Apech

hello chaugnar, I hope you are not put off by some of this dialogue I suppose there are two possible types of link you could look for. One is historical i.e. did ideas from Daoism spread to the Middle East by 0 A.D.? And the other is comparative - can you compare or even reconcile the two systems and still make sense. On the first point - although it might seem a stretch - it is perfectly possible via the Silk Route and so on - that ideas from China found their way to the European ancient world. Some people even attribute all or a lot of the Western Tradition to China ... I personally have a problem with this - but I have no problem with the idea of Chinese influence on the world from which Christianity emerged. To some people some of what Jesus taught does not seem very Judaic but this can be explained by influence from the Greek Stoics and so on. In fact there is a strong theory which shows that Buddhist ideas via Alexander the Great's invasion of Northern India influenced Greek schools of thought. Then of course you could say that Buddhism once it came out of India, it too was influenced by Chinese thought. So you could suggest if you wanted to some historical cultural link between Christianity and Daoism and not be thought completely barking mad. In terms of comparing the systems - they are of course very different. One is determinedly theistic while the other seems to see the absolute as a non-personal natural energy or way. So to start with there is the 'God problem' to deal with. They are also ethically very different - not that you would end up behaving that differently perhaps - but more that one suggests a moral plan handed down as God's will - and the other that morality only arises because immorality exists (to paraphrase) - two views which seem completely at odds. All this points to big difficulties. Of course mystically you could say that whatever spiritual state, enlightenment, oneness or whatever arises is the same whatever system you practice ... i.e. it is not dependent on what you do but rather on what it is. So at that level I guess you could find common ground between a Daoist and a Christian mystic. (I'll spare you any more of my waffle and wish you good luck). Cheers.

I think there are real and interesting questions here - (I haven't managed to watch that video except the very beginning) - and I also think just as we have to peel away the European scholars 'projections' of the AIT and possibly the AMT, there seems to be an attempt to replace this with the Indian National Theory - instead of following the evidence. Surely someone can step back and examine the evidence objectively without taking sides.

Pilgrim has a very big P!

Yeah but what is the goal? I always assumed it was to have a board which allowed as much as possible freewheeling discussion and debate with people from all round the world - of different genders, ethnicity and background etc. who could bring themselves and their ideas into the forum and make this a lively and interesting place. Unlike I would say most 'spiritual' forums - which are usually dead and more than a little dull. The way to do this I believe is to have a few simple rules (like no ad hominem) which are enforced in a way (firmly) which people learn quite quickly to stay within the guidelines. I completely agree that we should have no sexism, homophobia, racism and so on. It's not ok. The way to deal with this is to say - hey! did you mean that? (cos sometimes people don't express themselves very well especially if English is not their first language) - will you remove it? - no? sorry but you're suspended. I don't see a problem with no Trump on here - if that's what you want - cos to be honest politics is a side distraction anyway. You make assumptions about everyone's privilege - but you don't even know for sure what ethnicity, gender or sexuality they really are. You don't know if we are rich or poor - powerful or not - you have no idea what privilege we may or may not have. We are anonymous - you are really just guessing - unless they have explicitly told you you don't actually know. To be honest when you post like this I just see massive imbalance, anger and frustration (within yourself and with the world) - but of course that's just my impression and I might be wrong. Like everyone I'm grateful for you setting up and running this site which has become part of my life like nothing else on the internet - but its a real discordant when I see your version of moderation is to tell someone to fuck off. Then there is context. This was all about commemorating Marblehead's passing a year ago - which Limahong had remembered and prompted us to 'celebrate'. It wouldn't have happened without him - and he clearly has/had a great attachment to Jim - as I did and many of us. It's probably (as far as I know) the first time a DaoBum has died on 'active duty'. Do you think banning the organiser on the very day sends a good message about respect and compassion???? No it was cheap, lazy and arrogant. To which you should own.

Interesting but not particularly new - the article doesn't source his conclusions so it's hard to comment apart from it is most probably correct as far as I can tell.

Welcome Boerewors, Nice to see you got your post approved. Look forward to discussing your path on here.

That's where we were at before Sean returned with his new approach. But it takes a team to do all the warnings and requests to self edit and so on as it is quite time consuming - a team which doesn't exist at the moment. We used to think of moderators as kind of model citizens to encourage self-moderation - so the communication with members was usually moderate. Calm, respectful and yet firm. Saying 'fuck you' 'passive aggressive homophobe' doesn't fit with this old style, as it is in itself an ad-hominem which was always the main no-no. I'm probably not the only one who is puzzled and slightly shocked by this new environment.

Jesus H. Christ!

He's commemorating the anniversary of the death of a good friend to many of us here. You may object to his use of language but telling to go fuck himself is a bit harsh don't you think?

I DON'T READ ANYTHING IN CAPITALS.

Handbags!!!!! Or: Increasingly arid climate leads to irrigation. Irrigation means field systems. Field systems increase crop yields. Increase crop yields lead to surpluses. Surplus leads to trade. Trade requires weights and measures.

As Nungali has already pointed out that article is all over the place - and I am sure the journalist who penned it did not understand what was being said to him. It doesn't link to the original research paper either. But Harrapan DNA is interesting in itself. Why people are still quoting Mortimer Wheeler (even to debunk him) I have no idea, he died in 1976 FGS. Any political influence should also be rejected as apart from anything else whatever we now call a country or people is irrelevant in 2000 BC or before. I don't mind Out of India if it turns out to be true - but my sketchy understanding of the weight of linguistic and genetic evidence is Into India. Anyway - what's the problem? - everyone comes from somewhere (else) if you go far back enough - didn't Vikings found the first Russian state (or has this been debunked now also ). I watched most of that Neelesh Oak vid you posted - very interesting and I bought one of his books on Kindle: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00INBA1UW/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_d_asin_title_o00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 The Historic Rama: Indian Civilization at the End of Pleistocene hope it' good

What explanation is given of the genetic and linguistic information which seems to support some kind of migration of a distinct group of people i.e. Aryans, do you know? Thanks.

That's all well and good Gendao but it doesn't tell us exactly which planet Everything is from, does it.

“Fare thee well, king: sith thus thou wilt appear,Freedom lives hence, and banishment is here.”

https://www.amazon.com/Bringing-Mind-Training-Life-Exploring-ebook/dp/B0813VLG6S/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Bringing+mind+training+to+life&qid=1575389617&sr=8-1

oops

Indeed and it gets worse they used galena as well:

I once went into Starbucks and asked for a tall, white Americano - and Robert Mitchum walked out from behind the counter. Would you believe it?

Not much because they are as you point out not very Egyptian and possibly Sumerian - the circular space between the necks is where the malachite was ground and mixed to make eye make up. Green was the colour of health, wholeness and soundness - so green eye make-up was good. I had to look up 'huaraches' - I'd never heard of them There's another fringe theory about the ankh - that is a cross section of a bovine vertebrae.

The ankh = sandal or sandal straps is a well attested Egyptological idea. In fact Gardener and others use it but with rather tenuous justification. One origin is the Palette of Narmer which pruports to show the king unifying the two lands (North and South Egypt) as below: Behind the king is an attendant holding the king's sandals. On one side he wears the crown of the North and on the other the crown of the south. I believe this was found by Petrie at Herankonopolis. One of the ancient capitals called Nekhen by the Egyptians. I've seen a replica in the Ashmolean and it to my eye is far from convincing and far too convenient that such an object should be found - and the name of the king Narmer does not correspond to the king list name of Menes as the first dynastic pharaoh. It certainly shows a king conquering various areas but it could be one of many pre-dynastic pretenders in my view. The ankh means 'life' and bears only a passing resemblance to a sandal strap - its use in iconography is of a 'life force' which can be distributed from gods to men (and women) by gods in a form of libation - it flows over them. The was scepter is usually thought of a symbol of Set (Sutekh) because its head resembles the Set beast - which is an unidentified animal with a long nose and long (usually square tipped) ears - rather like an okapi or ant-eater in appearance. In early Egypt Set was not seen as evil but as equal and opposite to Horus as the god of kingship. One pharaoh at least used both gods , Per-Ibsen:

Hard to believe it's almost a year. Still missing Jim's presence everyday, he was so important to this place it's a wonder we've carried on thus far without him.