Cat Pillar

Thanks! I'm just so happy to have found something that works. Not only happy, but grateful. It really does a lot to restore a man's faith in the Light.

Good lord, it's like a virus (and I'm not helping much with this post!) Should I feel guilty? Mwahaha...

Glad you bumped this, I wasn't around when it was originally posted. Enjoyed the excerpt.

Thanks for sharing, surfingbudda! More evidence for efficacy of the system: As I've stated in my PPJ, I've done some treatments on my friends. The first time I tried was out at the Renaissance Festival. One of my coworkers hurt their toe in their boots and came in back where I was taking my break. After she took her boots off, I asked her if she'd mind if I tried something. I did a short treatment on the toe, and afterwords she was amazed that it had stopped hurting. I've also done some treatments on the leathersmith I'm learning from - he's got tennis elbow, and while the treatments I've given him haven't "cured" it, he does experience pain relief (until he goes and messes it up again with working, lol.) He was really skeptical about the whole qigong workshop I went off to do, and appears to be continually amazed that his elbow feels better after I point at it for a few minutes, hahaha. What impresses me the most is how effective it is when I haven't even been practicing for long and am FRESH out of a workshop. It feels very "Tao" too, because I'm not even really doing anything, just letting it happen. What blows me away even more is I wasn't even confident those treatments I did would work. It's hard to get a more solid validation than having a technique work even when you think there's a good chance that it won't.

Chat was working for me for awhile, but now every time I open it it ends up killing firefox

Renaissance Festival...in this case, specifically the Texas Renaissance Festival (TRF).

Someone came into our shop at the Renfest wearing a shirt that said "(top)Chuck Norris like his meat so rare (bottom) He only eats unicorns!"

I expect to face something similar in the social realm as my practice deepens, and am already seeing the signs of it beginning. The more I practice, the more I realize what I really want and who I really am. Who I am is not any of the things I thought I was supposed to be, nor any of the things most people and religions tell me I should be. But the more I get to know who I really am, the easier it is to accept. Even the shadows and darkness are things I'm learning to cherish, because they are a part of me.

Quick, where's that double face-palm when you need it....

I agree those are helpful things and would provide a boost to practice, but I'm using the terms "necessary" and "required" literally...as in, cultivation will fail without them. I do have some women friends I could ask (although no exes...I've never had a girlfriend), so maybe I'll give that a try if I can arrange a private conversation.

That's an interesting thought. I've never really considered physical and emotional intimacy with a female (that is the specific desire I am working with) as a necessary component of cultivation. I'm not discounting it out of hand, and it may have been brought up in another thread I participated in (can't remember), but I don't understand the mechanics of why that kind of intimacy would be required for cultivation. I will say that I am not aware of any interested female parties. I can count the number of times I've experienced "interested" vibes in the past five years on one hand, and none of them were daily acquaintances. Of course, I can't discount the possibility that I just suck at reading those particular tells in women. But as far as I can tell, that isn't the case unless you're using a much looser definition of "intimacy."

I admire your practical approach, HE.

I used to be all about escaping samsara and ending reincarnation, but... I realized that doesn't really address anything right here and right now. If I understand Sinfest correctly, I think I'm pretty much in agreement with him. I'm only really commenting on the original question of "why do people want to escape samsara" and providing my view of the motivations.

I appreciate the direct response to my question! I have to admit, there's a simple beauty to that solution. Okay, I'll be honest. Finding intimacy seems to involve a LOT of work, and I'm already a busy guy. It seems like the easier solution would be to simply no longer have that desire.

There may have been a better way for me to have worded that... But in any case, it just seems like a simple question with a simple answer. There is a belief that samsara and reincarnation exist and can be escaped, and that by escaping them one will not suffer any more. People generally are not fans of suffering, so it's no wonder that people would want to escape samsara/reincarnation if they believe it means they won't suffer anymore. I'm not making any statements about the veracity of these beliefs (edit: one way or the other), simply pointing out that they are out there.

I'm not sure I follow any of that. How is cultivating an appreciation for life as it is replacing a desire with a non-desire? And what is a non-desire? Do you have some kind of an alternate solution that you feel would be more effective?

Seems like an obvious explanation would be to stop experiencing suffering. Samsara is suffering, escape it and you don't suffer anymore. Immortality might be another one, at least for escaping reincarnation. Do you really not understand why some people would want to stop the ride?

Welcome back! Sounds like you had a great time, glad it went so well for you!

Ah. Well, good point re: the topic. In which case, yeah, I'm with you too.

First, I want to say I purchased "Cultivating Heartfulness" because of your constant recommendations, and I've been enjoying it. Some good stuff in there, thanks for the recommendation! (Don't know if I already said that somewhere or not, but I did for sure now!) I'm not sure if I completely agree with what you say about doing qigong when "messed up." I think it's heavily dependent on how and why someone is messed up. I probably fit into a mentally "messed up" category due to the extensive severe depression I experienced. But I have always found that practicing qigong makes me feel better and more at peace with myself. Granted, one case does not a rule make, but at least in my instance qigong/neigong have served as medicine to what ails me, rather than exacerbating existing problems. I've no doubt that people with certain mental (and maybe physical conditions) could be harmed by practicing qigong, but I also think that others with certain mental (and definitely physical) conditions can be helped as well. Case-by-case basis, is what I'm tryin' to say.

I'd like to believe in soul mates, but have nothing to base that belief on. Although admittedly, that's essentially what I'm personally "looking" for. Maybe looking isn't the right word..."waiting." I dunno, I'm discovering all sorts of neat stuff about my hangups concerning women and romance. The desire for intimacy is a really pesky one, but I honestly believe cultivation will eventually eliminate that desire. I'm not saying I want to be an ascetic or that I don't enjoy the company of women...I just don't want to desire intimacy and then experience suffering due to having an unfulfilled desire. I'd much rather learn to let that go and just be content with life as it is...and my practice is already helping with that.

I agree with Moonbar, great post snowmonki! Some really good advice in there for me, things I should keep in mind as I jump with both feet into my practice.

I read Freakangels, that was an awesome comic. Really enjoyed it. Didn't even realize until about halfway through it was from the author of Transmetropolitan.

I'll be happy to help once my next paycheck comes around. This site has benefited me more than I can could ever repay.

Yeah, that was pretty awesome. I'm so glad things worked out to where I could attend the third day. Thanks to everyone who helped make that happen (you know who you are!).