Encephalon

10-4. I would also add, from my Doomer geography/urban studies stuff, that when the economy crashes, all these skills will become desperately needed. This won't happen tomorrow, but a six year forecast is not beyond reason.

LAUGHTER Hilly village lanes, Whitewashed sunlit walls. Cerulean sea. The laughter of children. No matter where in the world you go, no matter how many languages are spoken, and no matter how many times cultures and governments clash, the laughter of children is universally uplifting. The mirth of adults can be variously jealous, insecure, sadistic, cruel, or absurd, but the sound of playing children evokes the ideal of a simple and pure act. There are no concepts, no ideologies -- only the innocent pleasure of life. We as adults dwell upon our grizzled complexities, our existential anxieties, and our preoccupations with responsibilities. We hear the merriment of children and may sigh over our lost childhoods. Although we can no longer fit into our old clothes and become young again, we can take comfort in the optimism of children. Their rejoicing can gladden us all. We are too often in a rush for our children to grow up. It is far better for them to fully live each year of their lives. Let them learn what is appropriate to their time, let them play. And when their childhood is spent at adolescence, help them in a gentle transition. Then their laughter will continue to resonate with cheer and hope for us all.

I suppose this speaks to the perennial mystery of eros and agape, perfect and imperfect love, and so on. I almost ruined myself and my relationship with a personal training client. A fabulously beautiful woman, Masters in psych., an Italian who speaks three languages, completely up to speed on Buddhist psychology. I never once had sexual fantasies about her in spite of her gym clothes-clad physique because I truly loved her soul - "To beautiful to lust after" - as one Renaissance Italian once said. There was only one problem - she was looking for the perfect man, and I wasn't it. And it probably had to do with the fact that I hated myself at that point in my life, and I'm sure it was palpable to others.

I certainly appreciate the comraderie, but I do have room for growth in the "Right speech" category, specifically, generous words. I was read that truth spoken with hostility is not truth; must've been the Zen Folk.

Witch, could you elaborate on this? When I acquired the ability to pulse my brow chakra at will, a little over a month ago, it was a profoundly pleasant experience, but I did realize a corresponding drop in sex drive. It did not disappear, and it truly didn't feel like a loss of any kind, more like a new level of balance of energies. I can't rule out that I'm simply projecting, but it's been a very pleasant 5 weeks or so, and the imagery I get when I close my eyes or go to sleep is positively hallucinogenic (but I'm freakishly left-handed, too). Is this experience consistent with other 3rd eye phenomena? Thanks in advance.

My wife suggested we dispense with the generalizations of what women want or do not want, and simply be clear that people with painfully low ego strength are not attractive to themselves or others. This condition sends out an unmistakable vibe, all esoterica aside. I used to think that if I just manifested my gentleness, nonviolence, and sensitivity (crying at movies) that this would be enough to secure an intimate relationship. What I failed to realize is that personal power and self-acceptance is far more attractive to healthy people. Unfortunately, low ego strength, and self-loathing in general, has become an epidemic social pathology in most consumer cultures. Kill your television!

The complete circuit is not usually experiened initially. The opening of the meridians is not a uniform process with everyone; some spots, or gates, will open more easily than others. Don't force anything, and keep your attention on your lower tantien in the beginning. When chi begins to stabilize there, it will eventually complete the circuit according to a natural pace. The capacity to direct energy to a specific area will be yours with time.

I have to agree. A careful reading is necessary to put the author's points in proper context.

I received a fairly thoughtful and sincere reprimand in here for expressing uncharitable sentiments toward you, for failing to express compassion in the midst of your suffering, or for at least failing to abstain from expressing uncharitable sentiments when silence would have sufficed. And then I read your posts and am reminded again that you are truly one of the most profoundly twisted young men I've ever witnessed. Have you isolated yourself so much that there isn't one live human being close enough to give you a reality check?

RENEWAL City on a hill, Untouched land beyond. A fallow field is The secret of fertility. In the city, we see millions of lives represented in the windows, doors, and many floors of each building. We see excitement and the glories of civilization. But no matter how much those who follow Tao may enjoy the city, they understand the need for retreat into nature. In the countryside, they find the nurturing quality of freedom. They can see new possibilities and can wander without societal impositions. In the past, pioneers saw the open prairies and were filled with dreams of dominating nature with the glories of man. Now we know different : We must preserve the wilds for our very survival. We need time to lie fallow. If you cannot leave the city, just find a little quiet time each day to withdraw into yourself. If you are able to walk in fields or in the hills, so much the better. But none of us can maintain the fertility of our beings without renewal.

I'm happy to hear that. I hope they balance out my whiney tirades.

I don't trust my ability to know exactly what you mean by this question. The more independence you acquire, the easier it is to simplify your life. It doesn't solve all problems, but it gives you the ability to refine your powers of mindfulness and wise action, which is why it is an essential element of most monastic environments. So, to answer your question, I certainly imagine my best chance for an enlightened and sane life to be a simpler one than the one I have now.

These periods of social isolation can certainly give you an opportunity to take stock of your inner resources. I didn't have sex for almost four years between my hard drinking and my hard-won sobriety. That was probably a good thing.

Thanks. We invested in acoustic guitars last spring. Do you know of any free online guitar instruction sites? I've got a background in piano and trumpet, but I need something a little more practical to maintain my musical life.

We just purchased our first bottle of garam masala a few weeks ago and are wondering how we lived so long without it (probably because we've eaten out at Indian restaurants so much). Shake this stuff on your steamed veggies and coconut oil (or ghee); it's amazing.

Please click on the Embrace Horse link in my signature for a fine account of the importance of posture. Daniel Reid delves deeply into the biomechanics of posture in "The Book of Chinese Health and Healing." Good posture is like taking the kinks out of a garden hose so the water can flow. I always had trouble with maintaining good posture while meditating in my earlier years. A twice weekly regimen of deadlifts, hyperextensions, and bent-over flyes is a program designed for meditators. It healed a lifetime of back problems for me.

There are two terrific sources out there with pefectly composed routines that focus on compound lifts. "Scrawny to Brawny" and "The New Rules of Lifting." Good luck.

Fine. I'll investigate my ego, providing that you consider the simple point that I made, which is that scholarship and formal study are not in competition with meditation as a means to first-hand experience. But you consistently imply that this is the point that I am making, while disparaging scholarship. Do you honestly expect me to believe that the Vipassana tradition is going to tell anyone to throw away their academic studies?

www.bobsredmill.com is THE source for a huge variety of organic grains at very reasonable prices and their customer service is fantastic. Quinoa available.

BEEP... breathe...DEEP...breathe....DEEP...breathe....

I've come to depend on the Taoist sages of the day for clarification of these important questions. The most important element of the following piece by Deng Ming-Dao, at least to me, is the BOLD type at the end. INNOCENCE Black and orange butterfly -- Flying joyously. Wings like a nun's hands: First folder in prayer, Then open in offering. The world moves toward war. Leaders increase their rhetoric. Armies mass along the border. The world, it seems, never tires of conflict. We should remember the innocent in life. The delicate, the gossamer, the beautiful. A butterfly lives for a day. It comes into the world with very little reason except to fly and mate. It does not question its destiny. It does not engage in any alchemy to extend its lifespan or to change its lot. It goes about its brief life happily. A butterfly is always attracted to the beautiful. Whether it is the sun on a blade of grass or the edge of a deep ruby rose, the butterfly spends its brief time dwelling on loveliness. Even the angry and insane leave the butterfly alone. Why can we not learn to honor the innocence in one another? Maybe we spend too much time dwelling on the ugly. In the name of practicality and realism, we think about strategy, defense, territory, gain, and advantage. We are too late to be like the butterfly. But at least we can honor it, and move as closely as possible to its simple existence.

My wife got me a nice watch for Christmas, but I've always thought it would be nice to have one that chimes every 30-60 minutes as a mindfulness bell.

I hope you guys didn't think that I was suggesting one two-week long Vipassana retreat per year in lieu of daily meditation. The whole purpose of retreats is to deepen your practice, not cram it into one event. Also, the inversion tables come pretty cheap these days, at least on Ebay and Amazon.

I cannot recommend enough Stephen Batchelor's "Buddhism without Beliefs," a treatise on agnostic Buddhism, which basically boils down to humanistic psychology from a Buddhist perspective. Batchelor's latest work, "Confession of a Buddhist Atheist" isn't due out until this Spring, and its trajectory is in a similar vein. I realize Buddhism takes a lot of hits in this place, and I am often in agreement with them, but the hits are usually directed at the various Buddhist orthodoxies that accreted around the Buddha's original ideas hundreds of years after he passed away (sound familiar to Christianity?) Anyone who holds religious orthodoxies suspect but still practices a secular yet spiritual life will find BWB an extraordinary work, stripped of all metaphysics and moralizing. After that, Jack Kornfield's "The Wise Heart: A Guide to the Universal Teachings of Buddhist Psychology" will also yield tremendous insights into the original intent of the teachings. I challenge anyone who is well-read in psychology and Asian thought to find a more lucid presentation of the human psyche. I typed BWB in its entirety years ago when I was teaching myself how to type, but when I met Stephen Batchelor, I could not bring myself to share it with anyone and take money out of this brilliant man's pocket.