Taiji Bum

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Yoda is correct! We love fecund encounters! Welcome to da Bums.

I've met Silver Ravenwolf a bunch of times and if my 8 year old daughter wanted to get into witchy stuff that the ONLY stuff I would buy her. Her stuff isnt fluffy so much as it is extremely simplified and accessable. Silver really has a good heart and unlike most authors has traveled around and done her own research instead of just "borrowing" from earlier authors.

I think its individual whether or not to retreat. If Hagar does it the perhaps 'he" would be ego tripping. If Janus goes perhaps "he" would find the solitude aids in some seriously deep cultivation and aid in his liberation. Should we make such large sweeping generalizations as to say only this way or that way is right? The same arguement goes on in the Catholic church between the actives like parish priests and the contemplatives like monks. The actives say the contemplatives need to get out into the world and do something and that all that solitude and meditation is useless. This is an arguement that I think has gone on forever and will continue to go on forever.

What is the ultimate meaning of this.... "postless post"?

True words..... let's see how this profound thread about nothing evolves.

Off Topic Alert! Is this true? I for one would like to hear about it if you have! Have you recorded your journey here in a journal?

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Dont wait on a master! Practice now! *calming down* Welcome to da Bums.

Welcome to da Bums and thank you for joining. It's good to have experienced spiritual teachers among us.

Sounds like you have a good practice. Welcome to da Bums.

Welcome to da Bums. Why cant you just choose your goal? Maybe I just read that wrong? Goals are chosen and not discovered much like our value system which is the foundation and seed of our goals.

Welcome to da Bums and.... nice intro.

Just as an aside..... opinions vary on whether or not you need to go out and live in a cave or if in this "day and age" we dont have to. I am pretty old school on this sort of thing and firmly believe that at a certain point a hermitage is absolutley required. Not for years but the solitary "testing" which is pretty common in both the east and west with advanced mystics. The great mystics of the west did it too like Elijah and Jesus. Both took off into the desert for some "alone time". I think there are three critical junctures where solitude is required and that is in the early jing-qi transformation, then in the early qi-shen work and finally in the early shen-void work. There might be another one at the void-Tao stuff to be consistent but I dont know. But like I said opinions vary.....

I'm in the "anything is possible" camp.

It's crazy but I always plan out a very simple dome cabin but my attached dojo is always so elaborate. I want to go with a dome home cause of cheapness and durability. I might even bury it to make a hobbit hole. (Plus living in dome reminds me of Yoda...... so..... ) A buried dome might have the same characteristics as a cave as far as electromagnetics go.

I am saving for a hermitage. But since I dont want to live on mushrooms, bark and fern sprouts I am building a small but reliable financial system to support me. I have enough money but now I am looking for a small cabin on a lake or river. I might even form my future hermitage into a non-profit to dodge taxes and what the heck.... Taoism is a religion after all. Scotty is actually near where I was looking a few years back. There are a lot of old mines in Northern Michigan that I was thinking of cultivating in. As a Catholic we have a long history of hermits so finding info is pretty easy and you might want to read some of them and see how they did it. Luckily, I grew up on a farm and know how to camp and live off the land. You might want to try camping in a tent for a week with minimal food to see if you like being stinky, hungry and doing tick checks. Living in hermitage sounds romantic until the first tick attaches to your nose in the middle of the night.

After 8 years in the Army I'd have to say that was the best thing I ever did. I came out disciplined, strong and with friends that will last a lifetime! Being in the military service is just that.... service. You dont do it for the money or the glory, you do it to serve and say thank you to the universe for being born in the U.S. When you put on the uniform and take the oath to defend the constitution, you are getting ready to accomplish more in a few years that most men do in a life time. Theres a good saying, " Some people make things happen, others watch things happen and then there are those who stand aroung bewildered wondering what just happened." Which do you want to be? You dont have to join the military to be a doer, but it helps and as far as systems of personal development go, its hard to beat. mikaelz.... try repeating, "I am not a victim" over and over. Another good affirmation is "I am in control of my life".

Is this the same guy who wrote the "Hundred Character Tablet"?

Awesome pics, thanks!

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Discovered this site by accident....? There are no accidents. Welcome to da Bums. (I hope I didn't sound creepy.)

Welcome to da Bums.