BobD

Thanks for this. Even though I still intend to buy the book, I've been reading some of these pages, and I agree with Yoda, this thing rocks. The webpages are hard to read (from a colour point of view) but the content is superb!

Very nice

For what its worth, I work in a university in UK. I do some computer based teaching (Access/Excel etc), and I also do database/web page/technical work for the school. I would (naturally, given my job) say that it is worth getting a university degree, provided that it is a reasonable one (ie one that could actually be applied in the real world) and that you put in the effort. You may or may not then use this degree later in life, but at least you wil have more options. As had been said, it may just provide the means to keep your interests funded. I earn enough to live happily, and have time to spend as I please (I don't have work everyday). I don't think I would be in this position if I didn't have my degree. I don't know what the situation is like where you live (largely because I don't know where you live!), but here there are far more people than jobs, and so if you want to have the option of getting a good job you need to stand out. So, I would advise that you think long and hard before giving up your studies, but I am perhaps a lot more square than many here

Ah right. I do the standing practices, and a Yoga one (called the plank I think which is like a pressup at the top position). I've seen the the arm one where you hold your arms out to the side horizontally and hold weights, but for the whole day ?! Wow. Is pushing against a door like a pushup but vertically (eg against the door rather than the floor)? In which case how do you pull against it?

Thanks for the reply and the link (very interesting link and site, which I will now take some time to read). What would you recommend as a good book to start with on this kind of thing, not magick as magick, but the "energetic/alchemical approaches to magick", or using magick to direct internal energies? (Other than just reading that site) Thanks

Just swap to Opera and be done with it (Sorry, not very helpful I know, but Opera rocks!)

Sounds like a really interesting book Sean. How great is the tie-in between alchemy and magick (both in that book and in general)? Magic is not an area I have previously looked into, but that could change!

Just added two such things to my routine as of yesterday! I only know these two, which are a) hands clasped in front of chest, arms horizontal across chest and push together, and same arms position, but fingers of each hand curled over and grabbing onto each other, and pull apart (not very good descriptions to either but there you go). Are there any more such that you can recommend and describe?

Sean, what are your fave Osho books, and Yoda, what two books have you just ordered? Just interested, cos I'm by no means sure that I've even come across all of them, let alone read them. On a slightly related note, I have also found the books of Thich Nhat Hanh to be very good. No Death, No Fear was one of the first of his I read (which I got just after my Dad passed away, when trying to cope with it all, and it did help somewhat, as much as anything can). He has several "current moment awareness" books, as well as general Buddhist topic books.

Really glad you are enjoying him Yoda. I've actually not got round to that book yet (it's on my list though, especially now that you've reviewed it!) Well, the thing with Osho is that he writes books on many philosophies, so he has Zen, Taoism, Yoga and Buddhist books. When discussing one he tends to stick with the underlying structure and beliefs, and just explain & expand on them. So, from the books I have read, it is not always possible to get a straight answer as to what he actualy believes personally. I take that as a good thing, since although it seems strange, it kind of leans towards a sort of "all beliefs are valid if you just live in the right way" kind of thing. He has expressed a view that the heaven spoken about in some beliefs is just living life to the full now (ie being in the moment, living as if each minute is your last etc); a view that it is the place you reach once you have accumulated enough good karma/good efforts/deep enough meditation etc and left the Wheel; a view that after death there is just a state of bliss waiting; etc etc Often, one book will seemingly contradict another on a particular topic. For instance, I posted here a section from one of his books that says that you should not look to posture to get the right mind state, but in the last book I read by him (one about Yoga), he says the exact opposite! Both books are awesome, but you would be hard pressed to reconcile the two completely. Certainly brilliant, and who can be brilliant without being a little nuts?

That would have been me. I have always found his books to be very well written. He clearly knows his stuff and can convey his meaning very well. One of my favourite authors of this kind of material. Which book was it that caught your eye?

I recently got a copy of Golden Elixir Chi Kung by M Chia, all about saliva exercises etc to promote the Elixir. It starts off with a section about hair breathing (just like the practices from Eric Yudelove's second book) When I read EY's book, I remember doing some hair breathing and liking it at the time, but reading this book has prompted me to try it again. I'm finding it works quite well for me in that I do very quickly become aware of the hairs, breathing and tingling (mainly on the head, but elsewhere as well). Not noticed any immediate change in the saliva yet, but it does seem to be a quick way of "getting into the body" as E Tolle would say, and of sensing body energy. Does anyone else do/have comments on hair breathing?

More birthday wishes! Hope you have/had a good un.

OK, results of the first field test are in. After a trip to the shops, I have now tried: AAA Juice Not sure about this one. I was hampered by the fact that I could only get processed beetroot. I decided to try it anyway, even though it would probably make a large difference. Also, it meant that I couldnt gauge how big one should be (or how big 1/2 a one should be). So I think I overdid it on the beetroot Very, very red! I'll try this again, but with (much) less beetroot next time. Ginger Jolt I liked this one. Quite an interesting kick, and a good taste too (though I have always liked apple and pear combo). Might (again) have used too much ginger, but I'll play with that. Actually, very nice and different. Biggest problem with this one (and some of my own) is that I had to keep stiring it in the glass in between drinking it, else it separated too much. What's that about? Is there something I can do to fix that? Not a huge cherry fan, so not too sure about trying The Arouser, and couldnt get good fruit for the Digestive Cocktail, but will try at another shop at the weekend. Cool, post away Yeah, as I understand it, the plan for the articles section is that it will contain more complete writings rather than being questions or threads in that sense. Sean has some cool changes planned for it, which should combine the best of both worlds. Cheers

Hell yeah. Some of my best experiences have been entirely spontaneous. I clearly remember sitting in a computer lab class I was teaching, just waiting for someone to ask a question, and doing just formless meditations. I got huge results that lasted for about 10 minutes, and then went away. Never quite been able to capture the same experience, even when I (think I) have been doing the same thing internally. A large part of it must have just been the formless, letting go and seeing what happens, don't give a **** kind of attitude, which I find much harder to cultivate when actually doing planned meditations. Always a good answer

Cool. Thanks a lot. My local shops will be closed the next two days, but I'll hit them mid week and try some of these out. I'll print your message out as a shopping list. They all sound like interesting combinations (carrots & celery & apples?). Beet as in beetroot? That seems to be what a search on google thinks. Thanks again.

Happy Birthday Sean!

Is this what you are looking for?

I have a juicer too, but so far have stuck to just juicing fruit and veg (eg just apple and banana, or carrot and tomato). Not tried anything even as adventurous as apple and ginger. If those of you with a juicer could post some of your more interesting (and preferably tasty) combinations, then they might inspire me! Thanks in advance!

Just logged in today, and the Board Statistics said Most users ever online was 331 on Yesterday, 12:40 AM 331! Thats gotta be wrong. Thats a whole lot of bums!

The time is OK for me, just not the day! I may be able to join in on a few Sundays (depends on what the wife is doing), and will try to do so. Being one of the few in the UK, I'll just pop in as and when I can.

Main one I take is glucosamine. Fantastic stuff for joints. I have a dodgy knee joint after a footballing injury and it still gives me pain. If I dont tale glucosamine for a couple of days I can really tell the difference.

Chat was real fun. When's the next planned chat going to be? I had to leave early, as Sunday night is not too good for me, but really enjoyed the time I could spend. Thanks all. I think each user sees their name in red, and everyone elses in blue. Not sure why you couldn't see messages, as it seemed to work well for everyone else. As its all done by a Java plugin, are you sure your Java installation is uptodate? If you click on the Rooms button you will see a list of rooms that you could be chatting in. There should (I think) only be one (Taobums) which should have a number in brackets after it to show how many other users are there, which should match the list of names you could previously see. BTW, as a bit of a FAQ: 1) Click the button with 4 arrows on it to make the chat window a popup window that you can then maximize 2) Click the button with a cog wheel to display the control panel and then change the font size for a much more legible display 3) Don't press the rightmost button, as it will log you out of chat 4) Don't close the original browser window (the one with the chat window before you did 1). I did that, and that also logged me out. Hope to see/speak to you in chat soon.