Astral_Anima

The connection is astounding... http://www.yogabodynaturals.com/yoga-secrets-whole-foods-flexibility http://www.yogafinder.com/yogaarticles/stretching_exercises.htm http://www.livestrong.com/article/307952-flexibility-diets/ http://www.yoga-for-beginners-a-practical-guide.com/yoga-for-inflexible-people.html http://www.yogabodynaturals.com/raw-food-for-flexibility -Astral

I dream of a world where man cares for his fellow man, where everyone is a teacher and we all help each other learn and grow expecting no reward other than the good feeling one gets, where wisdom is widespread and shared freely. I dream of a day where we no longer kill men out of anger and no longer kill animals for our gluttonous palate. I dream of a day where money is abolished and those who have share with those who have not. I dream of a day when relationships are based around harmonious partnerships, based around love, when men and women are equals who compliment one another, when the complimentary difference of gender is celebrated. I dream of a day where the power of love overcomes the love of power...a day I no longer feel the need to seek power for the sake of protecting myself or anyone else from those who mean harm... What are your dreams? Anyone want to help mine come true? -Astral

I would agree mostly with what joeblast said. The only thing i'd add is that we're all part of a failing system, a sinking ship. You may feel like going off to a monastery or commune is running away, but in reality this society is likely going to collapse anyway so really you'd probably just be ahead of the grain. Try to let go of any media created fantasies and focus on feelings and not situations. Don't look for a girlfriend or relationship, look for the feeling of completeness or love. If you limit feeling only to certain circumstances which may not even deliver what you're ACTUALLY looking for then you are likely setting yourself up for failure. Personally I suggest everyone get into permaculture, sustainable agriculture and find a place down south where it's warm. Forget about your parents and their investments. This life is YOURS not theirs, they have no say in your life. It would be best if you let go of your attachment to their desires for you, stop trying to please them, stop seeking their approval and find your own way, live for your own happiness. Think of the Buddha. The Buddha had a wife, 2 kids, a whole kingdom....needless to say he had alot of people who invested in him, he had many things and he gave it all up for his own spiritual pursuit. How many people that you know would give up an entire kingdom, a wife and 2 kids to pursue a spiritual life? That's devotion if i've ever seen it. As for what to do...well only you can decide that. I would say start meditating, reading, and searching yourself for what you really want out of life. Write it down if you have to. Ask "why" to everything, break it all down and simplify it. Find out how you want to live and starting living that way or find a group who is already living that way and try to join up. You may have to "redefine" yourself and life, get rid of all the old programming you grew up with. For example alot of us feel we need to have a job and work in order to make money and have a place to live and buy food...thats ONE way of living. Another way is to live off the land. You could start learning about gardening and growing your own food and making shelters and such. You could create a small community of like minded people. Think about life and nature, forget about society for a bit and just think about life, think about what you want and try to think in terms of FEELING. But honestly if you don't know what you want it's going to be hard to get anywhere. Honestly I would just spend time thinking about what you want FIRST, then spend time learning how to make it your reality. Well thats my 2cents. It may also help to have a friend to talk it out with. I had a very good friend to talk shit out with when I was first starting to redefine/explore myself and it helped alot just to have someone to talk to. Sometimes even just talking to yourself, hearing your thoughts vocalized helps. It may also help to keep a "thought journal" to track the progress of your thoughts. It can be very insightful to look back and see how you were thinking and compare it to other times or now. Best of luck -Astral

HE'S JUST A MONKEYYYYYYYY!!!!!!

thoughts affecting food...hmmm, sounds nice, doesn't sound like truth. The beauty of objective reality is that it exists regardless about what we think about it. Now obviously thoughts can trigger emotions which trigger the release of chemicals in the body which may affect the processes of "digestion", like fear or anger can stimulate the stress response, but that only goes so far. If you really believe that your thoughts can protect you from poisons then give a starving person some food and slip some cyanide in it, we'll see if his gratitude of finally having some food somehow prevents his death . Obviously thats an extreme example but my point remains. Reality is what reality is, regardless of what we think of it. That is why it's so important to understand how the universe works, what it's laws are. Thats why Buddha said the root of all suffering is ignorance. "Forgive them Lord they know not what they do". Now thats not to say that through cultivation of concentration that we can't change things or perhaps through energetic training, spirit stuff or something else that we can't find a way to neutralize poisons or become godlike, however this is "high level" stuff, most people aren't there. So as nice and poetic as all this sounds the fact is that everything we ingest effects us. Spirituality and science are the same thing, an attempt to figure out truth. Science is great because it tests and retests and uses controls to make ABSOLUTELY sure that something is indeed true before coming out and stating it as fact. It is limited because it usually depends on funding, technology and our level of evolution. Spirituality is great because it's something we can all do and we get to experience things that technology and modern science hasn't revealed yet. The problem is that it's not tested and retested, it's rarely questioned and rarely investigated and EXTRMELEY RARELY EXPLAINED/UNDERSTOOD. If we apply the same rigorous process of scientific verification on spiritual issues through spiritual methods I believe we would find truth and could destroy the false teachers who are all about profit or simply ignorant of their own ignorance. The problem with both spirituality and science is that they're both susceptible to corruption. Once upon a time when science was trusted nobody questioned it, now since corruption is being exposed we're questioning it. Now we turn to spirituality and we don't question it (for the most part). You think we'd learn QUESTION EVERYTHING!! If it's true it will prove itself and if a teacher hands you truth they wont get defensive if you question them or try to prove for yourself through testing whether they are right. They should encourage questions, they should encourage people applying discernment and try to figure out truth. If they care about you finding truth, then they will want you to question and test principles. If they don't care about you they will charge you money and teach you things that they don't fully understand, they will get defensive if you ask questions and they will feed your "reliance" on them, because truthfully THEY are reliant on YOU -Astral EDIT: Damn I got off topic again

took the words right from my mouth It's tough to jump right from being at one extreme to the other. Most people take the route of transition. This would call for going say 6-12 months veg, then 6-12 vegan then 6-12 50% raw, etc. When fasting...phew, the rate of healing is immense. Not only that but your vibration raises at an unstable rate (for most anyway). Food induces karma, you take of something else and you're going to have to owe. Meat, however, it much more costly than plants (barely cost anything) according to those who believe in karma. I'm not a transitioner, i'm an extremist and I've been going at raw food and fasting for a few years and i'll be the first to admit it's hard to do. You become sensitive to EVERYTHING, you begin to feel all the subtle pains, your blockages begin to clear, your energy increases. All of this can be VERY uncomfortable when the increase is too much at once. It's like when a woman gives birth, her vagina may be used to stretching to accommodate a man's penis or fingers, but when a fucking baby comes through there's it's like GOD DAY-UM, the discomfort is astounding, a whole new level. Now imagine all your energy pathways being used to only a small flow, then all of a sudden you surge it with energy...that's how i've experienced it anyway. And fruit especially, in terms of ATP. I remember when I first went fruitarian when i was 17, I literally went from taking the bus to work to jogging 5 miles a day to and back from work overnight; it was the only way I could deal with all the extra energy. Then I remember on the weekends I had to run around or go at a punching bag just to stay sane. I eventually quit because I couldn't handle it, I needed sum sedation (and of course the social stress attributed quite a bit). Awareness is tough to handle sometimes. Kinda like the Matrix, once you realize what it is you want out, then once you realize what out is, you want back in, but once you know what being "in" means you can never be satisfied remaining there. Lol, this is all how "I" feel anyway. As for opening the third eye, or activating the Pinneal gland, I'm pretty sure just avoid salt and floride like the plague (which may mean giving up water and using fruit/veggie juice or milk instead) and increase your alkalinity. Fasting always helps with energy (internally), you pay off a good bit of karma too. However...and what i'm about to say is probably wrong BUT, if i'm correct there's a secretion made by the pinneal gland which is a liquid that hydrates the body (how people meditate without food or water). Now if we continue to rely on water to hydrate the body then the pinneal gland may not ever have a need to activate fully. I believe that through CAREFUL dry fasting and third eye meditation you may be able to speed up it's activation. In my recent 36 hour dry fast, it was only 36 hours but I could feel the center of my brain buzzing. Of course I was running the Small Universe meditation as well so that probably aided the process but it was pretty neat . However I don't think that should be attempted unless one is already properly hydrated. I had been drinking nothing but raw milk for about a week in advance (at least 2 quarts a day) so my body was well hydrated. Eating cooked food dehydrates the body rapidly because water is necessary for digestion of solids. Raw living foods all contain a good bit of STRUCTURED fluids. Most water one only absorbs maybe 30% of it because it isn't structured, it doesn't properly hydrate the body (or so some sources say, but I've found it to be consistent with my experiences). Juices from fruits, veggies, sprouts and raw milk are all structured by nature. Salt is also bad because it drains water out of the body to dilute itself so it can be safely eliminated. I don't believe the body can really use it (except of course sodium from say celery or a plant source). For the avoidance of grain I believe this was referring to cooked or unsprouted grain. This would make sense and grains, beans and seeds that aren't sprouted contain substances that prevent digestion. This is a survival mechanism of the seed so it can sprout and come to life. These substances prevent it's breakdown and bind the minerals to the fibers. It leaves the animal undigested and usually sprouts in the feces. Cooking it may kill the lifeforce of the seed but some mechanisms still remain. It's only by sprouting the seed that it becomes truly usuable by the body. Plus when you sprout the seed it's vitamin content skyrockets, it's enzyme content skyrockets, minerals release and become usuable, the sun gives it energy to make chlorophyll (a potent blood cleanser). Fasting I believe increases body weight for underweight people because it cleans out the colon (or any parasites) thus making the nutrients in food more absorbable. Have you every looked into the "milk cure"? It's a healing modality using a temporary diet of only raw milk little bit at a time and lots of bed rest. That too apparently helps people gain weight and also apparently help with disease and skin conditions (sound like a liver cleanse to me). But yeah, if you've ever heard the story of the self proclaimed breatharian Jericho Sunfire (starts at 4:44) he says that he initially had alot of weight loss but as he progress in fruitarian and transitioned to just liquids he checked his weight and saw he gained 20lbs. Fun fun. As for carbs vs protein, one has only to read "The China Study" or look at people on the "atkins diet". It just don't work, lol. Now what IS interesting is the raw animal foods diet. People seem to be able to thrive off that however it's only when the percentage of their macro-nutrients are fats. Even people (whom i've heard talk one the raw animal food forums and other places) who eat soley animal foods say that any more than 20% protein gives them problems. So I don't think it's a matter of carbs vs protein I think it's a matter of carbs vs fat and keep the protein low . Personally I prefer fruit for physical performance but I still have trouble with the energy and awareness so I've been using raw milk. The fats tend to balance things out while in transition and slow the detox while still continuing it (just at a more steady pace). Just my personal thoughts, -Astral Oh also have you ever read theEssene Gospel of Peace?

And what makes you think a "Drive" to have sex is healthy? I'll tell you straight up, I've lost my "drive", but my "performance" didn't go down one bit (quite the opposite ). I'm going to throw you a theory I have on sex drive, just consider it. There's two kinds of "sex drive" there's the urge to ejaculate and the urge to have sex with a woman. 1.The urge to ejaculate: I believe this is an indication of inward toxicity. When there's waste in our body, whether it be urine or feces or phlegm, our body creates a physical "urge" to release it. We may cough, get the urge to urinate or defecate, etc. When we're sick we may get diarrhea and sneeze and spit) Now the makeup of male ejaculate varies but there are a couple of key ingredients that most all ejaculate shares. Those are proteins, zinc, genetic material, fructose, and hormones. Now if the body has a physical urge to release ejaculate then it must be in excess in the body. OR they're simply in an unusable form to the body thus it is considered "waste". Many of our foods nowadays contain INORGANIC minerals. These cannot be used by the body (but it'll still absorb around 10% which usually gets stored somewhere). Inorganic minerals are absorbed by plants through the soil and the plants turn them into organic minerals that are then usable by the body. They also turn carbon dioxide into oxygen and contain chlorophyll, nature's most potent detoxifier, let us thank the plant kingdom for providing so much for us despite our lack of appreciation, THANK YOU PLANTS! Anyway, same goes with proteins, there are some proteins (namely animal proteins after being cooked) that cannot be broken down an absorbed, they've become denatured and are toxic to the body. If you've ever read the China study it'll show you how animal proteins (it didn't differentiate between cooked and raw which has to be done, ie coagulation via heat) increase tumor growth and how plant proteins do not. Lastly genetic material and hormones. We all know that toxins damage our genetic material so it's not unlikely that we have such. With hormones, many of us have imbalances. Due to plasticides and estrogenic compounds in our food (not to mention general toxicity) we now have more estrogen in our system which is causing an imbalance. Normally the body will natural up the testosterone to balance it but if the raw materials are not there or if your body begins to make too much then there are excess hormones that have to be gotten rid of. Lastly fructose. Now when you say fructose immediately everyone think "fruit" however fruit has one of the LOWEST fructose concentrations of the foods we eat. The highest include but are not limited to... High fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, "sugar", sucralose (50% fructose, 50% glucose), crystalline fructose, etc. Look at the labels of the food and drink you put into your bodies. Look at all the inorganic minerals( like zinc), fructose, cooked animal proteins, etc. It is my belief that the body uses ejaculate as the main "solvent" to eliminate these toxic substances and thats why we find what we do in ejaculate. 2. The urge to have sex with a woman. Now this could simply be an expression of love and/or playfulness, it could be for egoic reasons (like pride or power), there's many reasons people have sex. However here's one you probably haven't heard and may make some sense. If it doesn't then please disregard it. I would pose that the mental urge for sex, free of social conditioning of course (which is a whole nother issue), is caused by the "urge" to procreate. Now why would we have the urge to procreate? Well obviously it's to continue on our species right? But why does it only appear around certain ages? And why is it present in some but not all? I pose that the urge to procreate is only active when the body perceives it's own destruction as imminent or a potential threat. I believe that if the body feels it's in danger of dying or ceasing to function then sex drive will increase. Due to our diet and general toxicity (not to mention the damage being done to our reproductive system), it's no wonder people are having these huge urges for sex. Calorie restriction increases lifespan by quite a bit and it also lowers sex drive. Raw food diets have cured degenerative diseases and they lower sex drive, fasting is known as nature's great "equalizer" against disease and it reduces sex drive. What INCREASES sex dive? well cooked animal proteins, high sugar foods (especially fructose), chocolate, zinc (of course in inorganic pill form), etc...hmm the same things that the body would want to eliminate through ejaculate. I also think that if one's life or reproductive system are at risk then the "unconscious" sex drive will increase as well so as to procreate before it too late. That's my theory. I think the desire for sex as a loving or playful act is healthy. I think having physical drives due to toxicity or unconscious drives due to a risk to health is unhealthy. It is said by raw foods pioneer and Essene Monk Viktorus Kulvinskas that eventually when your body detoxifies and restores balance then ejaculation becomes unnecessary and multiple orgasms become a natural and regular occurrence. I have yet to back this up with experience however i am exploring this claim and perhaps it would be motivation for others to try exploring it as well. -Astral

I didn't direct that at you , my bad, it was after reading quite a few pages back, I just hit "reply".

Obvious Troll just became obvious. I fail

interesting, I wonder about this. Can enzymes be "stored"? I know if digestive enzymes are low then the body will take metabolic enzymes and use them...I wonder if there's excess digestive enzymes if they can be stored or turned into metabolic enzymes. I'm still not 100% on this but you bring up a good point. I'll have to think and study on that. Thanks -Astral

Hey guys, THx for all the responses. I agree with Non about starting with greens and remineralization. From the science I've heard about Inedia it has to do with the body recycling the minerals, but first it has to have enough to help with the healing process (which takes more than what it would take just to function), while the alkaline condition apparently increase our bio-electric field which also help activate our pinneal gland which is apparently what is involved with some secretion of fluid that supposedly keeps one hydrated. Also the chlorophyll seems to cleanse the blood/liver much faster. However I also want to experiment with the ideas of Arnold Ehret who was a BIG propinent of fasting. In fact I posted his 2 best works in an off topic thread along with some other stuff. Fruit is definately "lighter" and thus makes you more sensitive to shit, it also seems to help clear out debrees faster and obviously it gives enormous amounts of energy without costing very much energy to get that energy. I found it funny everyone talks about calories as energy but they never talk about how much energy it takes to ingest, digest, assimilate and eliminate everything. But yeah, but most fruits available today have been hyrbidized (right word?) to have more sugar which may end up causing a problem, and most are demineralized. I'm just on milk and sum fruits, but i'm going to be incorporating sprouts sprouted with sea salt (great way to turn inorganic minerals into organic minerals =) ) and mad enzymes, lol, doing that with small universe, then I hear level 3 of SFQ is opening the 3rd eyes so that'll help a bunch. I also heard that fruit diets and fasting help concentrate the mind, u guys think thats true? -Astral

hahaha, 30 HOUR, jeez i haven't evolved THAT far yet (big emphasis on the YET ) I'm just "testing the waters" as of now. Maybe another few months

What CAN she do, i wonder...

First of all...did I really see the whisper song posted here...(facepalm) what has become of this forum To the angry chinaman - While I believe you are justified in your anger and it is rather insulting to have something held in such high regard disgraced in whatever means... why waste all of the emotional energy on it? Wouldn't it be more wise to direct that energy towards practice? Unless you have the ability to change it, there's no point investing emotional energy in it. If you want to use this as motivation to gain the ability to change it then perhaps that would be a worthy use of your energy, however just getting upset about something isn't going to change it and if you can't change it then there's no point in worrying about it. Just my two cents. Humans aren't worth the energy -Astral

Here are some resources to stimulate some thought http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QgFds9Ngd8&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=307QRaTVrcU&feature=related http://www.scribd.com/doc/378210/The-Art-and-Science-of-Sun-Gazing-Living-on-Sunlight Arnold Ehret - RATIONAL FASTING.PDF ARNOLD EHRET - mucusless-diet-healing-system.pdf Excerpt from Svoboda - Aghora II.doc Life Style Without Food.pdf

But certainly expression isn't the only way to release these emotions... what other ways are there?

"Anything is possible" and "choiceless" don't exactly work together, lol. But interesting. I guess the next question is how are they "stored" and how does one prevent further storage?

Although this poses the question...would that be "emotional release"? if so would that imply that emotions can be repressed and stored within the body? What about the idea of happiness being a choice? What about the idea of emotions being passing? Don't we simply stop attaching to thoughts? Are emotions things that are stored up and released? Or are they something that we just end up attaching to and need to just stop attaching to? Could it be a combination of the two? -Astral

So I've heard. I look forward to experiencing it

I can vouche for the spasms and maniacal laughter. Add weird "dream"(were they just dreams?) experiences. I also had "spinal orgasms" fun fun. However stuff --especially the spasms-- stayed with me even after discontinuing the practice. It's not until recently switching to SFQ that my "symptoms" from Kunlun were relinquished. With Kunlun the effects I felt were the need to scream, squirm, cry, and generally thrash about. Unfortunately I didn't feel like scaring the shit out of people and don't know anywhere that I can go and do all that and not be bothered so...eh, just wasn't right. I may actually return to though, later. For now i'ma run the small universe for a bit -Astral

From a medical website: ROFL

In regards to time limit in which it's attained: Kan did it in about 7 years (though it seems he can't do it at will yet), and Max says it's achievable in this lifetime regardless of one's history or anything. Hira Ratan Manek, a sungazer, had scientists analize his brain showing that his pineal gland was about 6xs(? maybe more) larger than the average man's. There were also scientific examinations of him taking no food, only some water, for somewhere around 400 days, another at i think 211 days done in PA. Wang Liping was also reported to have walked though a wall by one of his students. fun fun. I wouldn't understand why anyone wouldn't want to write about their experience. We even have online journals here for practitioners to do just that. There are books of accounts certain apprentices had with their masters. The whole thing seems kinda silly. Chunyi Lin at least is willing to publically heal people and work with scientists to help them understand how it works. He's in cooperation with the Mayo Clinic from what I understand. AT least he can demonstrate the ability that his system was meant to develop...HEALING. And John Chang can demonstrate what level (3, 4 or 5 depending on which definition you use) Mo Pai says you achieve which is the ability to produce an electric "charge" from your body. Sifu Hata can apparently demonstrate a similar ability which his system is meant to develop. So why doesn't Max demonstrate some ability? Then again I've never met the guy and I don't have to cash to go out and do so. If I did then I would have, but alas, the best I can do is to use logic, that forbidden tools we're all born with that hinders the spiritual path. -Astral

Lol, prolly cause most are just rehashing poetic philosophical quotations to awe the crowd and make a buck. The practicality of true teachings are it's indicator that it IS a true teaching. While it's great to take responsibility to your actions, to say that the conflict in Tibet is little 2 year old Timmy's fault...well...(giggles) GTFO hahahahahaha. While it's true that the collective words, thoughts and deeds help to SHAPE this world, to take personal responsibility for EVERYTHING thats going on...thats just silly. That shooting star was caused by Susie-Q's dream of flying ...(giggles again). Ahhhh where would I be without this forum. I LOVE YOU ALL!!! -Astral

This was a description of a "shenren (神人 "divine person")". not eating the 5 grains and sucking the wind and drinking the dew could be referring to breatharianism and the "elixir of immortality" the excretion from the pineal gland? Skin like ice or snow could be referring to the "Earth Immortal's" condition. Maybe melanin is eventually lost? or maybe an entirely new body is forged? Anyone know what the other things might mean? Climbing on clouds and mist, riding dragons, etc? -Astral EDIT: http://books.google.com/books?id=giThXv6OvSAC&pg=PA91&lpg=PA91&dq=5+grains+tao&source=bl&ots=QWC1XrBzOx&sig=eOfsxQ9tGi-QW-ZuI5S9mRP-3QM&hl=en&ei=dHFlTdy4BYSq8AbFvPS8Bg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=9&sqi=2&ved=0CE8Q6AEwCA#v=onepage&q=5%20grains%20tao&f=false

I don't think they mean have no enjoyment or be emotionless. I'd be curious to cross reference texts that mention happiness from those times to see what they meant, there could be a mistranslation. For example Dukka from Buddhism has been mistakenly translated as "suffering" in alot of english translations whereas it can mean a few different things and when you cross reference and check other words of the buddha for context the most sensible interpretation would be "impermanent". SO it's possible joy and happiness back in that day had to do with "over-excitement", perhaps via intoxicants like wine, certain herbs, sex, etc. Perhaps it had more to do with not overstimulating the nervous system, maybe "excitement" would be a more proper translation for one of those, idk. just some ideas -Astral