sean

Great responses. Cam that is a cool distinction. Working on the story vs. transcending the story. As humans we are natural creators and tellers of stories. As spiritual beings we are naturally something much more than these human creations. Lozen, I like your distinctions also. Working on fixing the ego vs. acting as if you are not the center but a part of something much larger. Interesting about therapy not going deep enough. I've only just recently started doing therapy and I love it but maybe it's because I am going to it spiritually informed and fitting my experience into a larger framework instead of just "am I better yet?" I imagine some spiritual seekers could benefit from therapy though ... for example the passive-aggressive Buddhist types that you've mentioned having bad experiences with. Is meditation alone going to pull them out of that or could it even be exacerbating their narcissism? Something like a Buddhist informed group therapy might really help transcend social dysfunctions like this better than the cushion. What do you think? Yoda, I figured on you not being into therapy ... but don't you see at least some intersection with the therapeutic intention and say, the passionate aspect of your bhakti that has you seeking sustainably good moods? The word therapy itself comes from the Greek therapeia which meant "curing, healing", both of which tend to play a big role in spirituality. Are therapy and spirituality going in the same direction with one or the other just being better at different facets of the same work? Or are these distinctions mentioned (and perhaps others) significant enough that there will always be a divide between the two? David Deida actually says some cool stuff about therapy in this talk of his I saw a clip of last month. Not sure if I agree, but it's an interesting distinction along similar lines as what you two are saying, Cam and Lozen. He says that therapy is all about getting functional. Making yourself work properly in the contexts you find yourself in. This is totally different, he says, than Yogic practice which is about polishing your lens so that Light can flow through you. So you can do Yogic practices and have Light just pouring through you into the world and be totally fucked up functionally ... therapeutically. And you can be completely functional and also completely opaque to letting Light shine through. He even goes so far as to say that they are not even that compatible ... very similar to what you are saying Lozen, that therapy is about getting safe whereas Yoga begins when you start pushing your boundaries ... when you get out of your own way and let Light manifest as it will, even if this means manifesting some "unsafe" craziness. He also makes a final distinction between therapy, yoga and spiritual practice which he says is not really a practice at all, more like a pre-existing realization that you already are nothing but Light. You already are 100% Light regardless of how functional or translucent your body is, it's all Light. And much like Adyashanti he doesn't think there is a whole lot you can really do to achieve this realization, it's more like an act of Grace. I think his distinctions are really useful, but I also suspect that maybe they can inform a next wave of "therapy-yoga" that supports the balanced safety therapy may be seeking without getting too fascist about prohibiting the wild trippiness of a Yogic outburst. In other words, something that can sustain brilliant, wild artists and teachers that can push the envelope (like Chogyam Trungpas and Jim Morrisons) but keep them grounded enough to not drink themselves to death. Is this having cake and eating it? Sean [edit]sunshine, I posted this before you posted your thoughts. I dig your insights there. Especially about the possibility of an organic relationship between therapy and spirituality.

Wide, like too wide? Do you have to use a bottom scroller to see the whole screen?

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I dug the dark but I also am really liking this white too... makes the different forum elements feel like they are floating now and the bright white puts me in a better mood. I expanded the width to 900 pixels which also obviously made a big difference ... should actually be fine unless someone is on a really old laptop. Thanks again! It's cool to see so many people who actually care about design and how it effects them. Sean

The problem with making a template fixed width is that you have to consider worse case scenario with people's displays. It's at 750px which is a safe, standard fixed width. On a smaller display with lower resolution this forum could be taking up the whole screen. It's a balance between hoping it doesn't look too squished for some people, and hoping that it isn't so big that some people have to use the side-to-side scroll which sucks even worse. I'll be making some other changes that I think will help it look less squished though.

Yeah, I noticed it wasn't showing up but then I saw that it only pops up if at least once person is in there .. then it will tell you who is there.

Awesome, Matt. See you over there!

Background a little better now?

I think one way to help cut through some of this dilemna is to get really clear on what you are trying to achieve through your studies. Even if you decide, let's say, that what you are looking for is a mysterious and ineffable spiritual transformation that you can't even comprehend at this stage, that is ok .. but still you will have to judge every teacher on your own to determine if they have the qualities you are looking for. Even the "best" most authentic teacher in the world may not be the right teacher for you at this point. So in the case of Gilles Marin (he lives right down the street from my btw), I would ask myself "Why do I want to learn Chi Nei Tsang?". I would ask this way before I would ask "Is Gilles Marin's Chi Nei Tsang authentically passed down from master's, etc". You can spin your wheels for a long time trying to verify lineage. I'd rather trust my heart. And the answer to the former question is more generative anyway IMO ... it may be "I want to learn how to open up my tan tien." Now I have a clear mission. Now I can freely use whatever tools I come across. Years later you may find that some of those tools were stolen, and this guy hates that guy, and this master is a womanizer and this one evaded taxes ... and that's always food for thought, but it doesn't ultimately matter because you are not married to these people, you are just picking up tools to guide your path to mastery. 20 years goes by for all sentient beings and they are still "trying stuff out." I'd be disappointed to meet a master who is not still exploring and experimenting. The only way this is a failure IMO is if this playful flow is resisted. Order, discipline, focus, mastery ... these qualities emerge from the blissful swim through chaos of life. I'm not dissing your search at all, just my two cents on one aspect of it. Sean

Nice Wiki Pietro. Just had a chance to check it out.

Nice reframe Yoda. Now I have a big funny smile on my face that my hardened cynicism is having trouble wiping off. Fluffy angel bunnies kissing cute doggies ... awwwwwweee...

Sign up for the course, then login .. go to the common room and then the course material page. I learned just a basic overview of the astral realm and how it interfaces with the dream world ... how it's a really ideal place to cultivate, etc. I've stumbled onto the astral plane a few times and really enjoyed my experiences there and I love sleeping, so ...

Oh shit, we're doing take downs? I've only been drilling Rubber Guard submissions. The first two. I really like the second one ... Rubber Guard to Omplata.

Nothing can prepare you for my chi packed ninja fist!

Cameron, how about black and blue? You know ... like your face is going to look after I roundhouse kick it!!!

Yup, that's my academy Open Door and my teacher Sergio. Can't wait for this event. I've wanted to learn Ginastica Natural for years now. Sean

I tend to see most religions/religious beliefs as sociopolitical memes that have little if anything to do with spiritual cultivation. I don't really see religion as watered down spirituality as much as I see them as co-opted spirituality. I think a lot of "new age" stuff is the watered down spirituality ... fluffy angel bunnies kissing cute doggies and happy happy thoughts and somehow the realities of death, poverty, suffering, disease, etc. get painted over with a false white and left unprocessed.

I hadn't really thought that far ahead. During the winter I usually get in touch with my shadow spontaneously ... darker stuff comes up and it tends to reflect in my aesthetic ... darker clothes, hair, music ... I just felt like going dark on TTB for the winter but if it's really disturbing people I'll change it.

Yes. And it's an attractive woman with a sexy accent. They suggest you purchase a book off amazon that goes w/ the course. Book is like $10. I watched the first clip and I think I'll stick with the course.

Thanks for the tips. Yeah, my aim was for it to feel like the forum was emerging from the void, not being squished by darkness. Ack.

I went to a fixed 750 pixel wide layout for some technical reasons ... I'm still hammering on it and there are some changes to come ... I think it will feel good soon. Do you guys hate it? What platform and browser are you on affenbrot? Thanks, Sean

The black is supposed to be dark dark blue. I'm going to make it a nice gradient soon and it's just for Winter.

Heh. Fleeky is a guy ... but he looks a lot like a girl.

Lezlie and I are about to start "The Exorcism of Emily Rose" or whatever. I heard it was alright. Did you check out "High Intensity", that French horror movie? That shit was intense.

I was taking classes called "Chinese Acrobatics" at the Circus Center in San Francisco. Really great school that trains people that go on to Cirque du Soleil, etc. Rubber Boy came out of Circus Center if you've ever heard of him ... famous contortionist, is in some commercials and also plays a role in the HBO series Carnivale. Also Lezlie and I's good friend Fleeky still goes there... had a performance tonight actually. Anyway, I stopped taking the classes because they are expensive as balls but I still do the practices I learned as often as I can and I'll take the class again once I know I am good enough to pass the finals and graduate to the next level. The practices involve a lot of really aggressive stretching, handstands/handbalancing, tumbling ... stuff like that. Any day now I will be able to do this.

I dig Tool. I like their videos a lot. Lezlie is a big fan of James. We checked out Perfect Circle in SF last year. It was cool except the crowd was really lame IMO. My understanding is that James is into magick, particularly enochian stuff which obviously borrows heavily on Yogic practices and imagery.