence of taoists going into month long (years) meditation. Which is something of a superhuman mystical feat. I'd like to get more info on that phenomena though. Michael
  22. You've got a point Thad. Should have said minor bummer . My wife smiles and leaves to my madness. Michael
  23. In Western terms the common man who says 'I am God' is considered a kook and either sent off to an insane asylum or stayed away from. In Eastern terms (say from India) he is considered on track, with a deep correct understanding. (He must be alert cause the Car God is big fast & doesn't always look where its going). I have no problem, matter of fact admiration, for the person who displays deep calm and peace, saying they am enlightened. It may not be your idea of enlightenment and it maybe just arguing semantics. But its certainly light-ening from the heavy state most of us are in. A caveat is that the person isn't full of themselves. I'm not going to fly or shoot sparks out of my butt, but I think I can achieve, and have tasted (a little) of what that persons enlightenment is. Its pretty good. Its very good. Simply the 'mildly enlightened' person who isn't full of themselves is worth much more then the acknowledged 'unenlightened' who is stuffed, IMHO Michael
  24. I have to agree with Yen Hui. The highest level masters are probably unknown to the masses and would probably be walked past. We feed on TV images and stereotypes, Value things through Western materialistic eyes. In China anyone w/ any reputation was sent to re-education camps or worse during the cultural revolution. The quiet ones survive. Michael
  25. Is (a methods) complexity good? Better then a simpler system? I don't question hard work or time on the mat, but is complexity neccessary? Are degrees of complexities artifices put there by people who would codify a religion? Learning and change are inherently uphill. But isn't there a time when we forget the system and move intuitively? Shouldn't all philosophies and training evolve simpler? Maybe its ones taste or predisposition. Michael