Apech

I found the last period especially the last few days around the full moon very stressful. At night the moonlight was very bright here - unusually so and now the weather, the sun has gone burning hot unusually so for mid September. Not sure what its all about but feels like something is up to me.

Hi Stig, Welcome back. Sincerely. Look forward to your contributions as I always have done. Manchester Mantle, Since you don't seem to have singled me out for a personalized attack ... well not one I recognize anyway ... I don't feel the need to answer. I think your post clearly shows where you are coming from. A.

What do the fish say when you send them the electricity bill?

Hello JZ that's quite a story! Welcome to TTBs and I hope you enjoy your stay. A.

Just for the record. Steve sent that PM on his own initiative and as an individual - it was not part of any moderator discussion. It was his own personal reaction to Stig's activity on here recently. I thought several times about writing to him myself but time and just the personal nature of the attacks on the mod team put me off. The mod team are completely comfortable with what we have done and are doing. All decisions including that of suspending Scotty are made in good faith for the ultimate benefit of TTBs 'community'. Its a difficult job to do and we are not so blinkered that we think we get everything spot on every time ... but this is a moderated forum and as such members should for the good of everyone abide by the decisions made. Just to reiterate it was a seven day suspension not a ban or a death sentence.

Hi, Just thought I'd dip into the naughty thread as light relief from reading all the whats-wrong-with-moderation threads. Haven't got anything to contribute ... my remote is well, remote ... they call them commandos here in Portugal which sounds more interesting. Pass me the commando - has a kind of domanatrix ring to to it, don't you think?

Just to clarify (as I did on that thread) Tulku was contacted by the Mod team before your thread was started and given a warning. He then self-edited.

As a matter of record I want to point out that Tulku was contacted by the Mod team about his post (which was reported by three other users) before this thread was started. He edited his post as a result of moderator action in line with what the membership wanted. Witch has self-edited without such a request. We are still considering whether any further action is needed.

Eight and a naked woman (and a man behind her). Do I need to change my medication?

Dawei, Thanks for your comments. I think we agree about the time lag but it is almost inevitable given that the mod team are spaced around the globe. I'm in Europe, Mal in Australia, Steve and others in US. If a post is reported then we have a discussion amongst mods about what to do - this can take some time because of the time differences and so on. Also despite what some seem to think ... we think long and hard before acting. We are not a 24/7 service - we have lives to live we have to fit this all in to the rest of our day. I think I need to point out that Mal went to some effort to say to the parties involved to sort it out and move on. But this didn't happen. Scotty even started this new thread with the sole objective of getting another poster suspended. Maybe our delay in suspending Seth was part of this but I don't see its in the spirit of TTBs to sort out your differences in this way. People talk about self-moderation as being the ideal but that's not going to be possible unless people calm down and respect each other. Most of the feedback I've got is that Scotty should be suspended for longer or even permanently banned. This hasn't happened. He has been suspended for 7 days only - which is not a long period of time. His response to this is to log on with different accounts and hurl abuse at me initially. I don't care if he swears at me - I just think its pathetic. Even if the decision to suspend him was wrong (which I don't think) then his reaction speaks volumes especially for someone who has claimed on here to be enlightened in the Buddhist sense. He has demonstrated one thing - that we moderate by consent. We try to reflect the mood of the board as well as the guidelines that Sean wanted. We are aiming for mature, informed debate about important issues. I think we are making progress - I hope people will understand that and support us.

How could a Buddha ever stand up to someone who can light pieces of paper with their bare hands or stick chop sticks through a dining table?

Well ... twice in one afternoon is my limit for being fucked. Scotty2000 should not be posting here because as Scotty he is suspended for 7 days. For this reason and not for the personal abuse (before, during or after the fact) I am banning permanently the username Scotty2000.

Neither are you TBH.

Thanks.

It's a 7 day suspension not the end of the world, so why not try to get that in perspective. You clearly have no respect for other posters, especially the mod team, and what this place is and how it is run.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WhhSBgd3KI&feature=related

If I could foresee the links and topics you might not yourself even have thought of would that make me a clairgooglant?

Yes modern theories suggest that it was possible to build the Great Pyramid using a system of internal ramps, pulleys and rollers or mud slides ... engineers have also pointed to mistakes made in the construction of the sarcophagus chamber roof which had to rectified ... indicating that they were learning as they went along. However this does not take away from how much is unknown about the pyramid. It is possible that Khufu was doing repairs to something which (like the sphinx) was far older.

This is a view derived from a Judeo-Christian outlook that God or gods are there for security or to be blamed for something. If you study other cultures (including religious Taoism!) you will find the view of god(s) is very different. They are powers like forces of nature or aspects of consciousness ... however you like to put it ... with which you can enter a reciprocal relationship. Worshiping in this context means simply remembering the truth that they embody and applying it somehow to your own life. Worship is continual remembrance ... can't remember who said that but it's correct.

Hi Mrs. Vaj, Perhaps we are not like computers at all and so the whole analogy doesn't really apply. All I can offer is some intuitive sense that there is some kind of continuance after the body stops working. I can't prove it and many will tell you its fantasy but there you are. You have to make your own mind up. Have you asked your husband? A.

Aha. The word humble originally meant your offal, your intestines etc. (which are snake like) ... so being humble is being basic or perhaps fundamental. Most snakes crawl on their belly ... but this snake Neheb-kau has legs. When the Egyptians put legs on things it is a symbolic language for 'it moves of itself'. Compared to the energy which provides ka(s) and links them all together, Neheb-kau ... we should be humble. So in the Negative Confession ... the judgement scene of the weighing of the heart - when judged before Neheb-kau you say " I didn't think of myself as anything special ... I didn't distinguish myself from what I fundamentally am ... I kept things in proportion." Egyptian art is like their writing ... it has to be read to be understood. a link to a story involving the serpent god Shipwrecked sailor

O Nehebkau who comes from the city: I have not sought to make myself unduly distinguished. -- The Negative Confessions, The Book of the Dead ... its all about humility .

a bodhisattva would never describe anyone like this ... you quote Buddha one minute and then say this in the next ... how do you reconcile these views?

Thanks for this information. Great. Just a question - are people saying Three treasures = jing/qi/shen = three types of qi? A.

Nehebkau ... if your going to have a snake-god it should be a good snake-god.