YAN

Hey guys, I find this documentary fascinating because of the quality and erudition of the interviewees. After many years of meditative practice I feel increasingly attracted to an Ayahuasca,DMT or Ebogaine experience. Somehow it feel like a logical step to take. I always worried about the potential physical and spiritual dangers of such endeavor but it seems that Ayahuasca or Ebogaine under proper Shamanistic guidance are relatively safe. So if any of you Taobums has experienced this trip I'd be interested to read how it affected your spiritual life philosophically and in also term of actual energy practices. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SV4f4pv3Qqg&feature=related

Well if you come with me to the woods and help me harvesting the berries i might reconsider. But if it comes down to fighting over the tart Beware I'm build like a SUMO wrestler.

Awesome, count me in. I'll bring my Japanese incense some homemade mango lassi and a freshly baked mulberry tart.

Interesting indeed. However reading this detailed interview I find it hard to relate to his spiritual path. The way he refers to Ayahuasca as a deity or the apparent absence of any meditative practice aside from drinking hallucinogenics are puzzling to me. Anyway to each to each his own / all the roads leads to Rome.... I just know that I need to drink Ayahuasca and that something critical in my development will be shown to me. Something or someone is calling me from the other side and the brew is the medium for the meeting to take place. Having said that I'm more in tune with something Don Juan told C.Castaneda in one of his books (probably fiction but still great read...)Something like "You had to take these hallucinogenics because you were too dumb to understand any other way". Thanks again for the link.

I'm considering a trip to south America but I want to research more about the pro and cons of Ayahuasca. There's a center in Peru run by a French MD who's also a Shaman. They specialized in helping drug addicts rebuilding their lifes. I'll have to check if they're open to the "general" public as well. I don't want to try the synthetic DMT, it just seems to weird and artificial. I love listening to Terrence McKenna relating his Dmt trips but every time I intuitively feel that he visited a really dangerous place populated by treacherous entities. I kind of get the feeling that he's been traumatized by his encounters even though he's trying to positivise the experiences. It just seems to be a real self destructive path. I had some experiences with diferents drugs (Lsd, Mushrooms..) many years ago that triggered intense mystical experiences opening windows to other dimensions where I had dealings with really nasty beings. In the end I had to pray for help with all my heart not to be destroyed. That's why I know for a fact these substances required expert guidance there are many entities out there just waiting for you to take the wrong turn... I'd rather spend a lot of money to be with the right people than putting my life at stake. Unlike for other psychotropic i can't find specific about the physical danger of Ayahuasca, I mean does a significant percentage of users get psychotic break, heart attacks..

There you go... Master C.K at work :

Are you for real ???

This forum just rocks. It's definitely one of the best thing that happened to me in the last decade. I wonder how many of us "landed" here through sinchronicity or been somehow guided.....that's true for me and I'm grateful everyday.

Why did you start fasting ? What benefits do you expect from this practice ?

I'm returning the favor since I learned about Zeitgeist thanks to a Taobums. I'd love to read what you have to say about this (Imo) profound work. Enjoy :

Interesting, the main weakness in the Venus project is that they are counting on people good will apparently they believe that the benefits of their project are so self evident that everyone will be convinced to drastically change their way of life to implement it. This might prove to be true for a portion of the educated world population that would be far outweighed by the masses. To be effectively implemented their new civilization model would need the help of an "Elite of enlightened" to guide the rest of humanity and like you said : Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. The only antidote to this would be coupling the material implementation of their plan with a teaching / practice of Dhamma (in the larger sense of the term no need for mass conversion to Buddhism but an ethic based on peacefulness, self sustenance, wisdom). Like I wrote in a previous post if they remained blind to the spiritual needs of man the Venus project will only be a kind of 21 century newage marxism.

Could you please expand on this ? I mean I've got a soft spot for the Venus project but Scientology is to me the best embodiment of a brainwashing deadend cult.

Some emails I received from RB mailing list : 1 -An Ascended Master Is Watching You Right Now... An Ascended Master is observing you specifically as you read this very email right now. I'm absolutely serious. There is a deity watching your reaction to this email at this very moment. How do I know? Are you shocked, or confused? 2- Open this by now (SERIOUSLY) 3- What happens when two spirits... "do it" ? 4- 3... 2... 1... Blast Off! (URGENT) This is a very important moment for both of us. For those of you that have been counting down the days, your time for action is here at last. I am proud to announce, that you can officially go get your copy of my new online video course, Manifestation & Healing, right now! I subscribed to RB mailing list out of curiosity since I've always found his OBE stuff interesting but the marketing is really over the top. What happened to him, he always came across as a down to earth well grounded individual, my guess is this MARKETING CAMPAIGN is orchestrated by a dude fresh from a business school or something . This is really putting me off... Anyway for all I know the material that they are pimping might be worth the money they are asking......

What is it exactly ? I mean we often read or hear references to the higher self but is it part of any "official religion / belief " ? It all seems a very vague new age concept . What I understand is that we as a incarnate beings are supposed to be only a kind of avatar of the real larger us (higher self) who's monitoring and registering possibly benefiting from what we are experiencing down here in the material world. So after hearing so much about the higher self I experimented by requesting guidance from my higher self especially before meditating. I have no idea how the whole thing works but it really did positively affect my posture and my focus. So what's your take on the higher self business ???

I totally agree with you. A movement that endeavor to positively alter our way of life has to acknowledge the spiritual aspect of man or it run the risk of being nothing else but "Marxism on steroids". I understand that they are denouncing the enslaving tendencies of organised religions that they are part of the "Matrix" but most of us here on the Taobums know from experience that meaningful spiritual practice is the basis for a well grounded, fruitful lifestyle. To me atheism and the general absence of spiritual life are just another obvious symptom of what they are denouncing (hyper materialism, greed, ignorance..). We do need a moral compass a way to relate to what we intuitively feel is greater than us. My favorite vision of a utopian society was in the Aldous Huxley last novel "Island". I can see myself living in such a community : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Island_(novel)

Hopefully the people behind this work do not belong to any "isms" or "ists". The word is spreading this latest release has already over a million viewers in a week (it took a month for the first two chapters to reach the same amount). I find their work to be great food for thoughts however the revolution they are advocating is way out of touch with human nature. I mean what they're saying is that we as a species are addicted to a destructive even parasitic way of life and that we are doomed if we don't change. So far they're not proposing any workable / gradual / reasonable roadmap toward a sustainable future development. To me it's like telling a crack cocaine addict of many years that his lifestyle is destroying him and that he should quit the dope and eat a well balanced diet, exercise regularly and make new friends...he knows that already but where should he start... I agree with the diagnosis now I want to see a sensible treatment leading to a cure.

Something like that ? :

Are you saying that the smurfs are addicted to colloidal silver ?

Merry Christmas.

Hey Sunshine good to hear you're doing just fine. I just had a colonic irrigation, you might want to consider this procedure has a step toward ultimate health. I realized this morning that it made me lose two kilos in three days !!!!!!! I feel much lighter and flexible it really helps with deep belly breathing and full lotus. All the best to you.

Well according to Robert Bruce, it doesn't matter if you taught kundalini awakening since the 80's ????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? what is that supposed to mean ? Alwayson I think you meant to write according to ME not Robert Bruce.

That was really interesting Sunshine. I had some issues with my liver and gall bladder, I did a few simple cleanses / flushes and got some pretty amazing benefits from them. But it seems your problems were a lot more serious than mine, you most certainly took the right decision (I'm no expert..). Thanks a lot for sharing your story and all my best wishes for a full recovery.

Thanks unmike, I finally found a near identical version of the text I read many years ago : http://books.google.com/books?id=hfMkpD_Xr3sC&pg=PA376&lpg=PA376&dq=HAKUIN+HERMIT+ZEN+SICKNESS&source=bl&ots=Z6wmBQEjC5&sig=rE1tbv8I06FniPPtcCh-wffZDYI&hl=en&ei=jOv4TOPvOYfxrQel6qi9Bw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&sqi=2&ved=0CCAQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=HAKUIN%20HERMIT%20ZEN%20SICKNESS&f=false

Thanks Rene, I remember enough to know that their conversation in the cave was particularly relevant to what you posted. Basically Hakuin refused using any non Buddhist method of healing and eventually the Taoist hermit demonstrate to him that his doctrinal narrow-mindedness is unfounded. To do this he compares the Taoist path with Buddhist teachings and help Hakuin see beyond the words and experience their commonality. Hakuin accept the wisdom of the demonstration proceed with the Taoist healing technique he's healed and finally become one of the most inspiring Zen master ever. Happy ending everyone's happy except little me who's dying to reread the original text again.

Hey guys, I remember reading a biography of The Zen master Hakuin Ekaku. It was said that after his satori he suffered from what is referred to as "Zen sickness". He couldn't find a cure and out of desperation sought the advice of a taoist hermit in the mountain. My memories of their conversation is very patchy however I feel that it had a profound meaning and would love to read it again. I've been looking for years so if you can help.....