thelerner

One of my regrets is not having any type of body work done while at Tao Mountain. The staff is filled with esoteric energy workers, it would have been an ideal opportunity either time. Michael

Thanks Craig (& others) for the solid advice. Especially from one with experience and a life situation closer to my own In my perusing I ordered some kava kava. I had bought some years ago and was disappointed, tasted awful, no discernable effects. It turns out (from one website) that heat destroys the properties. The site recommended putting an ounce or two into a blender w/ 8 ounces of water, blending 4 minutes, then straining it out. Or the old fashion tea bag, squeezing in and out til it feels less oily. In both cases you strain before drinking. In either case you use cool water then mix for better taste. Michael

Forget Geller (I like my spoons straight), we can learn soo much from the Magicians mentioned. People like Chris Angel, David Blaine, the Great Randi and dozen or so others are incredible examples of people who've trained in incredible stunts in mind body through hard long practice. The ability to come up with a near impossible stunt. Like Blaine holding his breath 6 to 8 minutes. While showing his training saying how easy 3 or 4 is. Chris Angel lifting up car, no tricks (that I could see) just cold training mind and body. It goes back to Houdini and ofcourse way further then that. The ability to work extremely hard at a stunt, accomplish it and move on. So much of our practices are for long term steady progress. They take on a near impossible task, strategize, obsess and get it done. I wonder how much we could accomplish with such incredible focus. My hats are off to these people. I have David Blaine's book. I'd love to see a comparison on the magic greats done as how to guide for how they train for there extreme feats. Michael

The thought 'I want to be peaceful and happy' is a common answer to the wrong question. Life is about change. Crap will happen. Non peace will happen. In the midst of it you won't and shouldn't be happy. But you can be centered. You can know that what ever happens now, everything will be alright (its just gonna take a while). So treat yourself as you would a good friend. Stay a little ahead of schedule in most things and take time for your passions. Michael

There is a small movement by some doctors to return to the tribal 'shared' system. I read an article on one doctor who felt screwed and used by the HMO she was employed by. She questioned her 1000 or so patients. She paired them down to 150 or 200 who were interested in exclusive service. So they pay her $500 or so yearly, she acts as a 'village' doctor. Friendly, on call, no insurance hassles. Very popular too, she has to turn away people who want to join in regularly. It should be noted that most people who use her also have other insurance. But she's so available and competent that unless something is majorly wrong she's their first call. Michael

Zenwind, could that be a screen resolution issue. Your screen resolution of say 800x600 is forcing a smaller picture window on the screen? If so maybe it could be solved by changing screen resolution in the PC Control Panel ?? Michael

Great link. So many thought provoking articles. It almost forces you to buy holed paper and print them out. Michael

Here is a practice that has been on my to do list for quite a while. One that I have very little flair for. I am not good at remembering my dreams. After a few minutes of wakefulness they fade quickly and I'm too groggy to write them down. I have had periods of greater awareness and will power when I've been able to do a dream diary for a few weeks, and it had been fruitful. I certainly have the resources. Books, tapes. I have Winns Dream tapes. must go Michael

Good advice. Michael

I am leary. I couldn't find out how large those things were. Are the pictures life size,, so they're 3 or 4 inches? Or are they 8 or 9 inches? $396 is a lot to spend on something. I might be persuaded to part with $36 or so dollars for the colorful pyramids that Yoda has bought. I think you get three for that price and they're good looking. I wonder if the placebo effect becomes more powerful the more you spend on an object? Michael

Funny you should mention biaural sounds. I have gotten into Monroe's hemisync series. For a few days I would wake up early, put on the head phones, listen to the Focus 10 series and end having a lucid dream. It was great but for some reason I haven't done it lately, maybe I haven't been doing it consciously and with intent. As far as step 1, writing down your dreams. I decided if I want to do it seriously this will help. An author decided to wake up every day at 5 a.m. He found he couldn't. Even with resolve, in the morning he'd fall back asleep or decide to do it tomorrow. So he practiced. In the evening he'd go to bed. Spend a few minutes there. Then pretend to wake up, walk to the bathroom and pretend brush his teeth. He did this several times night, for several days. Like a Pavlovian dog, he trained himself, going through the morning grogginess and any question of will power. Maybe writing down dream should be like that. A few pretend sessions for a few nights. Lots of positive, 'I'm up here's my dream journal, I remember my dreams, Now I write'. Practice a few times an evening. So what the level of practice here? Who remembers there dreams? Who programs there dreams? Who is lucid and how regularly? Who goes beyond lucidity into alternate dimensions? thanks Michael

Spectrum, I thought the same thing. The kid seems a little too in awe and clueless. After a few years of study the teacher should have drawn the curtain back a bit. Proper alignment, rooting, extension. Michael

As I recall Isvatn worked on Golden Flower type things. He was very influenced by Yudelove. You can look up some of his posts in the Personal section here. Michael

Thanks Souls, it sounds like you've found a great teacher. This board is all about telling people about our senseis and practices. Forgive us if for kicking the tires first. Yours Michael

I've seen shameful rumor mongering. I've known shameful fearmongering. (IMHO) Thaddeus didn't cross that line. Thad is sceptical, but I think he's open enough to say, tell me more. Talking about real experiences and live impressions of a teacher carry much more weight then what we pick up third hand on the internet. So tell us more about your experiences with the master. I do think there is some resistance to Master/guru situations here. We do tend to see Masters as people with chips on there shoulders and something to sell. We also see people get starry eyed with there particular master and/or tradition and sometimes it seems dangerous or unwarranted. Michael If it generates a good conservation and two sided feedback I don't think a bit of rumor is so bad. As long as they don't mention the master's third nipple or the rumors of satanic sacrifice.

I'm horses to both. All traditions have saints and super saints who have lived extreme lives both physically and spiritually. Few more then the Indian traditions which are extremely old and have produced extreme adherents to extreme practices. If physical immortality is possible we should see some of them walking around. A couple of schools and yes that one village deep in the himalayans where happy go lucky white haired folks frolic all day. The evidence exists only in legend. Every religion has a legend of an immortal or near immortal, its human nature. Living past 120 simply isn't human nature, its not in our genes. I think longevity break throughs are more likely to come from science then spirituality. Nature needs our death to make room for future generations and change that a species needs. So it can grow and flourish. No change, no adaptability, no future. As far as becoming pure energy. I don't think you mean like an atomic bomb that destroys a whole continent as body atoms are converted into base energy. Instead you mean become a happy emphemeral spirit? Shooting our essence and consciousness out of our bodies when we die? Don't know. Maybe that can be investigated. Never any real proof, but on a personal level through spiritual practice and study we can come up with answers beyond hope and faith. Answers through our own first hand experience. Some of the people on this board have had some experience with that kind thing. I'll keep going and see what I can pick up on the path. Michael

One book, 'Money Mastery' has its last couple of chapters on how to create a home business and all of the various tax breaks and write offs you can get from it, as well as pretty good get out of debt advice. (The writer considers a home business a must) Its available from the library. You will have to consult an accountant for up to date advice, but that book is an excellent place to start. Michael

happy birthday stay cool Michael

Confession- I once(16 years ago) bought Naked Chi Gong. Yes, like it sounds, 3 naked woman doing Chi Gong. They also had Naked Yoga available, but I have my standards. Michael P.S. Sorry guys you can't borrow it, its been lost for a decade and a half.

Hmmn, well Cam, I see you using childish and vapid humour on what is a very important issue. Why are you so fast to make fun of the issue? Why try to distract us? In short Cam, what ARE YOU HIDING? I notice if i look at Cams previous post and use a Fibonocci code to decipher the letters. I.E. 1 as the first letter, 3 as the second then 5 then 9 etc. this is what I get: I AM A DINOSAUR. There it is folks. The 'man' who makes fun of reptilian control has actually secretly (perhaps foolishly) admitted he(or she) is one of THEM. Michael

I was going to PM this, but thought I'd say it out loud. The board has really been rocking. Great threads, impressive conversations, a sense of community, controversy handled with mutual respect. Learning, humor, philosophy, connectedness, its all here. Heavy hitters(increasingly) and dabblers (like myself) sharing on the electronic format you thought up, midwived and raised. Kudo and Namaste Michael

Thats pretty deep. Quite the opposite of modern rationalistic thought. A pretty useful tool, a hammer in the war against ego. We have so many threads on enlightenment. I don't know if its 'true' enlightenment, but getting awareness to orbit something other then the ME ego and stop seeing the world through the prism of self is a step in the right direction. Michael

Hmmn, I think I see them quite often, while I'm on the ground. I see little circles of rainbowish light in cloud formations, mostly 90 degrees from the sun. They don't move. I think its a fairly common phenomena, I've never had a name for it, other then circle rainbows. Michael

I agree cool stuff. In making decisions or solving conflict, thinking elementally is the way to go. Michael

Being a tiny tiny world, one of my childhood neighbors Brock Silvers from Chicago was working in China to repair taoist monasteries. The place he worked for had a good taoist web page - http://www.daoistcenter.org/Articles.html Just googled him and see that he has a Taoist book. Haven't talked to him in a few years. Last conversation I had with him was that he thought Most Taoist would not consider Mantak Chia to be a Taoist. Ofcourse he is coming from Monasteries where Taoism is first and foremost a religion. And lets face it, Chia left the orient when he was like 18, so monks living it 24/7 are not quite as impressed with him as we wersterns. Michael