thelerner

salt water cleanse? Where is the salt water going? Colonic?? Mouthwash?? drinking? and what concentration? This stuff can be risky. Be careful. For example, I might have a totally different view of what a salt water cleanse is then you, and tell you its great, when your method could be dangerous, too much salt kills. So be careful. I've done some fasting (Daniel Reid protocol in Tao of Health Sex & Longevity, plus modern 3 day keto fast by Tim Ferris) and colonics (well one) and better safe then sorry.

wth, did you fall into a well or something? I'm sorry man. guess 11's not your lucky number/ too much 44.

I wonder if I get a little taste/inoculation of the Dark night by doing a certain practice before meditation. I believe its from the Vispassana practice, before meditating I'll often recite: I am not my body, I am that which inhabits it I am not my thoughts, they are like clouds passing thru.. I am not my emotions, I let them settle like waves on a pond I am not my past, that's old memories and patterns I can choose not to repeat I am not my future, that's expectations that may not come to pass I am not my- name.. possessions.. family.. I am breath and awareness To get used to letting it all go.

fwiw, it's good to remember that Hebrew has 22 (main) letters, and since many words are built on common roots (like most languages), numbers can have quite a few words attached to them. This also complicates reading Hebrew since the vowels in ancient (& most modern) writing are not shown. In modern times there's an understand of what the word is, whereas reading old texts there can be debate and differing traditions on which word the text is about. Cause it's like reading nglsh wtht th vwls.

I sympathize, often having a racing mind at night myself. More meditation at night helps, the Shamantha you do is very good, maybe lengthening it. Also guided meditation can be a good tool. Here's a link to one, the Evening Inventory, instead of just relaxing you, it has you bring up your worries then put them away. Nice and short too. That Barry Long meditation that begins the thread is very good for stopping thoughts and the Kim Walsh meditations are very relaxing. Try'em, especially if you could listen to them in bed.

I've seen people who's dark night went from heavy depression to delusions of grandeur. I think they could have recovered or at least sought help if they weren't so heavily into esoteric arts, where some interpret the highest levels to be godlike. Bad bad combination. I think having trusted friends (or teacher) keeping you grounded is essential ie someone to say 'no you're just full of shit'. Matter of fact I think in (super high) Kabbalah there may be a custom of having a partner just for that reason, to keep you grounded and not escaping into delusions, bliss or world beyond.

?? huh, you strangely brought child molestation into this thread. I'm just surprised you went there. Again, I'm glad you get the concept that astrology isn't about child abuse. Excellent. kidding, though in truth what I personally like about astrology (IChing) is that it focuses the mind on certain subjects in ways that archetypal, which to me allows quite a bit of latitude. I don't see the value of it as predicting the future, rather its better at focusing the mind symbolically which is a powerful tool. Giving it something to chew on. My coins do something for me. I'm glad your fighting to keep your interpretations out of the gutter. Thankfully I don't need to.

Yes..um thanks for the reminder that the 6 card in tarot is not about child molesting. Very helpful and glad you're aware of it.. surprising where your mind goes.. yet that's pretty much the kind of reply I expected.

Please, don't bother on my account. You've got a guest and hopefully they have idiosyncrasies that they're dying for you to critique. You don't have to follow what I do, man. Go your own way.

my children are my pets. Though 2 have flown the coop for college. Pets are great, but I'm allergic to cat and dogs. Yet maybe when I'm older, 70's, I'll get a full size poodle. Smart, good natured, non-shedding.. loveable.. moppable..

my 2 cents. My sister in law smokes and has a hacking cough. From limited research it seems vaping nicotine mixes is not as bad as cigarettes. In that there are additives and levels of tar and smoke you're not putting into your lungs but you're still sucking in nicotine and whatever other chemicals they're adding to the vape mix. Thus it seems better then smoking, thus good for transitioning but in no way a healthy habit. **See Manitou's comment above.

Personally it hones my awareness by making me more alert outside. I find bills and coins, bracelets, wallets & purses all the time(& lots of pens). Wallets, purses and jewelry I'll ask around for the owner, leave at the front desk or lacking that leave'em where I found them(ie good karma yoga). When things are lost outside, I'm the person to call, not because of psychic ability but I've honed my awareness. There are tricks, angle of sun to where you're walking shows reflections. Keeping the eyes (& mind) in certain focuses. Probably helps to walk quite alot too. Coins.. you see the relevance in say (randomly shuffled) tarot, but not in a coin. That might be a lack of imagination. Personally I don't see the difference. Maybe coins are a little richer since they have persons on them, symbolism (explosive as of late) and dates rich in history(which cards lack). Like cards they have 2 sides, which in my reading has meaning. As does there wear and tear. I think like tarot & astrology much of the value I find is as I wrote Rorschach-ian. This heightened finding ability is part conscious, part unconscious field of awareness. Trained over decades because I took an interest in it. Its multi-dimensional too, interpretation requires a knowledge of history to feel the dates; reading history books and the daily- 'On this Date' in the newspaper keeps refreshing ones knowledge of what happened during certain years. As long as such personal superstitions are kept on the light side, I don't think there's any problem with them. Traveling around, meeting people, I have to say those with quirks and interesting (but positive) superstitions add a certain spice to my life. People like 'Guru' Gil who wrote his own gem-atria torah, a whole book of just numbers. It had meaning to him, and he'd see connections and numbers everywhere. Good guy, very interesting. As long as its positive, more power to him and such eccentricities allow one to see the world in a different way.

On the third hand, such things can also help hone awareness. I have my own half crazed system of fortune telling based on coins I find on the street. Each coin means something based on denomination (dimes bad), face up, face down, condition and particularly the year. Like most systems (imo) its mostly 'Rorschach-ian', reflecting my state of mind and expectations as much as glimpsing the future, though in truth the two are not so separate. It's not particularly accurate, yet I take the time to do it each time I find a coin. Cause right or wrong, the focus is what's important, not the 'prophecy'. The 'light' side of superstition is honing awareness, looking closer at the world for synchronicity and symbols. Not so bad really, if you keep it light and don't get into.. darker reflections. (i think its because of a darker reflection that i commented here) So viva la personal prophetic runes and devices. They add spice to life, though best not to expect others to follow your own eccentricity.

It'd be even more intriguing if Martin Luther King Jr had been killed by a Dutch Airplane that'd been painted red. Thing is, gematria works as long as you're creative and willing to force it a bit. For example, the date of death doesn't work, unless you knock out the year. The man's full name wasn't Martin King or Martin Luther King, it was Martin Luther King Jr, but his real legal name would blow out the gematria. Also JKLM isn't an airline, though that's not gematrian ofcourse, though googling JKLM gives you a first hit of Proudly Producing Energy For America.. given a few minutes I could probably link that company to Martin Luther King Junior, somehow, but why?? JKLM gives a gematria value of 38. If I google Martin Luther King Jr. and 38.. what wonderous links will I get? Ah very poignant speech on 38 and death ofcourse.. “You may be 38 years old, as I happen to be. And one day, some great opportunity stands before you and calls you to stand up for some great principle, some great issue, some great cause. And you refuse to do it because you are afraid…. You refuse to do it because you want to live longer…. You’re afraid that you will lose your job, or you are afraid that you will be criticized or that you will lose your popularity, or you’re afraid that somebody will stab you, or shoot at you or bomb your house; so you refuse to take the stand. Well, you may go on and live until you are 90, but you’re just as dead at 38 as you would be at 90. And the cessation of breathing in your life is but the belated announcement of an earlier death of the spirit.” So, what does it mean that the letters of his name translated into numbers thru the hebrew alphabet = 38.. or 44.. well it can mean just about anything you want it to. Hopefully something positive. But in imo, it can mean what you want it to.

Yeah, it's pretty nice . Went for a long weekend to the Red Mountain Spa (https://www.redmountainresort.com/calendar), which had its own amazing hikes, and Zion was just an hour and half drive away. Very worth it.

That download is pretty information heavy. Above my paygrade but seems like a newer version of some very expensive Traditional Chinese Medicine tomes.

That is a truth I too often forget. For me, few things examine the paradigm of disconnect more then Wim Hof training. In the breathing part you're faced with holding your breath (after breathing out) as long as possible, which requires learning to relax into what's essentially voluntary self strangulation. It takes awhile but you learn to accept and observe neutrally. Similarly for the cold showers, it begins somewhat tortuously and you gradually disassociate, til its just a sensation, you don't need to feel emotionally about it.

Lincoln (may have) said, Every man over 40 is responsible for his face (echoed by George Orwell a few score later). There may be some truth to that, yet it's probably worthwhile putting away our suppositions and giving the ugly and lopsided a chance.

To me, the '5 sounds' quote is an admonition to Keep It Simple. Don't overly complicate. More is not better. As Einstein said, keep things as simple as possible, but no simpler.

At ashrams I'd sleep on a bed with plywood w/ a thin (2") cushion on top. Thus quite hard and it took a night or two to get used to, but after that slept very well. At home Sterns & Foster, and have the front legs up on 3 books, so there's a slight downward tilt to the bed (ie head higher). When I'm up early I'll pull out my Spoonk (thorny yoga mattress) and that helps me relax.

Does the herbal protocol call for fasting or a special limited diet?

nice, very informative.

I agree that his death shouldn't invalidate him. He was a good writer whose fabulous stories introduced shamanism and esoteric energy arts to a large audience. He knew his stuff.. he had.. juice. His subjects weren't fake, but imo.. and that of many researchers, his stories were. Like a scientist who writes science fiction. The stories are fake.. but the science is real and/or stretched. With Castaneda, he had a PH.D in anthropology (first book was his thesis I believe) the phenomena he writes about are from misc. authentic sources, but imo the stories were made up. That he insisted against much evidence that they weren't is a major flaw of his legacy. I hope people read his books, and are inspired by them, but do not become followers or take them as literal. Rather be entertained, have there minds opened to possibilities and move on to authentic writers. Imo Castaneda is a good place to start but bad to finish.

Looks beautiful. Q. What do they do there? What kind of programs.. worship?? The site link doesn't mention much beyond history.

I get the feeling that for most (including myself) the MCO tends to be more awareness of nerve sensation moving around, then actual Chi. Most haven't.. ignited.. the chi movement, so they're not getting the 'real' MCO. Not that its a total loss, but for most, its not the real thing, which I assume is more like a controlled kundalini-esque experience.