Aaron

Just as an aside, from my own experiences I strongly believe in reincarnation, but I'm not sold, nor do I believe in Karma as many people do. I kind of think of Karma along the lines of sin, it's a good way for religion to keep people in line, but in reality it's all dependent on one's own interpretation of what sin and bad is. If you want to believe in karma, that's fine too, I just haven't experienced anything that's led me to actually believe it exists. So from my standpoint reincarnation yes, Karma/Dharma, no. Aaron

Just a note about protein, each plant has it's own unique amino acid profile, so if you eat a variety of veggies each day, you're bound to get your complete protein. Most of the worry about protein stems from stuff that was thought to be true a couple decades ago, these days we know that we actually keep the amino acids we accumulate over the day and the body uses them as needed, so you don't need a complete protein at each meal, just a balanced diet overall. So that means you can eat whatever you want, so long as you're eating healthy and varying your diet. Don't eat the same meals every single day if you can help it... sigh... there goes my ramen for lunch. I've been eating that stuff for the last year nearly every day for lunch. When I say I love ramen, I mean I love ramen. Hot and Spicy with a healthy dose of Srirachi hot sauce is "da bomb" as my nephew would say. Anyways, off topic, so again, I'd recommend that you don't worry so much about your diet so much Patrick, just try to eat as healthy as you can. Aaron

I think I was rinsing it, but I'm always up for a second go. I don't really mind it, as in if it was served to me at a friend's house I'd eat it, but if I had my choice I'd choose long grain brown rice (which is about the same price). Aaron

Oh man I loved organic oatmeals and fruit as a vegetarian, but when I went back to meat I rarely ate it. Strange. I might have to pick up some and rekindle the old flame. Keep in mind I only eat chicken and fish these days. I try to limit my chicken consumption to boot. I do eat way too much Ramen, not the cheep kind, but the bowls you buy. I LOVE those things. Spicy is the best. Aaron

Keep in mind I said palatable. I don't eat quinoa because of the taste. Cost wise it's about the same as brown rice. Aaron

Being a reformed vegetarian, I lived on a diet that included brown rice for years and years. I was told early on that brown rice alone didn't provide a complete protein, so you had to add something else to the mix, for me it was beans. I can't tell you how many times I ate beans and rice. I still eat them today a couple times a week, but I usually have white rice and beans now, with a lot of hot sauce. (I love hot sauce... Tapatio and Sriracha are the best you can buy off the shelf of your local grocery store... I eat Tapatio with my american and latino cuisine and Sriracha is kept around for my asian cuisine, though I've found it's good on nearly everything as well. Man I want to start a thread on hot sauce now.) Anyways, my suggestion is that you research any diet changes like this before making a concrete decisions. I wish you luck. Brown rice, in my opinion, is probably the most important grain in any vegetarian diet (at least palatable). It takes awhile to get used to the taste, but the increase in complete proteins is worth the acclimation. Aaron

Here's three versions of Chapter 81 of the Tao Teh Ching. Translated by John C. H. Wu Sincere words are not sweet, Sweet words are not sincere. Good men are not argumentative, The argumentative are not good. The wise are not erudite, The erudite are not wise. The Sage does not take to hoarding. The more he lives for others, the fuller is his life. The more he gives, the more he abounds. The Way of Heaven is to benefit, not to harm. The Way of the Sage is to do his duty, not to strive with anyone. Translated by Gia-fu Feng and Jane English Truthful words are not beautiful. Beautiful words are not truthful. Good men do not argue. Those who argue are not good. Those who know are not learned. The learned do not know. The sage never tries to store things up. The more he does for others, the more he has. The more he gives to others, the greater his abundance. The Tao of heaven is pointed but does no harm. The Tao of the sage is work without effort. Translated by Robert G. Henricks 1. Sincere words are not showy; 2. Showy words are not sincere. 3. Those who know are not "widely learned"; 4. Those "widely learned" do not know. 5. The good do not have a lot; 6. Those with a lot are not good. 7. The Sage accumulates nothing. 8. Having used what he had for others, 9. He has even more. 10. Having given what he had to others, 11. What he has is even greater. 12. Therefore, the Way of Heaven is to benefit and not cause any harm; 13. The Way of Man is to act on behalf of others and not to compete with them. --------- And that's the final chapter. I hope Marblehead forgives me for jumping the gun and posting the final chapter. I posted the first one many, many, months ago and for nostalgic reasons wanted to post the last chapter. I look forward to hearing what people think about this chapter and I want to stop and thank everyone who has been kind enough to participate in these discussions. Your views and ideas were welcome and valued and I look forward to the reboot when the time comes. With a kind and happy heart, Aaron

Hello folks, I want to start by saying that I have very little knowledge of Tai Chi, Qigong, Neigong and Yoga practices. I haven't studied them much and I only read one book on the subject about 15 years ago, but I still have an energy practice, although I wasn't aware of it til I talked with a friend who does practice these arts. What I'm going to do is describe my practice and see if this is what you're talking about or if it's not, just to get a better idea of these practices. My own energy practice is revolved around sensing and moving the energy within my body through breathing, the one I do most often is simply breathing in "good" energy and exhaling "bad" energy. I try to sense where it is in my body and move it out. I can do this quite easily in most cases and I've found that through visualizing the process and concentrating I can minimize or eliminate pain and also help to speed up the healing process within my own body, or at least I think I can, I've never really done anything like cut myself and try to consciously heal myself, then cut myself and let it go, that seems kind of psycho. I can also sense energy from the earth, which is oftentimes felt as a vibration in my feet when I am standing. I am actually quite acutely aware of vibrations, when I went on a cruise the constant vibration of the ships engine was really hard to push out of my mind. I could also sense the movement of the boat, in fact it gave me vertigo at times. I didn't notice anyone else experiencing this problems so I thought it might have had to do with my meditation practices. I've never thought about transferring or taking energy from other people, that always seemed kind of off to me, but when I hear you explain it in other threads I can see the benefits of it, so long as you're doing it for the right reasons. When I've dealt with spiritual forces I find that I can erect energy around me to prevent them from bothering me. I don't say anything like "begone in the name of God/Shiva/etc." rather I just erect this barrier and still my mind and they leave. I remember when I was in my twenties I was struck repeatedly by something on my legs while I was in my bed, that was the first time I thought of this energy barrier thing... I visualized and focused on it and whatever it was that struck me stopped. Anyways, if anyone can give me insight into their own practices or if they're similar to what I've been doing, I'd love to hear it. I know my practice is probably likening kindergarten to college, but still I would like to start working more on it and cultivating it a bit more (I hate that word by the way, it reminds me of gardening and gardening myself seems quite strange). Any insight will be appreciated. Aaron

Hello Imonous, I apologize I misunderstood. Your description clarified things greatly. I've never felt anything "orgasmic" aside from the practices I've mentioned, so your description of that experience is quite interesting. Did you grab that from Tantric or Taoism sex practices, or is it something you've developed on your own? Aaron

Hello Imonous, I haven't ever tried to do energy practice in groups. I must say I don't think the sneezing thing was funny at all, in fact that kind of thing disturbs me greatly. One shouldn't use any form of practice, whether martial, energy, or philosophical lightly, and most certainly not to cause one to suffer. I'm sure that wasn't your intent, it just seems a bit irresponsible to me. I thank you for your description of your practice though. I used to do some sexual practice, orgasm denial, etc. in order to try and maintain the "euphoric" state longer, but gave that up years ago. At one time I could "perform" for over an hour before the finale. I have a very active libido, so I could actually achieve a finale multiple times, in most cases without a break. I found that this kind of practice can become addictive and is definitely hedonistic, so I gave it up. The girls dug it though. Aaron

Hello Mokona, I'm not sure what you mean by "distantly". In the past during meditation I have had experiences where I seemed to be someplace else. One I still remember concretely, because it was so vivid, to the point I could hear and smell what was going on, I appeared to be standing in a display looking out at a mother, father, and son as they were shopping. There were people behind them, but my focus seemed to be on them for some reason. It was strange and scary and really quite disturbing. I've had others as well, but none quite like that. I also used to do experiments with my brother where I'd go in a room, have a book or object in front of me and visualize it and then have him write down what I was sending him. We were actually successful more times than not. I've never actually tried to send energy to someone over a distance though, if that's what you mean. Aaron

LOL... I've never heard of Shim Gong before so I thought this was a joke, but I did a quick search and found out it was a real energy practice. Can you tell me more about it? How does it differ or how is it similar to other practices? Thanks, Aaron

Hello folks, It's late and I've had a long day, so I'm going to try to make this brief. In another thread we were talking about Tao and it sort of got a bit here and there, and that was great, really it was, but I realized that what I was talking about really had no place in that thread, rather it was my own idea and view of something that I felt could be Tao... the emphasis there is on could be. What I will share with you now isn't about the Tao, but rather consciousness. When we are born we are already conscious, in fact there is evidence that we are conscious from the very first few days that we are in the womb. By conscious I mean we are aware, that we understand that there is a world around us and that we are a part of that world. This is amazing when you think about it, because for many of us we believe that consciousness begins when we are born, it's hard to realize that even before we can remember it, we are already thinking and aware of the world. I sometimes wonder how different consciousness was for us then compared to how we think about it now. After years of being taught about who we are and what we are, has our perspective of the universe been altered somehow, have we lost some cosmic knowledge that we were born with? Many religions, Taoism included, believe that the only perfect being on the face of the Earth, or perhaps the most perfect are infants. When you examine an newborn infant, what you find is a person that is very much unlike an adult, not simply in their understanding of the world, but also in their priorities. Infants focus on hunger, warmth, and comfort. As long as they have these things in their life they are at peace. I think for an infant it is very hard to tell where they begin and the world ends. It's only as they grow older and begin to view the world and are taught how to view the world, not only in learning to speak, but also where their place is within the world that this changes, that they begin to view things infinitely different. I sometimes wonder when I first began to think of myself as not simply an I, but as a being that existed within a body, a consciousness connected to a physical form. When did I truly believe that my thoughts were separate from my thumb, my nose, and my belly button? When did I stop seeing myself as a whole being and started to view myself as fragments of being. I think if I could go back and recognize that moment, I'd realize when I began to become separate from the world, when I stopped being the world and started being me. I spent twenty years struggling to get back to that point without even realizing it. In my early years I looked into the colorful and exciting schools of thought, magic, shamanism, and even Christianity, but after suffering a great deal and having a deeply spiritual experience my pursuits changed. Shortly after my spiritual experience I began studying Taoism. It was the year my father died to be exact, 1991. I was barely old enough to drink and a friend of mine pointed me in the direction Taoism. I didn't know what to expect, but I read the Tao Teh Ching and it made a lot of sense to me. After reading the Tao Teh Ching I started to study more about Taoism. I learned about the religious aspect, the martial aspect, Qi, Tai Chi and such, but it never stuck with me, because I was a deeply introspective person, examining the outside didn't seem as important to me as examining the inside. Meditation was wonderful. I spent hours meditating each day, if only because it allowed my troubled mind moments of peace from all the insanity. I meditated nearly every day for decades expecting at some point that my meditation and study of the Tao Teh Ching would suddenly allow me some realization of what the world was really about... but it never happened. I mention this only because it plays a large part in my current understanding of consciousness, because even though I never became enlightened from reading the Tao Teh Ching, what I did become aware of was that there was a mystery and that if I was diligent and practiced, I would become aware of that mystery. As I said I struggled for nearly two decades, never feeling very spiritual or enlightened, but wanting so much to be and when it never came, in a fit of disgust I gave up on enlightenment, decided that it was a hoax, that there really wasn't anything more to this universe than what I could see. I gave up on Taoism for the most part. I started to study other philosophies, hoping that maybe I could learn something from them that I missed in Taoism. I started to study Zen. I hated Zen and Buddhism at first, if only because they seemed so focused on the negative, at least in my mind. Everything is suffering... how silly that sounded then. I still don't buy it mind you, but after some time learning more about samsara, I can understand it. After several months of Zen I stumbled across Alan Watts "The Book" and it was there that a gradual spark of understanding took place. I understood on an intimate level what I really was, that I wasn't simply a being within a body, but I was the body and the universe and everything that existed. At first this was just an intellectual understanding, but then it happened. I was sitting in my bedroom on my worn out mattress, trying to find a comfortable place to begin reading a book when suddenly it all made sense. It was literally like a bolt of lightning hit me, a sensation moved through my body, like electricity, every bit of me felt tingly and I just knew. Trying to explain it is very difficult and perhaps it's hubris that leads me to explain it, this idea that it can be explained, even though every time I try to, it seems to never succeed. Recently however I was fortunate enough to watch a documentary called "The Quantum Activist" and it was that documentary that made sense of what up until then I could only describe as a deeply spiritual experience and awareness. See part of my problem was my inherent disbelief in God or any sort of higher power that worked within the framework of this Universe. Someone asked the question, "what created the Gods?" I, however, in my state of "enlightenment" was baffled, because I knew, without a doubt that there was no God, at least not how others conceived of it. How could I reach enlightenment if I did not believe in Samsara, or Krishna, or any type of higher power, where did my enlightenment come from and if it didn't come from "God" then where did it come from. What I learned from "The Quantum Activist" changed my perspective and made sense of all the things that up until then had baffled me. I realized that what connected everything together, what created and managed the universe wasn't an embodiment of intelligence and force of will. It wasn't some human looking being that sat on a golden throne deciding what was good and what was bad, rather it was a force that permeated the entire universe, a force that was every bit as real as my own thoughts are. That force was consciousness. My sudden awareness did not stem from understanding that I was God asleep, but rather that I was conscious and that the universe I lived in was conscious. That my consciousness, even though it seemed only to exist within myself, was connected to this collected consciousness, this universal consciousness. The reason I felt this affinity for all things, whether it be a cockroach or my neighbor, or even you, didn't arise because I suddenly became aware of the true existence of God, or because I suddenly destroyed my ego, but rather because I realized that my ego was merely the construct that hid this consciousness from me. I understood that at every waking moment this consciousness that permeates all things, permeates me as well. That I am in fact you and you are me, simply because we are born of the same thing, the physical shapes we see are just illusions that fool us into believing that we are separate, when in reality, even the space between us is filled with consciousness. There is nothing that separates me from you. There is nothing that separates me from anything else in this universe, no matter how distant it might be from me. A friend of mine recently made the statement, "I am a rock!" That's funny, but it's very much true. I am more than simply Aaron. I am a rock. I am the water passing through the sea. I am everything that exists, yet I am also me. This is the part that people seem to get confused about, at least when it comes to Buddhism and Taoism, that in realizing that you are not simply yourself, that somehow you cease to be yourself, but that's not how it is at all. I am conscious of this Universal Consciousness, I can feel it and sense it, yet I am very much myself as well. The point is that even though I am the physical being known as Aaron, I am also the entirety of existence. I am the alpha and the omega, and in being the alpha and omega it would be very easy to fall into the illusion that I am God, but I don't believe that to be true, anymore than I believe an apple tastes like an orange, rather I understand that I am distinguishing between the apple and the orange. I am consciousness. I am aware and in being aware I have come to know the universe and know that because I am conscious, because I am aware of my state of consciousness, I am of the utmost benefit to this universe. I mention this because someone asked me, how are we necessary for the existence of the universe? The answer is that if I did not exist, or you did not exist, the universe would not exist. Everything that exists now is a necessary part of the existence in this universe, because there is a reason for us all to be here. Do I know that reason, well you wouldn't like the answer I have to give, at least I don't think you would. The reason isn't that we each have this higher purpose to do good or help our fellow man, rather the reason is that the collective conscious has created us, nothing more. We are all born from this collected conscious. Why? I think it's merely to be a part of the physical universe, to have a vessel for the expression of consciousness. Is this conscious intelligent? Well it depends on how you view intelligence. Is a baby intelligent? Can an infant explain to you why they are hungry? Does their inability to explain this suddenly make them unintelligent? The problem stems from our attempt to define consciousness from our own individual experience, which has been distinctly separated from consciousness. So long as we try to apply human terms to this consciousness, then we're missing it, because it is not human, even though it created humanity. Consciousness has no physical form, yet everything physical comes from it. Consciousness can not be felt or touched, yet without it we could not feel or touch anything. Consciousness is the totality of everything. When I say I am you and you are me, I do not mean that I am physically you and you are physically me, but rather that we are all one thing without even knowing it. When you understand this on a deep level your perception of the world changes. My connection to you is very intimate, because we are more than just brothers and sisters, we are each the totality of existence. If I help you, then I am helping me. If I love you then I am loving me. If I cannot love you, then I can never love myself. It's that simple. Compassion arises from this awareness because you understand that you are not simply being compassionate out of selflessness or true love, but rather because there is no logical reason not to be. Anyways, I have to work tomorrow and it's gotten late, so I'll stop there. I think I've said enough already. As I said, trying to explain this is very difficult. Amit Goswami does a much better job than I do, so if you're really interested, go watch "The Quantum Activist". You can stream it through netflix if you are so inclined. If you have any questions or wish to share your own perspective, then feel free, but I would ask that you treat each other and me with respect. I hope that everyone is doing well. Aaron

I'm not sure if we've failed. Remember that the other thing we need to remember is that most of this is tied to one or the other. If all the world succeeded in keeping their mouth shut, that would be bad thing. What I think the editors of the Tao Teh Ching tried to do, was end on a high note and minimize division and arguments among their own members, more than anything else. With that said, it is still a good thing to remember. If you can't saying anything nice, don't say anything at all. Nobody likes a smarty pants. Think before you say something. I guess Lao Tzu wasn't the only one who thought of these things. Aaron

Hello Everything, I guess the first point I'd make is that what you're describing is your concept of something that you call the Tao. The nameless can't be named or described, at least not adequately. I think of it as the stillness that exists within everything. We aren't aware of it, but it is there and we can never be separate from it, as the tao teh ching says, it's the mother of all things and what we can do is understand manifestations of the mother on this earth. I'm not even sure if understanding the manifestations really helps you to understand the mother at all, rather that comes from directly experiencing what is nameless, the stillness that many people in numerous spiritual practices talk about. If you're seeking escape from the fractal, I have good news for you, experience the stillness and you will see the transient nature of the material, what you're experiencing in this world. Just as our cells are replaced in our bodies, everything in the universe will eventually die and be reborn as well. When you become aware of the stillness, this is the first step to transcending the material and returning to the stillness. I guess the key is to understand that you are everything, even as you are you. If you cease to be, everything exists, so there really is no end to "us", only what we consider the "I" or "Me" to be. Aaron

I wanted to add that my ideas regarding consciousness haven't changed much, but it is merely one layer of the whole. I kind of think of consciousness as one half of it and stillness the other half. Stillness isn't consciousness mind you, rather the part of us we like to think of as heart-mind, for lack of a better word. We are all born with heartmind, but we do not really achieve awareness of it til we can experience stillness. Stillness allows us to understand consciousness better, to see the patterns within it and the connections that come with it. When we see stillness, feel stillness, even smell and hear stillness, experience it with all of our senses, then our understanding and appreciation of consciousness, that part that allows us to appreciate the world in its physical manifestation, is even more acute. We can understand the necessity for compassion, but at the same time that it isn't required. We choose to be compassionate for a reason, it's the gift that allows us deeper insight into ourselves and the nature of who we were and who we were before we became who we are. It is this awareness of stillness that lead many to view consciousness as transient, but really it's only the physical manifestations of consciousness that are transient, consciousness itself will always exist, because it is inexorably linked to silence. Aaron

Hello Marblehead, If you want to think of them as generalized that's fine, it doesn't bother me either way. One thing to consider though is that this chapter isn't the easiest for the layman to understand or appreciate. It can often be misinterpreted as a suggestion, when in fact it's not. As you said, this may be generalizations, but it also pretty much says if you're argumentative, you're not a good man, if you think that truthfulness is more important than compassion, then you're wrong, and that wisdom isn't gained through knowledge, but rather how one applies themselves. I think there are many erudite people on this forum and most other forums, me included, that could use a good dose of wisdom. Aaron

Hello folks, It's not a great poem, I know that. I couldn't see that when I was younger, but now I look and see things like broken cadence and choppy meter, those things could be fixed. Back in those days I was a hardcore beat, so I refused to revise more than once or twice. Since then I've learned how stupid that was (Allen Ginsberg for example revised "The Howl" more than 100 times). I'm still a fan of poetry, but not like I was back then. Manitou, yeah that's what the reference was to, when you could look at a girl and not see anything but the color of her bathing suit. Anyways people grow and I know that I actually am a much better fiction writer than I am a poet, so I have no hard feelings about it, I'm just glad someone pointed it out to me when I was young. Anyways, have a good night, it's bedtime for this bonzo. Aaron

Let me start by saying that no one has to believe me in regards to my own personal experience and what I share here with you today, but I think that it is important to share because I think some people may be delving into things without understanding the full consequences of their action. First let me state that I mentioned elsewhere that I don't believe in ghosts, demons, etc. but to clarify I don't believe that these are creatures that are divine in manifestation, anyone who's stayed up late at night and felt something crawl across their skin knows on a deeper level that there is more to this universe than we simply see. When I was a child ghosts and spirits followed my family nearly everywhere we went. I chock it up to the chaos and debauchery that existed in my home. We fueled negative forces and gave them a place to find shelter. The first ghost I saw was of my aunt after her funeral. I was eight or nine and she appeared outside my window looking at me reaching a hand out like she wanted me to come with her. I was frightened by what I saw and screamed, my parents came and took me out to the kitchen and I told them what I saw. No one doubted that I saw her because I was able to tell them what she was wearing and it was what she was wearing when she died, something I had no knowledge of. Anyways, as I said ghosts followed us. When I was thirteen we lived in a house that was haunted. We bought it for a steal, it took us less than one night to figure out why. That first night we heard voices from the attic and something walking around. The next day we went up and found nothing. A month later my father was working in the basement with another man and a gas main broke, they tried to get out, but no matter how hard they pulled it wouldn't open, then all of a sudden it did. The man wouldn't come back to the house so my father had to fix it on his own. A couple months later my father was working on a table saw and something pushed his hand into the blade and cut off half the tips of this fingers on his left hand. We moved shortly after. My brother in law told me that after we left, he was looking up at the top floor and there was light shining out of the windows, but the electricity had been turned off. They were smart enough not to go inside. During my stay in the house I sensed something evil in that house, it wasn't a "the monster under my bed is going to get me" kind of feeling, but rather a feeling of immense darkness that emanated from that house. I hear they had an exorcism at some point and they haven't had problems since. I could sense things like that even when I was young, perhaps it was my screwed up childhood that opened that sense up. It became very uncomfortable, to the point that I searched for every resource I could to try and get rid of it. It's really screwy when you walk into a house and just get this feeling that somethings wrong. I never was able to walk in and say "this is the ghost of such and such" rather I just knew something was there, that's why I don't believe in ghosts in the classical sense, because they never seemed to be ghosts to me, but rather something else, almost like an emotional energy that lingers and feeds off those within. As a young man I practiced Kabbalism and other mystical arts in an attempt to understand what was going on, but they always seemed hollow and I never achieved much. What I found worked was force of mind, not will mind you, but mind. If I concentrate I can free myself of these negative influences, stop them from even effecting me. I learned how to do this through hypnosis mostly and a bit of esoteric wisdom from hippies I knew. Hippies by the way are font of knowledge that shouldn't be overlooked. Anyways one gave me the best advice I ever received, which was essentially that the best way to free yourself from these dark influences is to not give them a foothold to manifest. Don't practice mystical arts that have to do with manipulating them, don't try to contact them or control them (they can't be controlled mind you, if you think you're controlling them, they're just letting you believe that) the best you can ever hope to do with these energies is to stop them from effecting you and banishing them. I told someone earlier how to be rid of them and no one took me seriously, but if you actually talk to anyone that's had to deal with these things it's very sound advice. So long as you fill yourself with negative energy then you give these forces a foothold to survive. I've been told by others that I have immense "power", I'm not saying that egotistically because honestly I don't sense it, but I know that during my late teens and early twenties light bulbs used to go out whenever I got angry. Street lamps would go out when I walked under them, my friends thought it was very creepy. I haven't had that problem in over a decade, although it still happens now and again, simply because I don't participate in those types of activities anymore. Today if I go into a house and sense something, I simply ignore it and give it no notice and it leaves me alone. Again, for someone who hasn't experienced it, this sounds bizarre, but let me assure you it's not in my head. If someone says that they've felt something in their house I can more often than not go to the exact location where they felt it and point it out to them. So my advice is this, when I was practicing magic and trying to identify these beings I repeatedly found myself hounded by them, but when I stopped doing that stuff and maintained a practice devoted to spiritual awareness I haven't had a problem since. For me the key is that these things are just energy and they are searching for a specific type of energy, don't give them that energy and they leave, it's as simple as that. Anyways, it's my two cents. I do energy practices, but it is all during meditation. I can sense energy in the earth and around me, but the energy I'm talking about here isn't the normal energy (and I use that word simply because I can't think of another way to describe it) but rather an energy that is tied very much to consciousness, so perhaps you could call it a conscious energy. Perhaps when people talk about showing compassion and love as a way to be rid of these forces it's simply that when you express this type of energy there is no reason for the negative energy to remain, because you are depriving them of what they need. Okay, so that's my crazy rant. Feel free to disbelieve or contradict, it doesn't matter, it's my experience and how I've come to see things. I am open to others who have insight into these things expressing their own opinions. Aaron

Heh... I would consider this the anime guide to Tao Teh Ching... not an insult, just has that feel to it. I can almost see the characters playing their parts. Aaron

Hello folks, I don't think this is about generalizations so much, but making direct statements. The first six lines allude directly to how a man should behave, he should not argue, he should understand that just because something is true, doesn't mean that it needs to be said, and he should understand that knowledge is not what you know, but how you apply what you know. The last six lines are directed towards how a sage behaves, they do not accumulate things, in other words they have no personal wealth, they give everything to others, and the reason they do this is because "the way of heaven is to benefit and not cause any harm; The Way of Man is to act on behalf of others and not to compete with them." For me that's not generalization, but extremely specific instruction, but that's simply how I see it. Aaron

Heh... for nostalgia's sake, I pulled the first poem I ever published off the web. Here it is. You can decide for yourself. How Long Ago Earlier today, my brother sat in the living room watching porn, he asked me at one point to put some music on, And I wondered why, until I heard the notes drown out the moans, the groans, the grunts, from the TV, till everything was one monochromatic sound. I remember when I was young and slept in the far room back in the corner of the house. I would bundle up in blankets and listen to strange sounds drifting from my parents' room- I could not sleep till the creaking died down, till I was sure the world would not turn inside out. When I was older and sat in church, I recall a girl who would show up in her white Sunday dress. She was two years older and had already passed to the threshold of sin. I would sit in the pews, my eyes pulled from the pulpit, to dart at her legs, the small part showing beneath the slip. She would cock her head and look at me smiling, knowing what I was looking for, what I had not yet found That dark piece of youth that sinks down through the sky, quits tousling the hair, leaves kisses goodnight behind. My brother is through with his movie now, he sits looking at girls passing by to the pool. I watch and think how long ago it was when I could look and see nothing but the color of a bathing suit. -------- Hard to believe I wrote that almost fifteen years ago... time does fly. Aaron

I think this was a very good article. In AA they have sponsors that help new people. I wanted very much to be a sponsor when I first started the program, feeling that I had so much to offer. Now after years of sobriety I loath the idea. The difference between then and now is that I understand clearly that the majority of the people I sponsor will never make it and that the rare few that do can often times make it there without my help at all, in fact if anything they are helping me. I also refuse to answer questions, in fact I expect them to make the decisions themselves. If they ask me what they should do, the best I'll do is tell them what I have done in a similar situation and if I haven't experienced that situation, send them to someone I think has. The key to being a good teacher is understanding what you can and cannot teach, what you can and cannot do and ultimately what your student's capabilities are. The best professor I ever had in college told me that my poetry was crap and that I needed to concentrate on my fiction. You know what, he was right and probably saved me from a lifetime of frustration trying to be a poet. Aaron

Well to be completely honest, from what I've heard, Sifu Hata hasn't actually determined any of his students to be sifus. The fact that no student in the last 50 years has earned the rank of Sifu causes me to seriously doubt the validity of the school. Other than that, I'm staying out of this one. I say do what your heart tells you to do. If it's right, then do what's right, but don't let yourself be fooled into believing something is right, simply because you want it to. Make amends when you have done something wrong, but don't expect amends simply because you believe someone has done something wrong. No one is required to believe you or accept you, nor are you required to prove yourself to anyone but yourself, but in the same way, if you present yourself to be something, then you should be able to prove without a doubt that you are what you claim to be. As for me, I'm simply nothing, so it's very easy to live up to my standards. Aaron

With recent occurrences on the Tao Bums website and my inability to accept that the treatment of all party's involved was fair, I think the only course of action I can honestly take in response to this is to step down as moderator of the Tao Teh Ching subforum. I feel that continuing to be a moderator, even a subforum moderator when I have serious issues with the treatment of people on this forum, including what I see as bias, would be hypocritical. So as of this time, I request that you remove me from the position. Thank you, Aaron