Yoda

Ian, Kalu Rinpoche Senior was called the hardest working lama in the business. The Karmapa and the Dalai Lama would be the first to tell you that. Even as a very old man, he did an insane number of prostrations per day... would've whooped Furey, Sonnon, and Pavel tag teaming it in a burpee contest any day of the week and that was just a warmup. Like many Rinpoches, he could do multiple mantra/yidam practices at a time and took that art to a new level 24/7. Mind boggling shit. He sent Lama Norlha to set up shop on the Hudson River at kagyu.com and I don't know how old the Kalu Jr reincarnation is right now, but I'd imagine he'd be an active teacher soon. I hope he's been taught English. A google images search would cook up some photos. My favorite photo of Kalu Rinpoche Sr., and it's not in my possession, was that of him having dinner with another inspiration of mine, Teacher Chiang, and they are laughing and having a great time. Trunk, Amazing story!!! I've never seen either of the Kalu Rinpoches. I've heard tales about the Senior, but I don't know anything about the new one. Max, When you mentioned Jesus it struck me that if you did a search for Jesus on Taobums you wouldn't find much. It's sort of odd that a mahaavatar like him would get so little press around here and it also struck me that gurus as devotional focus doesn't get much airtime around here either. Personally, the pendulum of my practice is swinging in that direction so I'm noticing this sort of thing for the first time. Yoda

Trunk, I hadn't realized the extent of our Kagyu overlap! Have you done the foundational practices? I could never get past the prostrations, so in a sense, I never became an "official" Kagyu. Yoda

Do they need to be in this dimension? In reverse order of appearance: Alx Utterman and Jonathan Rosen (Sri Kaleshwar's lineage) Yogani (advancedyogapractices.com) The Taobums plus misc taoist authors Teacher Chiang (Kagyu, recently croaked, she's a total scream, but no web presence.) Lama Norlha (Kagyu.com) & misc Tibetan lamas (kagyu.org etc)

I've heard great things about Sundo, I hope you like taobums!

That's the whole thing with Adveita studs and studdesses... there's no need for LOA, meditation, chikung, kundalini, mantras etc if you got the wisdom. But for the rest of us, these intermediate practices can be steps in the right direction. They can also be distractions too. It really depends on our desire/bhakti/bodhicitta. My guess is that most of the time these steps are a good idea to participate in. I know many fine minds would disagree, but I believe that enlightenment is a manifestation just like any other that needs (for most people) to be approached gradually, step by step, developing both greater wisdom as well as a more refined nervous system to contain that wisdom.

I don't really think there's any discrepancy... the adveita gang is simply looking at the same situation with greater precision. It's very much like a newtonian physicist vs a quantum physicist... for general everyday purposes, Newtonian gets the job done but it carries with it very misleading assumptions that have to be dropped in order to go farther with it *or* to get more accurate results even within the Newtonian realm. LOA says to be detached from the outcome but to do that you really have to be detached from the notion of self who needs xyz to begin with, so LOA steers you inevitably into adveita territory.

That's a great quote... imo, with spiritual evolution LOA doesn't change, and desire doesn't disapear but rather you start becoming more interested in making others happy.

By the author of the "Warrior Diet" is now an "Anti-Estrogen Diet".

I think the LOA is a very fine addition to our knowledge of karma and an understanding of the goodness and overflowing abundance of the universe despite the fact that The Secret is a maze of mirrors. The theory says that the master can manifest acres of gold and other pleasures out of thin air to the point that worldly desires naturally drop away as one develops the awareness that there is no shortage or competition for limited resources and one can simply enjoy the goodness of life... that the progress within this framework really can be quite similar to traditional religious beliefs and the message of the Tao te Ching when applied in that direction. The limitation with it is that it is simply an intellectual level of training. That's perfect for people with very strong mental focus like the Oprahs or the Bill Gates's of the world who already have a strong command over their emotions, but for the average thinker out there, the results from it can be gradual or even non-existent if one cannot produce the feeling of joy required on the subject at hand. It can even be counter productive if one becomes frustrated by a lack of control over one's feelings. I think that traditional contemplative practices are often better able to inspire and channel one's positive emotional energy through good works, meditation, devotional drills, etc... that going to a doctor or a teacher or offering the Buddha cupcakes, doing taichi, jogging, etc might inspire more good feelings rather than trying to simply be more positive particularly if the situation is a challenging one. I think that the straight up LOA protocol works best on subjects that one is already fairly positive about like taking a nice relationship from very good to great rather than from crappy or chronically non-existent to good. When things are already very good, the LOA has already provided you with a nice partner, nice activities to do together, nice things to talk about, etc so the energy is all lined up for fine tuning rather than trying to tweak the feeling of going on "yet another" blind date, even though the principle is exactly the same. I think lighting candles and all that is the way to go in the latter case. But whatever the vehicle, you gotta cut yourself a break. Any topic of negativity has momentum that extends beyond just one individual and just one lifetime and takes lots of time for gradual changes to pile up. And by doing so, you not only benefit your own life, you uplift the world. The harder the task, the more rewarding. Esther says that people who take on more difficult lives are like excellent tennis players who need to challenge more difficult opponents to keep growing. Milarepa had less material things than any of us and more negativity than any of us, but his challenges were instrumental to making him a great yogi.

A friend of mine did the yoga hops with the TM movement... it's a real phenomenon, but nobody he knew could stay in the air or go very far. In the Hindu tradition, the practice is called samyama and you can go to advancedyogapractices.com for more info. Apparently, you have to be fairly gifted to get off the ground... doesn't work for everyone. Just like getting good at business or soccer etc can develop positive qualities that will advance your spiritual practices, so to can siddhis. Also, siddhis are very effective as a tool for inspiring others to practice harder, so they are a useful axillary skill. Smoke em if you got em. Yoda

btw, is that a molecule on his lower bicep?

Sean, Do we really want non-anal breathers here anyways? Something to consider. Maybe consider mentioning a few popular practices, feats, and teachers discussed might could bring in more nice folks. Yoda

Pietro, I'd agree that fighting is a hardwired aspect of being alive on this planet. I do think that the killer instinct is largely being sublimated by economics. I don't know for sure, but I bet that eventually, war will be ghettoified to the countries that haven't learned how to apply their attention towards economics. On top of that, I think that our aggressive instincts will further transmute to spiritual aspirations once the economic focus is more established. I'd like to be right, but I won't lose sleep over it in any case. Yoda

It's fun to have an invite out there regardless of the small chance of finding myself in Hartford. Thanks! And that goes for Degoba too. Anyone passing through Columbia, SC is always invited over to my reasonable approximation of the famous Degoba dig.

I would focus on making only modest improvements to any given diet. Tweaking the diet too much, regardless of the improvement, can be a net negative thing on an energetic level.

In primate societies, the female is like a queen and the male is like a general. The more warfare that goes on between primates, the more power the males have in society. I think that as time goes on, human culture may be evolving past being martial based and more towards an economic focus. I like to think that wars coming from the developed world like in Iraq are just sort of old traditions trying to hang in there and assert itself when already most people have turned their attention to an economics based style of thinking. In 200 years time, war will be seen by everyone as a waste of time and money. If and when this happens, we'll have to reinvent the male's role. A certain degree of martial and economic peace are necessary to support a higher level of awakening on the planet, so it's a good thing. But I'd imagine there will always be a good fight around somewhere for those who desire it. Yodsterz

What are your favorite forums, internet sites, Youtube keywords, google apps, etc. I want more net amusement! Thanks! Yoda

I reduce refined sugars and milk products to a dull roar. It's a goal of mine to reduce calories via meditation, but it hasn't clicked yet.

welcome to Taobums!

Here's a link to the summary of it: http://highvibrations.org/archive1/celestin.htm What was the book's how-to for getting over childhood issues?

It's been awhile since I've read it. The story was silly, but the insights were simple and profound, although the only ones I can remember now is that little kids should get a lot of attention (the book inspired me to put 3 years of age between my kids so that the older one gets enough attention for the first 3 years and to homeschool at least for the early years.) Oh, and I remember that to find out your strengths and destinies add your parents strengths and destinies together. If I remember correctly, the book could be broken down to about 12 bullet points. I seem to remember there being space lizards or Cheney like beings chasing the protagonist which I found to be a distraction from otherwise nice insights. I liked the book so much that I left my copy on a desk of a library, hoping somebody would take it.

I'll see your tomatoes and up you a small pond.

I think you just click on the new topic button towards the bottom right corner. If that doesn't work, email Sean at [email protected] and he'll figure it out. It would be great to see more people using that area!

welcome to taobums!