Iyoiyo

I hardly know where to start on this post, but let me start off with examining what a pushup accomplishes. During a pushup, lets just stick to the standard-ish kind for now, you push up from the ground using your shoulders, triceps, and chest while keeping your body straight and static (which requires back, core, and leg muscle), then you come back down to the initial position. Forearm muscles are also recruited to maintain stability throughout the motion. Pushups are widely regarded as an effective comprehensive exercise and enjoy even greater popularity since they require no equipment. You say, "There is no fighting or labor activity that mimics what pushups build in you (that I can think of)." Perhaps you have not been thinking hard enough? Any action which involves pushing, like a push or a punch, will be improved by pushups. This is because the muscles you use to push things are developed by pushing on things, like in a pushup! It doesn't get much simpler than that. To this you say, "If you are going to hit someone, you practice hitting things." That's true, but that practice does not exclude other types of exercise. In fact, purely punching things for exercise is a good way to hurt yourself. There's a good reason that boxers don't do it. The three bows (that's what we call them in my school) are a good source of pushing power of course. But somebody with upper body strength and the bows together will be more capable than someone using just one or the other. There's a reason that martial artists and armies across the globe perform pushups. And no, it's not because they're stupid, it's because pushups are effective. True, after doing a lot of pushups one will find it hard to throw fast punches. But nobody does pushups before a fight, they do them to make the muscles tired on purpose . . . so that they'll be less tired performing similar actions in the future. That's what exercise is for, in a narrow definition anyway. Even if, somehow, all the things I've said so far are completely wrong, there are still reasons to do pushups. One does not exercise only specific muscles. Why? Because that creates imbalance. Body strength must be in balance with itself to maintain optimum health. The consequences of muscular imbalance include joint tension and poor posture, which in turn can lead to more severe injuries later in life. So, that was that, I hope it was somewhat informative.

I wouldn't let it get you down, man. I for one have never seen the relevance of this whole retention culture to spirituality. Nor do I need it explained in depth to me, thanks all the same though hehe.

There are a lot of ways that original sin makes no sense to me, but the most obvious one has always been the ridiculousness of punishing children for the crimes of their parents. What kind of being does that? A bad one.

Telephone Meditation

Fake it till you make it. Serious effort, don't buy it, you can do it. You could even cut the whole store off limits for a couple days.

I wish I could give you advice, but I don't think I can do much. You could try wearing something new like a necklace for awhile to remind you that you don't want to drink it anymore. You need a way to make yourself remember when you're right there with the soda, because no matter how many simple and frugal thoughts you have somewhere else . . . they won't help if you can't put them in to practice. Also, I would actually recommend going cold turkey. To me, toning down just a litttttle at a time leaves a lot of mental leeway for thinking, "what? This isn't such a bad habit is it?" and the like. Also, making a strong decision has a greater effect than many weaker ones. Do or do not, there is no try. (additional note: you could make a strong decision to cut down little by little, but I think more opportunities you're given to revise the choice the more likely it is to break.) The end all of willpower is this though: if you are willing yourself to do it you will, someday, run out of willpower. But, if you change the action into your normal practice that you don't even think about then it will succeed forever. On the bright side it seems like if diet soda expenditures are this high on your radar you are probably living fairly frugally already. My response turned out a little weird, good luck.

I didn't say that they did. My answer was also replying to the question "who are the most motivated people in the world," the original post had no questions concerning sustainable greatness or the other things you wrote in your response to me. That said though, I pretty much agree with you.

This is a pretty reflexive answer, but the people who are most motivated in the world are those with the greatest desire to see something accomplished. What desire this is, and for what reason they hold it, is different in every situation. Example, an Olympic athlete might be exceptionally motivated by the desire to win and prove their superiority (to satisfy themselves perhaps, perhaps to satisfy others). In a totally different situation a poet might write with burning impetus in order to create the most poetic of poetry. As usual there are many answers, because the question is more like many questions.

Even if one doesn't think potential is unlimited, possibilities still are.

My friend, sarcasm is not genetic, ectoplasm is not a chemical, and sarcasm is not a disability.

I too think that one can forgive without forgetting. We can forgive, and understand, whatever happened against us without walking into similar situations again and again. For example I might forgive somebody for mugging me in a bad neighborhood. Just because I have forgiven them does not mean that I'll continue to walk in tough neighborhoods after dark. I consider forgiveness very important, because if you don't learn to forgive your mind will be entangled in dark thoughts for a very long time, and nothing good will come of it.

I would say that innocence is not so much lost as covered up. If one can persuade, or allow, oneself to operate with innocence again then it can be, in a sense, "regained." This is not very easy though, as the reason we cover up innocence is to protect the mind from injury. Therefore, I think the only way to return to innocence is to return with an acceptance and understanding for the horrors of the world: so that they are no longer horrors in the way they are to a newcomer. I would not say that physical innocence exists independently from mental innocence. It's the mental consequence of what happens to our bodies that incurs the "loss," so although the source may be physical the effect is entirely mental.

Blasto, while it's true that the forum probably does result in some hasty things getting written I think that's for the best. If we go on without noticing tendencies then we can never fix them, right? I like the 365 Tao posts you're doing by the way.

Jia Peng Fang might be what you're looking for. There are plenty pieces on youtube, but you can also get them on itunes for a quite a good deal. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Ku_wrevpQg...feature=related

Yes, I didn't want to write "should" because I knew it was wrong (and wasn't what I meant), but at the time I couldn't think of another construction. I think "Ideally" is more appropriate.

You offer us the example of the physicist training to earn more money, but I think it's a bad example. A physicist should study out of interest in physics.

It's good to see the quality of posts improved . . . by creating a new post to pat one's self on the back and to disparage others (and with so much to do with Taoism). How wise is age. It is not your imagination though, to answer the question.

River gazer is exactly right. Do you know how insane most reserved of us here appear to the general public? When it comes to mental health I think it's important to value your own opinions instead of listening to a dude tell you how to "fix" yourself. No offense to those who might take it, but does anyone really believe that by going to school for a couple years one becomes capable of resolving problems older than time? I guess I can't articulate precisely what I mean. Just be careful about putting your problems into somebody else's hands. I don't believe that practicing qi gong would be dangerous to you in your state. This whole discussion screams of a hidden underlying problem which I can't see. Others can help to an extent, but the person who understands you best will always be you, if you take the time to look.

Little, I don't want to derail this topic into one about instinct, but instinct is clearly natural. It is not environmentally dependent. A cat, lizard, snake, whatever, will still follow the same instincts anywhere on the planet. With that said, back to the topic. I believe that MB said it well with this line : "But bottom line, if it was possible for it to happen then it is completely consistent with Tao. But, it may not be consistent with, or acceptable to, man's interpretation of Tao." Glooper asked: "Taoism seems to speak about going with the flow, not forcing anything. How does one, then, decide to go against their desire to hurt, rape, pillage, and other negatively charged actions? Ought we not let them take their natural course instead of forcing ourselves to alter our natural cravings?" People can argue whatever they want, and it's true (sad) that in some cases it may become the tendency of people to hurt, rape, and pillage. However, I would not label any of those things as natural cravings. I for one have never felt the desire to rape or pillage anything. There have been occasions when I wished destruction on things, but this has always been related to a wish that the subject be destroyed and vanish (as opposed to a wish that the subject suffer). It's a modicum of proof that only a tiny sliver of humanity commits these actions. I would say that every person can feel the difference between natural tendency and desire driven action if they listen to themselves. However, desire is so powerful that it can overtake people nearly completely. Unless something happens after that point to change those people internally, they may never notice. It's like we've been hearing though: No dark without light, no light without dark.

Well I don't know what quality of material you'd receive, or really if the advertised benefits will manifest, but at least it won't poison you.

If somebody gives you a gift and you do not accept it . . . to whom does it belong?

As usual there's no secret. If you look you'll find tomes upon tomes of ultimate diets and plans, but I advocate a simple one. I'll just tell you what I normally eat. Breakfast: Oatmeal, milk, fruit (usually around 1 C, 2 C and 1 banana or apple). Lunch: brown rice, veggies, something protein-y (any amount of veggies, 1/2 C (before cooking) and 30-50 g protein) Dinner: also brown rice, veggies, and something protein-y tea throughout the day as I want it. This might sound too boring for some people but it keeps me happy. Plus, social engagements usually end up disrupting the schedule enough to add some variety. I heard somebody say exercise doesn't help you lose weight. Well, that is obviously false. I guess if you build enough muscle you might actually gain or remain static with respect to weight, but that is not something you really need to worry about. Health is always the goal, remember, not any number. The key to exercising successfully is not to jump in too fast-- even walking everyday will help. This is a more complicated area that you will need to think about yourself though. A further note I hope will save you some trouble: as with all things, maintain balance! When it comes to losing weight calories are calories. It doesn't matter whether they come from carbs, fats, or whatever. Just keep them reasonable and balanced. There's a reason your body wants foods: it needs them. You'll only do yourself harm cutting away too much energy, or jumping into a strange non balanced diet. Just eat reasonable amounts of non-processed food and call it good. I'm even going to say it again since popular opinion can be very strong: Balance, there is no outwitting your body in the end.

Sorry for the slow response-- Glooper, that is basically what I meant. My only quibble is that I don't think it's possible to simply decide one's motives (with regard to the musician example). But that's just semantics in a way, possibly just a misunderstanding, you got the message.

TzuJanLi has a good point. I don't know if I'll ever die. I personally am looking forward (not in a rush to get there at all though) to find out what's going to happen. However, what does it really matter? It seems to me that whether we die or not shouldn't really impact our lives, and all we can do for now is live. So lets do that.