JustARandomPanda

At the very least I'm guessing this disaster has put a coffin nail in the dreams of everybody who was rooting for more off-shore drilling.

Vajrahridaya, I have a question. I am wondering what exactly is it that realizing / experiencing / actualizing (take your pick) of Dependent Origination leads to liberation. I mean...why THAT? Why THAT and not something else? I guess I'm wondering where is it that seeing relative self/DO is THE tool / vision / experience or whatever that gets you to the goal. Could it not be just one of many rungs on the ladder? I guess I'm wondering if there's anything further beyond Thusness's Stage 5 or the Buddha's Enlightenment? I know everyone keeps harping how logic doesn't get you to see or experience the Truth (whatever that is) but right now it's all I have to go on. I'm not one of these wonderfully accomplished meditators so logic or step-by-step methods are what I have to rely on. Is there any way it can be explained logically? Or is it all really just - throw you hands up and admit this is not something people with little to no meditation success will ever "get"?

I so wish I could afford one of these copies of Glenn's book. I have 2. I'd like to eventually get everything he wrote.

Wow. I'd never seen it in that light but after having you point it out I feel like smacking my head and saying, "Duh!". It seems obvious once it's pointed out. I don't know why I never quite saw it in this light.

I wonder if there is a way to reconcile Gurdjieff teachings on the Self with Buddhist assertions of No-Self. I confess I myself am confused on the matter as to whom to believe.

I am 13 years older than my boyfriend and don't have any regrets over the age difference. Our energy together is great. Now...if I could just get him to the point where there could be dual cultivation it would be a dream come true.

Noticed a thread in the main forum that diverted to economics, Communism, capitalism, etc. Thought I'd share an article I found a while ago and post it here. The thread seemed interesting enough to warrant continuing discussion here. Unfortunately I can't remember the name of the guy who penned this article or I would've credited him. If anyone knows who the author is please post it. ******************** How the gold standard contributed to the Great Depression. There always seem to be voices raising the possibility that a return to a monetary gold standard could solve all our problems. Among those championing this meme this week were Chris Mayer at Daily Reckoning, Robert Blumen at Mises Economics Blog, and some of my fellow blogjammers. Under a pure gold standard, the government would stand ready to trade dollars for gold at a fixed rate. Under such a monetary rule, it seems the dollar is "as good as gold." Except that it really isn't-- the dollar is only as good as the government's credibility to stick with the standard. If a government can go on a gold standard, it can go off, and historically countries have done exactly that all the time. The fact that speculators know this means that any currency adhering to a gold standard (or, in more modern times, a fixed exchange rate) may be subject to a speculative attack. After suspending gold convertibility in World War I, many countries stayed off gold and experienced chaotic fiscal and monetary policies in the early 1920's. Many observers reasoned then, just as many observers reason today, that the only way to restore fiscal and monetary responsibility would be to go back on gold, and by the end of the 1920's, most countries had returned to the gold standard. I argued in a paper titled, "The Role of the International Gold Standard in Propagating the Great Depression," published in Contemporary Policy Issues in 1988, that counting on a gold standard to enforce monetary and fiscal discipline in an environment in which speculators had great doubts about governments' ability to adhere to that discipline was a recipe for disaster. International capital flows became more erratic, not less, as doubts were raised about whether first the pound would be devalued and then the dollar. Britain gave in to the speculative attacks and abandoned gold in 1931, whereas the U.S. toughed it out by deliberately raising interest rates in 1931 at a time when the economy was already near free fall. Because of this uncertainty, there was a big increase in demand for gold, the one safe asset in this setting, which meant the relative price of gold must rise. If everybody is trying to hoard more gold, you're going to have to pay more potatoes to get an ounce of gold. Since the U.S. insisted on holding the dollar price of gold fixed, this meant that the dollar price of potatoes had to fall. The longer a country stayed on the gold standard, the more overall deflation it experienced. Many of us are persuaded that this deflation greatly added to the economic difficulties of those countries that insisted on sticking with a fixed value of their currency in terms of gold. Ben Bernanke and Harold James, in a paper called "The Gold Standard, Deflation, and Financial Crisis in the Great Depression: An International Comparison" published in 1991 (NBER working paper version here), noted that 13 other countries besides the U.K. had decided to abandon their currencies' gold parity in 1931. Bernanke and James' data for the average growth rate of industrial production for these countries (plotted in the top panel above) was positive in every year from 1932 on. Countries that stayed on gold, by contrast, experienced an average output decline of 15% in 1932. The U.S. abandoned gold in 1933, after which its dramatic recovery immediately began. The same happened after Italy dropped the gold standard in 1934, and for Belgium when it went off in 1935. On the other hand, the three countries that stuck with gold through 1936 (France, Netherlands, and Poland) saw a 6% drop in industrial production in 1935, while the rest of the world was experiencing solid growth. A gold standard only works when everybody believes in the overall fiscal and monetary responsibility of the major world governments and the relative price of gold is fairly stable. And yet a lack of such faith was the precise reason the world returned to gold in the late 1920's and the reason many argue for a return to gold today. Saying you're on a gold standard does not suddenly make you credible. But it does set you up for some ferocious problems if people still doubt whether you've set your house in order. Nevertheless, I'm willing to grant Tim Iacono that the stuff is pretty.

I think this is an excellent idea.

Interesting someone else also thinks the gold standard has problems. I posted about this tonight in the Off-Topic forum. As for discussions on communism, marxism, the economy, capitalism, etc. I would recommend to anyone David Harvey's book The Limits to Capital. An absolutely mind-boggling stunning work. Read the reviews on Amazon. I bought the book, have begun to read it and can't begin to praise it highly enough.

I'm curious if this is possible and if so what benefits (or pitfalls) it may bring? Is it like mixing colors in paint - ex: red + blue = purple. So mixing earth plus fire gives rise to what effect if any? What happens to elements left unused? If they're not mixed in the Dantien is it possible to mix then elsewhere for beneficial effects? I ask because a while ago I had a strange dream. A person in it said when I've learned how to do these things (mix the elements to different effect) I'll have understood Kan and Li.

Does too much Fudosa sitting create problems for women as it does for men?

I am going to show my ignorance. What is the wisdom door exactly and why would one not want to go through a "suffering door" (whatever that may be) if it's part of the practice to become Arhant? What are these doors?

I love your TTC posts Marble. BTW - if I were to get a copy of TTC what translation would you recommend?

I started to read this thread but only got about 50% through. I don't know what's wrong with me these days but I'm questioning everything. I have begun to ask myself where and when I got my opinions or knowledge of anything and where/when it comes from. In other words - If I believe Taoism or Buddhism where did that come from and why give it any importance? I haven't been able to verify one iota of the supposed wisdom of either philosophy / way-of-life, etc. What's more the vast majority of people who are satisfied with it can't tell me what are the propensities and properties of their mind and life that pre-dispose them to accepting these religions / philosphies. What floors me is how everyone seems happy to have an opinion but has no real desire to know where they came from or why they believe their opinion. It's as though the only standard is "I had/have this opinion, therefore it is valid and good". The lack of desire to question, to dig down deep and rip-up their beliefs and opinions to see the roots or even if there are roots I find disheartening. Everyone in life is so confident and assured of their opinion. Everyone knows about themselves or even if they don't they're content not knowing and it doesn't disturb them that they don't know where their opinions, beliefs, volition comes from. Why do we believe these texts in the first place? Who taught us? Why do we believe what we believe now rather than an opinion we had 5 years ago that was different? I feel so alone. One reason why I am posting less at TaoBums these days. There is such a gap between arguments and the real deal. Between the idea and the reality, falls the shadow...

I have found that a good antidote to cult-like thinking is going simply by what actions are being made and to listen to but discount importance of words. It's being with the boots on the ground rather than back in an ivory tower.Always get back to the earth - what people do, not so much what they think.

Thanks for the help everyone. I'm all ears for other people's experiences with 5 Elements Fusion. Didn't realize that's what it was. I'm still unclear about the relationship between it, Elixir and Kan & Li. One other question. This person in my dreams and 'inner image view' who teaches me things.... I can not bring myself to look at his face! I've tried and tried to talk myself into doing it but just can't. I read something in Irina Tweedie's Daughter of Fire: A Diary of Spiritual Training with a Sufi Master book and her disciple relationship with her teacher. In that tradition not being able to look at the teacher's face signifies something important for one's quest for Truth, etc. Unfortunately it doesn't say exactly (at least not yet) what this means. One thing I did gather is that it does mean this person is a Teacher meant for you. One who will be able to specifically help you along the way. Has anyone heard of this or experienced something similar? **** Anyhoo...to get back to the original topic... I would like to hear of others experiences with mixing chi elements. Especially with earth which I need more of for grounding purposes.

Thanks to the OP for this thread! I'm going to try to find it at a library.

Witch I don't know if this will interest you or be of any help but I recently picked up this book - Eros on the Nile. At any rate - even if it doesn't answer your questions I hope it would be useful info.

Woot! A reason to read this book. I've owned it for a while. I'll join in.

Is Talega Dalam taught in KAP 1? Is this the same for KAP's Triangle Breathing?

I had this happen 2 months ago by accident. I was waiting in a fast food restaurant and suddenly felt sexual energy swirling around in my eyes. The sex energy projected outward on it's own. It went on for a few minutes then finally stopped. It freaked me out a bit. I've tried duplicating it - without success - I'm not even sure what that means in terms of benefit to myself, other people or plants or animals.

"The important thing is to be. If there is no Real I then the ego takes over. Energy can not be without relationship. If it does not serve I intentionally then it automatically serves the ego." - Madame De Salzmann (disciple of Gurdjieff)

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Are all these 365 Tao's your original essays Blasto?

Can anyone tell me what the most in-depth TCM book(s) is available these days? Also the most in-depth book on the i-ching and feng shui too.