thelerner

There are lots of ways to approach Who am I. I've been working on Adyashanti's I meditation lately. Feeling the spaciousness of my body and perhaps a little beyond. On an outbreath saying 'I' and then keeping silent for 2 breaths then repeat. Not worrying too much about getting the timing right. The real secret is the emptiness, feeling the echo of I. For me, so far, the lesson is in spaciousness and seeing an egoic I that is a tangle of If/Then programming. Useful, but a small piece of the greater spaciousness and awareness; my original face. Know thyself but don't get overly intellectual. Seems to me the less you blame the past and circumstances the more power you have. Most of what we are is what we're doing right now. I thought the first season of Westworld (HBO) was (among other things) an interesting meditation on the 'I' in humanity. The 2nd got too pointlessly bloody for me.

I think there were 'Atlantii', a number of advanced (for there time) civilizations that met there end by near biblical calamities of flood, fire, drought, plague.. there traces- trade and genetic are left in history. As far as Island Atlantis, there were Islands like Crete that became powerhouses of there time. Gathering great wealth (ala Florence) and myth (minotaur) and losing there fame and fortune. Our tech civilization is 200 years old from horse & buggy to moon. We're no smarter then our ancestors. Lost amid time, between ice ages and unknown calamities there could be small pieces of civilization that would amaze us.

Studio Artist software, very interesting. Very cool. Normally $199, on sale for $150. Don't have a use for it, don't know how long such animations can be, but its fascinating. https://synthetik.com/

Maybe all great teachers step into the realm of fraud.. a little bit. As you explore and teach your art, you get to a boundary and.. teach in new territory, get unorthodox. It's not bad, maybe its necessary, but you're getting away from the party line and into your own ideas. Get too far, and abandon the core then you're in a troubled area, unless you make clear to the students what you're doing.

right back at ya girl. advice. Please read slowly, this probably isn't your first language. (wait is that your line?) sooorrrryyy Go to mirror. Look at self Read post that inspired mine. live in regret.

Don't think to hard about it dear. I could explain it to you with tiny whiny little words, but not worth my time. I suspect you're writing using google translate??

Tough question. You might want to get input from your old students. For all I know your friggin amazing and people get alot out of your classes. Above all, follow the path of integrity.

Probably varies city to city. Probably varies city to city. We hear about the blow ups but not when everything is fine. Be interesting to see an aggregate study. Plus medicines even some hormones make it through, trivial amounts but enough to be concerned about. With different regions you get tiny micro doses. I'm in Chicago and find the tap water pretty good tasting. Makes a fine hard cider and good coffee. On the other hand, water filters are cheap. I use one, its built into the fridge but before that I was fine with a pitcher filter, kept at room temperature. Some resources are seeing a nice come back. Here-https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/nasa-says-earth-is-greener-than-ever-thanks-to-china-and-india/ .. The world is literally a greener place than it was 20 years ago, and the data from NASA satellites has revealed a counterintuitive source for much of this new foliage: China and India. This surprising new study shows that the two emerging countries with the world’s biggest populations are leading the improvement in greening on land. The effect stems mainly from ambitious tree planting programs in China and intensive agriculture in both countries. In 2017 alone, India broke its own world record for the most trees planted after volunteers gathered to plant 66 million saplings in just 12 hours. The greening phenomenon was first detected by researchers using satellite data in the mid-1990s, but they did not know whether human activity was one of its chief, direct causes. This new insight was made possible by a nearly 20-year-long data record from a NASA instrument orbiting the Earth on two satellites. It’s called the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer, or MODIS, and its high-resolution data provides very accurate information, helping researchers work out details of what’s happening with Earth’s vegetation, down to the level of 500 meters, or about 1,600 feet, on the ground..

My startle reflex goes down, at least for things I don't need it with, ie a dog barks loudly behind me, or something falls, or a something flies near me, I don't flinch or gasp. I record it and move on. I'm reminded of years ago, when my oldest was a toddler. He'd take my meditation as a challenge. He'd run into me, swat at me, finally hold my nose closed(?!), if I stayed still throughout, he'd give up and wind up sitting peacefully in my lap. Thus I'd tame the wild Zachabeast.

I play around with Chod meditation. An interesting Tibetan form, kind of an extreme type of metta meditation, ie forgiveness. It goes to an extreme whereby you visualize yourself offering your body to a monster, ie giving up everything in the hopes your sacrifice, even to a monster can make the world a better place (I've got the mp3 in the Guided Meditation thread). Forgiveness is powerful. For us. The war with ISIS is largely over. You probably win by showing compassion ie “with malice toward none; with charity for all.”. Historically, the other way, with fines and punishment lead to more war later on. Thus Everything does have a good point, though it started somewhat ramblingly. Catch me in a more sainted moment, I probably have 2 or 3 a month and I'd be willing to forgive and forget. In my normal consciousness, she's so far on the bottom of the list that I wouldn't even give her lip service. Such foreigners were often gifted slaves, often Yazidi woman ripped from there families after watching there husbands, brothers or fathers murdered. I don't know if she had one, her husband was demoted as possible spy early on, but if they did, I'd much prefer charity go to her former slave then to such a participatory victim who went to incredible lengths (lying cheating stealing long arduous journeys, marriage to stranger..) to be exactly, where she is.

Actually we could. We are much more powerful then we know. If I had the passion and made the effort, I could locate her, provide a source of income, contact and coordinate with others closer who'd be able to help her and get her back to England, or somewhere safer. But I won't, if it makes you feel better I' not investing my efforts in killing other people, either. My charitable givings help others but uh, I wouldn't in this case, and seemingly you, other then philosophizing wouldn't make any effort to help her at all but you could, if you wanted and had the passion. But at some level you feel she isn't worth it.

Its all very good to be armchair philosophers. Let me light my ceegar and twirl my brandy. But action?? Would any of us do anything for her? Investigate where she might be? send her money? Write letters on her behalf? I certainly wouldn't. I find her partially responsible for the deaths of her friends and the deaths of her children. From stealing money and jewelry from her parents to continually heading into war zones to giving consent to an ideology that okays mass murder of all other groups(even other Islamic groups) and okays slavery and mass rape. No. I wouldn't help her, there's enough truly needy people in the world, victims, way ahead of her on the list.

Pizza. Because eating a slice of good hot cheesy pizza, the question doesn't matter. I like Valentines day. A chance to buy pizza and share it with the one you love. In a world of commercial silly holidays, I give it a pass.

Its not about world conquest, its about conquest of a poor war torn piece of the world. Its about thieving and murdering your way into ownership of 1,000's of miles of land. You should read up about ISIS.

Tha'ts a powerful point. One mitigated, imo by not being repentant. There are so many millions of true victims that need help, that when it comes to a girl who romanticized a group that endorsed slavery and wholesale murder of all who aren't them. And seemingly still does. My compassion simply isn't that large. Maybe it should be, but its not. I could forgive 15 and 16 year old her, but not 17, 18 and 19 year old. There was a level of evil, beheadings and mass slavery going on that she had to know about. Foreign fighters and there wives were favored with the best housing and slaves. If she came back, all would not be forgiven. I'd see nothing wrong with years of prison, and decades involved in communal service.

What can you do. Maybe its not all bath water and there's some baby in what you've learned. So, roll up your sleeves, and look around for another teacher. Try them out, see the quality of their students, dig a little into there background. Good chance you'll find yourself way way better then any new student, especially if you keep your cup empty. Keep the passion and aim it at a new teacher and art. Everyone's path gets a little windy and loopy sometimes.

Don't think I'll exercise the 'right' to kill "Kurtz" but I judge him to be a little bit nutz. maybe it's wrong or immoral to judge him, could be my assumptions are wrong, but looks like i got away with it, this time. Hopefully the future will not judge me harshly for it.

No, imo, she shouldn't be let back in. She made her bed, she should sleep in it. She is a traitor who expresses no regrets but wants a better life with people that she'd vowed to murder and enslave. Literally. Undoubtedly her first choice would be return to a destroyed England ruled under a strict murderous caliphate. The odds that she raises her future children to be hateful, literally terrorist, pro-slavery and anti-West are significant and not worth the gamble. addon. Be good, show mercy but don't be so stupid that you expose your back to those who'd kill you or invite them into your house. Strive for peace, but don't allow people to put a knife to your throat.

He's not very active but member Ya Mu here runs https://www.qigongamerica.com/ I'm not looking to be a healer, but took a seminar with him long ago and was very impressed. I learned things that improved my meditation greatly. He was apprenticed with a Chinese master of a prestigious healing gi gong in China. Very down to earth guy, with a hands on approach. He tends to teach by seminar so for some going along the path its hitting a few seminars a year. Might be worth a look.

For those of us allergic to mold, winter gives no respite from allergies. Snow gets tracked in, it melts on carpeting and thus mold begins. It can get pretty bad in cars too. Mine was until I got rubber mats that kept ice and snow from melting on my car's carpet. In winter I'll change the house air filter more often. Because its mold, there may be sprays, even common Lysol that'll help kill some of it. I'll take a short term anti-histamine at night if my eyes get itchy. I'll also take melatonin and ZMA, which has Zinc, Magnesium and B vitamins. I was reading ZMA tablets can lead to deeper quality sleep.

I like the bone broth idea. And dislike the OP mention of 'a lot/huge amounts of meat', in that it may be better balanced to try 'more' ie don't over do, but honor your instincts by having a bit more and seeing how you feel. Not just one day but having some each day and gauging your health. Your post reminds me, its time to go back to adding a runny egg to my morning porridge (currently 3/4 oat bran, 1/4 flax meal + half banana + blue berries x 3 parts water)

bump rise out of the Rabbit hole, ye olde thread.

We had a couple of good threads on such a Hobbit life. I must admit at times, I've thought that the Hobbit hole would be mighty attractive. Here's one thread, good one, but not the one I was thinking of: Here's another, from this one down there's posts with some good links, I think: Just remember there's no free lunch out there. Communal living is often farming thus hard work. Or else the little secret is they live cheaply but off a large hidden nest egg. I think the sweet spot is finding cheap digs, learning to live cheaply, ie having your own large productive garden, and having a minimum job that doesn't drive you crazy. We can probably have those things, living most anywhere. We do have some power to engineer our life, especially if we're willing to move and take chances. The worst ruts are ones we've made ourselves. We stopped exploring, stopped making things better, fell into comfort or poverty traps.

True, its very easy to underestimate how difficult and costly alternative energy sources are. Yet.. sometimes you hit a sweet spot. The tech used in the bike can be used for a windmill or watermill. Old fashioned ideas get new solutions. Or adding a few gears improves efficiency but it all starts with the basics and knowing the how and why they work and having the gumption to put it together. In the book we mentioned 'The Boy who stole the Wind', a project was made for creating simple windmills that could recharge cell phones. Note a cell phone is a light, a super computer and also makes calls. Theses windmills did cheaply. They won't save the world but they can improve the life of small villages greatly. Little ideas like handing out small iron fish. They cost next to nothing, but putting a fish into a pot means families get much more iron and less disease. A cheap solution that won't save the world, but improves lives of millions of poor people. Work on solar water purifying, two liters at a time. Little things add up. And while we see these as solutions for 'third world' countries, up and down are relative and you never know where you or your country will be 10, 20 years.

I'm reminded that in weight lifting, often in order to break a plateau, you have to go backwards. Restart with a much lighter weight and go back making steady progress. Often the rest, consolidation and gradual momentum is exactly whats needed. Natural growth can be steady but doesn't last for long, rather it moves in cycles. So, don't push the river, make time for growth, rest and consolidation. And be thankful throughout for what you have.