Stigweard

From my view what you are both describing is my idea of a discussion, and, just like yourselves, I enjoy a good discussion as much as anyone. Conflict however quite literally means "to strike together" and to "dash down and crush". It is two, or more, forces in diametric opposition with the intent of one side claiming ascendancy. It is a win-lose scenario. Part One ~ Fundamental Techniques 2. Give honest and sincere appreciation. Part Four ~ Be a leader. 1. Begin with praise and honest appreciation. There is a difference, a very fundamental differance between the cheap praise of flattery and the sincere action of love which is appreciation. Your comments here I find agreement with. Boosting someone else's ego can certainly be not such a desirable thing. But what if by boosting a villain's ego he doesn't put a bullet through someone's skull? Is that wrong then? And this quite nicely circles back around to the 'good luck' story in that we can not judge this book as good/bad, fortunate/unfortunate, right/wrong. There are gifts of empowerment present in this text but as always our prudence and discernment must be in play.

Yes thank you for reminding me of the "good luck" story. Perhaps I was too quick to label something as 'unfortunate'. And likewise you are perhaps too rash Gold with your assumptions about my 'values'. I will also question the notion that there is any such thing as an 'honest conflict'. To engage in conflict aren't creating a seperation of conciousness in order to percieve that there are forces in opposition? Aren't we in fact being dishonest when we try and create the illusion of right and wrong?

My perception on this book is in line with something I mentioned over in the Virtue is... thread: True it is that "How To Win Friends and Influence People" is an 'external' model of behaviour. However if the the principles of this book had been employed by some on this forum then I am quite certain that several unfortunate conflicts would have been averted.

Thats the way old son transcending the mire my shoe gets stuck in the mud muddy footprint trail

Glad you are still with us Gossamer ... how are you going with those exercises? I can't stress enough how important they are and will be to the outcomes you are wanting. Stay well my friend,

I'll have to second that motion Cheers Gos

perhaps I'll walk home. and reduce my carbon use shame about them cows

Hiya Trailmaker ... an excellent addition Just remember in future to take the last line from the last post in the chain to make your haiku along the way, peace my destination is peace where is my bus pass?

have I arrived yet? was I somewhere else before? where is my bus pass?

YAY !!! UeypOvsY91Q

May I suggest caution and prudence in sharing such things

This is a great site for TTC translations ... you are able to cross reference the original Chinese with Legge's, Susuki's, and Goddard's Translation. Dao De Jing [Tao Te Ching]. J. Lau. YellowBridge.com. <http://www.yellowbridge.com/onlinelit/daodejing01.php>

turning next riddle betwixt and fain where go I when I go nowhere?

Hiya TGA ... this article on Confucius might wet your appetite.

Theun Mares originally wrote his books in this order: Return of the Warriors Cry of the Eagle The Mists of Dragon Lore Shadows of Wolf Fire Also: This Darned Elusive Happiness The Quest for Maleness Unveil the Mysteries of the Female He then revised and compiled everything into a veritable encyclopedia of Toltec Lore which can be found here. The first volume is a reprint of Return of The Warriors and is available for ZAR 365.00 / 38.03 USD However you can get an insight into Theun's work by reviewing the extracts from the books over here. I hope this helps

Oops missed this ... pardon me Honestly I really couldn't recommend any other source. You do have Victor Sanchez's "The Teachings of Don Carlos" which is a consolidation of Castaneda's works. But Castenada refuted any connection with Sanchez before he died so what you have is a questionable text based on questionable texts Sorry 'bout that

Indeed it is ... the trees are starting to turn here in good ol' Oz

How well do you spoon? But my dish has pilfered it Hey diddle diddle

You can be sure I will ... at this stage I am looking to perform the ceremony on Thursday April 9th as close to the full moon as practical. In terms of the donations collected I will circulate a PM amongst the donars so that we make a collective decision.