thelerner

Come on you may think Chia is bad, but he doesn't belong on a 'bad guru' list. Not even close. You can disagree w/ his approach, say he's over priced, poor english, even guilty of plagiarism. But .. He has always consistently told people to use their own common sense and to be there own guru's. I don't think he's ever been guilty of the out rages and cult like behavior like the above yoga. I don't think he plays the master card and/or guru card very often. Michael Ofcourse I've only taken one course w/ him, beginners. From his writings and books, I don't think he's a headcase. I could be wrong.

I think I get my news from a pretty wide variety of sources. Also esoteric and very weird ideas on aliens arent' exactly secret. I mean, practically every large book store has Icks work and others on aliens. Heck main stream TV has shows like Roswell & X files, and non fiction like 'In Search Of' and a whole range of other investigations. Not to mention the whole internet. The truth is out there, but so is much bull shit, fantasy and projections. I don't think its a lack of imagination on my part. I can see that if I buy the Krishna is blue argument I can easily purchase the more modern Smurf conspiracy (to hook our younglings) and the even more devastating Barney (he's even Reptilian!) plague on our young people. I believe cultivation and inner inquiry will teach me that these 'how many angels on a pin' type questions are a waste of time and focus. I thank people like Karen for reminding me last time I wondered late night into la la land. I admire .freeform for likewise pointing out its not content and understanding that moves us closer to Go(and collecting $200), its Being. Michael

I know , I know , I know, I'm trying to form and or modify my own TOE theory of everything. My jokes are probably a bit passive aggressive. Yet knowing myself will probably continue. I am serious about looking at proofs and possibilities. Though these things don't lend themselves to such. Furthermore it tends to lend itself toward so whatism. Michael

I try to always keep a few peanuts in my pocket just in case that particular deity comes over. In the wise words of Apoo, 'Who needs the infinite grace and love of Gonesh?' Alas Zeus has become just an action figure and Hades a flame haired Disney creation. Michael

I never liked that quote or the 'am I a butterfly dreaming I'm a man or man dreaming I'm a butterfly..'. Sometimes..What the butterfly calls the end, the spider calls lunch.. Michael

Well ofcourse Krishna is blue. If you're comparing your god to anothers persons, you need a god who's colorful, powerful. Why not add a couple extra arms, an extra eye etc. Animal symbolism and fetish's are as old as shamnism, whether it be hawks, bears or what not. My book and electronic resources are incredibly vast. I can't help it if the aliens don't want to probe my butt Michael

I was just watching the Discovery Channel. A show called "Going Tribal". In this episode the guide joined an African tribe, stayed with them for a month and was initiated into there drug induced rite of manhood. Very interesting, very shamanic. Heavy native drug use, ceremonies, rebirth. Most cultures have manhood initiations we are sadly lacking. Too bad. I have 2 sons, 8 and 6, I'd hate for there definative moment to be 'rescuing the princess' and getting a 50,000 bonus points in some video game. I also saw some of Survivorman show. Dropping a survival expert alone in an exteme wilderness settings for 7 days. Last show I learned the proper way to eat grasshoppers. Tear off there heads, kabob'em and cook them a bit in case they have ring worm. It really reminds me how very very very decadent and coddled I am. I have recently bought the ISqueeze which luxuriously squeezes and massages my tootsies. Yesterday I bought the Sunbeam matress warmer. It warms the bed for you, it even has dual controls for his and her heat control 1 to 20. My bedroom is freezing at nite so it is quite the luxury. Food wise, just having a full fridge, packed w/ goodies from around the world, fruits and veggies in and out of season. Running water, lights, my own moat w/ crocodiles. Nice, but luxuries dull the senses. To taste the sweetest nectar requires sorest need. I'm glad I had a couple of chances to semi rough it, camping w/ the boy scouts last summer. Ya da yada Michael

I think life is at its best when we can traipse between water and wine. White bread and artisan loaves. I'll leave ascetiscism for the monks. Even they make can make and enjoy a mean beer. Michael

For all the incredible greats we are aware of, there are many more, dozens? hundreds? That may well be there equals, but either prefer a quieter life, or have simply never had the spot light shined on them. For example an Ueshiba contemporary, his nephew, Inoue, was raised w/ him, and has his own extraordinary , but very small practice but remains virtually unknown (See PreWorld War II Aikido Masters). Every martial art has at there very top people who seemingly transcend human limits. Bruce Frantzis implied he found many Ueshiba level people in China. Heck that 90 year old doing the one finger stand isn't too shabby. With a little more practice he should be able to do it w/ his pinky . Michael

Lets not disregard the benefit of simple practice. Lots of it, tons of it, that ushedeshi (live in students) get. Michael

I thought the blue and greens got together and made the purples. Actually I like the theory that an early direct ancestor of mankind spent a few thousand years in the swamp. We treaded water, ate fish, lost body hair, learned to stand upright and got big brains for there cooling properties. We were water apes for a short couple of thousand years. You know, getting into the alien theory can be a bit like the 'earth rests on giant turtle' theory. I.E. what does that turtle rest on? A> another turtle. Q. and that turtle? A> Turtles, turtles all the way down. Michael <the purple>

Hmmn, maybe Glenn Morris's first book, Pathnotes of a Ninja Grandmaster. Lots of interesting esoteric stuff and because he was a college professor he had students to 'experiment' on and with. A good example of a westerner interpreting Chia and other esoterics. Michael

Pacifism kills, militancy kills, paranoia erodes. Safety is an illusion, but an important one. I have great respect for your friend and no way of knowing if some other action would have meant a different outcome. There are two legged predators who are simply out for thrills and blood. I did Aikido for a number of years (13). What I got from it is, to be peaceful, but not a pacifist. We are nice, we are the good guys, but we are not dumb. I also have the TFT video series that Plato recommended and it has some good ideas in it. Keep it simple, pick a target, ie the eyes, and follow up with their most likely reactions. You hope for peace, for in this world, but keep your options open.

From the Winn article - This information .........was given to me as a result of my spending some years deeply probing a celestial immortal ...... The question is where was he probing and with how many fingers? Haven't read the article yet. Michael

A week or two ago Plato suggested off handedly that the moon might be a construct of aliens because the craters weren't deep enough. Which seemed pretty foolish to me, I mean, its possible, in an infinitely possible world, but it does seem basically ridiculous. Its hard to say if the blue cheese theory of moon construction should be before or just after it. Like, ho ho ho, we caught you super smart, super powerful aliens because you didn't make the craters big enough. It should be noted that the damn craters probably should be deeper if you go by simple physics. But ofcourse at high speeds simple physics don't apply. I.e. a bullet shot out of civil war era gun (Myth Busters) travels 3 or 4 feet under water. A modern High power rifle round goes maybe an inch before it explodes and disintegrates. Similarly the really big asteroid that made the large crater in arizona (or new mexico?) was never found because it too exploded on impact w/ the ground. On the other hand, things like Yoda saying his kid seems like the reincarnation of his Grandmother. There actually a book, Life Before Life by Jim Tucker M.D. That is a 'scientific investigation of children's memories of previous lives'. How it got started and funded by a university is an interesting subject in itself. I picked it up at the library, paged through it and decided to take it out. Kind of fascinating. Its about case studies of kids, 2 to 4 who remember past lives. Often they forget about them a few years later. They often give uncanny information about who they 'were'. There is also birth marks and even death marks that many of the children share w/ those they were. I like that its presented unemotionally and undogmatically. Apparently places like India and Thailand are rife w/ them, but even here in the U.S. if you question a few people, you find cases amongst the 'unbelievers' of reincarnation. Its an interesting line of research where an aspect of the psychic world can be investigated. Question is, what guide lines and filters should we use when looking at the 'more things in heaven and earth then fit into our philosophy?' Michael

Just an echo of what the others have posted. I admire your site and the insight from your last few posts. Glad to have you here. Michael

I was having a discussion w/ a friend. A true believer in the lizard/serpent super race. We were trying to define what 'proofs' we could agree on that they actually existed. As we were defining of acceptable evidence, one of them materialized in the room! "Ah ha", said my friend,"Proof that they exist" and pointed to the large green alien. "Its evidence, but not absolute proof", I countered. The alien pointed to my friend, "You believe I exist?". He nodded. Then it pointed to me, "You don't?" "Not 100 percent." It then said something about lunch, ate my friend and disappeared. The moral being, sometimes its safer and saner not to believe. On a more serious note. I agree w/ the things Karen said. Keep your beliefs calorieless. If you're carrying around rebuttals from an argument that went on 2 weeks ago, you are way too far from living in the here and now. Trunk is also right about correctly labeling things without jumping on the band wagon du jour. But while its important to keep an open mind, its more fun to make fun of others silly ideas. Thus we must weigh childish fun against maturity. I must admit, childish fun often wins w/ me. Most of the time I remember its childish. Michael

It doesn't make the text any bigger, but going to the Control Panel (if PC based) and making the screen resolution bigger should allow you to read things on screen w/out shifting. You can use the opposite trick, lowering screen resolution to make for larger text. Michael

I agree, its fast simple and unique. I'll do the first couple of moves from Winns Fundamental II kata. Ocean Breathing, Side to side move, Crossing the ocean etc. then do the Pan gu. Its on Fundamental III? Michael

You know, Ken Cohen was one of a dozens of authors that I may or may not have ever heard of or read. By doing your interview you've turned me and many others on to him. I can't imagine his reaction as being other then pleased and hoping that interviews like yours would happen more often. Michael

The TRUTH? You can't Handle the TRUTH! ........................ Personally I think the truth should most often be tempered by compassion. Unless there's not a whole lot of time or you're really pissed off. Michael

Interesting that this is coming up so soon after Yoda (I think) posted a link by Barry Long 'What it is to Die'. Its a 5 page article by Barry of his ..not battle w/ advanced prostate cancer, but his using it as a vista for new enlightened sensitivities. Its worth reading and printing out. I think the link is www.barrylong.org/statements/what-it-is-to-die.shtml Michael Damn these prostates, can't live with'em, can't live with out'em.

I used to use Quick books daily but haven't needed it in a while(note I'm a QB2000 user). But as I understand it the vendor information details and stuff like that happens automatically as a natural course of buying material and entering it into checkbook. Likewise your customer information details fill in as you record your sales. That what makes a new accounting program so intimidating. They're so blank. To start filling in those reports you have to back log, write in all the old receipts. But then you have to make sure your bank accounts follow correctly w/ all the information your posting from the past. So, it may be better to just live w/out the information for the first few weeks and let it fill up as you enter things, or back logs things w/ 0 prices so it doesn't interfere w/ future numbers. In any case, like most business software manuals leave much to be desired. She should really go to a book store and page through books on QB, noting that bigger books are not neccessarily better. QB is pretty widely used. In the course of business she should inquire what accounting software others are using. Those who deal w/ the peculiarities of accounting software are usually willing to spend a little bit of time helping others. Michael

You've got to respect the man, but I disagree about his vilification of the internet. Its a tool, not a demonic separation device. I can see people making the same arguments he did over the printing press. Now people will just read, it looses the soul of hand written books, people will be lazy and not memorize anymore etc. Its a tool. It has traps. We can use it to learn knew things. We can use it as an escape and isolator. When asked about sun gazing, he didn't really know much. Maybe he doesn't know much about urine drinking either. Yet due to this site, I may not practice them, but I know something about them. I've been exposed to not one viewpoint but several, energetics, medical, cautionary and fanatical. On sites like this one and its links, I'm getting bits and pieces, viewpoints and ideas that I can collect and make my own. The idea is not to dig 100 shallow holes, but to construct a practice that is multidimensional and complete. Michael

Thanks for the Bardo links. I just printed out a few dozen pages from Rawne Clarke's Bardo book. Looks like solid stuff. One of the flashing links above the Bums discussion page was "Instant Astral Travel just 29.95 Guaranteed". Information like Bardo, which is step by step, building up a solid base, seems much more the way to go. Even if it worked (questionable) you don't want to be dumped anywhere w/out a guide book, some pocket change and the maturity to handle it. Michael