S-Curve

And which president are you referring to? Obama? Progressive? What has Obama accomplished in that respect? In fact, he has simply continued the majority of Bush's policies. The Bush and Obama administrations' actions have been similar to the point of being nearly identical.

Oh sure, I've got compassion for those old white dudes (makes me laugh now!). They're living in a world of pain, and I don't have any ill will toward them. They create all the punishment they'll ever need But having compassion for them doesn't change the fact that these are some seriously selfish and misguided motherf_____s. Call a spade a spade. EDIT: sorry i just realized you were talking about victims rather than perpetrators. All i can say is that, given that I'm one of those people, i have a whole lot of genuine compassion for those that are also on that path. END EDIT And as for your first point, you are totally right. One can easily see the damage that this type of person has done to people all over the world. Most people. Yeah, they are wreaking havoc. And again, yes, the road to liberation (while different for each soul) is out-of-this-world hard. As in, the hardest most difficult thing one can do in life. There is no use in prancing around the issue, liberation is challenge enough even without a bunch of psychopaths trying to rain on your parade. But it can be done.

Hey Metal Dog, I think we can agree on a lot of things. When I said that I believe you are taking this too seriously, I didn't mean that you are entirely wrong about the prevalence of conspiracy and corruption in contemporary civilization. Were there nefarious forces at work in 9/11? Of course. There is obviously much more to the story then what has been reported in the media since that day. Unfortunately, I am not privy to the groups and networks that have detailed information about what really went down, and by whose authority. Are there groups with malintent that are conspiring to dominate the world? Of course. Is there corruption in the governments and the corporations and at the highest levels of many other organizations? Yeah, for sure. But the reality is that I don't have access to the details of this "master plan." And I seriously doubt that you do either. I don't mean to take a dump on your research and I am sure that you are a very informed person. But I seriously doubt that there are more than a handful of individuals that really know the details about which entities are pulling the strings. And above all, my main point being, we are here on a forum about following the Tao. I would presume that you have some sort of spiritual practice. Having had the experiences and trials that I have been blessed with, I don't see what's so urgent or serious about all this. Whatever the "plan" is, and by whomever, doesn't really matter. This is all a play. We're acting out the parts and doing our thing, but in the end it doesn't matter because we all have the possibility of finding pure peace and bliss in our daily lives, and a bunch of old white dudes with money and psychopathic tendencies can't stop me from being fully liberated.

Metal Dog, I apologize if my post came off as insulting, it certainly wasn't intended that way. Nonetheless, my impression is that you are reading way too much into these things. There isn't some vast conspiracy, there are 1000s of small conspiracies. And there is money, lots of money. And corruption. And incompetence. If you ascribe everything to some giant conspiracy, you are going to miss the point, which is that we are acting out a drama, playing in these bodies as friends and strangers and having an adventure while we learn lessons and grow. Realize the silliness of it all! I know it's serious, but it's also funny as hell!

My experience has been that ejaculation has never really affected my qi levels. So I've never really bought in to the whole tantra thing. But this opinion should be tempered with the understanding that the energy levels I experience are far higher then what most practitioners experience. There are exceptions, however. If I am feeling extremely fatigued, or sick, then ejaculation can definitely take me to a lower level. I will also say that I infinitely prefer a loving, monogamous relationship to promiscuity. For myself, I cannot imagine that a "non-chaste" lifestyle would be beneficial. For others, it may be different.

I think you're giving them too much credit bro! Corruption has been around since the dawn of civilization. Yes, this is a battle for the future of our world, and in particular the financial system. Yes, the Bankers are running the show. Yes, militaries and Secret agencies do their bidding. Politicians around the world are on their knees. But there's no back room where these people congregate. It's thousands of backrooms. And boardrooms. It's a slow moving system. The fact that Assange is still alive does not indicate he's a "stooge", it indicates that these people, our "overlords", move slowly. They're cautious. They're not all powerful, they just have the money right now. Hell, they've had the money for a long time. Wikileaks is a big first step in a free society. Wikileaks isn't perfect, but it's devoted to the liberation of information. If information isn't free, then we will never be. Don't freak out and start thinking that the bankers and the politicians are all powerful. They're certainly not, although before too long I'm sure they will appear to be infallible, as they use their full might to crush the impending revolution of people all over the world. But in a few years, they will fall away, because that is the way of evolution, and time marches on and will leave them behind. People will find out soon that the Bankers and the politicians and the generals have been scamming and cheating and lying about virtually everything, and people will be pissed.

I don't want to be a dick but that's a bit disingenuous don't you think? If the internal and external are in fact the same thing, than "thoughts" and "things" are essentially the same. Of course, given these circumstances a thought would be less dense than a wooden chair, but still essentially the same. On the other hand, if the internal and external are different, than thoughts and things are not the same. I'd like to throw something out to the discussion concerning this: In the physical world, nothing is really "solid" and boundaries are not easy to define. If modern physics is leading us in the right direction, for example quantum physics, than it would seem that the physical (external) world shares similar attributes to the internal world, where things are difficult to define and boundaries are quite fluid...

I'm starting to wonder the same thing; is there actually an inside and an outside? Hmmmmm... I think that inner experience and outer experience are complimentary. We are always experiencing some inner and some outer (at least while we are alive), and they are not mutually exclusive, because we always have some aspect of each. This leads me to believe that, possibly, we in fact create the distinction in our minds, and no distinction actually exists (outside of our minds). An interesting thing here is: given John and I have both stated that the External world can be difficult to understand.... and given that there are signs and syncrhonicities offered through the External world... what is it that we are missing to understand these messages? Are we missing out on the explanations through the external? Or should we further seek in the internal to find the answers? Hmmmmmm (again ) I'd like to contribute more to the discussion today but my brain feels like a ball of yarn.

A big questions i have is how this all relates to synchronicity. I mean, isn't synchronicity basically like this mystical connection between the inner and the outer? I tend to notice "communication" with the divine quite easily in the inner world. And sometimes i go through periods of massive synchronicty bombardment in the outer world, but i can't always understand it. Its like, there's just a constant barrage of synchronistic events and symbols, so many that at times its just ridiculous. But then, i don't always grok/dig/understand completely, whereas with the inner i feel like i get a pretty good intuitive analysis immediately. What the hell is that about? Maybe i'm just bonkers

I really think that there is validity in this, thanks for contributing Hagar. I find that the external world is sort of a testing ground. When issues arise in the internal, i often see those things reflected to the outer world. The external is the proof. I mean "proof" in the sense of of the french cognate or perhaps the older British English sense... that is, to try something out. For me personally, at this point in my journey, I desire to find a way to navigate the external. I want to overcome the external. The question is, can we actually do this? Or are we condemned to the capricious will of the "gods"???

Well, i'm not sure that they are the same thing. The internal and the external are reflections of each other, yes. What you do in the external world affects your internal experience. What you do internally, affects your external experience. In the end of course, you can say "all is one", which is true from a certain perspective. But the internal and external is not necessarily a duality, its two entirely different environments with completely different rules and different factors. I would love to hear others' thoughts on this...

Mokona, that laughing you've experienced is definitely part of your true self. Its an attitude that comes from knowing how bull**** this whole thing we call the world is. In time, you may find that you can tap into this experience whenever you would like, which can be quite helpful when you are suffering a great deal. Once you are able to access this state, you still are suffering, you still are experiencing everything that everyone experiences in a life... pain, suffering, death, struggle... but you can do it knowing its all a play. ShaktiMama and Kate, On the internal/external duality thing... I don't know what to tell you. I have yet to find a resolution between the internal and the external worlds. Having an internal experience of "all is one" is not the issue here. The person that manages to fully overcome the internal/external distinction will be able to move through life effortlessly, doing all things as if by magic. Yeah, i agree Kate, on my good days i have a taste of this. A true master will be able to do this all the time, and effortlessly!

That's easy to answer. The world is full of rich and poor people. You may be surprised to know that the disparity between rich and poor is even greater in impoverished countries. There are a very large number of extremely wealthy families from Asia(and other places). Wealthy families from all over the world send their children to universities in the United States and Europe.

I have never noticed this Mokona, perhaps its a personalised thing? The only time i really notice the energy in the central channel is when in increases or decreases, or when it starts thumping away...

Dude, you are straight up out of your mind! Are you 15 year's old? Capitalism and communism are economic ideas. They have nothing to do with liberty or the lack of it. Every G12 nation experiences immigration, including the United States. And there's a good reason for that. First World countries offer a much higher standard of living than do Third World countries. In response to your question, "who run's China", well, who do you think runs the United States? Its not the people, my friend. It sounds like you have a lot of learning and growing up to do. On a serious note, I highly recommend foreign travel to you, as you seem to have a very limited perspective. Don't be so narrow minded! You will have a much easier time making friends and enjoying life if you open up a little bit! Good luck