laughingblade

Otis I've read a number of your posts on the site an really appreciate your viewpoint : and it scares me, so thanks! And thanks to the other posters. I will try 5-HTP and DMEA for the uplift, and get more into body-centred activity - it does make a huge difference when I can do that even though I'm just scratching the surface. I'll also look at chinese medicine for balancing and boosting - I do have a decent acupuncturist here (I'm in Bristol) and there's a highly-recommended Chinese guy not too far away. Thanks too for the suggestions about Patrick Holford and Jim Humble. I admit I have then filed under "quack" right now, but I'll consider coming back to them later. Cheers Rich

Hugely inspiring: thanks Rich

Are you sure this is in the right thread R_V? Rich

Ha! My lad has also found himself a girl - someone he's liked for 3-4 years - so he's showing all the signs. They are both 16 in a couple of months (the age of consent in the UK) so I'll be glad to drop the responsible parent act, and I'm sure they'll be glad to drop the scurrying about. I love it though. I'm not so much in the doldrums - there are breezes, just not enough to run up a spinnaker. I agree that with age I am noticing the downs more than the ups. I'm marrying (first time for us both) in the Autumn so I'd like to be under full sail then. I've ordered some 5-HTP, some DMEA and some manly multi's, so we'll see if a few months of popping pills has an effect. I'll do some further reearch as suggested by Marblehead and see if there are more specific possibilities - particularly for mental function. And meantime I need to get over a 2-month foot injury that is stopping me from being physically active. Thanks Rich

Very perceptive of you... I enjoy a number of things - cycling camping reading, I have a fabulous partner and a teenage son. But passions none once the initial buzz of the new subsides. I put this down to mild introversion & family history. I'm also good at self-sabotage so that when I get set for, let's say a week of solo cycle-camping, then I'll sprain an ankle badly enough to have to cancel. I'm happiest though when I feel deeply rooted in myself - usually through some spiritual practise, and when that's not an avoidance of my own 'stuff' or responsibilities-in-the-world. I prefer the idea that I can boost my physical/mental state to where I'm sharper, and where e.g. study becomes a natural choice. But I recognise the possibility that there's more of a psychological explanation. Rich

Hard to say: I cricked my neck trying to see if the light shines out of mine...

Thanka Raz: DHEA - do you heve personal experience? There seems to be no reliable evidence that DHEA slows ageing or improves mental acuity, so any experience would be of interest. I guess I could self-diagnose with mild depression (more Eeyore than Tigger), but I don't suffer other problems such as erectile dysfunction or lupus. Rich

Sense of self may be no more and no less than a spontaneously arising aggregate within the mind of an individual, based on the gestalt of all the sensory and thinking processes going on in the brain: consciousness in this view is an emergent phenomenon, and the sense of self is (merely) the apperception of all these processes. The Ego Trick by Juilan Baggini does IMO a great job on this view. Rich

Tulku-ji. Lovely boy. Sweetheart. I really don't give a flyer about your misguided claims to some authority or other, and just to make it totally clear I call BS on them. OTOH I really do care that OP doesn't drive himself into a miserable twisted ball trying to shut himself off from desire when it really really really isn't necessary in order to be happy. Haven't you got some blades to walk on? Or maybe a bit of self-flagellation? You daring spiritual warrior you... Love'n'Hugs Rich xx

Hidden forces? You're surely toying with me tulku. Nothing is hidden here other than by our own refusal to look. You are mistaken. The logical error is blindingly obvious: Let's assume I agree with your assertion that "the root cause of suffering is being controlled by one's desires" (I don't but let's keep it simple). It does not automagically follow that one must remove them. The logical fix is simply to not be controlled by one's desires - which is where cultivation is relevant. My post was precisely the gist: neither desire nor non-desire is relevant. Transcend and include through cultivation. Simples. No thanks. If your challenge isn't derailing the thread I don't know what is. What I'd like to see is the OP (and you too my love) seeing through duality, appeals to authority, others' projections and so on. Love'n'Hugs Rich xx

OP seems not a happy man & his desire to drop all desire (!) is likely to stem from his unhappiness. "I had a bad relationship so I won't have any more, but I want one..." provides a clue. ISTM that cleaving to no desire means that one shuts off desire. We're human first, so desire naturally arises and one has a problem. Forcing separation is suffering. ISTM that cleaving to desire (without a 'cultivation' or tantric viewpoint) is what the majority do. Desire naturally arises, but one doesn't know or care the consequences. Ignorance is bliss. It seems sensible therefore to suggest to the OP that neither desire nor non-desire are the answer to his unhappiness, but to point out that, in the experience of many, the practise of cultivation (eventually) leads to a balanced and clear relationship with desire. The widest and most inclusive perspective is surely to be sought here. @tulku my projections are seeing your projections all over your posts my love: in 'protecting' the OP from bad men who want to give him the benefit of their experience and understanding you do realise you're telling quite a story, don't you? Rich xx

Not at all. I was only poking a little bit. That's beautifully stated. I do see the value in purification during life and the ability to remain present at death, although I'd like to think that (some) other (combination of) methods might achieve the same result. Is it reasonable to think of a heartful (bhakti, compassion), open channels, and e.g. higher yoga tantra clear light practices as aspects of the same achievements, or are they really just superficially alike? And of course the answer to the "what reincarnates?" and "What reaps the karmic consequences?" questions are to "simulate and get used to (as much as one can muster) the dying process" so that when one arrives at that point then one has a chance to really find out. I've been fortunate to have come across a little Vajrayana and Dzogchen teaching, and have benefitted from it, but I'm not sure the teachers have been top quality, and I'm very sure that I'm a poor student. So as I get a little older and my householder duties fall away I'd like to refocus: right now the relative accessability of Taoist Qigong practices vs. Tibetan are more appealing, but my own constraints definitely colour that preference. That's good to hear, and evidenced by the quality of your contributions here. And thanks for your wishes. Rich

10^11 (one hundred billion) neurons with on average 7,000 synaptic connections to other neurons. It has been estimated that the brain of a three-year-old child has about 10^15 synapses (1 quadrillion). (wikipedia) and "3 billion DNA base pairs" (wikipedia as well (what did you expect, real science?)) Don't we have to account for these before assuming non-physical non-observable causes? Just askin' Rich

In the context of the logical fallacy I pointed out in GIH's post, or otherwise? If you want to discuss what is or isn't a logical fallacy then probably not tbh. A fallacy is a fallacy, and it would be great to see GIH come up with a better argument for the existence of mind before birth. Otherwise - I'd like to think so, but I have plenty of reactivity and blind spots. What did you have in mind? Rich

Jumping in at my peril ... The skills/knowledge evidenced after birth do not logically imply nor require their presence before birth. In this specific example a newborn doesn't focus immediately after birth, but it takes some time for that to occur: there is development from the moment a chld opens its eyes, but no necessity for anything other than the 'physical' development in the womb as a prerequisite or basis for that to occur. So GIH your assertion that the mind is already present before birth is not proved by this argument, unless it has itself developed in the womb (which I guess is precisely not your point). Elsewhere posters (esp CowTao) have reframed the OP question about karma/reincarnation away from life-to-life and towards a moment-to-moment view. I'd agree that this is a skilful practice point, but it cheekily sidesteps the questions of what reincarnates, and what reaps the fruition of alleged karmic seeds from life to life. Recent conciousness studies suggest that the brain creates consciousness/mind and a spontaneous sense of self: Julian Baggini in The Ego Trick even goes as far as to interview a couple of Tibetans on the very question, and finds that they don't have memories, can't identify what it is that reincarnates, and in fact use the same cheeky arguments put forward here. Personally I've experienced past-life regressions, spontaneous 'telling' of the history of certain places, others' 'chi' fields, and some very interesting states in meditation both clean and chemically assisted. So I'm very open to the idea that there is more than brain chemistry ... but the usual arguments on karma/reincarnation amount to no more than childrens' stories for a pre-rational age, and this thread so far doesn't add much. And of course in practice - the question of how do I gather something of "Rich" and develop/focus/condense it so it can consciously pass from this life into another - nobody seems to have any validated authority. Maybe if I gave up the rest of my life to Vajrayana (insert a better one) practises then I might come across a living teaching where they actually know about this sort of thing and are willing to teach it. But even asking seems to get me disqualified in my experience Rich

It's probably the scruffiest 'kata' ever, but that's so not what its about. I've practised only about half of it since attending a worskshop in Springfield a few weeks ago (due to injury), but I find it really does shift my state in a very grounded and lovely way. I particularly like a practise that doesn't leave me all spacey and 'spiritual' - qigong is for life eh, not the other way round. I heartily recommend the workshop btw - the stillness-movement transmission is a treasure. Michael came to the UK last year at Snowmonki's invite (I think), and I know he enjoyed the trip. So he might be willing to fly the wrong way round to Oz if you can offer sufficient cultural attractions Rich

I agree too Manitou, and I'm grateful for the reminder to spend more time harmoniously in nature instead of merely making pension payments and racking up my CO2 footprint: the reminder that I ignore any part of me at my peril. My point was Ram Dass' point - if coming back to the city 'brings me down', then I have further to go on the path until I can truly keep my heart open. And 'home' for me - after a lifetime of negative associations - is just now becoming a place of nurture. I'll wager too that the old shamans, when not out shamaning, lived in huts made from dead trees and wore clothes of animal skins too. And of course there would have been only a few shamen among a much larger population who themselves would have been a little more removed from nature, being tied by need to home & sustenance, and having yielded a view of the divine to just those shaman-psychonauts. So I get the benefit of modern technology to keep a roof over my wimpy body, the availability of high high teachings to free me and others, and the opportunity to (maybe) make a difference. I'm very grateful for those parts of our civilisation. Rxx

+1 nature is awesome. OTOH my house is rocking full of smooooth qi energy and provides a safe and nurturing space for me and my loved ones to be ourselves however we need/wish to be. If coming down from the mountain still brings you down then is further practise indicated?

Hi all, just to introduce myself here: long time meditator in no particular tradition; I've been using Holosync in recent years, and have recently started paying more attention to the body in meditation. Practising Chen-style Tai Chi and simple Chi Gung. Also have some experience with aspects of Daoist and Vajrayana teachings. I've enjoyed lurking for a month or so - very impressed by the level of knowledge of many of the posters. taters Rich