steve

Currently reading a long but good one

I appreciate @bradley's weird thought...  mine is similar.

Karma to me is simply the causal connection between actions and outcomes.

I once had a deep insight into karma in my own life and experience that informed my understanding of the concept.

I could see very deeply and clearly how every action and interaction throughout my life have come together to bring me to precisely where I am at that very moment. I could see how different choices on my part, or that of others, and my situation would be completely different. I could see the pattern of cause and effect extending back before my birth and beyond my death.

I could see the web of interaction extending out in all directions, across vast distances without boundary.

Most of all I could see the sheer scale and complexity of this intricate web of activity and how this makes it so difficult to always appreciate the direct connection between a given action and its effects.

Dharma has many meanings in a variety of religions and contexts. It can mean something that is firm and stable, suggesting a foundational or organizing principle or law of existence. It can refer to the way we, as individuals, relate to the world and to others and varies at different stages of life. It is often used to refer to the teachings of Buddha Shakyamuni. For me, the most meaningful and useful interpretation relates more to the truth or the absolute nature of being. In the tradition I practice, the ground of being is considered the source of all teachings and all possible manifestations; so that coming into relationship with this fundamental experience of our nature opens us to our full potential as human beings.

Almost forgot to mention their mascot shits rainbow ice cream!

56 minutes ago, Taomeow said:

but these days they sell contraptions people put around the regular toilet so they can squat -- some kind of steps, as I recall.

The Squatty Potty is one, I love mine!

With some patient stretching and strengthening, it can be very safe and effective. Some will be injured or aggravate existing issues. Proceed with care.  I started squatting regularly about the age of 50. So far, so good. Great for the hips and low back! Careful with the knees.

1 hour ago, Nungali said:

Cant you 'Abrahamic religion' guys do any better than this garbage ? 

Well, it did all start with a dude who agreed to kill his child for the voice in his head...

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

9 hours ago, kakapo said:

 

Evil exists solely because good people turn a blind eye to it and allow it to continue, and for no other reason. 

 

If good people did something about it, it wouldn't and couldn't exist.

8 hours ago, Tommy said:

I believe that good and evil is mostly subjective depending upon which side of the fence one is sitting on. 

...

 

What you say about good and evil is a very simplistic view. That evil is obvious and good is obvious and the two are easily distinguished. Sometimes it isn't that easy. But, hindsight always tells us that it is.

I just finished an interesting and entertaining fantasy novel called Babel by RF Kuang.

It is an interesting study in good, evil, and perspective set against the background of English colonialism.

Not a perfect novel by any stretch but quite compelling overall.

On 1/11/2026 at 11:03 AM, liminal_luke said:

It´s often said that the "separate self" does not exist, and I suppose this goes for the self of Gods and Goddesses too. 

IMO it is an error in view to claim that a separate self "does not exist."

Nor did I claim that gods, goddesses, and demons do not exist.

That is not my view or the meaning of my posts.

I do understand how people can come to that conclusion, sorry to not be more clear.

On 1/11/2026 at 11:03 AM, liminal_luke said:

If Gods and Goddesses do exist then, at least on some level: they are us and we, them. 

This, I can get behind... and in front...  and in the middle too. 

"I am he
As you are he
As you are me
And we are all together

...

Goo, goo, g'joob!"

2 hours ago, Apech said:

 

@steve that's interesting but I believe you may have made some category errors.  Some representations are anthropomorphic but that does not mean that the thing being represented is 'human' (depending on what human means I suppose).  There are entities at all levels of reality but we see them through human eyes and with human minds.  Also natural phenomena are not 'unexplainable' but may be 'unexplained' in some cases.  I suspect you think that the world populated by non-human entities is a fantasy of primitive thought because it does not equate to your scientific preconceptions.  Actually it is the more normal view and truer for that.  Given the practice which I know you follow you might want to revisit how you are conceptualising all this.

 

Peace.

 

A.

 

 

Yeah, I've probably got it all wrong.

Peace

There is an interesting hypothesis of consciousness being rooted in quantum states in intra-neuronal microtubules.

This is a collaboration between an anesthesiologist, Stuart Hameroff, and physicist, Roger Penrose.

There are plenty of valid criticisms but it's an interesting line of inquiry.

https://academic.oup.com/nc/article/2025/1/niaf011/8127081?login=false

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1571064513001188?via%3Dihub

4 hours ago, old3bob said:

 

ask all the enlightened or advanced masters and students  worth their salt why they are not afraid to use terms like  "evil, demonic, and hell realms or beings" in their spiritual teachings & warnings that give and have protections against same,   (along with graphic depiction's of such like on the Tibetan Wheel of Life and so many other examples across a very board spectrum of ways and religions) some of which have lineages and precepts going back thousands of years...

Just like the gods and goddesses, I see these more as convenient anthropomorphic representations of human qualities and characteristics and of unexplainable natural phenomena. Some positive (gods and goddesses) and some negative (demons). I’m not afraid to use the terms but I think they are less necessary and less meaningful in the context of modern knowledge. 

I wonder what value there is in ascribing the negative characteristics and manifestations we see as “evil” as opposed to human? It feels to me that it is a way to distance ourselves or absolve ourselves of responsibility, a form of dehumanization such as is used to normalize atrocities.

4 hours ago, Cobie said:

 

These are all dictionaries for the use of the characters in modern Chinese. You need a dictionary for the meanings as used in transcripts of Classical Chinese.  There often is some difference in the meanings. I use: A Student's Dictionary of Classical and Medieval Chinese, Author: Paul W. Kroll 

 

 

May I ask, do you speak and/or read Mandarin @Cobie?

20 hours ago, stirling said:

 

@Cadcam, if you are continuing to experience anhedonia you should really be in contact with a mental health professional.

I agree, anonymous strangers online may not be the best resource under the circumstances.

45 minutes ago, Taomeow said:

 

About stuff that strikes one as stranger than average.  Anything.  

 

I don't remember which season I stopped at but I loved the series at first and then it started jumping the shark with evil Russians, so I abandoned it.  Not saying there are no evil Russians, but the Hollywood version is invariably stranger than a normal evil Russian.  

I loved the first season and the rest not as much but the overall effect worked for me, largely because of the nostalgia. The mall was silly, the evil Russians too caricatured. That said the Americans were far more evil. I mainly liked the fact that we enjoyed it as a family and my kids lived the series.

I also recently watched Life of Chuck and really enjoyed it.

Just teasing about the “other stuff.” Some of it is fun!

12 hours ago, TaiChiGringo said:

I’m curious how this resonates with others’ experiences. How have your own Taoist, Qigong, or internal practices shaped your sense of internal organization, alignment, or subtle body awareness? Have you noticed anything similar to what I describe in Chen Taijiquan: feedback, regulation, or embodied learning that feels discovered rather than taught?

Your experience resonates strongly with my own. 

For me, neijia, neigong, and neidan are journeys of self discovery. 

A teacher can give pointers and direction, as well as exercises to engage with, but we must engage and discover for ourselves the true meaning, proper technique, and results. 

Externally, the teacher can adjust the posture but internally, the inner details of posture must be discovered.

This is the only way we can learn to self-correct and make meaningful progress in our practice. 

Once we have developed adequate skill and confidence, engaging with others allow us to test our progress and discover our weaknesses and errors, such as in tui shou, san da, and so on.

This is why it is said in taijiquan that we must 'invest in loss.'

On 1/3/2026 at 9:51 PM, Cadcam said:

My mind is still, but I'm not comfortable with the sitting in stillness,  and so i try to find something to do, but my mind isn't attracted to any activity, and so i return to the stillness.  I'm not creative in this state. I'm close to giving up looking for distractions because nothing satisfies. Perhaps then I will return to feeling compassion. 

If there is discomfort sitting in stillness, that mind is not still.

If the mind tries to find something to do, that mind is not still, it is active and restless.

The restlessness and discomfort interfere with connecting to the source of creativity and compassion.

Loved the series, including the finale!

Not sure what everyone else is talking about….

🙃

3 hours ago, ChiDragon said:

I am related to the family.

My heartfelt condolences!

I pray for healing for your family.
And for your dear young doctor.

I apologize for the order of my replies, I often reply from latest to earlier… 

🙏🏼

If you trust wu wei as a principle, you must let it happen. The more you is there, the less it happens. I am a straw dog, and will be stashed away between performances, Dao continues to flow.

Feel the Dao in every moment. I trust this moment more than I trust what I think about it.

5 hours ago, ChiDragon said:

Effortless action, to me, it sounds that the outcome could be positive or negative. It may cause harm or beneficial from the result of the action. Apparently, the definition is definitely did not match the TTC definition of Wu Wei. I don't think that I can find a chapter in the TDC to substantiate this definition. 

Dao treats us like straw dogs, no?

Positive or negative is a human judgement, Dao does not play favorites.

10 hours ago, stirling said:

To truly understand Wu Wei, we must consider a radically different perspective on reality. Most of us assume that we exist as separate players in an world of separate players, each making their own decisions. From the perspective of the Dao, or Rigpa, or enlightened mind, this is a nonsense. The separateness can be seen in operation, but also is very obviously a delusion, once understood.

Your entire post above is gold.

And there are layers of understanding and realization, just as there are relative and absolute truth. Reading and studying alone, even a scripture as perfect as Daodejing, can only take us so far. The mind, its activity, and its contents can only take us so far. We must make room for practice, for simply being, to appreciate the wisdom hiding behind the words. And we must be patient and kind with ourselves and each other if we want to discover something new together.

Although, if we trust the old masters, an occasional swift kick in the arse or thwack on the shoulder with the keisaku can be helpful too.

12 hours ago, DynamicEquilibrium said:

無為 

Wu wei the action of Wu instead of non-doing can be a good translation in your opinion ? 

I think you would also need to translate Wu in that case but it has potential. 

1 minute ago, ChiDragon said:

You can answer it yourself.

agreed