zerostao

Smedley Butler has made a couple of appearances on this forum. Most likely those are hidden away in the pit or abyss now. I like Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried. O'Brien was army infantry platoon duty during the Vietnam war. If you haven't read it, you should. It's a darn good piece of literature and the marrow of his message is courageous in it's own right.

The stoics are a complicated bunch. There is much debate between the stoics. Contemporary stoics are a watered down wash out. The Romans, certainly Marcus Auerlius Meditations and the Discourses of Epictetus are beautiful inspirational reads,, yet to get to the crux, ya gotta go Greek. You dont have to read 165 volumes of Chrysippus He wrote them but you can't find them, spare fragments. So this is just my take on some things the Greek stoics seemed to agree on. Calm is a superpower. Emotions rise from false judgements. The sage doesn't suffer from emotions due that the sage had attained moral and intellectual perfection. Thus, the sage acquired freedom. Anyone not a sage was in effect a slave. Stoic views on virtue holds that virtues are individual features excellent or at least good which allow performance of functionality. If you do have an interest to look closer at the Stoics a good place to check them out is at Dr. Cynthia Freeland's Ancient Stoicism

richly diverse and vast is the thousand years of Medieval art. there are paintings from the Medieval which are impressionistic, abstract and others which seem to foreshadow later styles and schools of art. the op said we can include other 2d forms of art and that allows tapestry and stained glass for which the Medieval period is also well known for. i think the paintings of the period take an unjustified bad rap. many dismiss it as bad art. id say its largely misunderstood and under appreciated. almost all from unknown artists. of course there are many paintings featuring Medieval cats.

I've been to a few communal communities called "the farm". If you're referring to Stephen and Ina Mae's tennessee farm, I've been there several times. I was included in a few green party sessions, mid to late 90's on the farm. I began venturing down that way, along with mcminnville and murfreesboro late 80s, haven't been there since 2007. Ram Dass' name was dropped there often by Stephen and others. From the beginning, the farm, intended to be outwardly directed and influential. Which seems to differ from encephalon's ideal of being tucked away in the canadian rockies. " a host of other problems " includes ego, jealousy, and other components of human nature which are not removable even in communist environments. The Guru complex will manifest. I know you're well read ralis, I think we've covered some of Ibn Khaldun's Muqaddimah. Also relevant is Sigmund Freud's Civilization and its Discontents.

I almost called dibs on the address 64 baguazhang circle. Currencies, forget it. Reckon I'll continue along the path of forest hermit. Or may consider the right bunch of nomads. Edit> choice of Canadian Rockies offers strategic defense by its geography. Still, I think your gonna want some security force. It's a beautiful ideal. I think a true Shangri La is possible.

Certainly not by my theory. Hence, that is why I admire Nature's way of changes, which prevents stagnation. Just because I am unaffected by mosquitoes, ain't been bit by one since, well can't remember when, doesn't mean I'm pro mosquito. Really, haven't had a personal reason to think about them. Ticks, also, and chiggers, haven't had any come near me in years. Of course I am out in the woods frequently where one would think I'd encounter them but I dont. Butterflies and dragonflies do fly close to me. They dont bite me either.

Healthy for the mosquitoes

Change is nature's way of keeping us from stagnating.

There is no cookie cutter system. Each of us are free to find their own path, build their own curriculum. Each step along the path will yield lessons to be learned.

Mak Jo Si is enthusiastic with what he does. He is a controversial personality on this board. He has a loyal following and a loyal opposition. He has cut out a niche for himself. One person's "scammer" is another person's "pioneer" I check in on his channel occasionally and find it entertaining. The last time I know of him appearing on the forum was 6 or 7 years ago. I was a mod at the time and there were reports coming in over a thread or 2 he was involved with. The interactions I had with him then were cordial and respectful.. Later he posted a video on his channel calling The Dao Bums "a bunch of mind fucks" If Tin Yat Daoism resonates with you, I suggest following his YouTube channel and contacting him there,

Limahong, I agree about it being a paradigm shift. Thank you for the heartfelt message.

Heraclitus shed tears everytime he went out in public, Democritis laughed. Subjectivity. Subjectivity and Power. Foucault. Stoics are fashionable at the moment in the general public. Stoics have always been fashionable on this philosophical site. We are all subject to prevailing forces. I mentioned this to a bum soon after some volcano erupted. Bum wasn't keen on my position that we subjects are subject to Nature's prevails. Stoics strive to live in accordance with Nature. To me that seems reasonable and attainable.

Initiated 8 years ago. My experience is a positive one. This is effilang's thread. An older thread I ran can be found in my personal practice section. I've thought of starting a new XYP thread, probably also in my personal practice section.

It is going to depend on the taoyu (initiate), mainly their effort in life and effort in cultivation. no one said it would be easy. Going to have to strive to have a quality near a divine one. I hope this helps answer your question Vajra Fist.

I've been talking to the good folks over in Indonesia, I will forward your inquiry.

Has anyone answered these questions for you?

Yes 2 barrels. That may explain a few things concerning that night.

Thanks Steve, Michoacan makes sense. Sadly there was no beer in the igloo playmate. About a quarter pound columbian red and another quarter pounder of columbian gold. I was in the back seat of a convertible, with the igloo. 2 other dudes up front. In a large parking lot, probably a mall. We were there to watch midnite movies. It may have been the orange sunshine or it could have been the sere training the air force provided, kicking in. Either way, my mistake was not grabbing that cooler as I flew out of the back seat vanishing quickly. I hid underneath parked cars and methodically kept moving under car to car away from the scene. I could hear other police arriving and their walkie talkies were amplified by the vitamin. I heard them say he is wearing a black Jack Daniel's tshirt. Which was inaccurate, I'd never be caught dead in a Tennessee whiskey shirt. Kentucky straight bourbon, thank you. However it was a midnight blue linerd skynyrd resembling Jack Daniel's. And that was quickly removed. At one point two cops walked past the vehicle I was under as overhead a police helicopter was using a search light scanning the parking lot. The sound of the chopper's rotors were also greatly amplified. One of those cops said "can't wait to get my nightstick working on that scumbag" That wasn't going to happen. I made my way out of the parking lot, crossed into a residential area kept moving towards the river. Crossed the Ohio on an old, no longer in service railroad bridge. Spent the rest of the night at a friend's house in clarksville indiana. Losing the half pound sucked. And my 2 comrades were taken to the Jefferson county jail. In kentucky a half pound was and remains till this day, a misdemeanor. Charges were dismissed against them at court. They both said the weed belonged to the un named dude in the back seat and they thought it had beer in it. The cop testified he thought the cooler belonged to the fleeing scumbag. Not my most enjoyable trip, none the less unforgettable. I was thinking, damn what's up Louisville police, that was a lot of resources and manpower response to some bum with some weed.

All psilocybins are not created equal. Some come on strong and fast. Others wait 45 minutes to an hour before things start looking a little different. Take about an hour before sunset!

Mesh macan, not sure about the spelling, first I ever had. Thai stick and puna bud left lasting memories from 70`s. First run in with the law was in Louisville, I had an igloo playmate full of red and gold. The officer said, "if there's beer in that cooler, you're going to jail" It's a bit of a long story about what ensued. 2 hits of orange sunshine were involved. And a helicopter.....

Changeability

I've heard somewhere, that calligraphy is the highest form of cultivation. Heard it from multiple sources.

High Plains Drifter (1973) Existentialism, ghost story, western horror or gothic, with obvious connections to the book of Hebrews, Isaiah, Paradise Lost. hints to supernatural. There is unflinching ugliness that examines morality of conscience.

11 years in with Chris Matsuo and I remain as enthusiastic as ever. there are several Cheng style bagua DVD’s/videos available. Gerard always suggests Yin style and you can’t go wrong with that. Looking up older Gerard posts about bagua will provide a wealth of great information. i don’t think style matters all that much—ok, I ducked after saying that lol Really I just took another step around the circle, it translates better than ducking. my point is there are some incredible choices in bagua, shop around, take your time, you will feel what resonates with you. the art is in the circle walking watch the video on YouTube titled Master Han yanwu baguazhang by Freedom Martial Art. If you find yourself looking up more Han yan Wu videos, then maybe bagua is for you. for most people the path to Internal martial arts is best started with taiji xingyi or I quan. for a few, bagua has snuck up on from behind, above, or below, you turn meet it face to face and it smacks your face with a spiraling substance, undefined, and you waste the rest of your life pursuing that substance. Setting down the crack pipe is easy, trying to forget about the shimmering spiraling substance is impossible. everyone that replied on this thread gave you valuable information. I suggest, you watch 3 or 4 videos of Scott Meredith on circle walking. others may suggest Earle montaingue, Joann zorya is worth the time too. Edit to add, I came upon some new bagua videos. Just wanted to mention, called energy bagua by Bodhi meditation, he looks healthy with positive attitude. Also looks charismatic similar to tv evangelist, I haven’t had the chance to investigate further, I do agree with his premise that bagua is good for health and energy.

Verily