Apech

What's Resh? Maybe I should know but I can't think what that is. Egypt is the granddaddy of a huge percentage of the western path ... so I agree there's nothing new in all this. But one thing I can say hand on heart it all comes from the Egyptian texts and so on and I have not back projected anything on to it. the practices outlines are the basic core and there is much more elaboration to be found in the BoD for instance. What I outlined is from one small Pyramid.

The odd thing about Osiris is he doesn't get a mention till 5th Dynasty. Other gods such as Horus and Hathor and Neith are mentioned from the beginning. But by the time of Unas' Pyramid texts he appears fully integrated into the view of the Cosmos. I can think of a number of reasons why this should be most important that every person was an Osiris N. (where N is the name) ... so maybe in early cases it was not necessary to mention his name. The interesting thing about the Duat is that it is sometimes said to be in the earth ... an underworld ... but also to be in the body of Nut (the sky). i resolve this by saying it is 'inner' to everything. An inner dimension accessible in certain ways ... hence the doorways, gates, portals ... as also land of the dead so access for ancestors. There were changes in convention going into the New Kingdom. For instance the body was North South before that and then became East West. Confusingly some of the symbols and deities were still arranged as if it was North South which caused me many puzzled hours in the British Museum until I worked out what had happened. Although I agree that the expression changed from period to period what they were expressing remained essentially the same. For instance the process became much more ethicalized in the New Kingdom with the weighing of the heart and so on ... while in the Old Kingdom it was just about do you know what to do and have you got the power to do it? Nothing to do with if you have been a good boy or not.

In that case I'm feeling rich today.

There are general divisions. the entrance to the Duat is through the horizon(s) West going in, East coming out. These are seen as kind of antechambers where transformation takes place ... called 'akhet'. You see the same word 'akh' for the spiritual entity and akh-et for the horizon ... its the place where the entity forms and become 'effective'. The liminal space between this world and the next. beyond that is a watery expanse called Wernes which means something like 'abundance'. It is rich with the power of renewal. Then you enter the imhet which means 'full up' and refers to the utter blackness of the deep Duat. from there you emerge into another watery environment and then to the Eastern horizon. So you go in in the West and come forth on the East on a solar path. This is from the Amduat book of the early New Kingdom. ok very briefly and in summary the process is a cycle. you have to repeat this cycle at least four times - but in practice probably many many times. It has nine stages. 1. orientate yourself with respect to the body, gather the parts of body and integrate. 2. invigorate the ka 3. dissolve into the Nun to pristine original awareness = Osiris 4. Release the ba from the body/earth 5. Fly up, or climb up a ladder, or float across the sky to the East 6. Experience the sunrise 7. Learn how to ascend and descend to and from the sky (up and down ladder at will) 8. return to 'body' / ka 9. exit Duat as akh free to do as you will. It takes many years to perfect each stage. I have not done this. But there are signs for each step of progress. I can explain how to do some of this in more detail if you want.

I doubt if you would find a linguist who thinks there is an etymological connection. However the symbolism of the false door, the beautiful west seen as a goddess with her hair hanging down and so on .... if it's not the case then it should be. Yes. Its very simple in the Old Kingdom. the sarcophagus itself, the sarcophagus chamber, the ante chamber and the niche chamber ... plus the entrance exit corridor. Um .. no not really ... perhaps in a sense. the parts of the body/person are identified with gods. I could (and will if you like) describe them but it would take a long post and its late here. They are described in the pyramid texts essentially ... although I am sure much has been lost in terms of exact procedures the basic ideas are there once you learn to read the text properly (not easy). Absolutely don't need a pyramid ... in fact only kings and nobles could afford such things even then. Much of Egyptian magic relies on the power of words and thoughts. All you need is a body, ka, ba and shade ... which you have of course. Not saying its easy and I am not claiming to have done it by the way ... but in principle you can do it by visualization and so on. I think the grand designs of the large scale monumental works were there to embed these things in the culture. Of course if you could get access to a pyramid then all the better.

The Egyptian spiritual entity which dreams, wanders off, appears as various animals and so on, is the 'ba'. At death the ba goes to the east and rises to the sky to view the next days sunrise. The word ba can also mean 'soul', or more properly 'divine spark' since gods are also called ba ... the sun is called the Great Eastern Ba. After death if the ba is not lured back to reunite with the other parts of being the so-called second death occurs. Essentially the ba becomes lost in the vastness and that's it for you ... finito. Alma minha gentil, que te partiste Tão cedo desta vida descontente, Repousa lá no Céu eternamente, E viva eu cá na terra sempre triste. My gentle soul who left me, Too early from this life of discontent, Rest there in the eternal heaven, While I live forever sad here on earth. Camões

Thank you! Very kind words.

I'm Toast ... does that count? ... only one letter away.

You flipped your what? in his face? Anyway ... I think Aikido is a bout learning general skills and not techniques ... so I guess in a real fight it would make you aware of zanshin, balance, timing, reading the others body intention and all that ... even if you do win by beating him with a stick.

agggggghhhh ohhhhhhh crunch! reminds me of the good old days. But blue hakama! So tasteless.

Get a cat! We live in a rural place where there are mice and rats all over. Nina brings back at least two mice and a dead rat every day and her six kittens (yes really I have seven cats) are big enough to do the same. The area round our house is now a blitz mice/rat free zone. All natural ... no poison or traps needed.

Darwin didn't actually use the term evolution very much (I think once in Origin) he spoke of natural selection. And he certainly didn't posit the idea of superiority. Those illustrations of stooping apes leading to upright man are a distortion. His model was more like a tree branching out in all directions with some of the branches withering because they don't meet the conditions of the environment. So mankind is actually just a primate adapted to the conditions on the planet. We are not descended from apes or monkeys but we have a common ancestor with them. There's an argument though that once human beings began to control or at least alter their own environment and also care for the vulnerable which nature would have killed ... we stepped outside the sphere of natural selection. As a matter of interest the Sakya clan in Tibet believe themselves descended from celestial beings.

The devil may get his sharp talons into those children at an early age ... but then I don't believe in Satani Claws.

The Egyptian pyramids were models of the Dwat (Egyptian underworld) as can be easily shown by study of the Pyramid Texts ... like giant three dimensional mandalas. Its a form of cognitive mapping.

...alien red herring ...

delightfully bright... I passed my exams, went forth surprisingly dumb.

Anyone care to explain to a concerned Brit. why there was such a big Republican vote? I assume we now have a lame duck president and just wait a couple of years for a republican president????

Seriously if you get a coal/wood burning stove with a proper flue and cowl you should be ok in wind ... also warm.

Or get this chap to sit on your chimney ...

I would suggest spiritual totalitarianism is more or less self contradictory ... since anyone with any spirit would not allow their lives to be dictated to by the state. I also disagree about 'part of the whole' ... a continuum does not have 'parts' ... 'she' would realise that they are the Whole in that place, in that person. I don't disagree with the 'Canadian' but I do wonder who it is. Rather strangely anonymous quote there, which just makes me all the more intrigued as to who the individual who spoke those words is.

I think you are equating morality with externally imposed rules of behaviour. As a condemner of Abrahamic religion this is very Abrahamic of you. As in the 10 commandments which are written for man by God. While I am talking out the reality of making choices. Action and the effect of action. It does matter what you do but not because God says so but because of the effect it causes. The skandhas as the heaps or accumulations which through dependent origination give rise to apparent existence are not evaporated through realisation but transformed into aspects of wisdom. It could be argued I suppose that action in accordance with the Tao is amoral, in that there are no boundaries of morality in nature but equally I could argue that action in accordance with Tao gathers Te and thus is a kind of ultimate morality - a kind of ultimate value in itself beyond all other values. I think I could easily contrast the actions of the Taoist sage with the amorality which arises from self indulgence or a confused reaction to being oppressed. Either way, anything 'totalitarian' is to substitute some kind of imagined authority for the genuine responsiveness of action non-action. The pathway is about individuation - to become more ourselves, more our true nature if you like. Have you ever met an advanced or realised being who is not in possession of a strong individual personality?

a nerve disorder Eve ran with the same letters Never a quitter.

Spiritual Totalitarianism! No thanks. What I value is being left alone to live life according to my own understanding and ethics. A third of the Buddhist path is moral ... without the ability to make decisions you cannot be a moral entity. I think you are confusing the doctrine of anatman with just being nada. Yes I will put others first but ironically it is I who have to choose to do that. If someone else chooses for me then it is no decision at all.

blood flows despondent, but my lymph's resurgent, it's neurological.