doc benway

Thanks - I suspect that both were sensitive to the effects and they also were playing with things without any guidance. I imagine that people with a predisposition toward mental illness/instability (ie a strong family history or personal history) are probably more susceptible to getting into trouble with entheogens. Regarding 'truth' - I was sort of using it as a synonym for reality, the nature of existence, that sort of thing... Good luck in you journey

My study of Taijiquan has taught me a lot about Wu Wei. There's a song that includes the phrase: Zhan Nian Lian Sui Bu Diu Ding Bu Diu Ding means - do not separate and do not go against Just like I practice this skill in pushing hands and martial training, I can practice these skills in daily life - Wu Wei. Another facet for me of Wu Wei relates to my psychological and emotional life. Each of us has been heavily conditioned by social and cultural factors and each of us has, deep down, a set of values that define our ethics and moral structure. First, I think it's important that we identify those core values that are most fundamental and important to us. Next, it's important to see if those values are genuine. Are they really a reflection of who we are or are they rules and regulations drilled into us during childhood and in our careers? Are we living the lives we want or puppets of our society? So if we can get in touch with our core values and make sure they are our values and not artificial and insincere, then we can have the opportunity to live in a way that does not separate and does not go against our values. And psychologically, emotionally, that is Wu Wei.

Excellent point.

Very nice find...

I agree - I had a terrible emotional crisis when my youngest moved to the West Coast (I'm on the East). And then I had the experience of the continued bond even across a continent. And in fact, our relationship is stronger and closer than ever. There are many spiritual and psychological and energetic layers but I'm not going to get into that. I just wanted to echo your sentiment.

Very nice work Stig - I mean it. Not just trading niceties here.

Hook, line, and (bong bubbles rumbling in background).... sinker!

There are very simple explanations for a round hole in a skull. Any of a variety of natural processes could do this - infection, parasite, tumor, etc... The coincidental finding of fractures opposite this hole would be inconclusive, unless expert forensic analysis could prove it was an inside - out explosion. I'm not sure if that distinction is possible. If so, there is another explanation. The skull could have been used for target practice long after death and left exposed to the elements subsequently. And we can also certainly entertain more exotic explanations.

Chi Dragon - I don't mean to be disrespectful but would like to make a point. Why should Laozi's opinion be any better than my own? After all, I am alive. I am a living, breathing manifestation of Dao. I reflect it in my ever action. Laozi is a corpse - long dead, if he ever lived. He is an image in our minds. We created him. Most modern scholars would argued that Laozi does not, in fact, refer to any single, historical individual. And if there was, the first line of his writings says - whatever we try to write about the Dao is NOT the Dao... So if you really listen to what Laozi says, you should close the book after reading the first line! So why look for authority in a book? Why not look in ourselves? When I first started practicing Dao cultivation, I asked my ShiFu if he could recommend an English translation of Dao De Jing. He said no. When I asked if that was because he only read the Chinese, he told me - "it's because I've never read it. My teacher taught me how to cultivate. So practice, don't waste too much time on books." Now, I'm not sure I believe that he's never read Dao De Jing but his point was loud and clear. Why so much concern about words? The words are just poor attempts to point to reality. All the words really do are divide us into tribes and distract us from living. You want a definition of Dao? Sit, close your eyes (or not) and breath. Anything else is ink on a page... Please take this as a constructive argument, not an attack.

Where's the kool-aid when we need it?

Wow... I am in awe of your strength. Thanks for your candor.

Interesting... This is certainly not cultivation, IMO, but entertainment. What are you looking for?

But that's the rub - illusion arises when perception and understanding are inaccurate. And since the mind is limited, they are very often, if not always, somewhat inaccurate. It's not the experience that is illusory - experience exists, regardless of the presence or absence of background substance. But I think Otis is referring to the fact that illusion arises as a consequence of misinterpretation.

Nice!

Some would say that happiness is the natural human condition. They would say that societal and cultural conditioning is what gets in the way of this. A variation on this theme is that we are not happy simply because we have been trained since childhood to believe that our happiness depends on others or things or accomplishments. Without the approval of our friends, bosses, parents, and so on... we cannot be happy. Similarly, disapproval robs us of our happiness. And why would this be? Because then we can be controlled and manipulated - enslaved. These people would say that no one and no thing truly has the power to make us unhappy unless we buy into this insanity. We get to choose. It is a very hard thing to see because our conditioning goes very deep. And I'm not going to say that it is necessarily true. But what if it is? What an amazing life it would be if no one had that sort of power over me. Beautiful video, thanks for posting it!

Manitou - I gave up the smoke... I echo your praise of deci belle's post. Beautiful advice for living an enriching life! And I love your use of 'enlightenment' as a lightening. Shrugging off the burden of the search, the work, climbing the path. Seeing through the addiction with becoming something else. Liberation from the yoke of societal and cultural conditioning. CowTao - Thanks for the link. If it's ever not OK with me, I hope you'll tell me to get over myself and F-off (in a non-insulting way of course... )

Western medical perspective: If you are relatively young (let's say 40's or less), the chance of you having a torn tendon is very small without significant injury. Older - it's very common to have some degenerative tearing of the rotator cuff tendons or the biceps. The clicking you're feeling could be some inflammed tissue that lines the subacromial bursa rubbing between the undersurface of the acromion and the rotator cuff tendons. This is the most likely explanation by far. Also possible that your shoulder could be unstable due to muscle weakness, causing it to slide partially in and out of concentric alignment between the humerus and glenoid - this is called subluxation. I'm pretty sure your shoulder joint is not dislocated or dislocating. Tendons and muscles around the shoulder generally do not dislocate. It can happen on rare occasion but usually associated with a lot of pain and trauma. An accurate diagnosis can generally be made by a doc who treats a lot of shoulder problems (orthopaedist who specializes in the shoulder for example). MRI is very helpful in looking for tears - probably 95% accuracy in a good scanner read by the right person. Caution - a lot of these specialists are fairly quick to recommend surgery. If you have a small, partial thickness tear - no need to rush into surgery. Physical therapy and other modalities (acupuncture, TCM, anti-inflammatories, chiropractic, and so on) are usually enough but it's slow - as much as 4-6 months depending on the severity of the tear. If you have a large, full thickness tear of the rotator cuff - that should be fixed as there's good data to show that people who do not have it repaired after serious shoulder issues years later. If you just have some inflammation (by far the most likely), most folks will improve within 6-8 weeks of PT and whatever other treatment they choose. Eastern medical perspective: Out of my league! Good luck! Edit - I really like Otis' approach

It sounds a bit perverse to me... Hmmm, is it better for a human adult to drink cow's milk that comes from a cow or human's milk that comes from a cow? I think I know what my Jain brothers and sisters would say!

Do you think it would also help to practice Beng Quan to strengthen the liver for those of us who practice Xingyiquan? Beng is Wood and known as crushing. I've practice Xingyiquan for a long time but never with the intent of addressing organ imbalances. Do you have any experience in this?

My (opposite) argument: I disagree. The "system" is a toxic environment, that is designed by profiteers and politicians to rob your power. Because it is rotten to the core, no growth can take place there, and one must escape into solitude (preferably into some non-American, non-European country) and find a guru, as soon as possible. Only through solitude and/or an environment of great peace, can we find ourselves and achieve liberation. (note: this exercise is so very ) Now what happens?

I just did it in the Dao vs Brahman thread! And after thinking my thoughts and doing some (very minimal) research, I think I believe my argument!

I'll take the opposite position and say that Dao and Brahman are conceptually very similar. In my view (as of 8:39pm today), both the Indians and Chinese are saying that there is something subtle and profound behind the veil. Something invisible, infinite, beyond time, and beyond human thought or conceptualization, that is the foundation of existence. This something is what we come from and return to. It is everything we are and everything we are not but it is subtle and elusive. It can't be named, held, seen, heard, felt, or tasted but, at the same time, it can be all of those things because it is us and everything around us. It is what we are when we are not us but also when we are us, we just don't recognize it as such unless we are awake to it. To be a sage is to live in accordance with Dao (Wu Wei) and to be liberated is to recognize one's true nature as Atman/Brahman. Both the Indians and the Chinese brought their respective, unique cultural biases and attitudes towards describing the indescribable. The Chinese, being the practical minded people they are, emphasized process over spirit and so used a word that has the quality of a verb, Dao. The Indians, tending toward the spiritual, describe Brahman more in terms of transcendent spirit. I would say that both were pointing to the fundamental nature of reality when they coined the terms Dao and Brahman.

Whether or not to use entheogens depends a lot on what you are looking for. If you are looking for new experiences, shaking up your sense of reality, breaking down some conventional thought processes and that sort of thing, entheogens are very effective. For some people, these sorts of experiences are helpful, maybe even necessary, to get them pointed in a spiritual direction. I'm not convinced that they really produce meaningful spiritual growth for most who use them. On the other hand, if you are looking for the truth - spirituality, the nature of our being and existence. I don't think entheogens are very helpful. They will shake your tree and loosen some nuts and bolts that society and culture has tightened in your head. But it is a very different thing to approach truth and reality. A sober mind and body is as close as you can ever get to your true nature, the way you have grown out of this world. To pollute it with chemicals or entheogens, even natural ones, takes you farther away, rather than closer to, the truth. To approach truth you simply need to study yourself. No need for anything external. What are you thinking? What is the nature of thought? How do you behave? Where does that response come from? What do you feel? How do you relate to others and the environment? This is the mundane, boring, banal, but absolutely essential work that is needed to walk the spiritual path as far as I'm concerned. For some folks, entheogens are helpful in the beginning. For others, entheogens are highly toxic and I've seen irreversible psychosis in two friends as a result. For many, they become more entertainment than anything else. And it is very important to recognize that a lot of the insights we have while intoxicated are very misleading. Just my $.02

I think that the only reason to do it would be for YOU, not for them, and not for the relationship. Perhaps, there is some residual pain, or conflict, or blockage in you that could be released as a result. Maybe not. But I think it is about you, not them.