Owledge

"What is Red Phoenix?" ... The first step of a communist invasion of Arizona.

The audacity is stunning. 'We want to be supreme rulers of the world. Please sign here.' Legal texts are an illusion. People can make up a legal document and then others agree to it, and it can still be illegal. Happens all the time. Laws are more about convincing people than about correctness. It's a marketing thing. Deception. The infamous 'European constitution' is anti-democratic. It was pushed through with tenacity and disregard for the will of the people. In my case, ironically now an illegitimate legislation is being put on top of a construct (Federal Republic of Germany) that itself is illegitimate. But if very few people understand, it will prevail anyway. If you consider that the results of an illegitimate action are illegitimate, too, then the whole of society's power structures are illegitimate - nothing but tyranny and deception.

I think it's always 50/50. Otherwise it would exclude people from responsibility. I think Max is simply learning, making mistakes. He doesn't have an easy life.

*drama amplifier on* Is this what red phoenix does to some people?! *drama amplifier off*

Drama school

When I went to Max's workshop, I was a total meditation newb. He gave me a RP transmission and shortly after that (actually not sure when), I felt magnetic energy flow in my head, on the path we are supposed to practice. (And I often do since then, even without practicing the techniques any longer.) I guess that's because my third eye chakra is relatively active. When I took ayahuasca, that same path had a cool mist flowing through. So apparently there was more happening than just him placing his finger on my forehead.

EDIT: changed title and subforum to reflect the new insight. I was wondering: There is (media/)?entertainment censoring in China, forbidding any kind of depiction or mentioning of death, for example in computer games, where eg. you won't see skeletons. Is this rooted in fearful superstition? And how does this fit with Taoism? Isn't it as a major religion more or less influencing the whole culture? Apparently Taoism doesn't have such a troubled relationship to the topic of death. So what's it all about? Knowledge/insight instead of speculation preferred.

Hm, OK, God of War seems to have a relatively high age threshold. WoW starts with 12. So I guess it's that. Here's one example. They made this: http://www.wowhead.com/npc=36612#screenshots:id=150774 into this: http://i813.photobucket.com/albums/zz57/christoki/7eb3fd320668be12b7c8988495f20708.jpg edit: I guess this topic can be deleted or moved into off topic as a joke, because by now there is info in the wikipedia about the reasons. I forgot to check again. The reason is hilarious: "The Chinese government and NetEase, the licensee for World of Warcraft in China, have imposed a modification on Chinese versions of the game which places flesh on bare-boned skeletons and transforms dead character corpses into tidy graves. These changes were imposed by the Chinese government in an attempt to "promote a healthy and harmonious online game environment" in World of Warcraft." OK, so you have a game centered around killing and war, and they want a healthy game environment. Not to mention the irony of the disharmony this causes between players and government. By the way, the WoW player community is far from being healthy or harmonious anyway, which only adds to the joke. The game, due to the makers' design decisions, becomes more and more a breeding ground for antisocial behavior.

Then it must be - for some weird reason - limited to computer games. Or is it maybe an age thing? Protecting children? Nothing to do with religion or superstition maybe? Because one big western online game (World of Warcraft) had to redesign everything that depicted or mentioned death when they entered the Chinese market. That means no skulls, no sleketons, bones, no "death" in names and so on. Very weird. Even skills with names like "Death Strike" would be renamed to "Spirit World Strike", and Death Knights became Fade Knights. The playable Undead race got all their bare bones covered with flesh. This also extended to all kinds of enemies. As I said ... basically all depiction or mentioning. Hm, maybe it's a silly government thing like no (red) blood in German computer games or the bleeping in public US TV.

Hahahahahahaha! Sorry, couldn't help it. Hope you can muster the self-discipline.

I was under the impression that there is more than just one route. Personally it feels as if while my connection between upper and middle dan tien is not very strong, the one between upper and lower is.

Regarding the sincerity vs. ability debate about Max: He himself said he's a trickster. That might bring some clarity. There is a potential logical fallacy involved though. Trust towards a person is not realted to any specific attribute, but to any that apply to that person? Instead the question should be: What about him do you trust? His sincerity or his body's openness to the type of energy that Max can send? If you trust his judgment, then what you can trust is the statement that your friends didn't feel anything. Nothing more. As you explained, you don't want to waste any time, you're in a hurry and thus only looking for the 'big bang'. Maybe that's part of the dilemma. That might be diametrically opposed to the development of the kind of techniques Max teaches. Maybe all those expectations are blocking it. And that works like a self-confirmation for the emotional stuff that manifests that outcome in the first place. You probably need to find an exceptional teacher who is willing to walk a tightrope of specifically reaching out to the people less qualified for spiritual techniques instead of those with good preparation. But it might be difficult to find someone like that. Personally, I think in individual cases they might be too careful. But maybe better to be too careful about something that cannot be undone once it's done. I once asked a teacher who supposedly could do crazy stuff. It was all vague, so I asked for a demo to strenghten my faith. It wasn't really mindblowing or something. So I have to live with that. Don't know why it turned out like that - it would have helped. I guess the teacher will have no problem living with my lingering doubts.

It seems to me that whenever tulku posts something with question marks, you have to replace them with exclamation marks in order to not get confused.

Very deep. Don't get confused by a misinterpretation of an Einstein quote that in itself is relatively unenlightened. Although I understand how hard it is to go through that. I never abandoned that view, and that can be very painful. Keeping something alive against severe adversity. I sometimes wonder whether temporarily forgetting this can be a blessing.

Well, I just meant that if you start adding up numbers from everywhere, the unlikeliness factor of the occurence decreases. The broader the range of possibilities, the easier it is to find synchronicity. Sometimes it seems like I'm haunted by it. If I disregard more likely occurences, they might come back in greater strength.

So what's so special about 11:01? Come on, if you want to do Twilight Zone stuff, at least do it right! ( I'll PM you some stuff and show you how it's done. )

This poll doesn't have mandatory/representative-selective participation. It can, for example, be assumed that those who never had those dreams are less interested in participating. Well, you chose to re-post the results at the point where those appeared. It's a simple mathematical phenomenon in cases where a 100 is split into fractions that those kinds of numbers appear. Once there's one number like that, there will most likely be many. P.S.: I don't know whether you noticed (probably did on some level), but your current number of posts is 3333.

http://thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=onions

Yeah, there's a weird equalizer even in Taoist belief that when you have pleasure, that will somehow automatically manifest displeasure. Well, I think it's more the case that when you have pleasure, that gives you the power to handle displeasure more easily. As said in the Gospel of Thomas: 'Those who have much are given more, those who have little even lose that.' There's the step where you emotionally disconnect yourself from unpleasant experiences. You let them happen and that's it. How does that require you to do the same with pleasant experiences? I think it's skillful to condition yourself towards emphasizing the pleasant and toning down the unpleasant. Maybe the problem Taoism sees is simply the failure at doing so, but then that's the challenge.

I was referring to a seeming contradiction between the samurai's philosophy/claims and his actions. I found it at least worthy to think about the claim of not being influenced by the world, but still acting and making decisions in it. It is a common result of a hostile emotional origin of one's behavior to exaggerate someone's position into extremes or even absolutes. It means that something in you feels threatened. Awareness about that can be very helpful in insight meditation and developing character in order to be more relaxed about things. Well, there is the distinction of conditional and unconditional love. I think it's a gradual thing, not a yes/no question. Maybe unconditional love is a normally unreachable extreme. Anyway, can you love people, animals, the earth without hating those that pose a threat to them? The pain you feel when they are harmed is one thing. The hatred you feel towards those who harm them is another thing. It is more of egoic origin I think. Anger is a defense reaction, offensive defense if you will. You maybe get angry out of a fear of losing the things you love, because you think that you need them for your well-being. But is that anger constructive? I think there's something to that Yoda quote: Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering. Sometimes anger might look like a useful tool for doing good, but examine whether that might be only a 'quick fix' with long-term negative consequences. And I'm not even saying that such a quick fix is unwise. It depends on what we want to achieve. About all this stuff, just consider this: Fear cannot be fought. It can only be neutralized with love. Choose your challenges wisely. If the fear you oppose with your love is too great, better to leave it alone for now. If you send love into a fearful environment, don't expect to get love back. If anything at all, expect to get less fear back. Also be aware that love can be perceived as threatening when people don't want to let go of their fear. I think this happens when the fear in them is confident that it is more powerful than the love sent. This confidence will show as aggression. Just vague thoughts. So now he believes in creation, hm?

Tulku recommended mantra: Posted 14 April 2012 - 02:07 AM Adam B. watched 19 minutes long video and said it worked in a reply that could have taken merely 2 minutes: Posted 14 April 2012 - 02:36 AM That's 29 minutes in-between. Considering his degree of misery, he might have reloaded the thread very frequently and then jumped on the mantra suggestion. Then the perceived 'healing effect' might have happened gradually over minutes while chanting the mantras. Of course it is also not impossible that a friend of tulku posted it, and that the secondary user name is because it's just a favor for tulku and the poster doesn't want people to think it's him, because it's not. I wouldn't regard this possibility as paranoid, considering how people might get inspired by viral marketing and all the other psycho-deceptive stuff played in the world.

Move to off topic maybe?

So if you get rid of all lust for sex, you stop fearing anything, including death? Sounds worthy of a reality check. The ninja smiley accurately expresses the mindset of the statement it follows. Seriously, you want to turn wisdom upside-down? How can I have a problem if I don't acknowledge it, if there are no emotional attachments to it? Who is to tell me I have a problem? "Problem" is a subjective concept, and it creates suffering in the world when people think it's objective. (Apart from that, that statement was not about myself, but about a certain state of spiritual development. It can be highly conditional - case-dependent.)

It is proven malicious intent exists - psychopaths... which are more numerous than one would expect - termed an intraspecies predator. Predator and prey are choices of views. They bring with it a whole set of attributes attached to those labels. More numerous than who would expect? You? Or what you assume others think? Messing with your mind a little here. ^ I am not sure if such ideas exist in Taoist thought... I have read Taoist texts referring to demons but in regard to what is the nature of evil? its purpose etc of said demons < maybe arise through ignorance / misunderstanding etc. Considering that there allegedly are tulpas - materialized thought forms, it could be that demons are just that - thought forms that eventually take on a life of their own - because their creator becomes controlled by those fears. I think this idea is even held by some taoists and no novel thought. One could refer to say the ancient western world (or eastern) and the burning of knowledge and the slaughter of wise ones... there seems to be intent from somewhere to destroy consciousness / awareness... as much as there is an intent to become conscious / aware. Some ideas: Understanding nourishes compassion. Fear keeps the perception superficial. People who are very afraid and acting on that - can you speak of malicious intent? Is it the same awareness that you gain along with compassion? Aren't they slaves to the master that is fear? There is that saying: Blinded by fear. And people can overlook the most obvious stuff when they are afraid of it. But when you aren't afraid of anything, there is no need to choose not to see anything. I would be interested say if 1000 Taoist monks had word of 1000 soldiers coming to destroy them and their knowledge, what action they would take. There is that funny saying: When you hit a buddhist, they will bear it and not hit back. When you hit a taoist, there's no telling what will happen. That embodies so much the all-embracing philosophy of taoism. Would they except their "fate" and decide this is the work of the Tao and should yield to it... or perhaps the Tao is forcing them into action... and bringing the "mundane" world to them... what is the use of a "liberated" man/woman if his brothers/sisters are starving to death. If you feel forced into action by the tao, then you don't embody it. You live the tao. Every monk would make their own choice of how to deal with the situation, and if they all are truly living the tao, then their reactions might still be very different. There might be a common thread, but since taoism seems less doctrine-based than buddhism, expect less similarity in behavior than if it were a buddhist monastery. I heard a story of a Taoist monk who had been cultivating energy for 4000 years in the mountains but couldn't transcend... Or another of a Buddhist monk who believed he had finally attained peace(in the mountains) came "down" to the "mundane" world and completely lost it. I see a 'time off' as sometimes useful when there is too much burden, but the two cases are clearly an escape. In the latter case, the monk was blessed with his folly that made him come down and learn the next lesson. Perhaps "evil" is to strengthen the resolve of the seeker... I once was trying to escape this world by means of enlightenment believing that this world is MAYA, illusion and everything here was completely worthless, full of suffering etc You only see something as the problem until you see where it is coming from. Don't judge. Don't see "evil" as a problem, but if you see it as a benevolent helper, a teacher, that, too, is a narrow view, that, too, is labeling. You might end up worshipping it, and that's what people do that were subject to so much pain that they have to cherish it in order to give meaning to all their suffering. Why not simply be aware of all the cause and effect. Then relaxation sets in. You will see: "Evil" can harm people, and it can help people. Full stop. Work with observation. Taoism is a natural science/religion. Observe nature. Draw logical conclusions. Don't label or choose to believe ideas because they suit you. I think awareness of everything and judging of nothing is a very enlightened state of being. I think we need to understand the "shadow" just as much as the "light" Well, duh! Are we in a taoist forum? Say a monk will refuse to kill (fear of creating karma for his/herself)and in the process his entire village + himself are killed... which is the greater "evil" The monk cannot avoid creating karma. By not killing, he creates karma as well, as you depicted so well by the fact that the whole village was killed. Now it begins to become personal philosophy or psychology. If the monk had decided to fight in order to defend the village, he would have engaged in politics, judging that the attackers are wrong or that their lives can be ended, but not those of the villagers. If you look at it from the view of fear: If overcoming fear is a basic task in spirituality, then the monk would have to identify his personal fears and then try to overcome them. If he's afraid of dying, he will hide. If he's afraid of losing his loved ones, he will defend them. A predicament. See how fear MAKES this dramatic theater play that is life? Sometimes there are no simple answers. ^ I suppose this could be another thread ... but still applies Since I am, for quite some time, practicing letting go of the desire for control, I acknowledge that all my actions contribute to what is written in this thread of mine, so if I wanted to keep "off topic" stuff out of it, I would deny responsibility for my actions, or at least prevent them from having fruitful consequences. I would create an inner conflict and project it outwards. (I still could ask it though if I felt the need for it, thus acknowledging fears connected to it if there are some.) Abandoning control can restore curiosity about where the journey is going. And ayahuasca... well, people might tell you not to read so much about it before making your own experiences. You know what? It doesn't matter. It will surprise you anyway, no matter what you do. And if you expect a surprise too much, it might not. It's really good at establishing authority in that way. But that's just my own experiences. You may write what you like in my threads. I am not so self-important that I fear my writings becoming overlooked. I might fear it a bit for other reasons, but as I hinted at, I make all the decisions. Everybody does. ...Aw, I've written so much. Maybe you can find some cherries in there to pick.

Your choice to have a narrow vision like that. It's damn easy to claim that X Y is THE FUNDAMENTAL cause of EVERYTHING, you know. People do it all the time and then collect stuff that supports their idea instead of figuring out whether there might be further wisdom to be gained. Let me ask you this: Where does lust (for sex) come from? Isn't it either a perceived need for pleasure or an urge to procreate? What for? You wouldn't have those problems if you didn't fear death or meaninglessness or whatever fear-based idea. Seems you still haven't realized how the profound thread leading though the epic story of spirituality and life is about overcoming fears, not overcoming lust. And there seems to be no end to enlightenment. At some point: What's the fundamental cause of this world's problem? ...What problem? You have a problem. I don't.