Apech

Do you have a source for this assertion about the origins of communism? BTW most Taobums threads are like this ... that's just how it is.

Successful at getting your 5$ ... is that what they mean?

This sounds wise to me.

Just wanted to share this: BBC sun pictures stunning images.

Its amazing isn't it.

Thanks CowTao interesting reading - I'm beginning to get used to this idea of kundalini sufferers - as if its a disease

First - Kate and Gold thanks for this discussion - very interesting. Second - definitions .... I was once taught that we don't define things we define the limits of the application of terms. So in other words instead of saying 'what is X?' we would be better saying 'to what can I properly apply the term X?' For instance for the word (and it is just a word after all) 'god' - to what can I properly apply this term? 'Properly' here suggesting 'usefully and appropriately'. So maybe for a pagan the word god could be applied in many ways through a spectrum from some cosmically significant power to the spirit of a tree (and not even 'god of trees' but the god of a specific tree). If we consider the universe to be founded on spirit then this pagan way of using the term god doesn't seem to cause any problems. If we are materialist then we might say 'all I see is a tree, I don't recognize any god.' In fact there would be no circumstances in which a materialist would chose to apply the term god. When we get on to God rather than god some problems start. This is because monotheism is a concealed dualism which always wants to produce the equation God=Absolute, even though Absolute would, to be absolute, have to apply to not-God as well as God. The elevation of the term God in this way is I think really a product of insecurity as the monotheists do not like to think that there is anything greater or higher than that to which they believe they have a personal relationship. I recognize this feeling of wanting somehow to make the final statement about what is real and all powerful - but as Lao Tse said this is a mistake because as soon as you name it ... apply a term ... then this is not the true Tao or Absolute. I believe that mystics (and I use this term as broadly as possible to include all practitioners, cultivators, meditators) have the advantage in that we accept the mysterious as valid. We prefer penetration of the mystery to dogma and we embrace uncertainty because in it is revealed the tremulation of real power and in that the immediacy of our relation to it. I would like to discuss the Void also because much is written on here and elsewhere about emptiness which is in my view as misleading as all this talk of God. Cheers John

Gold, Thanks for the compliment. Yes, the USSR was a socialist state (or a union of them) with the goal of communism (never achieved) - true. I know what you mean about capitalism being a C student but you have to admit its got a lot more guile and cunning than communism (or fascism/totalitarianism) - the bank bail out was actually a panic by government when it had the specter of global meltdown pointed at its head (if you can point with a specter !). I think the public sector always loses out when it tries to play poker with those city boys. I believe that the previous Dalai Lama was quite shrewd in his dealings with China, India, Britain and Russia and played one off against the other. So it wasn't all navel gazing in the high Himalayas. But you are right of course - why didn't they introduce gradual reforms to modernise? why not form treaties with India, Britain, USA to guarantee their borders? Not sure why - but maybe we just have to conclude that it was their karma (?).

I think if I remember rightly that the hot /cold thing was about the fact that while heat or temperature is a measure of the kinetic energy of the molecules in a substance and therefore exists and can be measured - cold is just a relative term meaning absence of heat energy and cannot be said to exist as such. There is absolute zero which is -273.16 degrees (roughly) where all the heat energy is gone so that could be well described as cold (!) but this is a postulated condition which has never been achieved or observed and in any case matter changes its nature in these states because of quantum effects. It is late and I am rambling and I'm not sure if this makes any sense to anyone but me. I tried to help a girl out and I failed .... story of my life ... ha ha. John

The ideas in communism are an intelligent response to and critique of capitalism as it existed in the late 19 century in places like Britain and Germany. Marx attempted to deconstruct the alienation of human beings who had become subject to economic processes which no longer served the purpose of creating individual wealth but subjected the majority to act as cogs in the great industrial machine. the few got very rich at the expense of the majority who lived a life of drudgery. There is no wonder that Marx and Engels wanted to change things. Marx dismissed any spiritual nature of reality and saw religion as something fed to the masses to keep them from reacting to the adverse conditions in which they lived. The opiate of the people - although he did also describe it as a soulful cry in a soulless world. So he understood that people were yearning for freedom - but he wanted that energy to go into changing this world rather than dreaming of another. The capitalism we have today is one which has learned to avoid the extremes of the industrial revolution and the ravages of depression - but not because it has our best interest at heart but because this is its best protection against revolutionary change. The states which have called themselves communist such as the Soviet Union and the PR of China developed distorted versions of the original communist ideal based on the personalities of Stalin and Mao. In the Cold War period westerners were told how bad a repressive both these regimes were and their populations were fed equally distorted views of what the 'West' was all about. Again people were manipulated in order to maintain the regimes of both East and West. Anyone who now describes communism in its entirety as evil or similar is just a victim of this manipulative conditioning. Communism is not about preventing people being wealthy but more about developing social purpose in a world where some starve while others live in incredible luxury without contributing anything. Countries like Tibet escaped all of this and remained closed for most of the 19th and early 20th Century. They had feudal societies similar to those which existed in Europe in the Middle Ages. This policy of closure meant that the influences which would otherwise have produced change and adaptation were excluded. This meant that when change came it was fast, dramatic and violent, especially as China itself was going through the upheaval of the Cultural Revolution. That change would come at some time was inevitable and that the rulers of Tibet failed to recognize this is a severe criticism - especially as Buddhism teaches impermanence and therefore that change is a feature of the world. But this doesn't excuse the violence of the Chinese actions and their attempts to reduce Tibetan culture to a quaint minority dwarfed by the Han.

Yes, I second that ...tell us more... is this Crone as in old woman?

Hi and welcome, you will not be the only one taking bits and pieces from here and there - on here. Enjoy your stay. John

The Silk Route connected the middle east and the far east. Also Alexander the Great got to Afghanistan and India.

Well done on the improved health! Welcome to the forum. John

We have a break in transmission: expectations heave but are later let down it's a wonder bra. it's a wonder bra. hanging on the washing line the wind blows the birds The wind blows the birds (5) sing the hands, circle the mind (7) fade away cloud fade (5) fade away cloud fade drift into obscurity awaiting rebirth... OK carry on.

expectations heave but are later let down it's a wonder bra.

There may be merit in Freemasonry - and not being one I suppose I am not in a position to say one way or the other. I was certainly under the impression that there is a claim to a link back to Hiram and also Imhotep which I do think are bogus. I think this because I have been told about some of the texts used which purport to be Egyptian but which bear all the hallmarks of bad 19 century translations probably by Wallis Budge. Many people, including myself are interested in Egypt and may practice based on their religion but without some kind of proof cannot claim a lineage. Its clear to me at any rate that the wisdom and knowledge from then was not lost but was held by early alchemists and hermeticists e.g. Hermes Trismegistus and so on and then became part of the undercurrent of western mysticism - but not I think Freemasonry.

Couldn't she educate him a little into reading signals? Worth the effort I would have thought.

I saw! I came! It worked for me!

found in translation... the secret word lights the sky must be truth dawning. (cheers CowTao!)

Welcome Buddhists are embraced with open arms. John

Welcome to the forum. You will find lots of knowledgable people here who I am sure will help. Enjoy your stay. John

Wizard of Oz? Guardian of the Gate

As I am stuck here in Portugal my flight being canceled because of a huge cloud of volcanic ash from Iceland (and its getting worse apparently) - all the UK airports are closed as far as I can tell, I am contemplating the idea of how vulnerable modern life is to nature still. Things we take for granted are easily disrupted. The question in my mind is this - how much are these events related to a psycho-spiritual crisis in mankind? Are disasters getting more frequent or are they just being reported better? Is there a kind of spiritual vacuum a 'world tiredness' which makes us want these things to happen and are we secretly willing a more turbulent world? What do you think? What would Lao Tse say? John

Sounds ominous - care to elaborate?