rex

I've got this little disquisition that lives in my wallet and gets pulled out every now and again while sitting on the pot or a train: When we speak of mind, we speak of something that is not a thing in itself. In its most fundamental sense, mind is not something we can limit. We cannot say it has a particular shape, size or location, color or form, or any other limiting characteristic. The element we call space, which in our perceptual situation also has no limiting characteristics, is this very emptiness of mind; this is the elemental quality of space in the mind. But mind is not simply empty; it has the illuminating potential to perceive anything whatsoever. This unlimited ability of mind to perceive is its illuminating nature, and corresponds to the element of fire. This mind, essentially empty and illuminating, gives rise to all experiences which, wether samsara or Nirvana, is rooted in mind just as plants are rooted in soil. This function of the mind as the origin of all experience corresponds to the elemental quality of earth. Another aspect of the mind is its dynamic quality. Mind is never still: no single experience in it lasts, but quickly passes to another. Wheter one is undergoing an emotional reaction, an experience of pleasure or pain, or a sensory perception such as seeing or hearing, the contents of the mind are always in a state of flux. This continual activity of mind is the elemental quality of wind (air). Mind with these four elemental qualities has always been so and always will be. This very continuity, and the fact that mind adapts itself to different situations, corresponds to the element of water. Just as water sustains its continuity and adapts itself to every contour as it flows, the mind too is fluent, continuous, and adaptable.

Michael Winn posted the Parenti article to the Healing Tao USA discussion site back in November 2007 and to his eternal credit also posted counter-analysis of the article: http://www.healingtaousa.com/cgi-bin/tpost.pl?smessage=15159

Spirituality without an afterlife? Yes that's Humansim, but humanists don't call it spirituality. eitded for the uausl tpyos!

I don't know Hugo - I'll have to read Owen Davies's book to fathom the reasoning. Now that's good marketing, set up a mystery and curious readers will buy the book! Maybe the Sixth Book of Moses was more of a memory and reference aid with the bulk of the whys, wherefores and hows assumed as already given from oral tradition and other sources? Exquisite! Try these:http://periodfinebindings.typepad.com/guardian_angel/ http://periodfinebindings.typepad.com/1archangel/ The website does custom fine bindings of blank books for folks to write in their own material. Maybe one day I'll write up the best bits from teachings, retreats, courses, DVDs, CDs, books and mabe even taobums(!) in one of these custom bindings and leave it as a family heirloom for successive generations to add to. Nice! Lovely cover but the contents look a bit too much like Gypsy seaside magic for holiday makers on the pier - but that's just my prejudice. For things Merlin I like to read R.J. Stewart:http://www.rjstewart.net/merlin_prophetic_mystic.htm

No, but polls like this singling people out do.

This was posted on another forum. Don't know if the information is reliable and I would certainly not recommend it as an alternative to professional medical advice, but it may be worth a look anyway. Cinnamon and Honey Honey is the only food on the planet that will not spoil or rot. It will do what some call turning to sugar. In reality honey is always honey. However, when left in a cool dark place for a long time it will do what I rather call "crystallizing". When this happens I loosen the lid, boil some water, and sit the honey container in the hot water, off the heat and let it liquefy. It is then as good as it ever was. Never boil honey or put it in a microwave. To do so will kill the enzymes in the honey. Cinnamon and Honey ~ Bet the drug companies won't like this one getting around ~ Facts on Honey and Cinnamon: It is found that a mixture of honey and cinnamon cures most diseases. Honey is produced in most of the countries of the world... Scientists of today also accept honey as a 'Ram Ban' (very effective) medicine for all kinds of diseases. Honey can be used without any side effects for any kind of diseases. Today's science says that even though honey is sweet, if taken in the right dosage as a medicine, it does not harm diabetic patients. Weekly World News, a magazine in Canada, in its issue dated 17 January, 1995 has given the following list of diseases that can be cured by honey and cinnamon as researched by western scientists: HEART DISEASES: Make a paste of honey and cinnamon powder, apply on bread, instead of jelly and jam, and eat it regularly for breakfast. It reduces the cholesterol in the arteries and saves the patient from heart attack. Also, those who have already had an attack, if they do this process daily, they are kept miles away from the next attack. Regular use of the above process relieves loss of breath and strengthens the heart beat. In America and Canada, various nursing homes have treated patients successfully and have found that as you age, the arteries and veins lose their flexibility and get clogged; honey and cinnamon revitalize the arteries and veins. ARTHRITIS: Arthritis patients may take daily, morning and night, one cup of hot water with two spoons of honey and one small teaspoon of cinnamon powder. If taken regularly even chronic arthritis can be cured. In a recent research conducted at the Copenhagen University, it was found that when the doctors treated their patients with a mixture of one tablespoon Honey and half teaspoon Cinnamon powder before breakfast, they found that within a week, out of the 200 people so treated, practically 73 patients were totally relieved of pain, and within a month, mostly all the patients who could not walk or move around because of arthritis started walking without pain. BLADDER INFECTIONS: Take two tablespoons of cinnamon powder and one teaspoon of honey in a glass of lukewarm water and drink it. It destroys the germs in the bladder. CHOLESTEROL: Two tablespoons of honey and three teaspoons of Cinnamon Powder mixed in 16 ounces of tea water, given to a cholesterol patient, were found to reduce the level of cholesterol in the blood by 10 percent within two hours. As mentioned for arthritic patients, if taken three times a day, any chronic cholesterol is cured. According to information received in the said Journal, pure honey taken with food daily relieves complaints of cholesterol. COLDS: Those suffering from common or severe colds should take one tablespoon lukewarm honey with 1/4 spoon cinnamon powder daily for three days. This process will cure most chronic cough, cold, and clear the sinuses. UPSET STOMACH: Honey taken with cinnamon powder cures stomach ache and also clears stomach ulcers from the root. GAS: According to the studies done in India and Japan, it is revealed that if honey is taken with cinnamon powder the stomach is relieved of gas. IMMUNE SYSTEM: Daily use of honey and cinnamon powder strengthens the immune system and protects the body from bacteria and viral attacks. Scientists have found that honey has various vitamins and iron in large amounts. Constant use of Honey strengthens the white blood corpuscles to fight bacterial and viral diseases. INDIGESTION: Cinnamon powder sprinkled on two tablespoons of honey taken before food relieves acidity and digests the heaviest of meals. INFLUENZA: A scientist in Spain has proved that honey contains a natural 'Ingredient' which kills the influenza germs and saves the patient from flu. LONGEVITY: Tea made with honey and cinnamon powder, when taken regularly, arrests the ravages of old age. Take four spoons of honey, one spoon of cinnamon powder, and three cups of water and boil to make like tea. Drink 1/4 cup, three to four times a day. It keeps the skin fresh and soft and arrests old age. Life spans also increase and even a 100 year old, starts performing the chores of a 20-year-old. PIMPLES: Three tablespoons of honey and one teaspoon of cinnamon powder paste. Apply this paste on the pimples before sleeping and wash it next morning with warm water. If done daily for two weeks, it removes pimples from the root. SKIN INFECTIONS: Applying honey and cinnamon powder in equal parts on the affected parts cures eczema, ringworm and all types of skin infections. WEIGHT LOSS: Daily in the morning one half hour before breakfast on an empty stomach, and at night before sleeping, drink honey and cinnamon powder boiled in one cup of water. If taken regularly, it reduces the weight of even the most obese person. Also, drinking this mixture regularly does not allow the fat to accumulate in the body even though the person may eat a high calorie diet. CANCER: Recent research in Japan and Australia has revealed that advanced cancer of the stomach and bones have been cured successfully. Patients suffering from these kinds of cancer should daily take one tablespoon of honey with one teaspoon of cinnamon powder for one month three times a day. FATIGUE: Recent studies have shown that the sugar content of honey is more helpful rather than being detrimental to the strength of the body. Senior citizens, who take honey and cinnamon powder in equal parts, are more alert and flexible. Dr. Milton, who has done research, says that a half tablespoon of honey taken in a glass of water and sprinkled with cinnamon powder, taken daily after brushing and in the afternoon at about 3:00 P.M. when the vitality of the body starts to decrease, increases the vitality of the body within a week. BAD BREATH: People of South America, first thing in the morning, gargle with one teaspoon of honey and cinnamon powder mixed in hot water, so their breath stays fresh throughout the day. HEARING LOSS: Daily morning and night honey and cinnamon powder, taken in equal parts restores hearing. Remember when we were kids? We had toast with real butter and cinnamon sprinkled on it! You might want to share this information with a friend, kinfolks and loved ones. Everyone needs healthy help information ~ what they do with it is up to them ~ share with your email buddies!!!!!

Thank you!

You're welcome. It's a fascinating subject. Looks like the Slayer's Bumper Book of Vampyres to me. It might come out as a coffee table retrospective TV tie-in for Christmas someday. I love fine book bindings too: As long as the books don't turn out to be books of monsters with a Faustian destination: "Cut is the branch that might have grown full straight, And burned is Apollo's laurel bough. That sometime grew within this learned man. Faustus is gone; regard his hellish fall. Whose fiendful fortune may exhort the wise, Only to wonder at unlawful things. Whose deepness doth entice such forward wits To practice more than heavenly power permits. Terminat horo diem; terminant auctor opus." All the best Hugo.

Not too sure, but there's this one by Chief Seattle as recorded by Dr. Henry Smith in 1854: "Day and night cannot dwell together. The red man has ever fled the approach of the white man, as the changing mists on the mountain side flee before the blazing morning sun. "

Trunk seems to imply that these visits are beings connected with the Kunlun lineage and are a blessing. Did you feel threatened somehow? I've received unexpected night time guests before but have instinctively known that they were not part of a lineage that I'm connected with, though being connected to a lineage enables me not to get freaked when they announce themselves. Are you at liberty to say what the objectives were or are they already publicly available from the books, website and public statements made on this forum?

The UK Guardian has a piece on grimoires today: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/apr/08/history

Stumbled upon this Tibetan Yoga DVD, don't know what its like but it looks good: http://www.inner-quest.org/DVD_1.htm#Yoga%20from%20Tibet

Its an abbreviation of the latin phrase 'nota bene' - note well.

It may be a good idea starting off with something like the inner smile and the six healing sounds so whatever you circulate won't go into feeding latent toxic energy and potential imbalances.

It's a bit a noisy but it looks great!

Well there's nothing like relating the outer world to one's inner quest. I was thumbing through the the UK Office of Government Commerce's PRINCE2 manual on project management and found some striking parallels with their suggested reasons for project failure and possible pitfalls on our own spiritual projects: Insufficient attention to checking that a valid Business Case exists for the project Insufficient attention to quality at the outset and during development Insufficient definition of the required outcomes, leading to confusion over what the project is expected to achieve Inadequate definition and lack of acceptance of project management roles and responsibilities, leading to lack of direction and poor decision making Inadequate planning and co-ordination of resources, leading to poor scheduling Insufficient measurables and lack of control over progress, so that projects do not reveal their exact status until too late Lack of quality control, resulting in the delivery of products that are unacceptable or unusable.

Funnily enough I don't really know - I think the ornaments are more like depictions of aspects of Buddhist faith like the Three Jewels etc. The lotus flower can represent purity and power and the rainbow of the elements can symbolise the Buddha familes and by extension their associted enlightened activities of pacifying, enriching, magnetizing and subjugating.

It has taken an unexpected twist. Moderators would it be possible to split the off topic debate into it's own thread?

Free guided phowa practice and commentaries in mp3 format here: http://www.palyulproductions.org/html/vajr..._practices.html No empowerments or transmission required to practice. As the site says "The practice texts below have no purchasing conditions - the practices they contain do not require empowerment or transmission. However, if you get either of these your potential to accomplish the practice increases."

I648_eJwnBA

What ism doesn't?

I've heard it said that we are the sum total of all our previous lives so there's no point in exploring them. Having said that I did a Denise Linn tape once; there was a flood of vivid dream like images and impressions with some relating to present relationships and past connections. In one of the images a spear was thrust into my lower abdomen on a road and I was killed when incapacitated. I never really gave it much thought until I remembered later that I was born with a hernia in the place where the spear entered. Some of impressions did kind of help me make sense of some present issues. Whether it was all wishful thinking and fantasy I don't know.

I remember hearing a lama say that while Buddhism denies the concept of God it doesn't deny the nature of God. This at least leaves some scope for meaningful practical comparisons. Oneness isn't necessarily denied either as Samantabhadra as the "All-Creating King" is the essence of all things. Sure, the Prāsaṅgika Mādhyamakas will deny any view of God and Oneness as they refute all positive assertions regarding ultimate truth - though this refutation does not extend to denying paths of practice on the relative level. As usual with things like this this is only my view so I ask for the Triple Gem's forbearance for any error and mispresentation.

It must vary with individuals but for me three days of practice and I noticed qualitative changes. When I first practiced, each morning session would last about an hour: 20-30 minutes doing the practice and about half an hour sleeping afterwards, and that was after a good nights sleep! Some sessions were longer, some shorter - especially when the energy didn't want to move. Having kids and little time meant that I couldn't have any uninterupted practice so I discontinued - late night practice didn't do it for me but other practices did. One time after practicing daily for about 4 weeks I was visiting an acquaintance's house and was asked to pick up their fierce looking Rottweiler/Bull mastiff guard dog - they were astounded when it let me do so without growling or snarling.

Fusion works very well provided it is practiced consistently. To my shame I haven't but when I did practice regularly there were noticable results and better day to day interactions with people and strangers.