Rocky Lionmouth

Thanks for the answer! I should have known, i've been staring at last Winters footprints daily (scandinavian plains). Curiosity sated this lion is now purring contentedly. Nice of you to drop the 2016 list also, i'll be on the lookout for signs.

What? 70-80 thousand years of non-nonstop winters? Please, will you explain?

One day some obsolete-tech archeologists will find this thread and sexclaim out loud: "Can somebody sexplain what humpened? These references to freedom of sexpression will nut stand up to scrotuminy. Cumfound it! Truly, when the essence is lost, not even sexperts can find the pearl of wisdom within it's oyster." Dishearted, they will go to lunch (two concentrated pills of nutrients washed down with stale coffee) and feel frustrated all day long. Hopefully they move on in their research. I think it's good you pitted it if the OP felt that bad about it, i apparently missed the whole thing but i'm kinda relishing the afterglow...

Prime realestate right there on the beach, sustainable materials and easy remodeling!

Choice is important part of the equation though, right? Gaining the insight of choice and observation, piercing the veil of misconception etc. Agreed that control is nigh on an illusion and our chances to exert it are intermittent, so tied to specifics and timing that a lot of the time it's not control but choosing the least "expensive"way to roll with the punches. But there is choice, there in the inner. Choosing to take advantage of the gap between stimuli and reaction, reaction and action. Difficult to implement in the daily, difficult to hang onto in times of pressure, but it is a way to take the reins and move towards healing, integrating and being less self-serious / easily led by the nose. Or am i wandering off in the wrong direction? I cant honestly tell what enlightenment is, outside reports are often intricate courses on how to build a beautiful pedestal and those that claim to be enlightened are seldom very concerned on being understood, except for when they are and then you get a feeling that there is ulterior motive or info. Not necessarily bad ones, but something is shaded, wether intentional or not. Sometimes i feel enlightened, sometimes i know i'm not. It's silly. It feels like enlightenment could be the fact that one metaphorically got on the bus going towards something. Utterly unspecial yet important to ones voyage towards whatever it is one is doing. *phone ringing* Caller: "I got enlightened!" Responder: "So you're on the bus going there now?" C: "Yup." R: "Ok, good! See you later!"

I've not noticed the dissolution of anxiety with qigong practice, but i have let my daily practice wander and stop at multiple occasions over a spell of a few months. This coincided with a lot of anxiety and i never started feeling constructively better until i get on my qigong wagon again. I have it on good authority that certain types of nei gung like softly developed iron body actually can have a very noticeable effect by energizing the body, clearing the mind and calming anxiousness, at least in its beginning stages.

Yay you! Right on, it's always a good thing to reconnect and rediscover those goodies! I can relate , all summer's been spent with significant parts of my head up my behind and two weeks ago i finally got back into doing a rotation of my basics and then some. Now im studying twice a day, feel pretty darn good too! Sorry for hijackimg, just gearing up yo say YAY US

(Edited for clarification, spelling and flow) Cultivating emptyness will probably help against doubt and fear of judgement, wich seems to have been one of Kasans hindrances, or maybe it's a projection of mine. Kasan never found sameness of bearing, i think he went away, lost everything and then he came back to teach. In my current understanding Zen and Daoist practice agrees that everything is ever changing and in dynamic relationship with other things, law of impermanence and all that. There is no being the same or behaving the same ever for anyone, worrying about it could be an indication of ones clinging to a distorted perspective and thereby not seeing and honoring the Dao and the nature of things. I know i've read (but where?) that one should carry oneself alone as if in the company of guests and vice versa, but i think this points to the position that no matter if we have company in the moment we're always in a relationship to the rest of the world, and it is good energy economics to be honest with ones nature and respect the nature of the 10 000 things. Nobles are noble in relation to commoners, middle class is rich in relation to the humblest of workers, skilled practicioners have cultivated applying a method more than those who have used their time for other things. As i've understood thus far Zen and Daoist cultivation are similar in their search for oneness of being. Sitting in forgetfulness is a classic Daoist technique that i keep thinking is very similar to zazen, although my experience with both is limited. Allowing ones intent, spirit and body to unify is an important step of the way in Daoist cultivation, letting go of misconceptions and understanding reality supposedly comes from practising Sitting in forgetfulness, among other things. What do you think?

I'll throw a suggestion for Tai Chi in. Free reference material is abundant, you get good movements and balance challenge. Should you like it you can step it up by asking a practicioner help you correct your form a little or even join a club if circumstances permit. Sounds like you have the meditative part down already, Tai Chi gets you moving and the classic forms (short ones too) contain a healthy dose of qi gong movements. Their deeper meaning and codifications will require a teacher, but just learning the basic pattern of a form is easily done if you keep your wits about you, relax and stick with the reference material. Happy hunting!

145 years old and so tired of it, poor guy!

I wonder how many duds the aliens have found doing the same thing?

Don't despair, it might all appear a little technical/trivial/crazy/disgusting/fun/obsessive but there's quite a few gems on here.It's a living community and if you leave ample time for digestion there is some potent nourishment here! My recipe is to leave the textual studies and academia for the days i'm feeling really brave The DDJ section is a good one though, Chuang Tsu also!

I can relate. What did you expect? (curiosity and not sarcasm, just to be clear )

While a large part of me screams YES! another part says: No such thing as over-complicating. It's like when your shoes are sopping wet and you dont care and step right through a puddle of water thinking "they're soaked already, doesnt get any wetter than this" and immediately after realize that assumption was wrong. Stuff is complicated, balance is always a little bit off, thank our lucky stars!

Taoist Master Chuang by Michael Saso, about a taoist priest, his sons and the western guy who went there to do academic studies on the taoist canon. Also +1 on starting with an internal martial art. +100 on steering clear from true secrets revealed. Also: avoid charlatans, narcissists and sociopaths. You'll recognize them by their unwillingness to teach interested and passionate students in favor of ranting and preaching and changing the subject frequently.

My experience and research supports Spotless statement, definitions often change as practice progresses and it's easy to mistake moons and fingers if one places too much faith in generalizations, as they describe non of the specifics (obviously) which are crucial to the practices. Easier still to feel delusion or disillusion when a practice reveals itself as it truly is. The same concept or terminology might signify very differing practices and applications between two lineages or even teachers within the same lineage, depending on how it originated and in what way the transmission takes place, even if the long term destination is the same one. A lot depends on the relationship between teacher and student. "When you have grasped the meaning of the symbol, forget the words" and all that jazz

This is a core method of scrying right? Temple of Astarte style of Goetia / Cerimonial magic (i can't classify that stuff very well sorry) used it with a black mirror for evocation and conversation with demons of the Lemegeton. The Wizard ("Poke" Rudder or something, i cant remember it right)) had a very elaborate ritual and tools he'd made gimself, and he'd put his medium in front of the black mirror holding two candles, politely asking the demon to appear. I think the buildup to the actual apparition and conversation was pretty long, involved blessing and walking the pentagram circle with drumming and chanting and scents of incense and lots of other suggestive and trance inducing techniques for quite some time. Sounds like "use with care - recipe for psychosis" material. I'd like to remember also that the invocation of angels and similar celestial forces was done with a large crystal ball surrounded by candles and copious amounts of incense. Can't remember if that was part of the Lesser Key also. The documentary is probably available online, cant remember the title, i'm pretty sure he nicknamed himself "Poke" though. The filming and editing is pretty bad and he's very pleased with himself all the way but worth watching if you're interested in this kind of stuff.

This is very nutritious, thank you!

"Tomorrow has been canceled due to lack of interest." - sign by unknown announcing the cancellation of the next scheduled performance at a local concert hall.

In answer to the OP: I am. Deeply tired of all the crap. The confusion, the misinformstion and the ceaseless bickering and friction that is daily life. Not to say i dont enjoy parts of it because i do, but silver linings are just, well, linings and the stuff that energizes me is so specialized and time consuming that there is seldom room for it. Claiming a slice of silent rest and recharge is usually more expensive energywise than the actual recharge so it's basically just changing the bandaid on a broken finger, and i dont even have kids, wich is something that actually gives me happiness, being childless. I thank Heaven for not being worse off in the end but it's nice to see eleven pages of tired, st least im not alone in the madness.

Me either. Perks do not outweigh drawbacks but i seem to provide okay entertainment for others. Oh well...

When you're old enough you can buy liquor. When you're old enough all thieves around you will beheave so erratically and be out for anything you have so hiding butter between books and stuffing your wallet with newspaper and your underpants full of money is going to seem like the only viable solution. When you're old enough, last years pop top 5 will sound no different from the top 5 of 20 years ago, screw these retro fetishists. When you're old enough it'll never be about stuff being better before, it'll be about how crappy stuff is now. When you're old enough you can avoid/make fun of/be excruciatingly mean to/boss around annoying people by faking dementia.

Agreed. All masters i've met said the same thing about loosing visual contact: respect is fine, willful stupidity is your own problem.

I prostrated for a police officer who had mistaken me for his target, but that was upon request and threat of deadly force. Seen a couple of priests take their vows face down on the floor. Initiates putting their head to the ground in front of their Master when he accepts them into his family (could agree to do that, the respect is mutual there.)