thelerner

Motivation to get out of bed.. hmmm, I grit my teeth, shake my fist and vow to give those bastards worse than they give me. Then recite the Cimmerian oath to- To crush mine enemies, see them driven before me, and hear the lamentations of their women (men & pets). then brush teeth, light stretching, meditation, breakfast, read the newspaper and get angry again at the state of the world. Vowing revenge against it. Course some day are mellower than others. Despite my crusty response I think one does good because, in a small but important way, we create the world we live in. Our acts echo like waves. Doing good, helping others, a smile, lending a hand, offering charity makes my world better. Even if I never see the results, kindness makes for a world I want to live in. Connecting to others is one of life's chief pleasures. I'm not that into finding meaning or purpose. Meaning/sacred is what we give meaning to. Perhaps in the game of life the person with the most love and passion wins. Exploring, enjoying.. and accomplishments probably give bonus points along the way.

I learned a bit about Egyptian mythology from an unlikely place. I have kids and Sesame Street did a strangely touching and indepth movie with their characters helping a trapped prince find his way into the afterlife. It wasn't childish or hokey, it was remarkably well done. If you have kids or spare time, I'd recommend it.

The last year I've been working on humming more. I read an article on how it releases a tiny bit of natural oxycodone. I've been interested in healing sounds. Humming particularly nasal humming seems healing or at least clearing of the sinus.

It's getting cold now, so maybe wait til its warmer but camping for a weekend is getting your feet wet for longer solo retreats. What to do, walk/hike silently with a quiet mind. Bring a book, listen to dharma talks on a podcast. Ease into listening to your mind. Listening. Facing and understanding yourself without the artificiality of society.

admission: My coffee name is Rumple. seemed the ideal coffee name and Michael is so common

I'd say yes, you have to honor an individual's taste plus you're also in it for the money. I'd add that it's good to suggest a better way and allow customization. With great coffee comes great responsibility. Serve it (and recommend it) plain and also let the person add the milk and amount they desire.

Those are things I strive for, with mixed success. I try to view the values as coins. Like Generosity has Thankfulness/Appreciation as the complimentary side. One should lead to other, they're entwined. Kindness has patience on the other side. Without patience I walk past times I could be kind but with patience and awareness I have the opportunity to be kind. Courage comes from strength. Being strong, competent, confident gives me a better chance at displaying courage than if I lack those things.

Good for you. No particular ideas beyond some place warm, cheap with good walks in nature. I look forward to others chiming in with more solid ideas.

Goin back 100 years when crazy ol' Ron Jeremy was on the board, he had this quote that I thought was very profound. 'How will your practice help you, when you're dead?' Those who go real deep, real hardcore seem better able to answer that. maybe.

Anger is a tough nut. A fire that consumes us before we even recognize it. There are people and situations that are matchsticks. Avoid them if you can but that's not always possible. Don't rub against them more than you need. What's helped me a bit, starting with low anger situations, asking myself, 'How long will I be angry? How long will I allow myself to be angry?' This kinda puts anger in a box. It gives some perspective, separating the emotion from yourself. Doesn't always work for the big things but practicing on the smaller ones makes easier to defuse anger. The anger isn't you, though it can feel that way. It's an emotion/thought you're tangled up in, one that will go away eventually. Looking it in the face, giving it a timeline can help.

Nungali-??? Where did you 'hear' that one ? Roman cement could be poured into and set under salt water . Its 'secret' is usually attributed to a totally different chemical process that sets it , compared to modern cements . I believe it was from University of Utah quite a while ago. Let me look, ahh Google.. "..Modern cement mixtures tend to erode, particularly in the presence of seawater, but the Roman recipe of volcanic ash, lime, seawater and a mineral called aluminium tobermorite actually reinforces the concrete and prevents cracks from expanding, researchers found.." Maybe in 2000 years they'll talk about how the amazing secret ingredient in our cement was coffee, now long extinct due to the Caffeine wars of 2410.

I make my oatmeal w/ oat milk, peanut butter, banana (lately banana chips), flax seed and a pinch cement for body.

Here is a TaoMeow comment on coffee that I thought deserved its own thread (originally in a anti-sunscreen thread). Great read & insight on coffee. "You've opened my favorite can of worms... er... of coffee. Carrot juice -- well, yes, you need organic carrots because otherwise you'll get a hefty dose of pesticides far in excess of what you might get from one or two carrots. And drink it fresh, don't store up. Coffee... OK, I brew mine in an ibrik aka cezve aka jezweh -- it looks like this: http://www.natashasc...html/ibrik.html I have a small collection... If you're not going to use this, the French press or the Italian stovetop percolator are your second best choices. (VERY second best far as I'm concerned. In a jezweh, you don't have to make Turkish coffee, you can make what I make -- Armenian coffee... yum!) No drip coffee makers -- these filter out the oils which have all the antioxidants, and a considerable amount of flavor. Yes, you start with the freshest beans you can find, no "dark" or "French" roasts (they are roasted this way to mask the staleness, the normal way for good quality coffee is medium or light roast). I have an electric coffee grinder which I use every morning, no stored pre-ground coffee. Sugar -- I always use sugar. Cream -- I don't like in my coffee, but if you have no particular problems with dairy, cream is fine. Decaf is a big no-no. If you're caffeine sensitive, try making your coffee very right but very weak, see what happens. Caffeine sensitivity usually subsides and in most cases disappears after two weeks of regular consumption, but I know at least one guy who is so super sensitive that he can get wired all up from just smelling my cup. Another important thing: coffee has to be consumed within 15 minutes of brewing, its antioxidants are very beneficial (a small cup has as many of these as do three oranges, but of the variety oranges don't have -- stimulating the liver to release SOD, aka superoxide dismutase, which is the most powerful antioxidant on earth -- the creature that produces the highest amounts of it is bacterium radiodurans that lives in nuclear reactors -- SOD is brawny enough to neutralize all the free radicals even under these conditions!) -- where was I? -- oh, the antioxidants in coffee are very sensitive to light, heat, and oxygen, so they deteriorate rapidly and if you don't drink up as soon as you made your coffee, it will lose them. I'm glad I got this off my chest once again... "spiritual" forums are so often plagued by tea fundamentalists that I seldom get to talk about the love of my gastronomic life. Thanks for prompting me!"

Yeah well, Starbucks is my dealer. I heard the secret of Roman cement's longevity was salt water. Simple cheap and lets us save our coffee grounds for gardening.

When choosing between two evils, I always like to try the one I've never tried before. Mae West

There are a bunch of regional burns and decompression parties. Official and unofficial. In the Midwest, Michigan has Lakes of Fire. Shorter time period, cheaper, less glitzy, more doable. Fun but these days hard to get a ticket, sadly. It was easier to get one to the Colorado Burn, though when I went there they were fireless(!) due to the state's drought. Still fun though.

So.. that's why I found myself sucking on the sidewalk..

This reminds me of spotify podcast- 'It's Just F*ckin Meditation with Yogi Bryan'. I collect guided meditation and Mr. Bryan's style and induction are a fresh take on such meditations. Many are quite good, though not for the timid.

Osmosis/passive learning by putting sticky notes on things can be helpful and non-pushy. Even more so if the kids make and place the post-it notes themselves. (If you're not doing it now) At dinner time, the first 10 or 15 minutes (or longer), only speaking in Spanish could be game-like, but also a painless way of getting in the Osmosis learning. For younger kids having a puppet that only speaks Spanish can be fun learning/play. The more they hear the language at home, the better. Also passive, listening to songs in the language can help acclimate one's ears to it. Just playing them in the background. Though it did take me years to realize what La Cucaracha was.

I consider a good massage and foot rub as Karezza, if done w/ some sensuality. A practice I'll occasionally do is having my mate on top of me, and as one breaths in, the other breathes out and you flow with it. Playing with rhythms and timing.. it can be pretty nice.

Tut Tut, blaming it on the hoes. makes sense to me. In the HBO series Rome (well done, relatively accurate) to Caesarian times, one of the lead characters and wife made love in their new field to ritually call for fertility.

That reminds me of Karezza. As I get older it seems a method worth exploring. Karezza The goal of Karezza, unlike most kinds of sexual intercourse, is not orgasm but reaching a relaxed state of union with your sexual partner. Practitioners of Karezza say they feel energized and full of positive energy after their orgasm-less sexual play, possibly because gentle, loving touch without orgasm subtly raises levels of dopamine and oxytocin, neurochemicals which create pleasure and feelings of closeness, romance, and peace. The Karezza Method: 5 Reasons To Try This Spiritual Sexual Practice https://www.mindbodygreen.com/articles/karezza-method

Is it me, or is the figure a bit.. aroused?

It's wonderful to find an art you connect with. The skills you learn and the people meet can make a world of difference in your life. Working with my dad running a small recycling company was quite stressful. He was demanding and set up no win situations. To deal with it I took up martial arts, Aikido. The physicality and mentality was what I needed. You attacked hard, threw hard, yet due to its choreographed nature, you rarely got hurt or hurt your partners. It was great for venting, learning intricate throws was like solving puzzles. Awareness and timing were essential. It had weapon forms, meditation, healing lessons etc., I was involved in it for 13 years, it kept me in shape and sane. Good luck finding your art. Perhaps meetup.com could be a source to find groups going on around you. Something nearby definitely has advantages. Look to what you were interested in when you were younger to point you in directions to take now. Also consider that a great teacher can be worthwhile to study with, regardless of the art.

I read a book on past life memories of children years ago. By a psychology professor who started out skeptical but doing years of interviews and checking up information switched his opinion. If he's honest, and I believe he was, there is solid evidence of young children having past life memories. Course are memories ever solid evidence? Even when seemingly backed up by things a child shouldn't know? In adults there are such cases but some famous ones were debunked, these childhood ones, as far as I know, haven't been. The professor found many cases in US, and when he went to India, it was considered common knowledge. In his first taxi ride from the airport he got stories of children remembering past lives. I don't remember the books title. Doing a google search shows lots of books on the subject. I remember some interesting cases where the kids had birthmarks corresponding to previous life damages. Weird stuff. The book, to its credit, never went into explanations for such memories, but they are not super rare and usually fade as kids age up beyond 6 or 7. I didn't keep researching it but it seems like the best 'proven/unexplained' religious phenomena we have. My own kids are a pretty diverse lot. My youngest has a strange predilection for Germany. At 11, he wanted to join the German club so he could go there as an exchange student. He'd be the youngest and we said no. He insisted, made a good case of it, even saying he'd somehow pay for it himself. This was a kid who hated sleepaway camp. He convinced us and loved it. He's been back since and minored in German in college. Why?? We never had much connection to Germany, so who knows?