Vmarco

The above is a prototype of a personified Christ, overlaid with mostly made up stories of the notorious Yeshua [Jesus] the Notzri [Nazarite],...and built upon the image of Serapis. The historical Jesus/Yeshua as presented in the mostly fictional gospels, would have had short hair and a close-cut beard, as was the custom of the Jews and the command of Paul. For example, 1 Cor. 11:14 suggests that long hair brings shame to a man. More similar to the Sarapis model was the link that Jesus/Yeshua was a Nazarite, like the Old Testament Samson. Members of the religious sect of Nazarites were said not to cut their hair. In addition to their unkempt hair, the Nazarites also vowed to abstain from the manufacture or consumption of intoxicating beverages and from contact with the sick or corpses. Jesus/Yeshua being a Nazarite does not harmonize well with certain fabricated gospel tales, such as the ritual consumption of wine and the raising of the sick and dead, which were woven into the canonized version of the myth. This reminds me of the fanciful story of Mason Weems, invented after the death of George Washington, about George Washington and the cherry tree. Weems fabricated this story to broaden the character of America’s first president and to make him seem more appealing.

That looks like a pretty lame bio from a jealous Christian. I believe that Russell married the year that title above was written,...he was in his seventies. A more dependable description of Walter Russell could be gleaned from Nikola Tesla, the fellow who invented the electric motor, fluorescent lighting, devices for x-rays, ionized gases, and charged particle beams, etc, etc. called Walter Russell the Leonardo DaVinci of the 20th century. Even Tesla was blown away by Russell's works, although he added that it may be a thousand years before people will understand them. Russell's book The Secret of Light is advanced Taoism.

I've noticed that in today's history, the Greek psyche has become the "higher mind," whereas in ancient Greece itself, the psyche was the lower mind,...just as in other ancient cultures. When the Greeks spoke of the Higher Mind, they pointed to the chest and said thymos,...the thymos is the seat of gnowledge. Gnowledge (Heart Mind) is a direct threat to the faith-based "book religions." Over the portico of the Temple of Delphi it is written "Gnothi Seauton"....Gnow Thyself. But religion has altered this to say Know Thyself,...which is not the same. Knowledge comes from psyche, the Head Mind. In the sun and Krst philosophies of Egypt, the heart-thymos was revered, whereas the brain-psyche was considered worthless. In the mummification process, the heart was preserved, but the cerebral gray matter was sucked out and discarded. Like Tantra, Buddhism, and the Maya of Mesoamerica, the Egyptians seem to have been aware that the head was the vessel for the lowest consciousness, but through the heart came the highest consciousness. Today’s object-ive science considers such ideas nonsense, and disregard for the brain misguided. Yet evidence clearly shows that the Egyptians had an intimate knowledge of brain functions, for example that the left cerebral hemisphere controls the right side of the body. Of course, a prudent person would keep in mind that today's society is a cerebral-centric one,...a society with atrophied thymus glands. So it is like in the Valley of the Blind, where the one-eyed princess is treated for her illness. But who is the ill one? Ironically, many today BELIEVE they are in touch with their heart, when in fact, their faith-based indoctrinations are veils which obscure the heart. Following the chronology of history, book religions are an underlying cause of the atrophy of the thymus gland, and the atrophy of the thymus gland removes our ability to have an harmonious physiology where cancer cannot take hold. Cancer is about "individuality." An individual, rogue cell that does not want to be in harmony with the whole.

No,...but I read an interesting book in the 90's called Living Energies, by Callum Coats, that is helpful.

I use the term patrifocal to point to contracted, masculine energy. This is not about humanistic characteristics, but the predominate vibration in which humans live. Thanks for your point about patriarchy signifying Judeaism to you,...I was unaware of such a belief,..and will look for another way to express the idea. pa·tri·ar·chal 1. Of, relating to, or characteristic of a patriarch. Characteristic of a form of social organization in which the male is the family head and title is traced through the male line. 2. Of or relating to a patriarchy: . 3. Ruled by a patriarch pa·tri·ar·chy 1. social organization marked by the supremacy of the father in the clan or family, the legal dependence of wives and children, and the reckoning of descent and inheritance in the male line; broadly : control by men of a disproportionately large share of power 2 a society or institution organized according to the principles or practices of patriarchy

A sphere is a torus that appears to have shifted direction from the inside-out to the outside-in, while a torus is a sphere that appears to have shifted direction from the out-side-in to the inside-out. Or, as Avalokitesvara said, form is empty, and empty is form. Nirvana is one thing, like a coin,....when you realize the two apparent directions or sides of the one coin of nirvana,...dukkha and non-dukkha. Nirvana is the absolute understanding the form is empty, and empty is form. Advaita can lead one to nirvana,...but not paranirvana. Only Buddhism and Taoism points to paranirvana. No one can understand Light, except through light's point of view. In light's point of view, it travels no distance, in no time, and thus has no need for speed. Light has not moved a centimeter in all eternity. The same with duality. No one can understand duality unless you step into duality's shoes so to say. As I once said,...The propaganda of self-proclaimed visionaries continue to contribute to the absurd misunderstandings of duality. One visionary wrote that, male yang is “explosive, centrifugal, warming, destructuring, and dissipating, while the female yin is implosive, centripetal, cooling, structuring, and integrative.” Once again, these are ego statements, based on a human-centric viewpoint, not nature’s reality. How is dissipating or destructuring, warming? How is implosiveness and structuring, cooling? These people only encourage a world in which oxymorons are considered meaningful.

My fun coming here on TTB is that the name TTB implies some interest in the Tao. Let's say the Tao is who you really are,...not your body, your mind, your emotions,...but the you that was before you were born. To find out Who one really is, one must realize When one is. To realize When one is, it is necessary to understand Who's Who in Duality. yang...........................yin. Masculine.....................Feminine. centripetal....................centrafugal. integrating....................disintregating. spiral in......................spiral out. implosive......................explosive. converge.......................diverge. in...........................out generative.....................radiative. Gravity....................Levity inhalation.....................exhalation. sphere…………….................…….torus. solid........................vaporous rotation decrease.............rotation increase. quartz.........................calcite. heating........................cooling. charging.......................discharging. contraction....................expansion. Father Earth.....…….............Mother Sky particle………............………………..wave. Geb………...............……..……Nut. Father Time...................Mother Space induction......................conduction. winding light waves............unwinding light waves pressure increase.....................pressure decrease. infra-red..........................ultra-violet. low frequency..........................high frequency. That list is Sex. Duality is a sexual reality. All energy is sexual.

IMO, you're looking at this too physically,...instead of spiritually. On the contrary,...Real Compassion, what is called the Compassion of a Bodhisattva, has a profound relationship with spiritual level gender identity. First of all,...to help this make better sense,...EVERYTHING is SEX. It's the nature of duality. Duality is a sexual reality. The word sex is a homonymy; that is, has meanings so different as to cause conflict in communication. Most peoples response to sex is like the 80's game "Dirty Minds." For example: You stick your poles inside me. You tie me down to get me up. I get wet before you do. A. Tent! What part of the man has no bone but has muscles, has lots of veins, like pumping, & is responsible for making love ? A. Heart Q. I come with a sticky hole, Men eat me in the morning, I can leave a glaze on your face. A. Donut Neither the masculine nor feminine side of duality can expess real compassion,...according to the Heart sutra. However,...to realize that, the masculine must turn from it's contractive state,...but the feminine (and I'm not speaking of Dirty Minds here), the real feminine, as in Lilith, not Eve, is already aware of the masculine. Eve is a product of the masculine,...not the feminine. The masculine has suppressed the feminine for so long, most don't have a clue what real feminine is,...and so they answer with a Dirty Mind. http://thetaobums.com/topic/20285-sky-dancers/?hl=lilith

I would not care to view a Moby Dick remake that did not take into account Jed McKenna's "Spiritually Incorrect Enlightenment." Even the Moby Dick expert in the book was permanently overwhelmed by Mc Kenna's commentary. We surely need some awesome screenplays. I'd love to see a sort of remake of the Matrix without the all the shoot'em up stuff. Even more so, the story of Tilopa's Shoe. Wow! Put a $100 million into that, with Keanu Reeves as Tilopa, and Mark Ruffalo as Naropa,...what a filn that would be. Tilopa's Shoe The story of Tilopa's Shoe is one of my personal favorites, and has been an integral guide in my life's path since I read it at 19. It's a story of intrigue, magick, humor, and enlightenment. Much of the following was adapted from Alexandra David-Neel's 1929 'Mystiques et Magicens du Thibet' as told to her through the oral tradition. Madame David-Neel, who was fluent in Tibetan, spent fourteen years in the magical and mysterious Land of Snows. Tilopa was a Bengali, some say of noble caste, who lived during the 11th Century CE. He chose to leave his home and seek realization through meditation and study in a remote area near the Tibetan border. While seated in a cave reading a philosophic treatise, a beggar woman appeared behind him, read a few lines over his shoulder and asked abruptly, "do you understand what you are reading?" Tilopa was irked. What does this witch mean by such an unmannerly question, he thought. But before he could express his feelings, she spit on the book. Tilopa jumps up and shouts "how dare you spit on the Holy Scriptures". The woman then spits again on the book, utters a word Tilopa cannot understand, and disappears. Tilopa felt an uncomfortable sensation through his body. Doubt of his knowledge arose in his mind. After all he pondered, it may be true that he had not understood the doctrine expounded in the treatise, or any doctrine whatever, and that he may be an absolute dunce. What did that strange woman say, he thought. What was that word he did not comprehend? He felt he must know it. And so Tilopa started in search of the old woman. After much wandering, he found her at night in a solitary wood. She was seated along, her red eyes shining like live coals in the darkness. She was a Dakini, a kind of faery or 'sky-flyer' who played a great part in mystic Tibet as teachers of secret doctrines. They often appear in the shape of an aged woman, and one of their peculiar signs is that they have red or green eyes. In the course of the conversation, Tilopa was directed to go to the Dakini's land, in order to meet their queen and learn the Heart teachings of the Dakini. She told him that on the road, countless dangers awaited him, like abysses, roaring torrents, ferocious animals, delusive mirages. If he allowed himself to be overpowered by fear or missed the narrow, threadlike path winding across this terrible region, he would fall prey to monsters. If he drank at the clear springs or ate the fruits hanging at hand on the trees by the road, or yielded to fair maidens inviting him to sport with them in pleasant groves, he would become bewildered and incapable of finding his way. For his protection, the woman gave him a magic formula; a mantra. She said he must repeat it all along the road, keeping his mind entirely concentrated on it, uttering no word, listening to nothing. Tilopa saw the countless, frightful or alluring sights. He struggled across steep, rocky slopes and foaming rivers. He felt himself freezing amidst snows, scorched on burning sandy steppes, and never departed from his concentration on the magic words. At last, he reached the castle whose bronze walls were glowing with heat. Trees, with branches holding weapons, barred his way. Yet, he entered the enchanted palace. There, innumerable sumptuous rooms formed a maze. Tilopa winded his way through them and reached the queen's apartment. The beautiful faery sat on her throne adorned with precious jewels, and she smiled at the daring pilgrim as he crossed the threshold. But Tilopa was unmoved by her loveliness, ascended the steps of the throne and, still repeating the mantra, wrenched from her the glittering jewels, trampled under foot the flowery garlands, tore away her precious silk and golden robes, and as she lay naked on her wrecked throne, he violated her. Such conquests of a Dakini, either by sheer violence or by magic devices, are a popular theme in Tibetan mystic literature. They are an allegory referring to the realization of truth and process of self-spiritual development. Tilopa had thus reached the level of Avadhuta, a state of enlightenment where the distinctions between good and evil do not exist anymore. He, thus, returned to his cave in the north part of Bengal, and the old woman once again appeared. She said that he still had barriers to his full realization of Mahanirvana Tantra, and directed him to go to a particular town and enter the employ of the local prostitute there. Without hesitation, Tilopa found his way to the town and began working for the prostitute. In the day he would grind seed for her oils, and at night, he would pander her clients. One day, as he was grinding sesame seeds in a mortar on his lap, he realized and released his last barrier to the Light and Love he was and levitated to the height of a palm tree while still grinding sesame seeds in the mortar on his lap. When the prostitute saw Tilopa suspended in air, still making her oil, the harlot was overcome with shame for having given this task to such an enlightened being. She contemplated begging Tilopa for the privilege of being his disciple; and in that very moment he released a flower, which hit her on the head, and as if being struck by the diamond-thunderbolt of Vajra, the prostitute instantly attained enlightenment, and elevated to Tilopa's side. Tilopa, which means sesame-grinder, realized Mahanirvana Tantra when the seed he was grinding revealed to him the inverse flow of forward moving things, thereby actualizing liberation in one lifetime; the fourth stream of mastery. He called this Fourth Way, Kagyu, the Short Path of Vajra. And it was through the unbroken lineage of Tilopa, the Kagyudpas Red Hats, that the Twentieth Century mystic G. I. Gurdjieff received the foundation of his teachings through the Sarmoun Brotherhood. Tilopa himself had no human guru, having realized liberation through Vajra, the Light of Reality. His most famous student was a learned Kashmiri Brahmin named Naropa, who in turn was the master of Marpa, the Mahasiddha that brought the lineage and doctrine of the Short Path to Tibet. The biography of Naropa is both an amusing and illuminating description of the tests devised by a master of the Short Path to train and direct an initiate. Naropa, born around 1010, c.e., was considered a man of refinement, a learned doctor and deeply convinced of his superiority as a member of the Brahmin caste. Having been greatly offended by a rajah to whom he was chaplain, he resolved to kill the prince by an occult process. For this purpose, he shut himself up in an isolated house and began a magic rite to bring about death; the dragpoi dubhab. As he was performing the rite, a Dakini faery appeared at a corner of the magic diagram and asked Naropa if he deemed himself capable of sending the spirit of the rajah towards a happy place in another world, or of bring it back into the body which it had left and resuscitating it. The magician could only confess that his science did not extend so far. Then the faery assumed a stern presence and reproached him for his nefarious undertaking. She told him that no one had the right to destroy who could not build up again the being destroyed or establish it in a better condition. The consequence of his criminal thought, she added, would be his own rebirth in one of the purgatories. Terror-stricken, Naropa inquired how he could escape that terrible fate. The Dakini advised him to seek the Sage named Tilopa and beg from him initiation into the mystic doctrine of the Short Path which frees a man from the consequences of his actions, whatever they may be, by the revelation of their true nature, and ensures enlightenment in one single life. If he succeeded in grasping the meaning of that teaching and realize it, he would not be reborn again and consequently would escape a life of torment in the purgatories. Naropa stopped the performance of the rite and hastened towards Bengal where Tilopa lived. However, before Naropa would meet the Sage and receive the Ultimate Teaching, that is, Tilopa's Mahamudra, through which Enlightenment could be realized in one lifetime, he would first undergo twelve astonishments, followed by twelve ordeals. The Twelve Astonishments were challenges to Naropa's conditioning, that is, his ego and beliefs; whereas the Twelve Ordeals, or Hardships, were intended to encourage complete surrender. The first meeting of Naropa with Tilopa occurred in the courtyard of a Buddhist monastery. The cynic Sage, nearly naked, was seated on the ground eating fish. As the meal went on, he put down the fish's backbones beside him. However, in order not to defile his cast purity, Naropa was on the point of passing by at some little distance from the eater, when a monk started to reproach Tilopa for parading his lack of compassion for the animals, that is, killing and eating the fish, in the very premises of a Buddhist Monastery; and ordered him to leave at once. Tilopa did not even condescend to answer. He muttered some words, snapped his fingers and the fish bones were again covered with flesh. The fishes then moved as if living and swam away through the air as if it was water. No vestige remained of the cruel meal on the ground. Naropa was dazed, but suddenly thought that this strange wonder worker, no doubt, was the very Tilopa whom he was seeking. He hurriedly inquired about him, and the information given by the monks agreed with his own intuition. He ran after the Sage, but Tilopa was nowhere to be found. Then in his eagerness to learn the doctrine that could save him from the purgatories, Naropa wanders from town to town with the only result being that each time he reaches a place where Tilopa is said to be staying, the latter has, invariably just left it a little before his arrival. In the coming months, as if by chance on his way, Naropa would meet singular beings who were phantoms created by Tilopa. Once, knocking at the door of a house to beg food, a man comes out who offers him wine. To offer wine or spirit to a high caste Brahmin is an insult, so Naropa feels deeply offended and indignantly refuses the impure beverage. The house and its master vanish immediately. The proud Brahmin is left alone on the solitary road, while a mocking voice laughs that man was I, Tilopa. Again, the traveler sees a brutal husband who drags his wife buy her hair, and when he interferes, the cruel fellow tells him, you had better help me, I want to kill her. At least pass your way and let me do it. Naropa can hear no more. He knocks the man down on the ground, sets free the woman, and, lo!, once more the pantasmagoria disappears while the same voice repeats scornfully, I was there, I, Tilopa. The adventures continue in the same vein. Proficient magician though he may be, Naropa has never even conceived the idea of such display of supernormal powers. He stands on the brink of madness, the beliefs he clung to for his identity shaken to their core, but his fortitude to become Tilopa's disciple grew still stronger. He roamed at random across the country, calling Tilopa aloud and, knowing by experience that the Sage is capable of assuming any form, he bows down at the feet of any passer-by and even before any animal he happens to see on the road. One evening, after a long walk, he reaches a cemetary. A fire is smouldering in a corner; at times, a dark, reddish flame leaps from it showing shriveled- up, carbonized remains. The glimmer allows Naropa to vaguely discern a man laying beside the fire. He looks at him, and a mocking laugh answers his inspection. He falls prostrate on the ground at Tilopa's feet. This time the Sage does not disappear. The obscurations which inhibited Naropa from recognizing the Sage had waned. During the next several years, Naropa followed Tilopa without being treated as of any import, athough the Sage engages him in twelve ordeals, as mentioned above. Each Ordeal or Hardship, according to later Mahasiddhas of the lineage, contained one of twelve instructions of the Fourth Empowerment. As the first three empowerments encouraged the blossoming of the sapiential mind, the Fourth liberated the sapiential mind. However, only a few of the ordeals will be given here to grasp the principle of Naropa's release from his belief barriers and surrender to the Sage, whereby he fully understood the acquenscence of who he thought he was, and realized who he actually was. One of Naropa's first hardships arose following a begging round. According to the custom of Indian ascetics can beg for food, or alms, once a day. Coming back to his master, he offered him the rice and curry which he had received as alms. The rule is that a disciple eats only after his guru is satisfied, but far from leaving something for his follower, Tilopa ate up the whole contents of the bowl, and even declared that the food was so much to his taste that he could have eaten another bowl full with pleasure. Without waiting for a more direct command, Naropa took the bowl and started again for the house where generous householders bestowed such tasty alms, even though he knew he could not beg again. When he arrived, he found the door closed. However, burning with zeal, the devoted disciple did not let himself be stopped for so little. He forced the door open, discovered some rice and various stews keeping warm on the stove in the kitchen and helped himself to more of what Tilopa had so much enjoyed. The masters of the house came back as he was plunging a spoon in their pots and gave him a harsh thrashing. Bruised from head to feet, Naropa returned to the Sage, who showed no compassion whatever for his suffering. What adventure has befallen you on my account, he said with a cynical calm. Do you not regret having become my disciple? With all the strength that his pitiful condition left at his disposal, Naropa protested that far from regretting having followed such a Sage, he deemed the privilege of being his disciple could never be paid for too dearly, even if one was to purchase it at the cost of one's life. Another ordeal took place while Sage and disciple lived in a hut near a forest. Once, returning from the village with Tilopa's meal, Naropa saw that during his absence, the latter had fabricated a number of long bamboo needles, and with covered with molten butter, hardened them in a fire. Inquisitively he inquired about the use Tilopa meant to make of these implements. The Sage responded with a queer smile. Could you, he asked, bear some pain if it pleased me? Naropa answered that he belonged entirely to him and that he would do whatever he liked with him. Well, replied Tilopa, stretch out your hand. And when Naropa had obeyed, he thrust one of the needles under each of the nails of one hand, did the same to the other, and finished with the toes. Then he pushed the tortured Naropa into the hut, commanded him to wait there till he returned, closed the door, and went away. Several days elapsed before he came back. He found Naropa seated on the ground, the bamboo needles still in his flesh. What did you think while alone?, inquired Tilopa. Have you not come to 'believe' that I am a cruel master and that you had better leave me? I have been thinking of the dreadful life of torments which will be mine in the purgatories if I do not succeed, by your grace, in becoming enlightened in the mystic doctrine, and so escaping a new rebirth and having to begin all over, answered Naropa. As the years went by, Naropa drank fowl water, a defiling thing according to religious law; crossed a blazing fire, nearly drowned in icy water, and performed other fantastic feats which often put his life in jeopardy. Once, Sage and disciple were strolling in the streets when they happened to meet a wedding procession accompanying a bride to her husband's house. I desire that woman, said Tilopa to Naropa. Go bring her to me. He had scarcely finished speaking before Naropa joined the cortege. Seeing that he was a Brahmin, the men of the wedding party allowed him to approach the bride, thinking that he meant to bless her. But when they saw that he took her in his arms and intended to carry her away, they seized on everything they could find and belabored poor Naropa so soundly that he fainted and was left for dead. Tilopa had not waited for the end of the performance to pass quietly on his way. When Naropa came to his senses again and had painfully dragged himself along until he overtook his whimsical guru, the latter, as welcome, asked him once more the usual question, Do you not regret?. And as usual, Naropa protested that a thousand deaths seemed to him but a trifle to purchase the privilege of being his disciple. By some accounts, Naropa's last ordeal was said to have occurred at the end of a day walking in a remote mountainous region. Stopping at a cliff, Tilopa asked, what if it would please me for you to jump off this cliff? Before the final word was finished, Naropa leaps off the cliff, breaking nearly every bone in his body. Tilopa made his way down the steep, rocky cliff and asked Naropa who was clearly in agony, How are you?. Naropa answered that the pain was unbearable. Then, in a calm voice, Tilopa commanded him to heal himself. Instantaneously Naropa healed himself, and his broken body was fully restored. That evening, while seated at a fire, quite unexpectedly Tilopa took off one of his shoes and soundly slapped Naropa on the head with it. In that instant Naropa saw the inverse flow of forward moving waves of Light, and would not again transgress into the sleep of samsara, the always changing and impermanent dream of Maya. The full meaning of the Short Path was then told to Naropa through Tilopa's twenty-eight verse Mahamudra, or Ultimate Teaching. The story of Tilopa's Shoe is considered a historic occurrence. Several variations of the story exist, some handed down by oral tradition, others written in the biographies of famous lamas. Yet, unlike other philosophies, the historical legitimacy of Kagyu makes no difference, for the essence of the Short Path, the realization of the sapiential Mind in a single lifetime, is contained within the story. Other paths, as the Abrahamic theology's, which cling to outside things, can never realize liberation or enlightenment, until they surrender those beliefs, as Naropa had to surrender his. The prostitute who surrendered her barriers, her doubts, and beliefs, was able to welcome the Clarity of Mind in a matter of moments; whereas Naropa, a fully indoctrinated Hindu priest, spent several years in torment, in the service of, what many would judge to be a cruel master. Yet Tilopa, through the guidance of a celestial Dakini teacher, was an awakened Being and understood the essence of Mind, Heart and Light. He was an embodiment of Unconditional Love, and only mirrored to Naropa that which Naropa chose to have reflected. The word Naropa, I was told, means the pain is killing me. Na means pain, ro is the word for killing and pa personifies it. In contrast to Naropa's awakening, his pupil, the lama Marpa Lotsawa, grasped the Short Path's doctrine rather easily. On the other hand, Marpa Lotsawa, the translator, is said to have tortured his pupil Milarespa for years, to shock his ego clingings loose. I've pondered more than once what my own name will be? What will be the one thing I'll understand, through which I'll understand everything? My wish is for it not to be Naropa; the Way of Struggle, consistently seeking lessons in hardships, and hiding from ourselves the understanding that beliefs can effortlessly be released if only we would look at them. Like Naropa though, most of us rather break every bone in our bodies before we will let go of doubts and beliefs, and surrender to the acceptance of our Clear Essence. Surrendering or Letting Go of who we think we're supposed to be, and Being who we Are. Vicente

Masculine energy is contractive, whereas feminine energy expansive. IMO, more males experience feminine energy than females. For females, living in a patriarchal world, I find that females suppress a natural expansiveness, because of an indoctrination that they are less than male. In fact, most males have a deep fear of expansiveness, and for thousands of years, smothered such energy. A 20th century Tantra Master said: "The very qualities of being a disciple are the qualities which are feminine -- enabling a deep surrender. And if a man becomes a disciple, he will automatically grow qualities which are female. There is nothing wrong in it. Qualities are qualities, and all beautiful qualities are feminine -- love and trust and compassion and gratitude and surrender. All beautiful qualities are feminine. It is not a question concerned with your sexuality; your being a male or female has many dimensions. One of the dimensions is that there are qualities intrinsic to females which make them easily disciples. There are men who have those qualities -- those qualities are not the monopoly of anybody. There are men who are more soft than any woman, more loving than any woman, more grateful than any woman -- but the qualities are feminine." I would not say that pure love is purely a feminine expression, nor masculine,...pure love is beyond. IMO, pure love does not have an opposite,...it is beyond duality. Of course there is chemical, biological, and emotional love,...each of which belongs to dualities illusion. Patriarchal society has suppressed the feminine for so long, that our thymus gland (Heart chakra) atrophies as children. Twenty-five hundred years ago, the Greeks, who studied human cadavers, said at that time, the butterfly shaped thymus was quite large. For the past 1500 years, high level Buddhists have used the herbs He Shou Wu and Kwao Krua to rejuvenate the thymus gland,...thus allowing on a physical level, greater access to feminine energy and Heart Mind. Many Buddha statues in Thailand show him with Tanner stage 2 and 3 breasts. Bodhi is a feminine noun. In ancient Greece, people were said to have two minds,...the masculine mind was psyche,...the feminine mind, thymos. Go figure!

Yes. IMO, the whole binary gender belief thing will dissolve in this generation. And, considering that the Future Buddha, Maitreya, is said to be transgender, it is obvious that She would not be accepted by today's society-at-large. Note: According to prediction and metaphor, the future Buddha, Maitreya, will be a male born into a Red Hat family, and in one day, become a realized Buddha as a female; like the monk Avalokiteshvara became Kuan Yin. Doesn't matter how this transformation of Avalokiteshvara took place; and although many still view him as male, the natural qualities of a Bodhisattva are feminine. Some suggest that Maitreya will be the final incarnation of Kuan Yin.

Don't have any answers to your questions,...just more questions. Were does the need for "rough or humiliating sex" come from? Is it nurture or nature? I've hear that women who use vibrators become only able to orgasm with a vibrator. And men who use fantasy to orgasm become only able to orgasm through that. Would seem to me that the best partner is someone young, without experience,...rather than someone old, who is habitualized into particular sexual practices. I've heard of an Enneagram sexual characteristic fixation test,...that is helpful to understand underlying sex fixations they may be blocking one's spiritual evolution,...developed by Eli Jaxon-Bear,...but haven't seen it.

IMO, the indoctrination into the concept of a binary gender humanity is among the greatest atrocities, and lies.

This is another BIGGIE that most Americans don't have a clue about. There is NO JUSTICE in the American Justice system,...it's all about law,...and which ever attorney is quicker with regurgitating law, trumps fairness, rightness, and justice. The best thing one can do is stay away from the legal system,...unless you have lots of money to throw in. If you do get singled out,...pay the fine. If someone screws you,...let it go. Stay off the Justice's systems radar. I only know about the American justice system,...and IMO, it's ruthless, self-centered, hateful, criminal, and illiberal,...at every level,...from municipal to federal.

Dr. Lahey: Freaking out about Ebola in the U.S. while antibiotic resistant superbugs rampage in our hospitals is like fearing Freddy Kruger will ring the doorbell while Jeffrey Dahmer sits at your dining room table. Sure. However, some comments were pretty naïve. Like the implied nil chances of someone on an airplane having ebola because the airline saw that no passengers had symptoms before the 12 - 15 hour flight to a US city. WHO says it takes 2 - 25 DAYS before symptoms begin for an infected person. Add to that, the capitalistic way they (the airline capitalists)squeeze you in their plane like a sardine (unless you're first/business class),...one should be cautious about numerous infections the inconsiderate passengers could be passing along. In 2014 I clocked more than 40k air miles (Taiwan, Japan, USA, Germany, Italy, Istanbul, KL, Thailand). I already hate flying,...and then add the health of 200+ fellow passengers, usually with inconsiderate Americans, to the list. In all my travels,...Americans are always the most inconsiderate, obnoxious, arrogant,...followed by Muslims (of Arab Nationalities). At least Americans are somewhat considerate towards women. The Muslims in Myanmar (Burma) are among the most arrogant, pushy people I've ever met,...and I interact with Chinese every day. LOL. Anyway, certainly grateful that Myanmar Muslins don't fly much.

In Chiang Mai, ambulance service, which includes driver, MD, and EMT happens to be B2500 (US$ 80)....and they take you home for free. And to add,...having had medical services in USA, Mexico, Iceland, and Germany,...that the healthcare in Thailand is far superior. I'd put Mexico (Chiapas and Puerto Vallarta) at #2,...USA very below Europe. Most Americans, having never had healthcare outside the USA, don't have a clue, other than what they're media-ted, as to true nature of their healthcare system. In the USA, unless you're in the financial top 5%, where American healthcare workers give you adequate care because they feel they'll get a tip,...US healthcare is a crap shoot. By the way,...tipping is not required in Thailand,...at restaurants, etc. However, getting a 1 hour Thai massage for B200 ($6 US), one just feels compelled to give a B100 tip. In the US, an 18% tip is pretty much an unwritten LAW,...whether the service is good or bad. Americans view of America is like a woman kept uneducated, barefoot, and pregnant under the Laws of Jacob. "every woman should be filled with shame by the thought that she is a woman". Church Father, Clement of Alexandria. While I'm on an American rant: The average US physician earns about 6 times more than the average patient,… specialists greater than 10 times more. In 2008 it is estimated that there were approximately 810,000 active physicians in the United States with total earnings of more than $320 billion. Many physicians make more than the President of the United States. Clinical psychologists with Ph.D. level degree have a $85,500 average salary, or 8 times less than a Orthopedic physician. The Chief Scientist for NASA's Space Radiation program (which took 10 years of college to earn a PhD in that field) earns 4 times less than an average Radiologist. Any dumbie considering Health Care Reform can see drag on the system brought about by physician salaries. Some average physician salaries include: Cardiology $820k, Dermatology $360k, Family Medicine $240k, Gen. Surgeon $380k, Orthopedics $700k, Pulmonology $500k, Radiology $680k. Even with a 20% reduction in physician pay ($64 billion annually) they would still be making more than 4 times the average patient. That would be $640 billion over 10 years. Add to that $160 billion for more efficient health care services, $600 billion administrative improvements, $500 billion in improved management of chronic diseases, and $100 billion reductions in malpractice premiums, would be a savings of $2 trillion in 10 years. Numerous Americans have been accepting pay concessions during this time of rebalancing. The UAW has exceeded 50% in compensation cuts. Homes prices have fell Nationally by huge percentages. Isn't it time that those who took the oath to help others chip in with a share? thelerner can check my figures.

About 30 years ago I was overwhelmed with laughter in a Mens Room of an office building. It was about 10am, and a sharply dressed fellow entered about 10 meters before me. As I walked in, proceeding to the sinks, the fellow was already standing in front of a urinal,...and then approached the sinks, where and when I began to laugh, even beyond when my face began to hurt. So....here's this fellow, obviously showered in the morning,...picked up coffee, opened doors, used the elevator, shook hands, touch numerous, potentially infectious things, then comes into the Men's Room, and with his filthy hands, pulls out, what up till now, was likely the cleanest part of his body,...and then, washes his hands. And, seeing this, and realizing that nearly all American men do this,...I began laughing. As for elevators,...I would say that the elevators on an office building are far more infection prone than at a hospital. But the worse offender for catching infections must be shopping carts.

If this so, it's the first thing I've ever saw to justify the huge salaries of USA doctors. This past May, I had a medical situation, and needed emergency surgery. Totally amazed by the healthcare in Thailand,....and so lucky this didn't occur in the USA. I easily trusted my life to the gastroenternological surgeon, who performed the 4+ hours surgery. Instead of slapping in a "mesh" that is standard in US hospitals,...this compassionate surgeon meticulously hand sowed the muscle layers back. (Yes, they did have mesh,...but I requested not to have it, due to its high complication rate). Unfortunately, I contracted pneumonia afterwards, and for 3 days thought I was a goner,...even though a lung specialist quickly got me to ICU. Anyway, to get to the point,...the surgeon, IMO, one of the top in the world, cost $1200US,...while the full 12 day, private room, hospital stay, in the luxurious Ram Hospital in Chiang Mai was $8300US (that is all costs, including the surgeon). In the US, that would have been more than $100k,...and if I survived,...can only imagine the life long complications I'd be stuck with. I would not trust an American doctor with an ingrown toe nail. In 1982, I went into a US hospital for a test. They said they had to insert dye into me,...the doctor operated on my feet. Recently I heard of an adult fellow from Atlanta who went in for a circumcision,...and they cut off his whole penis. The hospital said it was justified, and are demanding full payment. Talk about insult to injury.

WHO says: "People are infectious as long as their blood and secretions contain the virus. For this reason, infected patients receive close monitoring from medical professionals and receive laboratory tests to ensure the virus is no longer circulating in their systems before they return home. When the medical professionals determine it is okay for the patient to return home, they are no longer infectious and cannot infect anyone else in their communities. Men who have recovered from the illness can still spread the virus to their partner through their semen for up to 7 weeks after recovery. For this reason, it is important for men to avoid sexual intercourse for at least 7 weeks after recovery or to wear condoms if having sexual intercourse during 7 weeks after recovery." So...even though one appears "cured," such as a walking person, they still can infect others. "The incubation period, or the time interval from infection to onset of symptoms, is from 2 to 21 days." Thus,..one could have the virus, and be unaware of it. The odds of infectious persons traveling beyond West Africa before the symptoms occur, is likely. Everyone traveling beyond West Africa is a possible infectee. As I suggested in the Is Ebola Coming To America thread,...America should be concerned about this virus, especially because of Americans usually inconsiderate attitude towards diseases,...such as going to work sick,...which is generally viewed as a "badge of honor" in American culture. The report of the ebola patient walking into Emery University Hospital after flying back to the USA should be seen as frightening, not admirable. Please don't misunderstand,...I wish the fellow the best of luck,...however, in America, where the majority of people are fully selfish and inconsiderate, only interested in their own agenda, that no matter how great some believe the US healthcare system is (IMO experience it is actually among the worse), the average inconsiderate American could likely fuel an even more serious epidemic in the West.

I liked this quote: "Ebola viruses are contagious with prevention predominantly involves behavior changes, proper personal protective equipment, and disinfection." Behavioral Changes!

Again....sure,...infected people leaving West Africa for a 12 - 20 hour flight to the US, may not be showing symptoms of the infection until during the flight. And then,...you would have to come in contact with some bodily fluid, either directly, or from a place where they have been, like the toilet, or an infected handle of the overhead bin. May not know how many got infected for several days,...after CDC tracks down all on the plane, or your symptoms begin. In America however,...somewhat because of their inadequate healthcare, people wait a very long time before visiting a doctor, if at all. Actually, getting a little epidemic going in America might be a good thing,...helping people become more conscious of infectious diseases, and how "they" spread it. Any cooperation reduces the amount of competition,...which is an underlying cancer in society.

You mean as in Australopithecus afarensis,...a new leap for humankind?

Pretty rare to see a foamy soap dispenser near elevators, before you put your filthy hands to your face, or shake someone's hand. Also,...singing aloud in America is frowned upon, unless it's a religious song,...which folks from TTB should not be doing. "Do not go about worshipping deities and religious institutions as the source of the subtle truth...the world's religions serve only to strengthen attachments to false concepts such as self and other, life and death, heaven and earth, and so on. Those who become entangled in these false ideas are prevented from perceiving the Integral Oneness." Lao Tzu

I love composting, although haven't had the opportunity for years. In my system, I had 3 four-by-four covered bins with compressed side boards (meaning that two sides were only as high as the compost). My secret ingredient was adding finished compost from bin 3 into the un-composted material in bin 1 as an activator. Having a Whole Foods or organic restaurant around would be a huge plus,...but one must be regular for pick-ups,...to the point that if you're going out of town, have someone do the pick-ups for you. Once composted all of the ashrams kitchen scraps at Yogaville for a year, from which made a large raised bed garden. However, the compost isn't the only important ingredient,...it's the worms that bring about the best produce. Worms love finished compost. Earthworms moving through soil produce a tremendous amount of crystal calcite,...an incredible subject within the field of biodynamics.

How many people catch infections from elevator buttons?....whether in a hospital or not? Or from a shopping cart at a grocery store. A small investment in pocket size Antibacterial Wipes ,...and using them,...is a good idea. Washing hands at a sink,...potentially a bacterial habitat, is not always handy.