Apech

I'm fine thanks for asking. P.S. I like your Carla Thomas too.

Hi, How are you now Zeb? Are you still getting pain etc.? I'm not sure which thread(s) you are suggesting should be pinned. Cheers A.

The Egyptian system precisely identifies numerous points on the body and head with various deities in order to purify and empower it. In the Pyramid texts the king is said to circulate the 'mounds of Horus and Set' - these are the energy centres ... those relating to perception are those of Horus and the ones about developing power are those of Set. Significant parts of this type of practice are about establishing the heart in the body and also 'joining the head to body' which means achieving a level of integration. For a long time Egyptologists suppressed the sexual content of Egyptian religion even though it is self evident and key to understanding what they were talking about. For instance the god Atum effectively masturbated the world into existence, Isis drew semen from the dead Osiris by creating a magical phallus, the god Min is shown with a erect penis and had orgiastic rites which involved the consumption of lettuce opium and Hathor was herself the goddess of joy, music, sex and so on. The word for Ba or 'soul' is sometimes written with a phallus and this is said about the resurrected king in the Pyramid Texts "Unis is lord of semen, who takes women from their husbands to the place Unis likes according to his hearts fancy." (this last quote is meant with some humour by the way). So I think you can safely conclude that sex was at the heart of Egyptian teachings.

I think you are right ... although some Taoist deify Lao Tzu and the Tao ... mind you some Buddhists deify Lord Buddha ... so its just a human tendency to want to have an ultimate to cling to.

I think our western culture makes us hung up on having to believe something - as if this is important or the key to something. This comes from the Judeo-Christian approach to spirituality. The Buddhist approach is more about building confidence in the view ... you can accept ideas like karma because they work and also because they are logical rather than some leap of faith. Cause and effect - which is the basis of karma - is logical - if you do something, act in a certain way or effect some kind of change then inevitably it has some consequence because the energy of that act is not destroyed. In terms of a moral or ethical position if you have choices about what to do then it is better to choose the positive, generous or beneficial option ... on the basis that generally this will at some time in the future (for someone if not yourself) will have positive results. The idea that we are blank sheets of paper when born is not altogether convincing. For instance we know that each one of us is genetically unique ... ok the essential nature of our minds may be pure but as actual people we have characteristics even at birth ... even identical twins are slightly different. Through interacting with the world we very quickly pick up thoughts, feelings and emotions and so on which shape us further ... this is not through faults exactly but just how it works for beings with minds which are not realised. Rebirth I think, also is a very different idea from reincarnation. Its more that whatever energy or consciousness which makes up a person is not lost at death but is somehow passed on just as the water in a river flows on or a candle flame is lit from a previous flame ... so it is not that 'you' are born again but that there is some kind of transmission. Obviously these are my thoughts and people need to make their own minds up about these things. But I think key to this kind of thing is to examine critically any assumptions you may make about how things are.

Some further authority for my mod message above:

*** Moderator Message **** Dear Fellow TaoBums, I know you are better than this. Insults and criticism are harsh words are they not? How about some restraint in favour of 'right speech'. I have read most of this thread and also the calls for moderator action. Rather than that why not moderate your selves? Even if you disagree with what the other person is saying they have a right to say it ... stick to the subject and do not make the subject someone else's shortcomings. Please avoid personal attacks and insults or we will take action. Peace and compassion, Apech for Mod Team *** Message end ***

Presenter tells DL joke to DL but it backfires: BBC site

Family, shmamily ... who needs them? Take my mother-in-law .... no, really, take her ... please ...

Hi, I found out a while ago that my L5 is fused to the sacrum - which is prob the same with you. I had an Xray after I hurt my back and they told me this. They said it would reduce slightly my flexibilty in lower back but otherwise I may not have any probs. I have had sciatica which may be related ... I don't think it impacts on cultivation though ... and you're right the sacrum is important. Some stuff on here if you look around. Cheers A

Hello and welcome back. Hope all went well.

From the 4th dimension? Why pick Australia then?

Oh ... not an icecream with a stick of chocolate in it ... how disappointing. Is this it then?

Go to your profile. Click edit profile Click 'Manage ignored users' form list on right (6th I think) Add user name and click either/ both/ and posts, PMs. Actually not sure if this blocks entire topics by said user as I've never ignored anyone. Try it and see.

I'd like to agree ... but have no idea what you are talking about.

Hi, What this lady Caroline Dekker appears to be doing is using the energy of particular Egyptian temple sites to energize and harmonize the chakras. This in itself seems valid (provided it works). What was confusing me was some of the choices of sites and also the description of the deities and so on. For instance Kom Ombo ... the main deity associated with this town is Set .. he was known as Nubty or 'the Ombite'. But the temple which she is referring to built by Thut 3 I think has Horus the Elder and Sobek the crocodile god. In certain periods it was considered incorrect to name Set directly ... although in the earliest time this was not the case when Horus and Set were seen as equal if opposing forces (bit like yin/yang). BTW I think the lower Tantien is the 2nd chakra not the 1st. Suggest you contact her and ask more questions about what she does (if there's a contact on that site) ... I googled her name and found a blog also.

The term caveman i.e. literally person living in a cave could be applied to both neanderthal and homo sapiens. So I think the idea that we are not descended from people who might have lived in caves is erroneous. Neanderthal are thought to be an off shoot of human evolution and not our direct ancestors. For a time humans lived side by side with neanderthals in Europe and it may be that we did play a part in their eventual extinction (there are various theories about this). The last known neanderthal remains are on the rock of Gibraltar (south Spain). The skull with the 'bullet hole' - who knows? But shot with a bullet 38,000 years ago ... no I don't think so.

OK found it through google My link

Link will not work for me. The list of chakras and temple sites seems a little confused to me - where does this information come from?

No I did it over a period of time not in one sitting. I am a weak poor fool and also I don't walk around naked ... well only in my bathroom ... obviously I wish to discourage jealousy in others ... or something ....

I believe the sadhanas say this ... if you do this then you will achieve this. OK I think its a mixture mostly in that Lamas do not stress this kind of thing. Just to be clear I respect Buddhism greatly ... I was just pointing out what I perceive as a weakness which is tendency to think in this way ... I wasn't repudiating the power of dharma or vajrayana in saying this.

I have tried it. Maybe not well enough ???? but I have. When you walked around naked did they see the point? Were you making a big point or a small one ?(ha ha). Yes, crazy wisdom ok ... but that's more to do with what I'm saying ... there is no formula for that I think ....

Well, yes in a way they did and if you read Vaj above somewhere he seems to affirm that some practices are taught in this way.

The ancient texts have to be read properly to be understood - which is something Egyptologists or archeologists struggle to do because they have no basis or experience (inperience) of meditiation or energy working. But if you use a phenomenological approach - that is let the text 'speak' to you then you can with a lot of work get understanding. But the point is that this understanding would be a cultural norm in ancient times but has now been lost to us because of (at least ) 2000 years of interference from Judeo-Christian (and to a certain extent Greek thought). The Egyptian system had a clearly understood goal of becoming '3kh' ... although that would take a lot of explaining nowadays. I don't bother with kabbalah or Crowley much although have read a bot of both. If the question is - was there a properly mapped out system for liberation before Buddhism the answer is yes (IMO) but if the question is 'is there an extant system which pre-dates Buddhism?' well probably no ... have we discounted yoga schools ???not sure(?). My other point is that maps, mandalas and world views (e.g. shamanic) are good and valid ... but formulaic methods don't and can't work. For instance some Buddhists schools will tell you that if you sit in this posture and chant this mantra 100,000 times etc you will automatically become enlightened (or at least gain some level of liberation). This in my view is pure b/s. Codes for life can be helpful of course. You don't walk down the high street naked (well you might Vaj I'm not sure ) you wear clothes which make you accepted and acceptable to people ... this is in my view the status of right living and so on ... its a good code for life which keeps you sufficiently balanced that you can get on with practice without a lot of hoohaa going on in your life ... same with gathering merit which gives you a chance of what Gampopa calls 'leisure and endowment' ... so that you can practice in peace.

Well I was thinking 'ex' means 'out' and so experience means tested in the outer world - so if you test it in the inner world its got to be an inperience. Just a thought.