thelerner

Haven't looked at the first pdf, but the worksheet is a nice tool. And that's how I think of the Socratic Method, a useful tool. Even more so when people work together with it, using it for constructing material and not as a hammer.

I have a tiny bit of control. I won't go fishing off the grand banks, or buy fish from there, not shoot any school kids this week and lastly I can bring an umbrella. but your right, while there's near infinite craziness if you look for it, yet day to day, the normal and slightly abnormal stuff is largely within my locus of control. Certainly my reaction to these things are.

Good ideas break down at the extremes.. ie rape, molestation, murder. We're not saints or super human, but even at the extremes, there's a level of taking responsibility that allows you to move on.. past the trauma and regain your life. One of the worst things that can happen to a victim is staying in that mindset. Not necessarily 'forgive and forget' rather 'seek justice and move on.. towards peace and wholeness'.

Back to guided meditations. Here's what I've been playing with lately in the morning. From ENtrance, a meditation that puts you into an inner library. Has you walk around. Look at a book of memories. I find it puts me under very deeply and that in real life when trying to recall something I re-imagined the library and it helped me make the connection. Here is the youtube video- As I often do I create shorter mp3's for ones I like the most. I've done this here, reducing it to 17 minutes which knocks out the wake up at the end. ENtrance is very worthwhile to check out. Here is the short version- Exploring_the_library_of_memory_shortened_from_Entrance.mp3

I was hoping we could have a collection of youtube videos here. Post the video and what you like about it. I'll start. Love this Pangu form. It's Michael Winn's version. I know that there are others, that come with a lineage and transmission. I found this form, wonderfully simple and energetic. Michael explains this version very well. It's can be learned well from a video imo.

Actually I kinda do. Your writing exposes many sides of you. Here's an exercise for you. Re-read your writings as if someone else wrote them. Would they come off as pompous self agrandizing? If I wrote to you, that I'm writing this reply to teach you something very important that you need out of my 'kindness and limitless compassion' wouldn't you think I was bit stuck up, that I thought my farts smelled like roses? That's how you often come off here, sometimes. Getting back on subject I'd say while Chia has been accused of plagiarism, and that his books (12+) are a bit 'pop' culture Daoism practices, that as an introduction they're worthwhile. Probably better as a source to move on from but they're not without value, introducing and presenting many of the major exercises done in esoteric systems. I'd say that such things are best learned with a live teacher, but they're not always around. Without such a resource, I think a person could do worse then using Chia to familiarize themselves with basic concepts and exercises. With a few caveats and cautions with regards to his earliest 'sexuality' exercises, maybe packing as well. GSMaster, you focus on tightening the butt, but could you explain Chia's system of Fusion of the 5 Elements and contrast it with your own thoughts? I doubt you would or could. but I'd welcome it. My thinking is you got to 'tighten the butt' and your mind stopped there.

and yet the reality is, Mantak Chia is not on this 'lowly' site, and is not posting about us.. cause apparently he has better things to do. hmm.. rumor has it he didn't kill any ants today cause he steps around them. It's an awareness thing As I've stated before, I see Chia as a pioneer. Not perfect and didn't get everything right, but he introduced and popularized esoteric 'taoist' energy arts to much of the West, plus sponsored many excellent teachers and for that I give him credit. An old neighbor who went full blown initiate Taoist told me Chia would not be considered a real Taoist. And that's fine, in truth few of us would, yet most would get benefits from learning some of its naturalistic philosophy.

Wish Taomeow was around. She had great expertise on the subject. I don't think it has to cure cancer to be considered a worthwhile art. It teaches flow, balance, extension.. energy movement plus much more if get the right teacher. Great art, with particular benefits for the elderly but has much for people of all ages to learn. There are many studies (google it) on Tai Chi's healing affect, a couple are double blind, but as stated above its hard to tease out the placebo affect. Yet if you hang out with many Tai Chi players its hard not to notice greater flexibility and vitality. Course the same can be said of yoga and there is survivor bias, ie you only see the healthy ones. Not that there's no risk to either, but with a good teacher the benefits far outweigh the risks.

If you guys put pins on the map, you'd know how close to each other you are. For example I because of the DB Map I just had coffee and a nice conversation with a nearby DBer.

and that is why in the face of not knowing I choose to lean on the side of of the more optimistic paradigm. I really like this quote from Secondhand Lions: "Hub: Sometimes, the things that may or may not be true are the things that a man needs to believe in the most. That people are basically good. That honor, courage, and virtue mean everything. That power and money, money and power, mean nothing. That good always triumphs over evil, and I want you to remember this, that love . . . true love, never dies. You remember that, boy. Remember that. Doesn’t matter if it’s true or not, you see. A man should believe in those things because . . . those are the things worth believing in."

These are little things we do, that work for us. Keeping a good loaf of bread (whole grain, sprouted) in the freezer- it toasts well and no pressure to use. buying tomato paste in tubes instead of the little cans, means I use it more. Particularly sauteing and letting it caramelize early on in cooking. getting a car wash picks up my mood. after 2 months I can conclude an electric tooth brush does a better & faster job cleaning my teeth then manual. two monitors are better then one. If I don't do breathing exercises in bed first thing in the morning, then I often don't do them at all. Walking bare foot on the beach, I've returned to find my shoes where I left them. Good pairs of headphones, I like my Bose, but also my $10 Wotmic inear Good quality eggs are a cheap luxury. Wild Turkey Bourbon is also a great deal. Something very good you haven't had before is great.

So.. what do you pick? What is your paradigm? <I assume, one way or another we're all deliberately fooling ourselves>

Agree with Marblehead the choices are incomplete, thus leading. Still I'd disagree with #1, as I like my life. And 2, imo its bad to get ones theology from pop movies. 3.. Hard to weigh in on heaven and hell with such little data, still, it seems like hell is a waste of energy on someone's part, ie going out of one's way to make strangers continually feel lousy seems immature and pointless. With such limited data I'd be going toward nothing happens- dead is dead or basking in Oneness with a limited sense of ones old life but who knows. Ultimately with the lack of data it probably is better to pick a feel good philosophy, particularly if it improves the quality of your daily life. Versus choosing a nihilistic one that might leave you bitter or depressed. On the other hand, if it doesn't then go for it. We all slug through this world partially blind.

I always enjoy visiting the grand Bahai temple in Wilmette, beautiful gardens, nice people, sacred space. From my limited understanding the Bahai'ism is extremely inclusive. I think they're into God sends/touches teachers/prophets of many traditions and ethnicities to help mankind along the way.. giving reminders of ethical behavior while usually being misunderstood and poorly treated. For a beautiful walk and a little religious insight I'd recommend it to anyone in the Chicagoland area. pics https://www.google.com/maps/uv?hl=en&pb=!1s0x880fdab8c6e3986f:0xe5587e514916bd5e!2m22!2m2!1i80!2i80!3m1!2i20!16m16!1b1!2m2!1m1!1e1!2m2!1m1!1e3!2m2!1m1!1e5!2m2!1m1!1e4!2m2!1m1!1e6!3m1!7e115!4shttps://lh5.googleusercontent.com/p/AF1QipPX3jf8J-978Ld40F4w68Dd2Njbk4DKd5DJPrnj%3Dw239-h160-k-no!5sbahai+temple+wilmette+-+Google+Search&imagekey=!1e10!2sAF1QipPX3jf8J-978Ld40F4w68Dd2Njbk4DKd5DJPrnj&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjx5Mydp-zaAhXF5oMKHXeyBJIQoioIvwEwEA

I usually say: You Killed my master, dishonored my family, & made fun of my ponytail, Now You Must Die!! <stolen from commentary on Steven Seagal films>

To improve the demographics I encourage people to pin up there location. It might be a good way to connect Dao Bums in real life.

Its allergy season for much of the world, that could be aggravating it, trying a simple anti-histamine tablet could help. Or energetically after meditation rubbing your hands together vigorously til they're warm then pressing them (lower fleshy parts) gently against your closed eyes (ie palming) can be very soothing. The better I meditate the hotter my palms.

Choice; being able to choose is often the difference between pleasure and pain. If I do it daily after a week or so my body & mind adapt but the first few times, ouch.. In mid-winter when the shower is particularly frigid, then its also trying. Good test of spirit and honoring my Russian ancestors of 3 generations ago, and ancestors 1,000 generations ago, who built ice slides down mountains, and slid down them buck naked, all the while chucking spears at mammoths and sloths along the way.

The logical part of me that interacts in the Tic Toc world does, yet there's another part that's searching for more.. abandoning books & philosophy and hoping for answers in deep silence.

From a different perspective, I thought season 1, of the HBO series Westworld had some fascinating insights into awareness. A bit depressing perhaps, but it came at it from an interesting angle, ie that we've built up a mythology around awareness when its more like, a few moving lines being written. Controlled by our sensors, and constantly re-writing scripts from our past. Right now, my senses while mostly ignored are sending streams of bits to my CPU/brain. My focus is on a screen, I don't feel the keys until I move my awareness to think about them. I write and dip into my past, accessing subroutines and programs/skills, unconsciously. Putting my focus on focus itself and I stutter.. slow down.

it's a little thing, but I've switched to ankle length socks, that cover my ankles. Instead of my decades of longer socks. They're cheaper, pack better, take up less space in laundry and drawers. The extra couple inches isn't really needed. (that's what she said)

Some good news about a huge problem, ie the plastic garbage polluting the ocean. Great video, showing the work and progress being done, driven in part by as single individual. Very inspiring. from the youtube- TheOceanCleanup Published on Mar 22, 2018 1.8 trillion pieces of plastic weighing 80,000 metric tons are currently afloat in an area known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch - and it is rapidly getting worse. These are the main conclusions of a three year mapping effort conducted by The Ocean Cleanup Research team. More information: https://www.theoceancleanup.com/great... Our cleanup technology: https://www.theoceancleanup.com/techn... Follow The Ocean Cleanup: https://www.facebook.com/theoceancleanup https://www.twitter.com/theoceancleanup https://www.instagram.com/theoceancle... Likewise this is good news on the pollution and waste front- https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/42-of-the-biggest-food-companies-make-historic-pledge-to-cut-plastic-waste/?utm_campaign=newsletters&utm_medium=weekly_mailout&utm_source=02-05-2018 From the article: Corporate giants such as Asda, Nestle, Lidl, Coca-Cola, Aldi, PepsiCo, Unilever, Tesco, Waitrose, Morrisons, Sainsbury, and Pret a Manger have joined the UK Plastics Pledge to eliminate single-use plastic packaging. Together, the signatories represent roughly 80% of the plastics sold in UK supermarkets. The initiative, which is orchestrated by waste advisory charity WRAP in collaboration with the UK’s largest nonprofits, recyclers, and governments, has set a series of goals to cut wasteful packaging over the course of the next seven years. For starters, the initiative will ensure that 100% of plastic packaging must either be recyclable, compostable, or reusable in order to make it onto supermarket shelves. Some supermarkets have gone even further and declared that plastic packaging will no longer be used on fruits and vegetables. RELATED: World’s Second Largest Fast Food Chain Begins Phase-Out of Plastic Straws Additionally, the pact seeks to increase the amount of properly recycled plastic from its current rate of 30% to at least 70%. Environment Secretary Michael Gove, who is backing the pact, said in a statement: “Our ambition to eliminate avoidable plastic waste will only be realized if government, businesses, and the public work together.” “Industry action can prevent excess plastic reaching our supermarket shelves in the first place. I am delighted to see so many businesses sign up to this pact and I hope others will soon follow suit,” he added.

i don't. by making mistakes bigger and bigger, eventually they either disappear or become worthwhile. It's like this.. crash into a mail box and you dent your car. boo Crash into a brick wall, you get a new car.. yayy. so, from my mistakes, I learn to make newer bigger, better mistakes. Seriously, doing better takes more then a quippy cliche or fast advice. it takes time, and introspection, perhaps even a little pain before a worthwhile lesson truly sinks in. Common sense solutions are easily found, they just tend to be unpleasant to follow.

Shiba Luohan Qigong looks pretty cool. You see quite a bit of martial (Shaolin) development from dynamic tension, and fast movement, balance work as well a slower smooth energy movements. Impressive. from youtube- Lisa B. O'Shea Published on Sep 12, 2011 This set was created 1500 years ago by a Buddhist monk, Da Mo, and taught to the Shaolin Monks in China to improve their health and stamina. Performed by Qi Gong Institute of Rochester www.Qigongrochester.com at World Tai Chi Day in Rochester, NY 4/2010. This set was taught to me by Dr. Jay Dunbar and he has a video of the whole set that can be found on his website: www.magictortoise.com