Encephalon

COMMUNICATION Movement, objects, speech, and words : We communicate through gross symbols. We call them "objective," But we cannot escape our point of view. We cannot communicate directly from mind to mind, and so misinterpretation is a perennial problem. Motions, signs, talking, and the written word are all encumbered by miscommunication. A dozen eyewitnesses to the same event cannot agree on a single account. We may each see something different in cards set up by a circus magician. Therefore, we are forever imprisoned by our subjectivity. Followers of Tao assert that we know no absolute truth in the world, only varying degrees of ambiguity. Some call this poetry; some call this art. The fact remains that all communication is relative. Those who follow Tao are practical. They know that words are imperfect and therefore give them limited importance : The symbol is not the same as the reality.

OMG!! This topic could not be any more timely for me. I drifted off to sleep last night, with a belly full of unusual supplements that create some rather vivid dream states, and I found myself on the new Mars colony. The only problem was that it was an exclusive community, populated with people who were more spiritually evolved than me. I was angry, baffled, and disappointed, especially when I found myself providing room service for all these folks who wouldn't give me the time of day. I can only infer from this dream that my own communication style in this forum has been wanting. I have tried to maintain a civil tone while attempting to obey the rules of critical thinking, particularly intellectual humility. I have had some measure of improvement, punctuated by very pronounced bouts of belligerence. I have said before that I think it is the anonymous nature of this forum that tempts us into saying things, writing things, that we would never say to each other's faces. I'm guilty of this as well, and I berate myself for it, because I'm old enough to be the father of a lot of you and should have learned to be more compassionate by now. I hope you guys will pardon my lack of charity. I've learned a great deal in here, and it's been a nice opportunity to hone the skills of writing on one's feet. But I should probably come in here less, and focus on what I really want, which is to move the Northwest and find some quiet piece of property in the country where my family and friends can practice the 3Ms- music, meditation, and martial arts. Maybe i'll see some of you up there. Regards, Scott

You regularly conflate two different processes and goals, one being the authentic experience of insight which can only come from meditation, and scholarship, which requires formal studies but makes no claim to be a legitimate substitute for meditation. Why do you continue to make this error? Could it be that you have no formal background in Asian Studies besides your own meditation practice? Or are you simply unaware that Asian philosophy is a formal academic study in its own right? Either way, it seems to be an awfully big oversight for someone presumptuous enough to offer free meditation advice.

Add the "Life after the Oil Crash" link below to your favorites and check it once a week. I can't go on record with answers like the ones you're asking. Best of luck to all of us. Taoists have always been admired for their fierce self-sufficiency and independence. They will survive.

I'm honored that you asked! Regards, B

I have to own up to my own short-fused commentaries as well. A lot of us have experienced miserable points of wretched disempowerment in our lives. I've made the case more than once in here that it is the nature of this anonymous online forum to allow problems to fester and be amplified. I was an absolute mess before I quit drinking in 1982, far worse off than Non. I wasn't in college, I exemplified no functional responsibility at all, but I was compelled to seek out help from live human beings. Non and those of his generation have the Net at their disposal and can milk it in ways that I don't believe are helpful, and are perhaps even problematic. Nevertheless, I fell prey to compassion fatigue after the second day of this thread. It's one thing to be a neurotic with low ego strength and blame oneself unnecessarily for everything. Non seems to have the worst of both worlds; he's functionally neurotic, but like those with character disorders, he seems to find it easier to blame the rest of the world, particularly women, for his plight. Many of us have climbed out of much deeper holes, but I think the Net offers a poor substitution for social connection. Non, if you're reading this, go to the mental health center on campus and book an appointment.

I have to give you credit for your perseverence and single-mindedness. You've managed to ignore virtually every piece of sensible advice offered, while maintaining your conviction that all your problems would be healed if women would just stop treating you unfairly and let you fuck them on a regular basis. Oh, how we pity you so!! Honest, we feel so sorry for your plight. You must be the first human male ever to suffer such alienation. And you're right!! Women truly are to blame for everything. Check the Book of Genesis. I think you're conducting an experiment to see how much sympathy you can suck out of well-intentioned people. How's the experiment going? Is it for a psych class or soc?

According to a body type book I read over the holidays, I am a thyroid kind of guy, and need to heal my adrenals. The consumption of raspberry leaf tea was strongly recommended for men who've been drinking caffeine all their lives, and as luck would have it, it's $1.13/oz at our local health food store. So I've been drinking about four cups a day. The first glass is mixed with one tablespoon of organic blackstrap mollases for minerals, which also curbs my sweet tooth. I add one tsp of cinnamon for the anti arthritic and LDL lowering effects, and 1 tbs of raw cocoa powder for the anti-oxidant effect. It doesn't taste too bad. I throw in two schizandra pills, morning and night. I also mix equal parts lecithin, ground flax seed, vegetable-based or hemp protein powder, and rice bran, grind it up and sift it for easy dissolving, and slam it down two or three times a day, more when I used to work out hard. Since I've been taking these concoctions, my IQ has gone up forty points (it's now at 67), and my penis has grown by 7 nanometers.

SKILLS Zither, chess, book, painting, sword. These symbolize classical skill. There was once a wanderer who cared nothing for fame. Although he had many chances for position, he continued to search for teachers who could help him master five things : zither, chess, book, painting, and sword. The zither gave him music, which expressed the soul. Chess cultivated strategy and a response to the actions of another. Books gave him academic education. Painting was the exercise of beauty and sensitivity. Sword was a means for health and defense. One day a little boy asked the wanderer what he would do if he lost his five things. At first the wanderer was frightened, but he soon realized that his zither could not play itself, the chess board was nothing without players, a book needed a reader, brush and ink could not move on their own accord, and a sword could not be unsheathed without a hand. He realized that his cultivation was not merely for the acquisition of skills. It was a path to the innermost part of his being.

What would be a five point skills list for the 21st century? Choose carefully.

Great feedback. I'll probably end up buying the stuff straight from him too. Cardio health is my family's only risk factor, so I'm really looking forward to using this therapy along with the Dean Ornish diet for a year, and who knows how long after that. I welcome the downshifted sexual energy. One of the greatest reliefs I ever had was when I went on an SSRI for a few months while working at a gym. Having the switch in the "off" position was a welcome change. I've also noticed a remarkable cutback in libido since my crown and brow chakras started pulsing about a month ago. Thanks for all the fish oil advice too, ladies.

HAPPINESS Let us not follow vulgar leaders Who exploit the fear of death, And promise the bliss of salvation. If we are truly happy, They will have nothing to offer. Some leaders use threats to win adherents. They invoke death to force good behavior and to herd people toward paradise. Others woo with grand promises. If you have no satisfaction, they offer bliss. If you feel inadequate, they offer success. If you are lonely, they offer acceptance. But if we do not fear death and are happy, what will such leaders have to offer? Spirituality is an organic part of daily life, not something dispensed by a professional. True spirituality is liberation, not just from the delusions of reality but from the delusions of religion as well. If we attain freedom from the fear of death, a sound way of health, and a path of understanding through life, there is happiness and no need for false leaders.

Yeah. Eventually the sun will go supernova and that will be the end of this entire solar system. BFD. I've always been astonished by the sources of great wisdom. Take music, for example. My musical tastes have been criticized by people who've never taken the time to practice an instrument or to competently perform for others. People with no background in music theory have argued the supremacy of pop music over jazz and classical. The same holds true in the physical and earth sciences. Folks who've never taken a class in climatology or chemistry or biology regard themselves as extraordinarily competent in these matters, so much so that they can disparage the professionals of the field. I'm particularly amused when members of the NAS are raked over the coals by conservative pundits like Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and Glenn Beck, none of whom had what it takes to even nail down an undergrad education. Ecology - a false science invented by communists, socialists, and Anti-Americans in order to make capitalists feel guilty. And to think that they award doctorates in this subject.

A lot has happened since my bai hwai and brow started pulsating a couple weeks before I got married; I guess that's been a month or so. I am fairly adept at "making the unconscious conscious," and one should be somewhere along this path on the eve of their 50th birthday. I'm not entirely unaware of some portentious activity simmering away, and am open to whatever language, be it scientific or imaginitive, that can bring it to the fore. If buying your book helps then I'll put it on my list. As a fairly well-educated westerner (ferociously left-handed and right-brained at that) I am obliged to explore these higher truths by honoring my culture's intellectual tradition. And for this task (forgive the persistent repetition) the Santiago Theory of Cognition has more explanatory power than any other theory I have discovered thus far, and is especially suited to the task of dialogue between Taoism and the scientific method. I've brought it up in here a few times but it's just too out there for most. http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=santiago+theory+of+cognition I will buy your book soon, however. Musicians who write should be read. Regards, B

I have a few unanswered PMs in my mailbox. How do I get them back? Thanks in advance.

Well said = I thought wit was dead!

I should preface my argument with an important point, and that is, I don't necessarily disagree with this sentiment, because my soul feels this to be true. That being said, how can one know any of this? It all sounds terrific and encouraging and emotionally satiating, but from an impirical standpoint, these points are so steeped in sentimentality that you can't even separate it without the rest of the argument falling to pieces. Of course, I am compelled to believe that I learned something of value when I paid the big bucks for a master's degree in geography, a subject that takes on the earth systemically as well as piecemeal. Nothing supports the above argument. Even Ken Wilber and his crowd with Integral Studies doesn't indulge in this kind of sentimentality or metaphysical speculation. The carrying capacity of the earth in its most productive state is about 2 billion people. We have 7 billion now. Barring some extraordinary power source that has remained undiscovered, the end of the Oil Age will cut the population way down. I'm all about raising the frequency - however you wish to define it - but no more than 10% of the population has ever really attained a state of consciousness that would be necessary for the changes that will have to be made. And, just from a very basic Taoist perspective - the idea that you can free yourself of Darwinian impulses but not be subject to them is idiotic. Taoists acknowledge multiple states of consciousness that humans are vulnerable to. In the midst of a very real social and economic contraction, which is entirely plausible based on current projections or real-life scenarios, not ancient prophecy, it ain't gonna be pretty. We would all do well to emulate the lifestyles of the Ancient Taoists who were capable of extraordinary resilience during violent times.

Replying to Stupid Questions Looking for Quick Answers These are not stupid questions, but they don't have quick answers, and few people are interested in doing your basic research for you. Get a library card. Those Big questions can be answered very well by "Scholar/Warrior" by Deng Ming-Dao or "The Complete Book of Chinese Health & Healing: Guarding the Three Treasures" by Daniel Reid (imho).

What are the seven dantiens of the head, and where can I find references? Thanks again, btw, for your encouraging words regarding chi flow in the brain. I'm still feeling awfully good, having not forced the flow there, but not trying to keep it from going there either. My brow chakra throbs quite regularly, but I am far enough along to understand what you mean about not raising energy before we are "refined" enough. God knows I had (have) plenty of work to do in this area. So, what are the seven? And are they Taoist exclusively, or are they listed by another teaching?

Aaaaahhhh, A topic after my own heart. I've been busy for the past few years carefully crafting a sub-genre of geography studies, which I could call End Times Geography, for lack of a better name. Of course, I'm not alone. See my signature links for tons more. Perhaps the single best resource for really getting a grip on things to come, at least for N. America, is James Kunstler's "The Long Emergency." There just ain't no way of getting around the simple ecological fact that this planet's carrying capacity is two billion people, but the age of oil (which is just about over) has enabled us to grow enough food for 7 billion. Every piece of news wrestling with the contracting supply of energy, food, credit, health care, housing, is ultimately about the great normalization of population. James Lovelock predicts that only 500 million people will live to see the 22nd century, most of them living on a ring of land surrounding an ice-free Arctic Ocean. I've suggested in here before that Taoists stand the best chance of representing that population, due to Taoist's traditions of radical independence and self-sufficiency. Medical chi kung, medical skills of any kind, weaponry, food production, hunting, animal husbandry, carpentry. Assemble your skill sets now, and if Colorado get's too dry, seek out another community at www.ic.org for alternative locations (the Northwest will fair best). Also - http://www.amazon.com/Survival-Structuring-Prosperity-Yourself-Nation/dp/1449563449/ref=wl_it_dp_o?ie=UTF8&coliid=I13RS3AKLOCOHK&colid=37R5XZCNAAJOL Cheers.

Thanks, Sean. We can all appreciate the captivity of website maintenance. It looks great.

Get an Oxford Dictionary, preferably the big Two volume set, and with your eyes closed, pick a random word and definition every day for a year. Attach this definition to the word "hope" and see if it makes any more sense than what you've done with the word already. If exhaustion, Headaches, nervousness, powerlessness, and fear are part of your new hope-based life, then it's time to go see a psychologist, or at least a really good librarian.

"When you practice circulating qi through the Three Gtes on the Governing Vessel, the pace of qi movements are like a Goat pace, Deer pace, and Ox pace. A goat moves slowly, implying that when qi circulates through the Tailbone Gate, your intentio should be gentle to allow qi to accumulate. A deer is very agile, implying that when qi circulates through the Dorsal Gate, qi should circulate through smoothly with little effort. An ox moves slowly, but is strong and determined, implying the obstacles that one will encounter, combined with the slow pace of qi circulating at the Jade Pillow Gate, will require a stronger intention to lead qi through this gate." From Qigong Empowerment by Shou-Yu Liang Maybe we can infer something from this pertaining to your experience?