RiverSnake

One of the things that I enjoyed about his perspective is that he says if you don't plan on being a nun, monk or a wandering yogi then you need to take care of your finances.....not only take care of your finances....but you must master your finances so that you can construct you life in harmony with your spiritual practices and not have the esoteric hippy syndrome where you shy away from money and ultimately suffer because of it and thus have even less time for your practice. As much control as we have over our mind and emotions we must have control over finances so it doesn't master and control you. Feel free to listen to the podcast and give your opinion. -My 2 cents,Peace

Picked it up from my studies in the Western Tradition. Supposedly its like a Guardian or Spirit Guide that's suppose to help you in your spiritual endeavors. Supposedly we all have one. Made a thread asking about it earlier...got some interesting answers. http://thetaobums.co...guardian-angel/ -My 2 cents, Peace

Different strokes for different folks. Indeed early on prayer became a very powerful practice for me, i pray on a daily basis. The deeper your sincerity and more you cultivate, the more powerful prayer becomes. This is a prayer I say everyday before my meditation. "To all my Teachers, past, present and future and to my Holy Guardian Angel....thank you for guiding me on the path. (Bow once). To all the enlightened masters whom have laid the foundation to the spiritual path, thank you." (Bow twice). -My 2 cents, Peace

In regards to food combining it is very much related to the topic. According to TCM the way in which we mix foods has a large impact on our ability to extract the necessary nutrients from it. We can have heavy "jing" foods but if we are mixing them improperly with other substances then we will not be able to achieve as positive an energy exchange if it were otherwise. -My 2 cents, Peace

You're right there's really no hurry, afterall we have an eternity ahead of us....or so I have heard.....ultimately it's your life.....at least outside of the whole kundalini thing.... -My 2 cents, Peace

Lol, mike your threads are always a bit entertaining....unfortunately so....in regards to sexuality this is a video I often reflect on in my choice of currently not having a partner. Also in case you didn't know its possible that people whom you are involved with sexuality can open up their Yang Chi/Kundalini accidentally as a result. -My 2 cents, Peace

Cool stuff Zhongyong,thanks for the insights. Been thinking about getting some his other books. Guess there all pretty high quality works. I find his focus on practicality quite refreshing. -My 2 cents, Peace

My practices in the Western Tradition are generally comprised of meditating on the Qabbalistic Tree of Life and Tarot.....both practices which i find very rewarding. In regards to why I practice.....I found that I was simply drawn to work with the Tree. I feel there is a lot of depth there and I see it as a vehicle which I can use to constantly refine my personality and energies....a very useful and fun tool for me on the path. Also i found I was drawn to using the Tarot and have found it to be a very useful for divination as well as introspection and also a useful to helping others. -My 2 cents, Peace

Something I have noted recently while studying the Western Tradition of Esotericism is that people who are very much into Ritual and Cerremonial Magic and have all the tool, robes, swords, books, stones, incense.....etc ..... I am finding that people whom practice this aspect of the Western Tradition emphasize working purely In the temple and don't take there practice anywhere else. I was listening to an audio clip of a person whom had been practicing in the Western Tradition for 20 years and was just learning how to Integrate practice into his everyday life. I just found this utterly weird and almost couldn't believe it. But I guess different schools equals different emphasis. -My 2 cents, Peace

Yeah....Bardon's Black and White Mirror exercise is really great.I have completed it 2 times myself. When you do them years apart it's interesting to note how some negative traits have completely dissolved by themselves through cultivation and others still linger on.......it really can show how much you have changed when comparing your old and new mirrors......very insightful stuff For this New Years I was going to fast for 3 days but decided against it because I might pass out at work....just gonna fast for 1 day to cleanse for the new year. -My 2 cents, Peace

What primarily do you want out of your cultivation practices? Different methods emphasize different things....best to have a general idea of what you would like to accomplish. -My 2 cents, Peace

Yeah, there are some great gems on the site. Enjoy -My 2 cents, Peace

Interesting stuff Zhongyong. Thanks for the contribution. -My 2 cents, Peace

Been reading a lot from this blog site on the process of getting in touch with your HGA. Really interesting stuff. I think I may start integrating prayer to my HGA into my kabbalistic practices, It's good to know there's at least one entity on the astral plane that's not gonna try and screw with you. http://www.myoccultcircle.com/the-everyday-path-to-your-hga/ http://www.myoccultcircle.com/hga/ -My 2 cents, Peace

Thanks for the insights Dao. -I try my hardest not to bite into the new age waffle Grandmaster p. It would be great If there were 13,000 experts on such a topic but I rather doubt it. -My 2 cents, Peace

Cool stuff. Thanks, very clear. -My 2 cents, Peace

Yep, sorry got the name wrong. Changed it.

I thought this was a very interesting quote: "The higher the initiate, the more difficult the childhood" Dion Fortune -My 2 cents, Peace

My understanding based on what I have been taught is that the LDT is not in one point but is constantly expanding and contracting and therefore as long as you meditate in the general vicinity of the center the Chi will get there. I would think that a similar concept would apply to the MDT.......though that is just an extrapolation of what I have been taught.....not my experience. -My 2 cents, peace

I just recently finished the Practice of Magic by Draja Mickaharic. It was a good book with a very no-nonsense approach too magic. There are also some good beginners practical instructions int the book as well. He gives a good introduction on the various kinds of magic that are out there as well as how they work and a realistic time of how long it takes to achieve mastery. It was a very enjoyable book packed with useful information. I highly recommend it and its only 8 bucks on kindle. Albeit he does say some very controversial things at times however for the most part I found the book solid and insightful. http://www.amazon.com/Practice-Magic-Introductory-Guide-Art/dp/0877288070/ref=la_B000AQ6XI2_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1356535018&sr=1-4

I made a post about Food Combining awhile back. Its methods have been very effective for me. http://thetaobums.com/topic/25715-tcm-food-combining/ -My 2 cents, Peace

I took this excerpt from an interview Josephine McCarthy did with the website Occult of Personality on her book The Exorcist Handbook . She explains her view of Lineage. First i would just say i don't if any thing she said is true but i thought it was interesting and there has been a lot of talk on the forum about Lineage. Here it is: Interviewer: "Another i think a qualification if you will, a support you mentioned in your book is connection to some sort of Lineage, can you talk a little about that and the importance of the connection?" Joesphine MCcarthy: "Yeah, it has to be a real Lineage, one that has Inner Quality and not pieces of paper that you buy on the internet after a 2 day workshop that costs you 500$. A spiritual lineage, when your consecrated into a spiritual line you become the sum total of everything thats in that line, you become like a Hive Being from a consciousness point of view. Now this not an initiation but a consecration, so from a Christianity point of view it is the difference between, say a priest and a bishop because the bishop has the epistolic of succession which is a consecration and so thats the High of consciousness, so you draw upon that. And if your working in the depths of the abyss you can draw on all the consciousness and knowledge of that line and all of its energy and protection, its like a form of Eggregor. If your not a part of that and you and start doing major work, your on your own...literally. The other thing with that is that some consecrated lines have many Beings that work with that line and have done for 1000 of years. And so those Beings, you have automatic protection that clicks in, that works with you, and you may not see them, you may see them, you may not recognize them but there their and they do work with you. And you still have your own responsisbility for your own safety but you draw on this line of consciousness at the same time so if you come up against something.....and i'm sure if your involved in an independent sacramental movement you may come across this yourself is that your put in a very difficult situation from a spiritual point of view but suddenly you just know how to deal with it and it may go as soon you done it, you forget how you did it. Thats drawing on that Line, that consciousness works through you, and it can limit as well because when your a part of that certain Line, obviously you have got a lot of humans involved in that with human failings which is also attached to the Line, so you also have to be aware of that to. So you have to be very careful about what line you choose to be attached to. Because a lot of baggage can come with them, but along with the baggage often also comes knowledge. And this is part of our spiritual respnosibility for each generation if your consecrated into a line your responsibility is to do your job of cleaning and adding too, not only do you clean and purify the Line to the best of your ability, you also do and learn whatever you can to add to the consciousness for the people that are going to come after you, too draw upon you." --------------------------------------------------------------------------- There is a link to her interviews in this other thread i made on her book: http://thetaobums.co...ical-knowledge/ -My 2 cents, Peace

I think one most also take into consideration the Body Type that the individual has when consuming foods. Most men lean towards Yang while Women Lean towards Yin...and thus they should work towards consuming foods that are there opposites. Men should eat more salads and women consume more meat....however the opposite usually occurs. Of course that is just a general rule. I am a man and lean a bit more towards the Yin Side...at-least from my observations. Most importantly i think it is of great value to learn to "listen" to what your body is craving...the body knows. -My 2 cents, Peace

Indeed, the mind is powerful. However, i think when going into topics such as Trance through meditation a healthy distinction should be made between the Intellectual mind and going into deeper layers of the self (subconscious) as well as interacting with Beings on the Astral Plane. If one does not have control of their monkey mind then you will not likely be able to get into a Trance state to begin with. Consciousness can be cleared and crystallized through cultivation and thus enable one to make distinctions between the monkey and others. -My 2 cents, Peace

Indeed, much of Gnostic Christianity, Sufism and Kabbalah is influenced by Platonic thought. -My 2 cents, Peace