Aaron

Those worried about the SOPA bill should seriously check out the Fascism thread I started. This is just another cog in the machine towards total censorship and government control. The internet is their biggest threat and they know it. When you hear that it's not patriotic or honest to oppose it, then you'll start to understand what's really going on here. Aaron

I'm at a crossroads these days in regards to compassion. About a year ago I started a thread about the topic with a very idealistic approach to what I thought compassion was. In hindsight, my experiences in the last year have called into question many of those conceptions in regards to what kind of compassion I should aspire to. I find these days that I am not so much a humanist anymore. My notion of compassion does not arise from the idea that empathy for another person, my own individual feelings towards another, should be the motivation, but rather that sympathy, the knowledge that I am connected to everyone and everything on an intimate level, should be the motivation. As a result of viewing compassion in this way I can see another person's suffering as my own suffering, even if I'm not necessarily feeling it empathetically. That's not to say that suffering doesn't move me on a personal level occasionally, but rather that I understand that empathy alone isn't sufficient to drive someone towards action in many instances, that what it takes for someone to become compassionate in a higher sense is the realization of one's connection to others. This realization on an intellectual level may inspire empathy, but on an experiential level I have found that the driving force seems less influenced by empathy and more based on a dispassionate notion of easing suffering, simply because one can understand the nature of suffering. Anyways, I don't want to go too deeply into the topic, rather I'd like to hear other people's opinions regarding it. The topics that I have been most drawn to investigate on a personal level these days are compassion, the nature of suffering, and how our perception of the world causes suffering to occur. If anyone would like to expound on these as well, please feel free. Aaron

The same thing can happen in the states. If the government decides that a project (whether private or public) helps to develop the area, they can require you to sell your property. At least in certain states. Now they don't enforce it anymore, because there was a big row awhile back when they did try to, but to the best of my knowledge, the laws have never been changed or removed, simply not mentioned or enforced, as many laws are.

Well I would go so far as to state that I don't think retaining sexual fluids helps to retain spiritual (chi/qi) energy. From what I understand, the actual practice of semen retention is one of the highest forms of qigong and most (good/knowledgeable) teachers frown upon students practicing it, because it can actually do much more harm than good (kidney infection/bladder infection/urinary tract infection/etc.), which leads me to believe that we have, either a large number of grandmasters of Qigong on this board, or a lot of people who are jumping the gun (or maybe trying to shoot blanks) that are attempting to practice forms that are well beyond their understanding yet. Just my two cents... now back to the characteristics of the sage. Of course if you enjoy retaining jing more than having sex, then go for it, but I've yet to see any evidence that retention actually does any more good then just meditating for awhile each day. Aaron

I have no opinion on transmuting sexual energy, my opinion is in regards to abstinence, which again and again we find is harmful to a person's physical, emotional, and spiritual well being. As Jetsun pointed out, there is a big difference between saying, I'm going to take a few weeks/months and be abstinent in order to cultivate my jing, and saying, sex is harmful and I need to abstain because every time I ejaculate I die a little bit. Well I'll tell you what, at least I'll have a good time before I die. This whole idea that sex is bad or a spiritually negative experience is founded upon the notion of guilt. One should not feel guilty about sex, especially masturbation, it's the most natural thing a person can do. If we weren't meant to masturbate, I think our body would've evolved some kind of defense against it, but it hasn't, instead it seems like it's one of the universal experiences that links everyone together, think about it, at least 95% of all men (according to the last statistics I've read) have masturbated. Those cultures that masturbate less, tend to have a much greater incident of nocturnal emissions, which tends to lead one to believe that regular releases of sexual fluids and the accompanying pleasure involved is not only healthy, but something the body needs. Again this denouncement of the sexual act and the subsequent delusional attempts to make it appear to be harmful, either spiritually (it makes Jesus cry), physically (you'll get hair on your palms), or emotionally (it causes you to have difficulty in forming relationships with girls), is all bunk. Yes overdoing it can cause harm, but if you're overdoing it, then you most likely have some kind of sexual hangup causing you to overdo it and addressing that is much more healthy than total abstinence (which in most cases will only exacerbate the problem). So, the sage masturbates and has sex, and you know what, he has no guilt about doing it. Aaron

Wow this topic came back out of the blue... well compassion and suffering is always important to talk about. Nice quotes guys... thanks. Aaron

It's really hard for me to believe that people still believe in this kind of bullshit in the 21st century. Oh well, takes all kinds I guess. Aaron edit- Masturbation is good, fun, and healthy. It reduces the chances of prostate cancer, depression, and can help you sleep... plus many other wonderful things. Sex, well do I really need to tell you all the benefits there? Oh yeah, if you have feelings of guilt about having sex, or are told that it's bad and you need to stop doing it, just keep in mind that this is the oldest trick in the book that religions use to control their followers... after all, control the most basic instincts of a person and you control them, whether it be Buddhism, Christianity, or in this case, apparently, religious Taoism. Aaron

Praise without merit is harmful. I've seen these studies before, saying "good job" is behavioral training, much like giving a treat to a dog when it's done something we want it to repeat. Yes it trains them to do the trick, but do they really want to do the trick? For a long time now I've been an advocate of honesty when it comes to teaching children. When they do something wrong, you tell them honestly what they did wrong. When they do something right you tell them that they did it right. You can still say "good job", but it should be a rare occurrence and actually be a "good job". In other words don't say "good job" when a child finishes their plate, unless you want chubby kids. Aaron

I think you're experiencing synchronicity. It can't be explained, and mathematically is highly unlikely, but it does happen, and as Steve and others have said, it's a mystery and that's part of the fun. Also keep in mind that you have an internal clock that's very accurate, you could be unconsciously looking at the clock when there are double digits. I don't think it's a harbinger of doom, if that's what you're worried about, just a very random phenomena that's occurring to you. After reading a book about demon possession and hauntings that stated 3:33 was the minute of the devil, I woke up about once or twice a week at 3:33am and seemed to notice the time on the clock as well. Was I being followed by supernatural forces, leaving this as my warning to beware? Highly unlikely, more likely that I was just hyper-aware when that time popped up. No worries, it will pass. I think most likely at 11:11 or 12:12 or maybe 04:04? Who knows. Aaron

Maybe have the straps on the bench, rather than the bag? You could have them attached underneath. It could still double as a stand for a laptop. I'm not sure how heavy it would be to carry a laptop and this bench at the same time... you might want to weigh the two together. Another thing to keep in mind... NO CLOTH or padding (or make sure you can remove it) if it's going to be used as a laptop bench, simply because cloth may cause the laptop to overheat.

Excellent point... what is the distinction between "eh" and "oh"? Really, though, my question is why does Lao Tzu say that? I'm really interested in the answer, rather than the riddles. Aaron

Amen brother... ahem... I mean excellent post. Aaron

I'm sorry... I don't know why I argue with you about this, since you already know the answer. Please forgive me... retreating to the corner now. Aaron

The Buddha made those distinctions because people could not fathom the lack of distinction. There was something that could be told and then there is only what is. I speak of what is, not what can be described. When one reaches a state of heart-mind, and of course you obviously have, they understand that skandhas, the senses, thought, mind, self, ego, is all transient (notice I said transient and not illusory), the the only thing that exists forever is the middle place, non-duality, whatever you want to call it. I like to call it the stillness, because from the stillness comes movement that creates all things. That which is still exists forever, those things created from stillness, which are moving, are transient and will eventually cease to be. So skandas and the heart-mind are the same, because without skandhas we cannot experience heart-mind. Heart-mind only allows us to experience a portion of the actuality of the universe, it doesn't grant us immortality or freedom from our transient state of existence. It's sort of like getting a peek at what we will become. Aaron

I have to give it to you, even I don't have the balls to question the HH Dhali Lahma's understanding of Buddhism. (I meant that as a joke, of course I do.) As far as, "is there no difference between the ignorant mind of the Six Senses, and the Heart-Mind beyond the Skandhas?" Quick and dirty answer is, no there isn't. Aaron

Very nice. I enjoyed this immensely. Aaron edit- I should also add that I was unaware at the time I became an anarchist, that it had it's roots in Taoism and ancient China, even though I was reading the Tao Teh Ching at the time. The philosophy, as it was taught to me by my professor at the time, was one I could not only embrace, but ultimately convinced me of the errors of socialism and democracies.

I haven't started a topic like this in awhile, so I thought it might be nice, seeing as how the new year is about to begin, to talk about a topic that's dear to me (yes I am attached to this topic.) That topic, if you missed the heading, is returning to innocence and what it means. This is perhaps the most universal of concepts, in fact every religion and philosophy that I know of speaks about it, yet it seems to be overlooked so often. With that said, I'd like to post some quotes from different religions that have to do with this topic, so that as a community we can discuss what this means to each of us. --------- "You should study not only that you become a mother when your child is born, but also that you become a child." -Dogen "People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don't even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child -- our own two eyes. All is a miracle." -Thich Nhat Hanh "The paramahamsa is like a five year old child. He sees everything filled with Consciousness.. The paramahamsa is like a child. He cannot distinguish between a stranger and a relative... the paramahamsa is like a child. He doesn't keep any track of his whereabouts. He sees everything as Brahman." - Sri Ramakrishna Jesus saw some little ones nursing. He said to his disciples, "These little ones who are nursing resemble those who enter the kingdom." They said to him, "So shall we enter the kingdom by being little ones?" Jesus said to them, "When you make the two one and make the inside like the outside and the outside like the inside and the above like the below, and that you might make the male and the female be one and the same, so that the male might not be male nor the female be female, when you make eyes in place of an eye and a hand in place of a hand and a foot in place of a foot, an image in place of an image - then you will enter.- Saying 22 from the Gospel of Thomas "'Did you have a happy childhood?' is a false question. As a child I did not know what happiness was, and whether I was happy or not. I was too busy being." -Alistair Reed "The Sage has no interests of his own, But takes the interests of the people as his own. He is kind to the kind; He is also kind to the unkind: For Virtue is kind. He is faithful to the faithful; He is also faithful to the unfaithful: For Virtue is faithful. In the midst of the world, the Sage is shy and self-effacing. For the sake of the world he keeps his heart in its nebulous state. All the people strain their ears and eyes: The Sage only smiles like an amused infant." - Tao Teh Ching tr. John C. H. Wu ----- That's just a few of the quotes I came across, but I'm sure there are more. Actually, to be honest, I'm not as interested in the quotes, so much as how people view this universal principle and how they try to practice it in their own lives. I look forward to hearing what others think. Aaron

The proof of undivided lights existence (if it exists and I think probably does) will not change the human race that significantly, although the scientific applications may be astounding. Spiritually, emotionally, I don't think the impact will be there. If nothing else it may have the exact opposite effect that you think it might have. I'm still not sure how this applies to Wu Wei and yes I've read your explanations. I certainly don't think this was what Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu were talking about. Aaron

I think you missed the rhetorical aspect of this thread... but that's okay, I would like to know if you can provide any examples of people who are alive who are capable of performing this emotion radiance, it would be interesting to learn more about it. Aaron

I like the pic, but man you have way too much time on your hands. Aaron

I understand that people are misunderstanding exactly what I mean by becoming like a child, or returning to innocence, so I wanted to clarify, because I honestly believe this is one of most important things we as human beings should learn. First, returning to innocence is not about becoming naive or completely trusting people, or not being aware that things happen in the world that could harm you, it's about returning to a state where your actions are not dictated by philosophies, ideologies, or social mores, and instead by an innate understanding of how the world works. We all have this ability, it's not something only the rare few can manage to recapture, and I say recapture, because this state of being existed within us at one time, but was slowly diminished by social indoctrination. What returning to innocence is, at it's most basic level, is learning to judge actions and thoughts, not by placing a moral value judgement on these things, but by the actual consequences of that action. So if someone comes up to you and asks your for your car, no you don't give him your car, because being innocent doesn't mean that you don't understand the need of having a car, nor does it mean that you are supposed to give up things you need to those who want them, it means that you are aware of what's happening in the world and not making subjective decisions based on moral propaganda, but rather making reacting to what's happening based on your understanding of the actual situation. If anyone needs examples, I'd be happy to provide them, but I really just wanted to clarify what I'm talking about here. In essence, you can still return to innocence if you agree with a religion or philosophy, so long as the religion or philosophy doesn't influence your decisions, but rather an understanding of the innate nature of what's occurring, without moral bias. Aaron

Unless you're using no boxes to box those boxes. Aaron

But you seem to be doing just that by saying that it can't be. That subjective, whether you realize it or not. In fact your definition doesn't even make sense to me. It seems like you're trying to say it has something to do with enlightenment and higher awareness, when it doesn't, in fact it's one of the key requirements to achieving those states, but it isn't enlightenment at all. At least that's what many spiritual paths seem to teach. Aaron