11:33

Hey vortex, I would like to add to the list some things that seem right from my research and developments 5) It has to be Win-Win, anything that isn't a win for all parties involved eventually falls apart as it has no inner stability. The best things, then, are things that are a win for all. 6) It has to be in harmony with your HIGHEST intents. So imagine there is a order of importance. The things that are REALLY most important, deep in your heart will always override anything else. 7) On the highest level, desiring ANYTHING always has a tinge of lacking what you want, and hence the whole LoA-desire paradigm is thrown for a loop, and then you end up with non-desiring being the highest form of desiring. Amazing! So then you learn to desire without desiring. 7b) "I desire little, and that little I desire, I desire it little"

That was good stuff! No way I'd ever eat hospital food

Interesting... So what are good ways for non-vegos to get their B12?

This is a very interesting practice. There are a lot of steps to the complete system of 9 Palaces Qigong. Lots of little things to remember. Also, the exercises are different than most of the qigong I have seen. Has anyone practiced this for any length of time? I wonder what your results are... There is a lot of esoteric stuff and also some magical aspects to the forms. Like how to win money gambling and how to connect with the time of your birth. Like doing exactly 9 and then 6 rotations is a special number to connect with the sun, eh too much to explain. I'll have to practice it daily for sayyyy a month and get a feel for where it's taking me, and then I'll get back to you all with details.

All monastic monks don't practice martial arts though, I don't think, do they? Curious: who are the energy healers who died in their 60's?

Here's my offering: A phenomena is anything that arises and then passes away.

GoldIsHeavy, Isn't it interesting that for a philosophy that is all about going with the flow, Taoists have so darn many techniques, methods, diets, rituals, etc? I think the trick is to use (or not use) techniques as they come natural to you. Form within the formless, action within the wu wei, if that makes sense to you. I already have a girlfriend, I was merely curious.

I think that meditation-mantra guy is BS. He seems to call himself Taoist but he seems to ego oriented. Just my impression, though... Maybe I'm off. From my experience that sounds about right, Michael. I wasn't asking for me, since I'm already in a longterm relationship, but was just curious. I thought there may be some more non-wu wei method. Since Taoists seem to have tons of methods All the Best, Alex

Sensible. The best thing about the Tao, is that it is uniquely suited to each of us in every moment. What is right for you may not be right for me. And that is because we are all different.

I've heard that only the fermented foods that use the old-fashioned methods will have significant B12, many of the more modern facilities used to ferment those foods for some reason or other aren't going to produce as much or any B12. If you're concerned I'd google it. I'm not vegan so I never concerned myself enough to remember the details. All the Best

Taoist Ethics For Taoist PUA Are there any traditional Taoist techniques for finding a girlfriend?

Hi markern, All the pickup techniques I've read about are basically learning how to be confident and not seem overly attached. Fascinatingly these both correspond to what LoA teaches. Feel good, knowing you will ultimately get what you want, relax. So they're two sides of the same coin. I know a lot about LoA. I spent 5+ years studying it. It is essentially the medium that mind and karma play themselves out in the physical realm. I used LoA to attract my current girlfriend who was the prettiest girl, literally. Two of my friends had told me about her a couple months earlier, how she was THE prettiest girl, and we're talking about two guys who go to bars/clubs alllll the time. How did I 'do' it? I wrote on a piece of paper, front and back, exactly what I wanted in a girl. I put a lot of thought into this. It wasn't all superficial qualities, but many important lifelong type of qualities. For example, someone who we could grow together over the years, someone who embodied the 32nd I-Ching hexagram with me and could thus be Enduring. Someone with compatible interests, but enough differences to make life an enjoyable adventure. Someone beautiful inside and out. And then I put that piece of paper in my bureau under the socks And went about my business. The next step in the equation is to be natural, to feel good, to let your light shine (like it naturally does)... So I wasn't thinking of my list at the time, when I went out with my friends (and my now-girlfriend was a friend of a friend who came with us in her own separate car) and was dancing for fun. Me and our group of friends were the only people there, and my now-girlfriend wasn't dancing with me or anything but she was drawn to me and told her friend I was cute or something and then her friend told me, even though she wasn't supposed to. And then I went to talk to her a little and voila, DESTINY! Note I really didn't DO ANYTHING, I just was natural and chose to be myself. I don't agree fully with the popular sources of LoA literature, as they imho only are grasping PART of the picture, and many portray a very ME-centric way of living, which is not the Way. What Stigweard said above is a very good explanation of LoA. All of life comes from mind. If pickup skills help you feel more confident in yourself then right on. Because really confidence is the only thing keeping you back most likely. Now, my method should work if you want ONE girl. It is nature's way to match up compatible people. If you want many girls, I don't know how to do that. Being natural and confident still probably would work, but having many girls was never the natural thing for me so I can't say.

Paul, Everything there is to know is on his website. His story is there.

I find in my own diet that there is a huge HUGE difference between refined carbohydrates and whole grains (preferably pre-soaked before cooking for 1-3 days). Where white rice, bread, etc can cause pancreatic overload, whole grains make me feel amazing. It's like night and day. I don't know about going no grain... I've never tried it, but if you are going to eat carbs you really should try the whole foods version of them, whole grains. When you soak them for 1-3 days the water interacts with the seed to begin its process of sprouting, which unlocks many nutrients that weren't able to be digested before (the seed won't sprout though in that time, the process merely begins) I suggest Nourishing Traditions or googling about Sally Fallon or Weston A. Price to find out more about these kinds of things. Remember, if you live like normal people, you're going to end up like normal people do. Really sickly. All the Best, Alex

In a way, thinking of killing yourself can liberate you. Think about it this way: Life is too much, you just want to die. So in thinking of dying you realize, well if I'm just going to go throw it all away, I might as well go live the life I want to live! I can throw away any imagined obstacles; it becomes a lot easier to do this having already considered killing yourself. At that point, that close to death's door, what else do you have to lose? You're so much better off going to live in a monastery or something, rather than killing yourself. Let it all go bro, and do what you've got to do to bring balance to your life. Let the pain and strain just go down the drain, and make some choices about what's really got to happen in your life. Peace.

Just my two cents... I guess it comes down to a difference in perspective. I don't see women as something I want to 'get'. I also am not interested in keeping anyone who doesn't want to be kept. I don't particularly want a girl who can't see through these methods/techniques; to me it would imply that their intuition is not strong. But really, if these methods are the natural thing for you to do, or for anyone to do, then it's cool, we just have a different approach. I prefer the natural approach, I find it allows me to be me, and I can't argue with the results. To be natural the only thing required is for you to really love yourself. Then others see it and some of them want to join the party so to speak (not literally) I would tend to agree that women don't want someone who puts them higher than themselves. They might say so, but they'd find it boring eventually, I suspect. (However I could be wrong; its best to not think about it and just be natural ) The whole alpha-male / beta-male stuff is interesting. When I think of alpha male I think of people who want to dominate the situation, who tend to work out etc. Clearly all women do not want that. They of course tend to be attracted to more yang qualities, since they themselves are yin, but WHICH yang qualities they are attracted to is another story. Either way if you are changing yourself to attract this AWESOME GIRL, then what are you saying about yourself? You weren't awesome already? Anytime you change yourself for a girl you're immediately putting yourself into beta-male status, and saying that she is more important than you! To me it is way more alpha-male to have a pot belly and talk to whoever you want and be confident in yourself, than it is to change yourself to appear different and act different to get a certain girl. The first guy has tons of love for himself and that can be felt. I'm not ENCOURAGING pot bellies, lol, I'm just using that as a dramatic example. I consider myself a omega-male I just made that up. It means I flow like water and cannot be stopped. =D I don't believe all women respond to the same stuff. I give them more credit than that. I want a woman who can keep up with me, the real me, if she isn't a match to the real me, than better off we not waste each others' time. (hypothetically speaking since I've been in a relationship for 2.5 years or so) Just my two cents All the Best, Alex

I guess it depends on if you want a flock, or you want one. This isn't really directed at you Darin, you just inspired me. I have the greatest one, so much that people get jealous of me, and when I met her I had none of those qualities except for the hobby. I know the LoA is real. But to me it is much beyond that, because it goes right down to a person's worth. They're just girls, but people put so much #$%^ into them. They're not even going to necessarily make your life "better" when you snag one! How do I explain this... The way to attract the right girl/woman is to be yourself. I would almost say that being confident is good, but who knows, maybe you don't even need that. Just be yourself. It's the oldest cliche in the universe. But cliches get to be cliches because well some of them are true. Would you rather be someone else so you can attract a girl who wants... SOMEONE ELSE??? That my friend is ridiculous. The only advice I'd say for attracting a woman is to love yourself. But that might not even matter. The simple fact is that there are more women than men in this world. It's just delusional to worry about meeting one. And when you realize that nothing in life is random then you realize you don't even have to work to find the 'right' one. She might just come right to you drawn to you by the uniqueness of your being that frankly no one else can imitate. Just like my girlfriend did. And dude, we've got such a good thing going on. Contriving to make something happen is the exact opposite of the Way. If you need a quote from the Tao Te Ching, I can't help, but I can cook up a paraphrase: The sage achieves all things by doing nothing. Once one has decided to contrive to achieve something, he has already lost it. There are forces at work. Be yourself! All the Best, Alex

I think the single biggest mistake anyone can do is contriving to attract a female. If you aren't being 100% true to yourself, then stop that immediately. Getting a female by "learning" some trick, or by knowing how to act, is all a mess waiting to happen. The Tao matches all things in harmony, and does not strive. In this way it can long endure.

I'm reading this book right now (I'm up to page 55) and I think this book is really great. It gives tons of information and background and to me seems like he really knows what he is talking about. I'll be doing the practice for sure (I've skipped ahead a little to skim), and will let people know how it goes.

I will explain my rule of attracting woman: I be me; I do what I do. She comes. Happy happy.

Hello, Are any of you in a Taoist monastery or cultivating daily under a Taoist master? What are your spiritual practices, meditations, etc? I'm really interested, and trying to find my path. If its been discussed to death, then could y'all point the way to some links? All the Best

The argument's out whether being a vegetarian is in fact healthier. Vegetables are healthy, but no meat or even no animal products diets cause a lot of people trouble.

I want to add something I've found to be true about food. #1 rule: eat the foods that make you feel the best. To me certain foods can clearly make me feel awesome, and others can do the opposite #2 rule: try lots and lots of different foods. This works synergistically with rule #1, because if you try a lot of foods and different ways of preparing them etc, then you'll have a bigger pool of foods to choose from, and you can find the foods your body really thrives on. If you've never had it, how can you know how it makes your body feel? I really think the whole Weston A. Price and Sally Fallon's "Nourishing traditions" perspective is a great place to start. Things I've eaten that feel great that I'd never have tried had I not experimented are: quinoa, any whole grain that has been soaked for a day or three to deactivate the bad stuff and activate the good stuff, and lacto-fermented vegetables. You gotta experiment and find what works for you, and then listen to your body and eat what it wants

Hey guys, What do you all know about Lee Ching-Yuen, the Taoist who lived about 250 years and died in 1930? http://www.hps-online.com/longevity.htm Is it true, did he really live this long? Do you all know anything about him that isn't easily found via googling? What sect of Taoism he was for example? I am interested that the four herbs he considered most useful for longevity were ginseng, gotu kola, he shou wu (foti), and garlic. Any info is greatly appreciated All the Best, Alex

If they were not valuable to him, I don't think he would spend his time or money or both to get them and take them