Cat Pillar

What follows is an opinionated rant. 2 cents, grain of salt, all that... Let's assume "supernatural powers" are real. You're dead wrong about the benefits of revealing them to the world. There are none. It will cause far greater harm to the world than benefit, at least in the world's current state. Think very carefully about this. You say it would be beneficial because it would open people's eyes to a whole new world...how do people react to their paradigms being threatened? Fear and hate. But even beyond that, if "supernatural" abilities were to be commonly accepted, what do you think their first application would be? It sure as hell wouldn't be for any humanitarian purposes. The first applications would be military. "How can we use this as a weapon?" (Did you know the US military had - maybe still has - a unit dedicated to remote viewing?) Do you really think people would be so humbled by these abilities that we'd all start singing kumbaya around campfires if they were revealed? Personally, I think it more likely the world would be spun into chaos as fragile egos and powermad maniacs tried to abuse such abilities for personal gain. Most spiritual traditions that involve developing siddhis have warnings specifically about focusing on developing siddhis. The abilities are not the point of practice. Some see them as markers or guideposts, confirmation of a path correctly followed...but they have no more intrinsic spiritual value than the ability to pick up a cupcake with your hand and take a big ol' bite out of it. The truth can be found equally in both.

I dunno about this. I'm not denying how helpful it can be, but I don't know if it's necessary. If it is I'm in trouble.

I've only seen the anime, and as far as I know they never made any more episodes of that after the fight with Odin. I don't really read manga, so I haven't gone any further into the series. I heard the fan service got a lot worse after that though.

I'm originally from Minnesota, so I've never been a big fan of extreme heat. More power to ya if you like it, though.

That certainly describes how I feel much of the time. That "You Are the Eyes of the World" book is available for Kindle from Amazon store. I'll have to pick it up when I have some spare cash.

I find that practicing in the heat can become a distraction. Sometimes it's really warm in the break area upstairs at work where I do Stillness-Movement while waiting for the bus, and it can make it more difficult to keep my focus. Plus my clothes get all sweaty...doing a practice that generates heat in an already hot environment is like running on a hot August afternoon in Houston. Yuck.

Ouran High School Host Club was great, but I almost couldn't watch it cuz the twins REALLY creeped me out at first. Some really profoundly uncomfortable moments in there, at least there was for me. But the writing was really good, and I enjoyed the story quite a bit. Haruhi is one of my favorite anime characters because of her personality and grounded attitude. Have you seen Spice and Wolf?

I can't wait until my transportation situation is settled and I can finally start learning Bagua. It looks like SOOOO much fun. And there's something very attractive about the idea of circle walking.

I really enjoyed Death Note. One of my favorite animes is Kenichi, The Mightiest Disciple (or History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi, I've seen it listed both ways.) I've seen Mushi-shi recommended before, that's another one I'll have to get to soon. I enjoyed Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit quite a bit. Darker than Black wasn't bad. What turns me off about trying to watch One Piece is the fact that there's over 400 episodes. I just don't have the time for that.

I saw that one on Netflix and was wondering if it was any good, I'll have to check it out. Edit: Ghost Hound, that is.

Hey dc9...here's something to think about that may help you relax a little. You are not who you think you are. And I mean that literally. You are not your thoughts about who you are. All of those labels you put on yourself, materialistic, undisciplined, unfocused...those are all thoughts you've had ABOUT yourself...but can you find materialistic, undisciplined, unfocused, outside of thought? To put it another way...don't immediately believe everything you think. Use some of that scepticism towards your own thought processes. Drop your assumptions about who you are and try to pay attention to what's actually there - not your thoughts ABOUT what's actually there. Just a suggestion.

I see! Thanks for the response! That leads me into another question...I know the answer is "yes" with other systems (like Kunlun), but is there such a thing as too much practice with Stillness-Movement?

I'll check that out, thanks for the recommendation!

So, getting back on topic... I've noticed that at certain points during a session of Stillness-Movement I'll get this sudden urge to just stop...once or twice it was so overwhelming that I did, but usually I try to just bring my focus back to Dan Tien. When I do that the urge usually settles down and I can get back into the "rhythm" as it were. Is that just the monkey mind trying to wrest my attention away? I'm impressed by the aftereffects of the practice. When I'm done with a session, my body feels like it moves more freely. Can't wait for the workshop in November. Finally got registered!

I'm in need of a serious change of diet. Can you recommend a book or link that's pretty easy to work from? Losing sugar cravings permanently sounds downright awesome. Food addiction is my number one vice. I LOVE food, eating is my favorite thing ever. I have a feeling it's because I'm addicted to all the chemical bullshit I'm consuming.

Thanks for the list of Laws, DNB! I've read many of them before, but there were some I haven't seen and I've never seen so many described in one place before.

Oooh! Ooh! I can come up with a reason! It's said that the downside to breathing through your mouth is that the air doesn't get filtered through the nostrils so you end up with more foreign particles and stuff in your lungs, potentially affecting your health. But when I'm all stuffed up, I breath through my mouth. It's just easier.

This thread inspired a fun dream last night. I was hanging out with someone in a park with a bunch of big white birds. The birds were flying around a lot, and I held out one of my arms to see if they'd land on it. One of them grabbed my arm but kept on trying to fly. Then I got the great idea of holding both arms out...a bird attached to each arm and they carried me up into the tree tops. It was fun.

That's pretty much exactly what I was going for. Just recognizing that for you, these practices may have no use or meaning, but that does not make them meaningless or useless in the general sense, which is what you seemed to imply at first.

Sure, I think that's a worthwhile discussion. In this context I mean "scientific validation" in the stricter 'objective' sense that I think MPG pretty clearly laid out: "I am looking for systems that can establish repeatable causual relationships. If I do this, then this will happen as a result... Direct cause and effect, stimulus and responce, feedback loops." Magick by its nature doesn't really seem to work that way. You can get consistent results, but they're not going to take the exact same form every time, and they may only have meaning to you. In my opinion, the real worth of ritual magick practices aren't in physical manifestations but rather expansion of consciousness and experiences. Granted, you have to take ANYTHING I say on this subject with a huge grain of salt. I'm not an experienced practitioner, I've studied it a little and worked with Step 1 of Bardon's "Initiation Into Hermetics," but I'm not like DNB or Theurgy or Seth Ananda who truly walk the talk. I just really enjoy talking about it because I'm still fascinated with Magick. Even though my path right now consists mostly of Taoist alchemical practices, there are still things I'd love to explore within some of the Western paths. One thing at a time, though. I want to dig my current well deep before I start expanding to other locations.

Different strokes for different folks...one man's synchronicities could be another's juju. Just saying, both eastern and western practices are essentially varying means to an end. You might have gotten fewer caustic replies had you opened with that. It's one thing to say that Magick isn't your cup of tea, and another to attack the practices as useless and ineffective, which is what you seemed to be doing at first. Not everyone is interested in scientifically validating their results...that doesn't mean they don't still get results.

Yes, I do find it's easier to get lost in woman's eyes. I think a slightly more correct way of wording it would be "seem to have gotten used to it."

No prob! Never seen a pop-up blocker prevent cut and paste, that's weird... >.>

I don't know much at all about birds, so this thread was not only entertaining but very informative!

Humble, The 5 ways are detailed in the article link at the bottom of the OP.