de_paradise

The army is a terrible place for spiritual people, its about rules and following protocol and squelching independent thought. The American army is fighting losing wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, losing, and with unjust cause. They stay in the game because they cannot be seen to lose a war, that would send a message to the world that the Americans cant win a war. Yet the American army kills innocent people wholesale, there is so much negative karma involved with murder of innocents. Bush believed he was on a mission from God, its in his bio. I suggest running--as far away from them as possible. You think this organization with help you build character? So can many other organizations. Once in the army your fate is apt to change drastically for the worse, being direct contributer to the murder of innocents, working for the power brokers.

I'm not sure if you are answering my post or creating your own interpretation to make sound a little more adversarial. I said "sometimes" ritual is just for show, that is so poetguy doesnt get too taken in by each detail, as many people do, and they really miss out on what is more important, that is, what is happening in the mind. And I said making his own talismen is possible, but did not comment that it was to the standard of a cultivator who has been empowered by a lineage--of course it isnt the same, silly goose.

Poetguy, please share your findings as to how talismans work. I was told its making a kind of gate or connection between this world and the higher levels so that the higher level beings can intervene. This sounds quite plausible to me. I think you know already most of what there is to know, but you think there is something more. Its just thoughts. Our thought and intent are closer to the substrata, lets say, of what is making up our world, so a stronger form of thought and intent in the form of some lettering on paper can effect the cruder levels of reality, that which we live in. The ritual aspect of it all adds weight, but is also sometimes just for show, because people are impressed by very silly things like fine ink and not by the major thing, which is "intent." Even if you are not empowered to make the talismans, you can write them in your own way and they will have at least some effect because you are taking your intent and making it stronger.

Selling info to farmers really is nice compared to most "stuff" out there. Most everyone here has the same conflict of interests because as lay pratitioners we are out in the world of capitalism. If you are a hard-core meditator and doing 5 hours plus, then holding a normal job is a bit counter-productive. If its less than 2 hours a day, then you shouldnt have much problem fitting it in between all the mundane duties of life. Vajrayogini practise is meant to help a spiritual seeker get beyond the fetters of everyday life including work, because its clear that mundane life is a kind of barrier to making spiritual progress, as much as we wish it were not the case, it is.

China is a big place dude. I can advise you can always find a $10 cheap hotel if you know how to look.

Are you kidding? I remember a China much worse than this. Go CCP!

So what does a guy have to say to get some pussy?

Interesting anecdote.

Very good SereneBlue.

I call those energy surges, it happens sometimes when you are cycling through another minor level shift to the next level. Its like a washing machine when it goes on spin cycle. Or sometimes its because you maintain awareness when the body starts to accelerate for some kind of astral travel, to me, when Im lucky enough to be aware of the occasion, it feels like nuclear fission. Often theres pain involved too.

Nothing special. Lately a combo of mantra and becoming the mantra, then an attempt to feel void instead of a body. I have found with whatever basic technique, what makes it really effective is the extent you can let go, open up, love, or be vulnerable, and of course really relax--doing this all the while pratising the technique.

My model has an outer body, an energetic body, and a higher mind. Regular thoughts as they go through your head are generally of the outer body in my model, that is ones that pertain to you as a seperate entity. Heres the interesting bit: There's a kind of pre-complex-thought point we call "intent" So I make it my habit to find and isolate intent during the day. So I'm riding my bike down the street, and notice the intent that is driving me forward. So I just settle my mind, no thoughts in particular, and place my awareness on the intent, and it feels relaxing and good. This is similar to internal martial arts where the teacher wants you to relax, not think about the punches, but that groove area of intent. Settling yourself in that area of intent creates a great flow of qi, and somehow feels connected to the oneness, while still remaining an individual. You can also connect with your intent during meditation and it makes it optimal. Lots and lots of time in meditation will help purify you levels of mind so you can feel more in touch with the oneness, this state of so-called "abiding in the Self" (capital S means the oneness) Thats not to say Ive acheived all that, just I can feel the road, and intuit the way forward. The other day, just by coinicidence I mentioned Ramana Maharshi to my friend, as we were eating pizza, and was just explaining to him different paths possible, and just as I mentioned his name out loud I got this full body energetic zing, as if Ramana just glanced over to me. Anyway, interesting coincidence.

I dont think its such a big deal. Perhaps just an accelerated qiflow somehow disrupting the optical system. No fourth banana or whatever super holy state.

Interesting points. But yes, conventional Western style life as it is now is ruinous to the planet, market forces cannot stop actors from exploiting resources to depletion, it only seems to accelerate them. Example one: oil. Example two: fish. Luddite is the wrong arguement. What I want is to use our present technology to the fullest, but that requires a shift in ethics to see that the earth is our love not our whore. Not the Amish lifestyle, but for example, we now have e-readers with e-ink that is just as easy on the eyes as printed material, so we dont even need to savage trees to make newspapers, mags, or books. But we do, because ethics are not there. A mainstream Chinese economist has come out and said look, we cannot use American lifestyle as a model, because there simply isnt enough resources for it. It has to be a model with less consumption. And in my opinion, China will be the leaders and pioneers for the next century in lifestyle, and they are already market leaders in solar panels. They produce solar panels at half the cost of just 2 years ago. http://noir.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=a8AhlEJaeSE0 So, your, on the third hand, change is coming. But its not just market forces dictating the change--that is what people tell themselves, but it ignores the values that make up the desires themselves.

yeah i get that when I meditate in nature particularly. no idea what it is. submoments sounds fine to me.

But do you agree with stealing these opportunities from future generations? say because your 13 year bloated from overeating hormone-injected meat wants to drive to the mall so she can buy some new cosmetic that promises to make her feel less ugly, or so the geractric crowd can drive through the country in some gas-guzzling bizarre movable house, or so China Overseas Shipping Company can keep its massive fleet shipping over crap to Walmart, junk almost designed to create social waste.

There is no Taoist inductions. Or, put another way, all written Taoism is inherently hypnotic.

What you say makes little sense to me. I dont know what this obsession with Gore is. The overpopulation theory has been common in Economics since Malthus. Why make this so abstract? Sounds a bit out of touch.

Dont abstract what is concrete. Oil use is a big thing. Oil use can be minimized, it makes cities a whole lot cleaner in many ways. Of course there will be more things to improve after that, but getting over oil is huge. Either you are for this cause or your mind is churning out noise and clutter, the likes of which I see in this thread. So either you as an individual take the steps to get off your zoom zoom or you are part of the disease. Im not anti-oil. I see it as THAT valuable so that we dont waste it, that future generations can use it more efficiently.

Please explain further as if I dont know what Al Gore said, and what he said are lies, and what that really means in the context of what I said.

" Simmons's current warning about the situation focuses on the gigantic "lake" of crude oil that is pooling under great pressure 4000 to 5000 feet down in the "basement" of the Gulf's waters." How exactly would oil pool underneath water? Dont it float?

I wouldnt shrug it off, but keep monitoring the world events. Not as a fixed time but a kind of average. This hottest summer on record this year doesnt exactly tell me to bury my head in the sand. I also have been encountering lately people just randomly showing up in my life, who are relatively awakened. There's a in interesting conviction among these people that the population is too high and needs to be lowered. Why this Malthusian extremism among progressive thinkers?

This is neither here nor there. Any American could go to Canada now (or Europe for that matter) and live as a perpetual tourist, set up a business, rent or buy property, or get lost in the mountains. No one cares as long as you dont shoot off your guns. Here's a nice song for the drive. Shove your stuff in the trunk and hit the road. Canada or bust, eh!

The stage is set for a pretty big economic shock in July/August. If you are wondering why the curtains get drawn to reveal the ugliness now, it has to do with the financial operators, who in good time help the economy expand and everyone makes money, but in economic contractions become canabalistic. Who has the most lunch money? Retirees are sitting on pots of money, unprotected, in long-only funds, and they are enjoying their motorhomes and summer vacations. Those that wont act until its too late and fallen into the trap. Neat trick Wall Street learned in 2009: If they push the market down by shorting it to oblivion, they make money on the way down. And when the government runs to the aid of the people, they beg the banks to take free money to help the economy recover. The same people, yes the ones who pay themselves mulimillion dollar bonuses and got away with it. Goldman, MStanley, JPM, Citi--banks that also speculate.

That decision would be a no-brainer for me, let wife work and you could set up some kind of home business. Going to Canada would create options. I dont think Ralis' Russian sub article is true though, its fabrication. But the environmental toll will continue, and grind away at the morale for years at the beach places.