doc benway

One most excellent meditation practice is to rest in the infinite, unbounded space in the center of your heart. To have that direct experience is to abide at the center of the universe.

I used to LOVE Monty Python’s stuff. It hasn’t aged well for me though. Another favorite was Bruce Robinson who did such classics as How to Get Ahead in Advertising and Withnail and I. I have’s watched them recently. Not sure how they’ e held up.

I don't know what that means but congratulations! Are you accepting disciples?

Vision is mind

In dzogchen the foundations are built on space. Nothing as indestructible as space!

My daughter told my a very dry joke when she was about 14 and it goes something like this... So this baby seal walks into a club....

If all cylinders fired together, the crankshaft would freeze🙀 The firing is staggered to spread out the energy expenditure temporally. Perhaps that may even extend across lifetimes...

@Wayist I checked your settings and see nothing that would explain posting problems in the system. I wonder if it could be related to your status as "Junior Bum" as there are some restrictions when you first join. Please continue to participate and let me know if the issue continues, particularly once you've increased your post count. Thanks, Steve

No I get it. The anonymity is very comforting. Very true, -sometimes loving, sometimes cruel... Sometimes real, sometimes imaginary 🤣🤣🤣 🙌🏼 I get it, I was cringing a bit when I made the suggestion. But I really feel like the ones who agree to it would be very supportive. I suspect it’s one of those things we don’t want to do but are glad we did.

Speaking of brainstorming... It occurs to me that a DB zoom retreat or meeting would be an interesting opportunity. One of the things that seems to lead to conflict is anonymity. Putting names to faces, hearing voices, seeing people, settings, gestures, expressions,... would potentially be a step towards bringing us closer and making a more meaningful connection. Getting everyone together physically will take a substantial amount of time and commitment. Recent times have shown me there is real value in real time online communication. I wonder if that would serve us well here? It might be difficult for some. Letting go of our anonymity, our masques, our fantasies of each other would have its challenges. Would the benefits be worth the candle? There is a big part of me that misses many of the folks that were banned after the political wars. I also miss those banned by the Trunk hammer. Not saying Sean or Trunk were wrong but I feel like if we had a chance to connect beyond black letters on a white background, things would be different and perhaps we wouldn’t need to fight so much and exclude each other. Just something else for everyone to chew on...

Maybe it's a British Isles thing... It's absolutely delicious. The one risk is you can chip a front tooth, important to cover your front teeth with your lips when throwing it back. (not that you're likely to need that piece of advice!)

I occasionally enjoy an Irish Car Bomb

based on perception we create our universe no stone out of place

Trunk removed Apech as moderator soon after the team was put together for personal reasons. The mod team had no input to that decision. Dawei publicly posted personal and confidential information relating to multiple members, including admin. The mod team Pitted the thread and gave him a 30 day suspension. Very straightforward actually.

Put this one down for a while but have picked it back up. Very exotic and inspiring.

Not at all, shouldn’t take long. Odd ravings are our bread and butter!

Thank you for your input. I do not see it as careless. It is a pattern of disrespect and abuse. Earl was suspended for 3 months for bullying multiple members. The current mod team asked Trunk to allow us to give him the opportunity to show he is better than that. He responds with, among other things, an insult leveled at someone who volunteers quite a bit of time and energy to welcome all new members here. All we ask is for members to treat each other with civility and respect. Most of you do just that. Earl has a history of bullying and abusive behavior here and has used up his free passes. A week off to think about his intentions is mild.

A friendly note - We aren’t asking much, just that you treat members and mods here with respect. Take a week and think about that, please. I know it’s really hard to be polite but it can save a 3 month suspension.

Shelob! How old was Bilbo when Frodo left on his quest?

The book says it was the right 3rd finger which probably means ring finger. For some reason they changed it to the left index finger in the film.

Any idea when it changed for you? I know I can see points, I don’t know what you can and can’t see. To my knowledge, no settings were changed since the new team has come together. It might have been the last team or during the lawless period. However it is was how we found it. We’re not making any changes to the infrastructure or process here, just trying to moderate discussion and support. You’d have to tag Trunk or Sean if you want a deeper explanation. The points are irrelevant. They’re basically a necessary tool due to the software. We plug in a number to get the desired result. You do something minor, maybe a warning. You do it repeatedly or something major, maybe a suspension, something really nasty - bye bye. We intend to discuss any major offenses and penalties as a team whenever possible. Just play nice. It’s really simple.

I found two settings that may be responsible and adjusted them. Please let me know if that helps.

Which of Frodo’s fingers did Gollum crunch?