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Hello N-M-T! Greetings! I am excited for you that you have connected with A7's wise words! He is one of the Bums here whose thoughts ought to be taken in and assimilated, as far as me is concerned anyway! Feeling rather sheepish now by having to make this confession - i never studied Taoism .. It looks abit silly for having adopted the name CowTao, moreover, i have just begun to think that i have been intruding in here, poking my nose when it should be in the kitchen where it belongs hehe.. So i have to pass on the subject of Taoist meditation i'm afraid, lest i make a fool of myself yet again. As for your allusion that Chan/Zen Buddhism in China/Japan being influenced by Taoism, i would have to say i concur with this view. Not that i am a Buddhist scholar or anything closely resembling one, its just my instinct telling me to agree with your observation! Have a great and happy weekend!

Thank you A7! Indeed it is a process, a rather painful one, for most of us. Quite unnecessary, but a 'cross' most have to bear nonetheless. How unfortunate that most of us have to slog our way on the longest path to find the shortest way home! Please watch this, i think you will like it.. It has a bearing on the cultivation of Wisdom. One of my favorite contemplations. Have a good weekend!

For general rejuvenative and relaxation purposes i use Epsom Salts. Half a teacup usually. For healing and balancing, try Himalayan Salt Crystals. 108,000 crystals each time. (Darn - the counting is really a pain.. Usually by the time i finish counting them out the healing and balancing would have taken effect already!! )

Surely the understandings arrived at, based on the recollection of past experience and knowledge seems an inadequate support for the unfolding of Wisdom? I agree its more than knowing. But i think its even more than simply the ability to react instinctively based on past knowledge and experience. I think Wisdom is the quality borne in a person who has completely let go of all notions, labels, and past conditionings. It is a kind of rebirth into total sanity, which can only function optimally without further influences from past experiences. I believe very much that there is a very strong connection between being totally present, being 'here now', completely, and Wisdom. If one's Being is totally present, there is no platform at all for distractions and discursive thinking to operate from. Such presence can only be attained by those whose awareness is pervasive and stable. For me, the logical sequence seems to be - Meditation = Insights = pervasive Awareness = birth of Wisdom = the beginning of living in Truth. 'Being' can only be present in its totality when the fascination with the ego/self can be let go of. So we can safely assume that where Being is, 'self' is not, and where 'self' is, Being is not. From this, we can also begin to see a connection between Wisdom, Being, and Selflessness, the last being the ground from which Compassion is nurtured. All the Bright Sages that have graced the earth were all wise and compassionate. This may explain the altruistic nature of Wisdom, because the fruits of Wisdom can never be enjoyed alone. If it can, then that is only a false idea or concept one has of Wisdom. Just some considerations. Feel free to comment please. All the best.

Generally speaking, alcohol is classified as yang - however, the exception is beer, which is definitely 'cooling', and therefore its essence is 'Yin'. Reference: http://www.feng-shui-institute.org/yinyang.htm http://www.angelfire.com/id/croon/chinesemedicine.html

Haha no worries Kate! Cowtao.. Kowtow.. Kowtao.. Cowtow.. Kowdao.. Cowdao.. even Bulltao eh? its all the one! thanks for having me in your thoughts anyway! Happy holidays!

And i humbly suggest you could be right MH, re. that wisdom is a result of awareness.. The way i see it, the sequence, on a gross level, goes something like this - Innocence at birth. Conditioning starts after, as the senses develop. This gives rise to knowledge which creates a view of separation of self and other, or whats 'mine' and 'not mine'. From this arises delusion and agitation, that somehow the 'self' is not at ease, so the search to regain wholeness, purity and Oneness begins. The dramas of life gets played out, where we live for the distractions, the illusions, the gods, the teachings, some prefer drugs, power, sex, and so on and so forth, and we fill our lives with all kinds of substitutes, just to ignore the truth, until we finally exhaust ourselves, only then the actual quest begins. It starts like this: The phase of struggle (roughly described above) is recognized as being futile, and non-productive. The exhausted mind and body wants a rest from over-activity and indulgence. It is tired of all the chasing. From this, the mind begins to settle of its own accord, only because the "Will" has become less forceful. Awareness is born. We begin to get glimpses of the Bright. These glimpses some know as Insights. Meditation promotes the Awareness, so the glimpses/Insights become clearer and more frequent. When Awareness is habituated, the formal practices of meditation can be let go of. One's at ease. Sustained periods of Awareness is experienced. Some like to label these periods as Mindfulness. From sustained Awareness, Wisdom is born. From Wisdom, Truth is attained. When Truth permeates the Being, One lives only in Brightness. .. .. .. .. .. .. This is my own rough model of a person's spiritual journey, concluded mainly from personal experience and observation. The first phase generally happens from birth till about 40. The second phase begins after. However, this is not the rule, as there can be many exceptions. Trust it makes a bit of sense. It's not necessarily Buddhist in any way. All the best to you.

Take your pick please.. (meaningful lyrics - not Buddhist..) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zsk789e0ZM (bordering on Buddhist..) (almost Buddhist..) (definitely Buddhist, but might not be too appropriate though.. ) ......... Congratulations Blasto - and warm wishes for a blissful life together!

Hey there Buscon! Thank you for sharing your experiences, some of which have resonated with my own unfolding. Simplicity is one of the fruits of realization for me as well. It affords the mind plenty of space, and it is within this spaciousness that i have become more aware of a direct yet almost non-dual relationship with all things. I have learnt to drop the frenzied mode of thinking and behavior. This has led to a mind-state that is now dominated by 'letting go' rather than 'grasping' and chasing after - be they thoughts, feelings, actions and reactions. In this way, there is hardly any unnecessary wastage of energy, and as a result, the 'being' now becomes more present, whereas in the past it was so fragmented, trying to be here, there and everywhere at once, and ending up being nowhere and getting nothing worthwhile done. This awareness also allows me to see that when i associate and attach the 'I' into daily actions, situations and interactions, then inadvertently it leads to expectations, compensations, frustrations and stress. So the 'me' then gets caught up in this messy net of cause and effect thing, but when the 'me' is let go, there is no longer any personal attachment to all that is going on, and i can just observe the unfolding without being carried away by the undercurrent of the effects. Nowadays, the attitude is one where *There are thoughts, but 'I' am not my thoughts - there are actions, but 'I' am not my actions* - this to me is very freeing indeed. Again, the cycle returns to simplicity. Its really quite a joyful way to BE. Yes i totally agree with your view that there is plenty of emphasis on people DOING a lot of things, getting caught up in all kinds of different forms of this and that, and lose touch with the simple way of just BEING. For me, i just do one practice only - and its so rewarding because there is no longer the need to behave constantly as if i was a juggler by day and psychoanalyst by night! haha. Funny thing is now that the juggling has ceased, all the cravings i used to have in the past has ceased as well.. Thanks once again for getting this topic up. Me thinks its a great one, because it challenges me to drop my distractions and see the 'being' without the 'doing'. Cheers! All the best.

Very gracious of you T - thank you..

Do you really expect to find your answer here? Have you deeply considered the immensity of your 'dilemma'? Even parents are eternally puzzled in attempting to understand their children's 'real' intentions. Think about that.

As the mirror of Consciousness become cleaner, Awareness is heightened - It becomes more aware that it is becoming more aware. The nature of Consciousness itself is Brightness. It is sparkling from before time. Chasing after thoughts is that which dulls the sparkle. Awareness lets you know when you begin to chase after thoughts. Meditation stabilizes this awareness. When awareness is stabilized, the fruits ripen. One way to see if the fruits are ripening is Compassion becoming more spontaneous with time. From Compassion, Love overflows, and therein joy and abundance becomes one's mother and father. We reborn into the True Face that was ours before time, before we experienced physical birth.. we return to Brightness. .. .. .. Less than this is not enough. More than this is unnecessary baggage. Journey like one with no excess baggage. Its less taxing this way.

Well said. What's stopping us from realizing this then?

Bliss float ecstasy Aum Sat Chit Ananda Aum Please serve the soup now?

Try the bigger veg retailers - most would stock a good supply of herbs.

I was born in keris country - Malaysia. Every Malay household has a few kerises lying about, and they come in all shapes and sizes. Some are very precious, while most are not. When i say precious, it means those that have been mastercrafted and blessed either by a Tok Guru (Grandmaster) of Silat, or a bomoh (local shaman). There wasn't a big fuss made about them in any way as far as i can remember. I have never seen one that could 'berdiri' (malay word for stand), nor have i heard anyone going gaga about finding or possessing one. Personally i think there is a degree of superstition involved. If people want to believe that something has power, or ilmu, or tenaga, and they hold this 'something' with great respect and reverence, over time, that 'something' will be what has been projected onto it. For example, if i pick up a brick and put garlands of flowers, burn incense and chant mantras and do all kinds of pujas around this piece of brick everyday for three years, that brick will for me be an object of worship and reverence, and i will be convinced of its magical powers. Its like this with people, and they do similar projections with anything nowadays, like gurus and stuff. Very self-defeating.

Try adding one or two fresh mint leaves into your green tea!!

Yes.. Bootylini Yoga Very very chic!

From last year's Christmas surprise! A frozen pudding forgotten, not lost..

Lets see if i am able to get somewhere with this input.. I believe one of the key qualities that constitute what the OP calls the 'essence' of a 'real' woman is their willingness to be vulnerable. I think comparatively, women are less afraid of yielding, and it is this quality that enables most women to naturally possess traits like compassion, acceptance, and empathy, which can be quite lacking in men. I think women intuitively understand that successful relationships are all about building bridges, not walls. For this to happen, a degree of vulnerability is needed. If one is afraid to be vulnerable, one is fearful of participation, which is so essential for any relationship to occur. And total participation requires absolute presence, which is another trait so lacking in men. Without presence (not only physical presence mind you) it is so frustratingly hard to form any kind of deep and nurturing relationship with anyone, even if its just with oneself for that matter. For men to reconnect with their ability to open up themselves to a gratifying and stable relationship, i think a good start would be to first get in touch with accepting in themselves that it is okay to be vulnerable too. Men in general are so afraid of this. And one of the reasons they are so could be because deep down, they have been conditioned to ridicule this wonderful quality. I am sure we are all too familiar already as to the sources of where this conditioning would have been effected, but thats not the issue here. You see, men think being vulnerable is a sissified thing. They mistakenly equate vulnerability with weakness. That its wrong to show women that they too have feelings, and can be hurt, and feel pain too. So in many many relationships, this becomes a stumbling hurdle that can be so difficult to be resolved. You see, because men have this conditioned response to view vulnerability in such unfavorable light that when they actually get to know a woman better, they begin to see that same thing which they despise in themselves surfacing in their mate, they will sadly then begin to subconsciously despise the mate with equal intensity. Whats worse, a lot of men actually project their own hang-ups about vulnerability on to their partners, and in many of these instances, women get thrashed for it, physically, mentally, spiritually. I think its so crucial for men who wants to begin a real relationship to first of all come to grips with accepting this aspect of their persona, and then use this acceptance as a bridge-building quality to reach out to one's partner, not in weakness, but as an empowering tool. This requires a great deal of honesty, strength, and clarity from oneself, and only 'real' men, i think, have the guts to open up on this. These are by no means the only factors to be considered; They are however, quite fundamental. To conclude, i leave you with a couple of quotes from Leo Buscaglia: "The most human thing we have to do in life is to learn to speak our honest convictions and feelings and be mature enough to live with the consequences. This is the first requirement of love, and it makes us vulnerable to those who may choose to ridicule us. But our vulnerability is the only thing we can give to other people." ... "Never idealize others. They will never be able to live up to your expectations. Do not over-analyze your relationships. Stop playing games. A growing relationship can only be nurtured by genuineness." ... "When we cling to pain, we end up punishing ourselves." ... Thanks for reading. All the best.

Haha I like that Hardyg! Perhaps its worth a thought to opt for a different 'name' - how about C'owl'Tao?!! That would certainly meet with your approval eh?

Hey Santi, I dont recall implying that one ought to do nothing. Perhaps you misunderstood my question, or you were indirectly teaching someone else. Never mind. Thanks all the same.

As a chef, i work in a most stressful environment. On busy nights, to help pacify the stress among all the other creative geniuses at work within the confines of an oven-like kitchen, i usually pipe some Vangelis for its hauntingly smooth and soothing effect the tunes have on everyone. These are a couple of my favs. -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DK3iiQZsMkU...feature=related Enjoy.. they are sublime (imo)!

Well said Steve. Cheers! What you said about letting go assumptions and preconceptions is so true. Reminds me of Krishnamurti's teachings. I believe he calls the inability to function without preconceptions "fragmentation". Thanks again. Always appreciate your views.

Hey there Lino, I am so pleased to hear the practices are working out for you. Long may you enjoy the fruits of your diligence! I just have one question: Do you think 'Happiness' can be a subtle form of attachment too? All the best!