Cat Pillar
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Everything posted by Cat Pillar
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Because Aaron requested it, and I choose to honor his request. Also, on topic, that Cee-Lo quote is a great take on love. Gnarls Barkley is some good stuff, I like the music. Nice to see such a deep understanding of love from a popular artist.
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Sorry Aaron, didn't see this post until after I made mine. I'll refrain from further dog-matics in this thread.
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Hmph. Wolves are more than mere scavengers! They're excellent hunters too, y'know. Not that they don't scavenge, I mean...hey, who passes up a free meal!? Just sayin'. We almost drove them to extinction here in the US too. Hunted them enough to get them on the endangered list for awhile, at least. I'm going to miss my friend's hybrid...87% timberwolf, 13% malamute. Was put down yesterday at the ripe old age of 15, cuz he couldn't walk anymore. Not that I'd recommend them as a pet...even the owner didn't recommend them as pets. They're not dogs and you can't treat them like dogs. Fortunately, Kuba was still an exceptional animal. He was laid back, definitely a beta or even an omega personality, but still could be stubborn as a mule. He was friendly with everyone, but especially with females. Because he wasn't an alpha personality, and the owner absolutely reeks alpha male, he was never really a problem. He understood and accepted his place in the pack structure. But he WAS an exception. I still wouldn't recommend them as pets. I'm sorry, I think this is waaay too extreme. For one, please don't lump wolves in with dogs. They're not dogs, they've been around a lot longer than we have, and they have every right to exist. Wolves are also an essential part of the Planetary Ecology - getting rid of them isn't doing the world any favors. They shouldn't be pets, either...they're wild animals, and belong in the wild. Also, malamutes and huskies are valued members of many societies as work dogs. I'm sure there are a lot of Alaskans and Inuits who would object to having one of their more reliable modes of transport taken away from them. Your viewpoint strikes me as very black and white on this. Was a vicious breed responsible for a great tragedy in your life?
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I wish I could contribute in some way to this discussion, but I'm no physicist. Never heard of Shrinkage Theory before, it was an interesting read. Thanks for sharing, Informer.
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Is is possible to get to the point were you can cultivate massive good merit doing certain practices?
Cat Pillar replied to AstralProjectee's topic in General Discussion
Hehehe, well-played! At least the balls aren't inert. -
I don't know if he was a complete fraud. Maybe it's just a case of the Universe turning bad into good, but I've interacted with a number of practitioners online who seem to have found a lot of value in his works. Maybe his symbolical framework was largely invented, but that doesn't prevent it from being effective. The symbol is just a representation or a pointer.
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Is is possible to get to the point were you can cultivate massive good merit doing certain practices?
Cat Pillar replied to AstralProjectee's topic in General Discussion
I don't think the concept of a bookkeeper is really necessary to consider the idea of karma. Essentially, my personal view is much like your own. "Merit" or "karma" is the result of a cause-and-affect - you reap what you sow. This is why I don't really consider the practices themselves to be generators of good merit. It's the effect the practices have on your behaviors and the way you interact with the world which produces the indirect changes in one's merit, at least as far as I see it. I definitely don't think there's some kind of points system. Hehe, that's an amusing thought though. "I'm only 10,000 merit points away from unlocking my second siddhi! I'd better get back to grinding!" -
Is is possible to get to the point were you can cultivate massive good merit doing certain practices?
Cat Pillar replied to AstralProjectee's topic in General Discussion
I don't know about generating good merit in a direct karmic sense, but I think there's certainly an indirect "bonus" to one's merit if they're dedicated to effective Taoist practices. By refining and developing yourself, it seems that one would naturally begin to behave in a manner that generates "good merit." In other words, I am skeptical about karmic "short-cuts." -
Is is possible to get to the point were you can cultivate massive good merit doing certain practices?
Cat Pillar replied to AstralProjectee's topic in General Discussion
I hear service to others is a pretty good practice for generating good merit. Y'know, charity work and stuff like that. -
I'm with you on that one, little.
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Once again, I have backed myself into a corner and made a situation more delicate than it ever needed to be. I'm torn between two worlds, and must make a decision that will cut off one aspect of my life or another. There are pros and cons for choosing both ways. But the "con" for both decisions is that someone will inevitably get hurt. I'm very empathic, so it's really hard for me to confront people, or to take actions that I know will cause someone pain, because I have a hard time dealing with the emotions of others. I try looking into my heart for wisdom, but it seems to be as confused as I am. There seems to be no right way forward, only wrong ways forward. Granted, that's because I'm viewing the situation through a lens of "I hate hurting people, how can I do this without hurting anyone." But I can't find an answer. I'm attached to my world the way it is, and it has to change soon and I'm going to lose something. What I lose is my decision (essentially, I am having to decide which of my two closest friends I get to hurt), but I'm having a very hard time making it. To be fair, it's my fault that I let the situation develop this way. My avoidance of conflict and my trying to make everyone happy led me to dig a pretty deep hole. At least I can be thankful that I'm psychologically capable of handling this situation now without spiraling into suicidal despair. Now it just makes me sad. Bother. I hope I'm wise enough to avoid making this happen in the future. And at least once my decision is made, the biggest internal conflict in my life will be over. I can only imagine the wonders that will do for my practice. How do YOU deal with situations where you know whatever choice you make someone's going to get hurt emotionally?
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This is pretty much what I'm going to do. It's the only sane course forward. ----------------------------------------- Yes, I have no intentions of abandoning anyone, although it may feel like that to one party. ----------------------------------------- I'm a little confused by your post. Would you be willing to elaborate? ---------------------------------- You are correct. My heart knows the answer, and I just need to own it. Thanks everyone for your replies. Last night I was thinking a lot about this, and I decided that I need to look at this as an opportunity to further my practice with real life application. Honesty and remaining true to myself are what this situation calls for - once I've done my part as well as I can, I need to remain unattached to the outcome and accept what happens.
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Good advice. This is certainly a decision I do not wish to make blindly in a rush of emotion.
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Thanks for the reply...it's something I often lose sight of. A recurring theme of my life is I tend to sacrifice my own dreams and goals in order to make other people happy. That is part of how this situation developed in the first place.
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The phrase in your signature is generally how I try to live my life, although until recently I didn't care much about harm to myself. The issue is not an argument between the two friends. It's a situation I created when I was suicidally depressed...I created two different lives on diverging paths, and now I have to choose one or the other, or neither. Neither will hurt both friends. Venting always helps though...I'm already started to see the situation with more clarity.
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I can answer that right now. We will ALWAYS need unobtainium.
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That's the one! Dresden Codak. I read the Hob story arc, but haven't read anything since. Definitely one of the highest quality webcomics out there. Entertaining to boot. Thanks for reminding me about it.
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Question about BWE, isochronic tones, binaural beats, etc.
Cat Pillar replied to forum_jedi's topic in General Discussion
Thanks for the anecdote about gamma ranges, More_Pie. I had considered whipping up a custom gamma session just for kicks, but I might be more cautious about doing that now. Was it one session that did it to you, or were you doing multiple sessions and then finally something "popped."? Also, major props for the APPLE.MOV reference. -
Hey Sinfest, props on the webcomic! I remember reading that a year or so ago (although I don't remember that particular part...) but I can't remember the name of the webcomic!!
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Question about BWE, isochronic tones, binaural beats, etc.
Cat Pillar replied to forum_jedi's topic in General Discussion
Yup, I agree. Just wanted to make the point that listening alone does not equal meditation. -
I understand how that goes. If you're itching for something to do, might I suggest looking into Bruce Frantzis' material? He also teaches a water path, and his longevity breathing would be a good foundation to help prepare for your Kunlun practice when you're able to start it. Since it's a water path, it shouldn't be a big deal to transition to Kunlun when you're ready and it'd give you something to do while you're saving up. Also, to help cut down on costs for travel/hotel expenses, you might consider looking into doing a Skype session with Max. He recently started offering those, and it would be a more cost-effective option than waiting for and traveling to a seminar. Edit: Also, ralis says he has a copy of the old book. You might consider PMing him to inquire further.
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Question about BWE, isochronic tones, binaural beats, etc.
Cat Pillar replied to forum_jedi's topic in General Discussion
I've found BWE to be a very useful tool, most especially for relaxing. I second all the recommendations for neuroprogrammer 3, it's a really neat program with a TON of flexibility. My personal thoughts on BWE and spirituality are very similar to Chang's...the intent will determine what kind of progress, if any, one makes with their spiritual aspirations. Just listening to them will relax you and usually put you into an altered brainwave state. But just because people who meditate go into altered brainwave states, does not mean that an altered brainwave state is the same thing as meditating. My use of BWE tools has helped me to recognize that I go into an alpha state when I get deep into my Kunlun practice. I don't use BWE while doing Kunlun, but I still occasionally listen to some entrainment tracks while going to sleep. In fact, I think I'm going to start doing that more often, since it makes my dreams easier to remember...and my dreams are far too entertaining and/or full of WTF to miss. -
It wouldn't surprise me at all if this were the case.
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Well, when I went to the seminar last month, they were making rumblings about it coming out this month...but obviously that doesn't seem to be happening so far. I'm really looking forward to the new book too, but unfortunately it's hard to say when it might be released given how often the date's been pushed back. I will say that going to the seminar completely clueless isn't necessarily a bad thing. I knew very little about the system when I attended, and I don't think I was any worse off for it.
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That Dr. Pepper was magically obtained, too. He spoke, and it appeared! LOL
