Green Tiger

It's been a while since I read any of Bruce's books, but I think he basically coined the term 'water method' and defines it as any style of meditation that uses natural breathing exclusively. He says 'fire methods' are the techniques that use things like reverse breathing and breath retention.

If you have lots of money, you might try buying immortality from Jerry Alan Johnson. Book March Seminar If you're broke, like most 25-year-olds I know, just read Gerard's post 108 times.

It's a wood horse. Made of wood. I read somewhere that a wood horse is strong and combustible and so this will be a year for 'splosions. Is there a Michael Bay film coming out this year? Ahh . . . it all makes sense.

I saw this guy on a morning show today and was intrigued. Seems like an interesting fellow. He's also one of the richest people in the world. Interview with Ray Dalio

"The Voice of Generation-Y" I pretty much new what to expect as soon as I saw the subtitle of the zine. Technically, I think I'm part of G-Y (born in '82), but I definitely don't connect with most of the stuff that gets marketed toward G-Y. This article definitely sounds like it was written on a Monday morning after a weekend of striking out at the clubs. If miss Lauren Martin wanted my advice, I would quote Superbad: "My friends taught me never to meet a chick in a bar. You need to go somewhere social, non-threatening - like spin class or a farmer's market or the pumpkin patch, given the time of year."

"The opinion that there are bounds to human knowledge which it is impossible to pass, compelling man to stop short of the invisible world, is thus met by the occult scientist: he says that there can exist no doubt concerning the impossibility of penetrating into the unseen world by means of the kind of cognition [used in the physical sciences]. One who considers it the only kind can come to no other opinion than that man is not permitted to penetrate into a possibly existing higher world. But the occult scientist goes on to say that it is possible to develop a different sort of cognition, and that this leads into the unseen world. If this kind of cognition is held to be impossible, we arrive at a point of view from which any mention of an invisible world appears as sheer nonsense. But to an unbiased judgment there can be no basis for such an opinion as this, except that its adherent is a stranger to that other kind of cognition. But how can a person form an opinion about a subject of which he declares himself ignorant? Occult science must in this case maintain the principle that people should speak only of what they know, and should not make assertions about anything of which they are ignorant. It can only recognize every man's right to communicate his own experiences, not every man's right to declare the impossibility of what he does not, or will not, know. The occult scientist disputes no one's right to ignore the invisible world; but there can be no real reason why a person should declare himself an authority, not only on what he may know, but also on things considered unknowable." -- Rudolph Steiner, from An Outline of Occult Science, pg. 24 I really like Steiner. His writing style comes off as really stiff, but I suppose the translation from German is partly to blame for that.

It is so freaky, yet so fascinating. Why did that crazy ant plunge willingly to his own doom? Did he not see the massive spider? I prefer to believe he was a willing virgin sacrifice. His selfless gesture will keep the spider satiated while his ant brethren escape to a new hive.

Did someone say ants?

Is this the first sort of meditation practice you have ever attempted?

I'll try to find time to watch it later, looks interesting. I think what makes ancient Egypt so interesting is that they had a standard script that they carved into walls all over the place and we are able to translate it now. I wish there were records like that from ancient China. As it is, scholars still debate over when ancient China developed writing. Maybe 6000 BCE, maybe 4000 BCE, maybe not until 2500 BCE. They needed to be doing more wall carvings back then.

Blame GreytoWhite, I'm on a hardcore Motown kick right now.

Why is there not a meme with Daffy Duck saying "Consequences schmonsequences, as long as I'm rich." EDIT: ??????? There really should be. If I can't find one by tonight, I think I'll make one. Closest I can find:

Jai Guru Deva Om Images of broken light Which dance before me like a million eyes They call me on and on across the universe Thoughts meander like a restless wind Inside a letter box They tumble blindly as they make their way across the universe Jai Guru Deva Om Nothing's gonna change my world Nothing's gonna change my world Nothing's gonna change my world Nothing's gonna change my world Sounds of laughter shades of life are ringing through my opened ears Inciting and inviting me Limitless undying love which shines around me like a million suns And calls me on and on across the universe

RAINBOW BODY!!!

Efficacious writing disseminates concepts with veracity and unembellished aphorism. While I don't endorse ineffectual bromide, there's a distinct dissimilitude between fastidious phraseology and deliberate obfuscation. Indeed, labyrinthine prose is conventionally utilized as a penumbra over adolescent abstraction.

That's not the bar-chord-playing Jack Johnson, is it?

Lots of good recommendations in this thread. I won't add to them, but would like to state a few simple things that have helped me in my journey: 1. Books are good, videos are better, a real instructor is best. 2. No practice is complete without some simple standing and sitting in stillness. 3. No matter how relaxed you think you are, you can always relax more. 4. If it becomes a chore, don't be afraid to stop for a while. Your body/mind could be telling you you need a break.

I'll never forget the 2004 Major League Baseball playoffs. The Boston Red Sox had gone a century without winning a World Series and they were down three games to their hated rivals, the Yankees, in the American Championship series. They came back to tie it, 3-3. In game seven, with bases loaded, Johnny Damon hit a grand slam home run to win the game. AMAZING!!! I couldn't believe it. And then . . . I wondered. Was it a little too good to be true? Surely the game couldn't be rigged, could it? I dismissed the idea, deciding there was no way the players would agree to something like that. No way they could keep it quiet, even if they did. This year I've been watching the NFL with great interest. There's a lot of good story lines to follow and the final four teams are just too perfect. Patriots vs. Broncos and 49ers vs. Seahawks. Two veteran quarterbacks facing off for the 16th time in their careers. Each looking to get another super bowl ring before age starts to take its toll. Two young and promising quarterbacks who look poised to become superstars, eager for the chance to lead their team to its first Super Bowl victory in this century. And I can't help but wonder, is it almost too perfect? Granted, the best teams should be playing in the championship games. That's the way it's supposed to be. But just out of curiosity, I googled "the NFL is rigged" and found no shortage of people arguing just that. Most of it was speculation about how the rigging could be accomplished through the refs, followed by examples of games where the refs seemed to favor one team or the other. Then I saw something about how certain teams could get shunned by the league for refusing to comply with the league's wishes. One example of that caught my eye. Ralph Hutchinson wrote a short piece for Uncoveror (http://www.uncoveror.com/footballrigged.htm) in which he mentioned that the San Francisco 49ers were a favored team until they let their stadium fall out of favor. Lots of people complained that Candlestick needed to be abandoned and a newer, more modern stadium built to replace it. The 9ers were slow to action. I'm a huge 49ers fan, and I noticed a strange turn of events in the last several years. The 9ers have been looking for a place to build a new stadium since the early 2000's, but had to give up on finding a place in or around the city. They ended up going with a place in Santa Clara, 40 miles away. When Jim Harbaugh took over in 2011, he turned the team around just in time for the groundbreaking at the new stadium. Now that construction is underway and they'll be playing there next year, San Fran looks stronger than they have in 15 years. Coincidence, or design? I'm not even remotely convinced that the games are actually rigged, but I'm also kind of biased. I love professional and college football and would be really hurt if I discovered that the fix was in. I'm wondering if other people had heard rumors about game rigging and other intrigue in the National Football League. As much money as they pull in every year, they're one of the more powerfully influential companies in the country. I'm sure all kinds of shady deals have gone down over the years. A possible obfuscation of evidence that players were being seriously brain-damaged from repeated concussions being one recent example.

I was just flipping through a Tai-Chi magazine last night and saw a ton of advertisements for Jiang Jian-ye's videos. He has quite the catalog! Does anyone have any videos of his that they particularly like? I was tempted to try one, but I already have a lot of DVDs I don't practice with and would love to hear some feedback before I go buying any more.

"Think you of the fact that a deaf person cannot hear. Then, what deafness may we not all possess? What senses do we lack that we cannot see and cannot hear another world all around us?" From Dune, by Frank Herbert. Wanna Yueh's favourite passage from The Orange Catholic Bible

Yeah. Can you even get a boner when you practice mo pai?

Perhaps you could try pharmacological perturbation of ordinary neurochemistry? I've heard the mystery can be perceived that way. I guess it just depends.