Iris

I've been using this time to dismantle my attachment to the planet.

I find no reason to beleive in the prophesies yet no reason to doubt them either.

you need to dissolve your ego - i.e. YOU don't actually exist to be the loser. This can be done with meditation. You could focus your conscious thoughts on being happy for the winner. Take this whole thing outside yourself and contemplate it. How does winning make you feel? Is this feeling what you are craving? Your brain and feelings, reactions are just reacting to some sensation on the body level - get in touch with the sensation that triggers all this - perhaps some old memory pattern is locked into this reaction - you need to deprogram this connection and make a healthier one. I really would try to cultivate happiness for the winner - that way you are a winner too but in more valuable ways. You could also look into your Liver - perhaps it is causing undue frustration and irritability?

I feel a deep compassion for those seeking answers from outside themselves, but perhaps these are lessons that some need to learn the hard way, or in another lifetime perhaps but what do I know? The path is so brightly lit yet so many are looking outward for answers. Like being lost inside your own home.

sorry I haven't read through this whole thing yet but something caught me on the first page... "How could there be ignorance?" I wonder how could there be enlightenment without it? Is there no up without down, no light without darkness ... These are certainly ego questions, mind games etc. As long as these questions occupy then how can the answers ever be known? And if this knowledge is attained how could it then be used for real wisdom? Let Tao lead the way. OMG - I just busted a gut

Interesting logic - not sure I find it sound but as long as you understand it So let me get this right - If I told you that I don't beleive that democracy works and that government is corrupt am I saying that I hate society? It seems everything becomes personalized with some here. So is a discussion only considered a discussion if it wanders down familiar paths? Is there only one way of looking at religion? Through the eyes of the blind perhaps. Hate is such a powerfully negative word - to so carelessly throw it around. Are you a monk? Sorry to have rattled anyones cage.

very enlightening lol I do believe Ralis is correct. I'm very surprised actually that so many here are not in agreement. Too much interfaith here perhaps :-) I'm wondering how exactly is this "harmony" defined? Getting people to stop killing each other because of religious beliefs?

I like "Yin opens and Yang closes" I find it helps "Calm the Spirit" Do you have any basic knowledge in gongfu? Horse stance, 3 breaths, Dan tien, how to hold your tongue, wuji gaze etc? Holding the 4 posts is good too ... I would look for a class or teacher to help you start off with the basics....just learning Tiger plays with Ball type exercises should get you in tune with qi inside and out You can also follow meridians in their order with your eyes closes and with your intent... Mostly I would find a good TCM doctors to help you with your problems - Make sure they're not just an acupuncturist but know the entire system i.e. herbs, tuina, qigong, nutrition etc... As for the addictions - pick the easiest one to stop and start there... And for meditating I know someone who did zen meditation hard core for years and after learning vipassana they felt like it was the first time they had ever meditated in their life - I don't know zen but I can vouch for vipassana - it would certainly help kick those addictions. Gautama taught Vipassana, he didn't invent it but stumpled across it in his search - it's how he became enlightened and it's what he spent his life teaching others. Not sure why so many Buddhists don't learn this. Anyways, best of everything. a.

This caught my eye because I'm reading a book called The Body Electric; Electromagnetism and the foundation of life by Robert O Becker and I just got finished reading on page 131... "We found that bone was LED. Like many such materials, it required an outside source of light before an electric current would make it release its own light, and the light it emitted was at an infrared frequency invisible to us, but the effect was consistent and undeniable." The guy was/is orthopedic surgeon so lots of talk about bones - certainly not hollow, but definitely filled with wonderful powers. Marrow produces blood cells and Blood is the mother of Qi Anyways, it's all very interesting. As for the question - all the time but I do Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy. Which is just a fancy title westerners came up with when they were reinventing the wheel :-) so I'm always trying to facilitate the energetic healing powers of tao - or as it is called in Craniosacral work "The Breath of Life" I try to stay away from bad but if it catches me off guard it can give me a bad headache, make me feel grumpy or have negative thoughts - not a conduit though.

Hi All, I look forward to exploring the forum and connecting with others who have a similar understanding of things. I don't actually know any other Taoists in "real" life so this is a little exciting. I've studied the I Ching for about 20 years, started understanding better (deeper) about 5 years ago and I also practise vipassana meditation as taught by S N Goenka. I usually feel pretty alone in my view of things which has been fine but as my understanding deepens I start to feel the need to connect with others. "When ribbon grass is pulled up, the sod comes with it. Each according to his kind. Undertakings bring good fortune."