paulno

If by "Religious" Christians you mean hypocrites who worry more about degrading other faiths and sexual practices of others I agree. However, there's many Christians (admittedly not the majority) who are in other nations and the forgotten inner city of our own nation (USA) helping out the poor, sick and needy. Probably, more Christians doing it by percentage than other faiths. I myself did a run in a very fundamentalist, conservative Christian church. Probably, the worst mistake of my life. Lots of judgmental and greedy people. Sort of shocked me. But, I also met people who spend most of their time helping those who have fallen through the cracks of our society and other societies. Loving caring people I probably still wouldn't agree with on everything...However, couldn't call them evil. After my time in the church I put way too much time and effort into bashing it/them. I finally realized that I was becoming what I hated. Bitter, judgmental, bigoted, and mean spirited. I sort of still struggle with it on a certain level today. But, try not to fall into that trap.

Hi, all! Was thinking it would be nice to chat with other Taobums. I've been in the chat a few times and can never seem to find anyone on. Whether it be about Daoism, Innerspace, or just general b.s., I think it would be fun

Moon, I'm not exactly setting the Taoist world ablaze with thought provoking queries either

You can find evil in followers of every widespread ideology known to man. Good too.

lol! Even the advice of dorks can be a valuable commodity on Taobums.

Manitou, your posts make my head go boom. Very deep yet easy to understand at the same time.

Role model wise I have several Jesus, Buddha, Lao Tzu etc. In the modern day people like Thich Nhat Han, Tony Campolo, Shane Claiborne, Gandhi (okay he's not modern but you know what I mean ), MLK Jr. , etc. I could go on and on. Usually, men of peace who show unconditional love even in times of immense hatred. In my eyes that's a real sign of enlightenment. As you can see its sort of a Gumbo of regions and cultures. Practice wise its hard to say. I'm sort of scatter brained and reeling it in. A seeker in a sense. Lately, I've been doing the Star Exercise I learned from this forum very recently and I'm liking it.

Okay, been doing the Star Exercise a few days now. Love the simplicity. Today I closed my eyes and breathed in and out through my nose only. Serious state of calm came over me in a relatively short time. Thanks for this thread Immortal.

Quick question. If my arms get tired do I just give them a short rest or do I sit for a sec and reset the whole exercise?

Alanon just makes me feel horribly guilty. LOL Usually, a sweet kind group of people however. Also, I should've put "Big Book Thumping". I guess I just shy away from fundamentalism in general. For me its more mental than fun.

Welcome Moon

I'm a former 12 stepper and AA really helped me get off the bottle. I wonder if it was the 12 steps or the meetings themselves that helped me? Whatever it was, it worked. Broke a nasty addiction to the bottle and probably saved my marriage to boot. As of late I've become somewhat turned off by a lot of attitudes in AA. A lot of meetings feel like "Bible Thumping". Lots of burned out dry drunks who have years and years of chemical sobriety, but spiritually speaking are as alcoholic as they come. After going to meetings for a few years I finally just stopped. However...That's my deal. Probably, a lot to do with my location and the times I've gone. From meeting to meeting it can feel like a different program. I'm still confident it can help out a lot of people. I'd love to check out a Buddhist 12 step meeting but doubt they have any in my area. I've also become aware of other programs like Secular Sobriety and SMART. Secular Sobriety was decent and I know SMART actually has online meetings. Neither are really spiritually based however. So, if that's what you're looking for those aren't the places for you.

Non, a lot of that is that b.s. western machismo get'er done ethic. Its unfortunate that we haven't evolved past that here but in a lot of ways...We haven't.

If I see one more interesting post on this site I swear I'm making it my homepage. The plethora of thought provoking tidbits overwhelms my wee little noggin. Why didn't I find this sooner?

Well, I guess in a sense I've "started" my path towards Daoism. I try to read the Tao Te Ching and I've been gobbling up posts hear like Pacman. I guess some ideas on next steps would be helpful. Right now I can't really afford formal TaiChi or Qigong classes. Nor do I really have the time. I've thought about possibly doing my best to copy what I see on youtube and listening to more podcasts. Now I realize in a lot of senses its "my practice". But, a little nudge in the right direction could be very helpful. Thanks fam!

Hi, everyone . I'm Paul and I live in the Dallas/Fort Worth Area. I'm originally from New Orleans. Interested in Eastern Philosophy for sometime and after a little search for knowledge from the great sage Google I stumbled upon you guys. I'm really happy I did! I look forward to learning, insights and different points of view from all. Thanks for this forum.

Amazing!

Welcome Leif

Hundun, my mind plays like a movie projector on loop daily. With all due respect, especially because of a condition that will remain unnamed, I face my anxieties more than most people could even imagine. Even those who meditate. Now I realize you have to work at meditation. Different forms I have tried... I've tried Zen, counting breaths, holding breaths, candle gazing, yantra gazing, Nichiren, other mantras, etc. While each have giving me "something". It doesn't seem to me like I'm there yet. One thing I guess that came closest to the mark was visualization. Seems to be a good bit of that on the Daoist sites that I've seen so far. When doing the meditation I feel it more. Whether it be 15 mins, a week or months. I'd like to thank everyone for their ideas and I'll get to Googling. I also hope I didn't make anyone uncomfortable talking about my personal life. I thought it only fair though because my responses and initial message were somewhat vague. Thanks for all your replies.

Thanks for the replies guys! What are my goals? Well, I'd say mentally, physically, and spiritually more healthy. Overall, contentment would be great. I'm a very anxious person and would like to be calmer. Lerner, I agree with what you say about ignoring our own traditions. I tried to incorporate some of my own tradition's more mystical side after some poking around. While some of it was interesting, I'd say its lacking for me personally. I have for some odd reason always been drawn to Eastern Thought. Really, can't explain why. I'll definitely look into Winn and Chia. I'm also now looking for a form of meditation that suits me. Feel like I've tried 1000 kinds. But, I'm sure there's 1000 more I haven't.

Thanks fam! Red I'll start working on the secret handshake for our club. I hear if we meditate long enough when we do the handshake we can make blue sparks shoot out.