sean

Pretty creative combination of EFT and chakra cleansing ... f3hy3P0W2BU

If you send me the image at [email protected] and I will post it for you. Sean

Awesome reports everyone. Really enjoying reading about everyone's various approaches and viewpoints. Please keep 'em coming. Taomeow, your post struck me. I have always had ADD-like symptoms since I was a child where I would zone out quite a bit, kind of in my own little stillness trances. Growing up I was often told I was in "my own little world". Later people assumed I was a stoner. I'm often curious how much of this zoning out is a coping mechanism for escaping unpleasant experiences. This raises an interesting conversation on the difference between trance and meditation, something my Taoist teacher Liu Ming really emphasized. I believe he felt it was a very important distinction in historical Taoism. He considered meditations that cultivate states such as samadhi, trance inducing meditations. They serve a purpose, but my impression was that Ming felt they had more shamanic value, for navigating bardos, healing, divinations, etc. Whereas the intention of zuowang is to just be with the starkness of ordinary reality. As it is. And "as it is" is what the ego, or whatever you would call it, the grasping for separateness, would do anything to avoid. Because reality is a disaster for the idea of separateness. This is why eyes are kept open (very difficult for me) and there is no object of meditation. Choiceless awareness. Without slipping out into trance, which can also be supremely challenging for me. From this perspective, trances can be one of the most highly sophisticated forms of reality avoidance. Then of course there is the issues that Japhy Ryder, you articulated so well. "movement always implies stillness, and that stillness always implies movement." In an "absolute" sense, Stillness isn't a posture we can assume. It just is (-- or maybe more accurately, it is not -- since it is no-thing, but anyway) ... A big part of the struggle of our practice is trying to align ourselves with this ineffable Stillness. The paradox being the fact that trying is also a form of movement. In this way it seems naively literal to assume that trying force the body to be still will somehow align us with this profound mystery of capital S - Stillness. But then I must admit -- as naive as this does seem, there does appear to be a relationship between engaging in regular stillness meditation and the arising of a deepening resonance with Stillness. Wether this apparent arising of "more stillness" is itself another illusion and/or whether this relationship of stillness meditation to Stillness is causal ... well these are koans. It's too much to grasp. Which is good. My mind is stopped in it's tracks. Humbled. Ultimately this is where I agree with the Christians when they say it is through an utterly mysterious grace that God descends. Slashing through the ego's plots to storm the Tao through this or that method -- generating a kind of dumbfounded humility in her wake. Enlightenment is a giant failure. Sean

Via Anova Sweet and Sour Stamps Stamps released in China to celebrate the Year of the Pig taste of sweet and sour pork. When you scratch the front of the stamps, it smells of the popular chinese dish and when the back of the stamp is licked it tastes of the dish too. Read more

Episode 6 - This week on The Stuart Davis Show Episode 6, Zen and the Zen of Zen. It's a Special Episode, all about Buddhism. What is Zen? What is not Zen? The Stu Clones debate the essence of the ineffable. Is Zen madness? Sanity? Is it simply the direct apprehension of Reality as-it-is, or does it involve a practice, and the development of one's World View. juElohSYUiM&eurl

Beautiful site. And I've heard wonderful things about Zhongxian Wu. Welcome. Sean

Yes, I've gotten a lot out of her method of inquiry and also the 3-2-1 Shadow Process recommended by the Integral Institute. And the Meta Model of NLP (Structure of Magic ) come to think of it. Your post is exactly what I was trying to get at with WayFarer btw. Whenever I find myself thinking or saying sweeping generalizations about entire cultures, particularly when it involves assumptions of my ability to mind read, I get a lot more out of reversing the statements and treating them as projections of my own issues that need to be resolved, as opposed to trying to defend them as real and "out there". Sean

I really recommend True Meditation, I think it's a great introduction to meditation, I wish I listened to it 10 years ago. I've also gotten a lot out of the material at www.aypsite.org. Sean

Really brilliant article IMO, I heartily recommend reading the entire piece. Via Prospect via Tao of Defiance Identity and Migration Modern liberal societies have weak collective identities. Postmodern elites, especially in Europe, feel that they have evolved beyond identities defined by religion and nation. But if our societies cannot assert positive liberal values, they may be challenged by migrants who are more sure of who they are. Read the rest

My interest isn't in discounting your observations or changing your conclusions. I could challenge your belief intellectually by suggesting that the past only appeared "nicer" because there were more established social norms in America that people more or less followed blindly, often at the expense of their true nature. And that for a variety of reasons - including your sixties, these social constraints in America are missing, resulting in generations left to make their own way without clear or consistent answers from culture and media. So the decisions modern generations make may not look as pretty and clear and consistent as a heart warming episode of Lassie, but, arguably, they have a lot more integrity. Furthermore, American government doesn't strike me as any more or less fundamentally corrupt as in the past, it's just that, again, media covers things much differently. Arguably with more accuracy and less propaganda. Don't get me wrong, there is still plenty of propaganda. But mass media is held to a whole different standard today. Particularly now with the existence of rich social media such as forums and blogs. As far as I can tell, television of the 50's was ALL propaganda for one very narrow view of a white American way of life. But I really don't care to further debate intellectually on this point. I know what my answer would be if someone asked me "Can you absolutely know your opinions on this is true?". So I'm more interested in your response as a person, to the question: "Can I, with absolute certainty, know that most people just do not care about doing good things for other people?" When you ask yourself that question, what comes up? Sean

Better late than never? Welcome aboard tsa. I've enjoyed your contributions before even getting a chance to say hello.

Welcome seadog. Love the name.

Hey Bob, nice to have you here. Have you ever read the Hua Hu Ching? Another member here turned me onto it (thanks Mat Black), and I've been enjoying it a lot. Anyways, welcome.

Hello adept. Welcome.

Hey there, welcome. Do you have any experience with meditation RomeoGunn? There are a lot of different approaches tailored to different kinds of minds and bodies, so what works varies by person and also over time even for a single person. Are you drawn to explore a particular type of meditation at this point in your life?

Via Tao of Defiance Your sign is oppressing my aura. A holiday sign sighting in Byron Bay: Well, you were only going to smoke it anyway. Unable to stand the shame any longer I promptly joined the queue nearby to have my car recycled into wind chimes. I now drive a fridge. Read more

All this talk of Right View, how about just a nice view. Click for a closer look

Pretty cool, huh! I think I've watched it like a dozen times now.

Wayfarer, I am not saying that you create reality itself. That's a different discussion. I am asking you how you are making the distinction between your perceptions and reality as it is. Here is a very simple question. Can know with absolute certainty, that "most people just do not care about doing good things for other people"? Yes or no. Sean

Via A Few Things Ill Considered How to Talk to a Global Warming Sceptic I have spent about 18 months now rather obsessed with the controversy over Global Warming. Firstly, as a matter of disclosure, IANACS (I Am Not A Climate Scientist) but rather an intelligent layman who is concerned about an issue with ramifications for all of us. That said, I have read and discussed and enquired about a great deal of the scientific material that is out there and quite easily accessible. The scientific case is actually not that difficult to follow even if you lack the specific and highly technical knowledge required to create it. One thing I have noticed over these months is that there are a very limited number of objections or attacks on what is really very sound and well resolved science but they come up over and over again on sci.environment, alt.global-warming and the blogs I visit either regularily or occasionally. I think this is an important debate and I want to help fight the good fight. Now there are already a few very good FAQ's out there about the science, so I don't feel the need to create yet another. Rather what I would like to do is provide a layman's guide to defending against the assorted specious attacks that are out there, both by pointing out the basic logical fallacies they are based on and providing some appropriate reference material to avoid the typical "is too, is not" exchanges these things frequently devolve into. Nothing like a nice link to an authoritative resource to refute the factually incorrect pontifications. Nothing like a calmly presented and solidly logical rebuttal to put the scaliwags in their place! I invite suggestions for other Guide topics and any and all scientific corrections or clarifications. Any advice I do take up, I reserve the right to delete from the comments just to keep a coherent page. So without further ado here are links to the best responses I can think of for the following climate sceptic arguments, please feel free to refer to, paraphrase or quote as desired: Read More

Wayfarer, not purely a mental construct, agreed. But feelings are also part of our perception. The questions is, how do you firmly distinguish between your perceptions (thoughts, feelings, sensations, impressions) of another and the way that other "really is"? Because that which you use to make the distinction is also your perception, no? Pretty crucial inquiry. "I find most people just do not care about doing good things for other people", is just your opinion, that's fine. But I would suggest not to mistake it for an insight into reality. And to equate Pavlina's article with Arab bashing and fear mongering. LOL! You old-school hippies are a trip sometimes. Powerful! You've really enriched my sense of the meaning of natural sincerity. Thanks. Sean

Nice. What do you think the relationship between Sincerity and Integrity is? I think sincerity is more accessible in the moment. Am I being sincere right now? Whereas integrity has more of a solid feel to me. Like deeply worn grooves in solid rock over a long life of sincere choices. Something like that.