RiverSnake

Could you be more thorough in outlining your symptoms as well as the circumstances surrounding there emergence? My 2 cents, Peace

Congrats, doing the 100 days is quite the accomplishment. May you continue to enjoy the power and vitality of this state of Being. My 2 cents, Peace

Qi Gong is awesome! Welcome to TTB!! My 2 cents, Peace

When I am really angry at someone else I find it helpful to calm down and put myself in there shoes. When I understand "there shoes" (reasoning, perspective, desires, pressures, emotions, frustrations....etc) then I understand them and why they act certain ways. My anger then tends to evaporate and is placed by a deep sense of understanding, connection, sympathy and also detachment. My 2 cents, Peace

A useful thread on this very topic: http://thetaobums.com/topic/16419-shamanism-use-and-misuse-of-power/?hl=%2Bpower+%2Bshamanism My 2 cents, Peace

My point is that in pretty much every single system of esoteric studies(as far as I know) time tends to be considered an illusion that only holds weight on this dense physical plane. In subtle reality time is supposedly not as big a factor and highly mutable. Do I know this as a fact....of course not. Do I utilize linear time in my everyday life, of course. Without such a construct I would not be able to function in our society....but not all societies use a linear time frame. So i was pointing out the assumption behind your question and that you are speaking from a specific cosmology which is not necessarily universal. However, you asked what came first the chicken or the egg? What I am saying is from an esoteric perspective this is not really a valid question. An esotericist might say that the potential or archetype of the chicken and egg are always there and arise mutually when it is appropriate for them to manifest. They would not likely argue in a linear way when it came to the Macrocosm. My 2 cents, Peace

There is an assumption of a linear nature of time and existence in this question. My 2 cents, Peace

Disaster, has its roots in happiness, and happiness, lurks in disaster. Who knows when this cycle will end? Tao Te Ching quotes Verse 58 Happy Turkey Day to all the Bums out there. My 2 cents, Peace

Welcome to TTB. You will find many people here whom love to stand. My 2 cents, Peace

Will pray for justice in your affairs Zen-Bear. Best wishes. My 2 cents, Peace

An excellent and very thorough video of this topic: My 2 cents, Peace

Thanks for sharing SurfingBuddha. Interesting stuff. I forgot that Michael has a blog, gotta visit more often. My 2 cents, Peace

Cool story. Welcome to TTB. . My 2 cents, Peace

The following videos by Sadghuru Jaggi Vasudev is one of the most thorough, intelligent and logical breakdown of spirituality as a subjective science i have ever seen. It definitely deepened my understanding of what spirituality is what it is not...and why it has stagnated and not become mainstream in the world. I posted the first three videos, there are twelve in total. You can skip to 2:45 on the first video. Enjoy

Thought I'd bump this thread given some of the other current discussions on the forum. He gives a great breakdown of Spirituality as Science. My 2 cents, Peace

I agree with this to a certain extent. Still having ones discretion is important and IMO approaching union is a gradual process. Just cause your "getting in touch" with everything doesn't mean that there are not certain things that can be harmful and certain things that are healthy to you as a human being. There are harmful and there are helpful energies, just as there is healthy and unhealthy foods....IMO ignoring this distinction is not a perspective that is grounded in our direct experience of reality and the fact that we exist in duality within a physical body. Is being in an energetically toxic environment a like or dislike? It can trigger such preferences, but it effects you in some way whether you like it or not, which is why I say it is important to be aware of the "space" you put yourself in. We have to simultaneously operate from a state of separation and unity. When we move into a state that we experience that we are constantly in union with everything around us.....then we can operate from that state experientially rather than theorizing about it. My 2 cents, Peace

No books planned for me, still way too green. Just blogging and practicing. What I wrote above can easily be found in many other sources. My 2 cents, Peace

In continuance I'd like to talk about psychic self defense, martial arts and spirituality all in one post because they all have a similar principle in there practice. The principle being that it is of prime importance to be centered. For the martial artist the idea of being physically centered and rooted is emphasized most because if you aren't low to the ground you will get knocked over like tupperware. But still you need to be calm and collected in a fight and even during practice, otherwise you can mess up. IME, the majority of people of the planet live in a heavily imbalanced and un-centered way. IME, the goal of spirituality....at-least in the first few years is to try and bring the mind, emotions and body back into homeostasis so that you can have some level of stability. Thus when we we learn to be in clarity then Shen governs, and Chi and Jing fall into line. However, the questions arises as to why from a natural, spontaneous, and full of light kid we become imbalanced? IMO this is because we live in a society that is heavily unbalanced....and to be honest it seems like most cultures within the last 2000 years lived in a heavily unbalanced (emotionally, psychologically, physically...etc)way. As we grow up we are very open and are mind, emotions, body and character traits are picked up from our surroundings (parents, friends, family, society). Of-course these things also effect us esoterically as well. Our physical environment, emotional environment and psychological environment as we grow up leaves a very strong energetic imprint on us as a human being. These "conditions" are naturally something we have to deal with throughout life for better or worse. But why am I writing this long-winded post? The point I wish to get across is that when we practice meditation we are consciously choosing to create a "space" within our lives for clarity and centered-ness and our goal is to continue to strengthen that space for our own benefit and the benefit of others. While our whole lives we have allowed ourselves to be unconsciously conditioned by family, friends, the media...etc....we are now taking our "space" into our own hands and thus taking responsibility for our lives and readily conditioning ourselves with our own vision. This is where the topic of Psychic Self-Defense comes in. When we consciously create this space for ourselves and it grows and strengthens we also become responsible for what we allow into our "space". Things like lovers, family, friends, electronic devices, the land we live on (city, urban...etc)....these all have consequences for us and influence us in subtle and not so subtle ways. When "aware" of these things we must decide to consciously sift through the chaff and wheat and decide what positive and negative influences we wish to have in our lives. Some positive influences can in the long term be negative....some negative influences in the long term can be very positive for our long term growth as an individual......some influences you have absolutely no control over at this time. What's important is that you master aspects of your life that you are aware of and bring those into harmony with your life purpose and direction and also continue growing in mastery over your own sphere. When we read books, when we read posts on TTB, when we deal with trolls and mudslingers we are to a certain extent allowing those people into are space and to influence us for better or worse. Although in the larger scheme of life it may be a small influence...it is still there and it can deeply affect the quality of ones life and it is still ones responsibility to consciously choose whom and what we allow into our lives and sphere. The Ignore feature is one way in which we can still read threads but consciously choose whom we allow into our "space". IMO this is a fundamental right and quality of a human being, being that we our both separate and a part of each other at the same time....this separation is also a fundamental quality of what it means to exist in the physicality of existence and is worth being aware of and respecting. Some say that you can simply dissolve negative influences into light. I think this is likely....but is beyond my ability and the ability of the vast majority of people and therefore I do not think it is relavent to this conversation, but if some one would like to share there experience of this I would be happy to hear it. May this post find you well. My 2 cents, Peace

Cool, I live near Ft, Lauderdale. Where do you sign up? My 2 cents, Peace

Currently reading Tarot Spreads by Barbara Moore. So far so good, I think its really gonna enhance my abilities and understanding of how to work the cards. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0738727849/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER My 2 cents, Peace

Indeed. IMO Taoism is a practice much like Zen, it is experientially based rather than a contrived system of ideology that needs to be followed or a system of philosophical ideals. My 2 cents, Peace

I was recently having some pretty intense thoughts about my True Will, Life Purpose.etc.I have found that my dreams and ambitions change as i change as an individual. I was doing one of those Pavlov Hierarchy list of needs and this is what i came up with from top to bottom. 1. Cultivation 2. Practicing Divination (Tarot) 3. Practicing Martial Arts 4. Pursue a career that involves, compliments or enables me to do the above 3 -In many ways i am already living my dream as i do the above 3 already.i just need to find an occupation once i finish up college that enhances my ability to do them. You're idea about starting a retreat center sounds really cool BKS, give us an update when it comes to fruition. My 2 cents, Peace

“Do every act of your life as though it were the very last act of your life.” ― Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

I don't think anyone can really tell you what these experiences mean. Listen to your intuition. When i feel lost and confused i usually fall back on prayer. Most importantly continue your practice in harmony and Being. My 2 cents, Peace