rex

I'm like you and don't have a clue. There's a Tom Kenyon CD, The Alchemies of Horus, got the CD but never really given it a go. Later edit: This other Tom Kenyon CD looks intriguing: http://tomkenyon.com/store/white-gold-alchemy/

The way I've been given to understand it is that minor and major siddhis arise naturally as one purifies one's mind stream of cognitive and emotional obscurations.

Small talk is phatic communication. What's important is the fact that there's communication going on and that by engaging in small talk you're acknowledging the existence of others - very good for keeping borderline enemies neutral.

I'd like to think it's authentic, maybe a few hundred or so years old, as it compares quite well with this guide for Spotting fakes. It could also be a clever fake, I just don't know. I'm seeking a second opinion. Authentic beads are pricey see here (check out the link for Dzi Beads and agate). Mine wasn't nearly as pricey so that's probably a big clue. Dzi beads have mythical origin - this page goes into it. Some of the later ones (say 500 - 1000 years old) are said to have been manufactured by a now lost process. Modern dzi aren't deemed as powerful, though I think agate is still valued for healing and prevention in Tibetan medicine irrespective of its form. I like the Garuda droppings story. Garuda is said to vanquish nagas.

I've got a Dzi bead.

Guitar Today While My Guitar Gently Weeps - The Beatles (now there's a coincidence)Walk This Way - Aerosmith Sun King - The Cult Lil' Devil - The Cult Romanza (that well known classical piece) - Anon

Got this appeal via email: A favour to ask, it only takes a minute.... Please tell ten friends to tell ten today! The Breast Cancer site is having trouble getting enough people to click on their site daily to meet their quota of donating at least one free mammogram a day to an underprivileged woman. It takes less than a minute to go to their site and click on 'donating a mammogram' for free (pink window in the middle). This doesn't cost you a thing. Their corporate sponsors/advertisers use the number of daily visits to donate mammogram in exchange for advertising. Here's the web site! Pass it along to people you know. http://www.thebreastcancersite.com/ AGAIN , PLEASE TELL 10 FRIENDS TO TELL 10

No! That would be the aneros (a hot topic once). I didn't rate it much as an Shiatsu acupoint massager - for all the good it did me I may as well have shoved it up my arse!

Better still - she says 'Would you like to check my breasts for cancer?'

Sage advice Karen, thanks!

Hi karen, Like shit! In my ignorance it didn't even occur to me that mammograhies could be suspect. There's a breast cancer awareness campaign going on in the UK at the moment and its a big issue with the women I know inside and outside work. I'll pass your link on. Thanks, Rex

Me too! My teacher said that this was an excellent opportunity to develop a genuine deeper compassion that will only benefit one's practice.

Christian Contemplative phrases: I will be still and learn of Thee, Spirit of Peace within. Be still and know that I Am God. I am Peace within thee. Be still, and know that I Am Peace within thee. Hindu: Again and again we bow to the goddess who resides as Intelligence in all living beings. Again and again we bow to the goddess who resides as Wealth in all living beings. Again and again we bow to the goddess who resides as Strength in all living beings. Again and again we bow to the goddess who resides as Faith in all living beings. Again and again we bow to the goddess who resides as Compassion in all living beings. Again and again we bow to the goddess who resides as Peace in all living beings. Hermetic: Holy is the God, the Father of the Universals. Holy is the God, Whose Will is performed and accomplished by His Own Powers. Holy is the God, Who willeth to be known and his known by His Own. Holy Thou art, Who by Thy Word (Logos) has established all things that are. Holy art Thou, of Whom all Nature hath been born an Image. Holy art Thou, Whom Nature hath not formed. Holy art Thou, Who art more Mighty than all power. Holy art Thou, Who transcendeth all pre-eminence. Holy art Thou, Who excelleth all praise.

Same here! can't pull the wool over her eyes either ... Folks can 'try-before-they-buy' here: http://www.tv-links.co.uk Oh forgot to mention anything with Alan Patridge (the character) or Rob Brydon (the actor).

Poverty on all levels of our being.

Not sure if any of these travel well across the Atlantic: Fawlty Towers The Brittas Empire Open All Hours Are You Being served? My Family Not for kids (either adult themes or just too macabre and grotesque) The League of Gentlemen The Mighty Boosh Up Pompei Black Adder Red Dwarf

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Mauricio Ricardo

So double entendres are not just the preserve of British Carry On films then! Indeed! There's lots of other stuff in Lerabs YouTube profile. It floats my boat Rain. It's hardly suprising if some of them were. The film was made four years after the Chinese entered Tibet and they would have witnessed the destruction of all that they held dear. Some may have just escaped across the mountains with little or no provisions.

This comment on Ekajati's image was taken from the book The Crystal and the way of Light "Ekajati whose name means 'One Single Birth', is the principle Guardian of the Dzogchen teachings. She manifests with one single eye, one single tooth, one single tuft of hair, and one single breast. A personification of the essentially non-dual nature of primordial energy, she does not allow duality to develop. She is seen dancing on the corpse of the conquered ego, wearing (as Simhamukha does) a flayed human skin, and a crown of five skulls representing the five passions that have been overcome and which can therefore be worn as ornaments. She wears a necklace of human skulls, and wields in one hand, as a scepter, the corpse of a perverter of the teachings. In the other hand she grasps a vanquished demon, and the heart of an enemy."

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I'll remember him in my practice - that'll give him a good laugh

Don't go

Max, my opinions of Max's claims to be a lama are based from what he says about himself filtered through 11 years of being inside a tradition he claims he's qualified to teach. If you hang around a tradition long enough you get to know how lamas present themselves and Max's presentation style rings alarm bells. There are claims that he is not only a lama, but a re-incarnate lama, not just a re-incarnate lama, but a high lama no less, but there is no information forthcoming about who recognised him and who he's supposed to be the incarnation of. Would a high lama who has presumably re-incarnated many times to teach the dharma go through a 'Tibetan phase' (one of many different phases) and then teach something totally different? This would make a total mockery of the vows and comittments he would have taken to the tradition. Absolutely! But they don't need certificates, just the blessing of the authorised lineage holders. It's essential to only go to those teachers who claim to teach a tradition who have the verifiable backing of that tradition. If he's not a real lama that automatically brings into question his claims in other areas. Do you believe he's a real lama in the conventional verifiable sense and not the 'only those with eyes to see' sense?

Hey Craig, they're certainly a lively pull-no-punchs lot with a strong jovial yang energy. They'd have a field day with me and half of my beliefs ... Anyway scattered throughout the 'discussion' are some good posts and interesting counters from a student of Max called Chaos (who may even be Chris on this forum).