shanlung

cancelling double posting

For all it is worth, some idiotic thoughts on this subject Which cannot be proven right, or proven wrong Taoism - Some thoughts on Wu Wei (this also give a sketch to my earlier days and involvement in martial arts) The Idiotic Taoist on a soap box

Ctrl C-V ( with a bit more embellishment) thedaobums.com/topic/16408-is-your-method-really-working/ aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa There is a great little book written by John Blofeld, who visited China in the 1930's and 40's - researching Buddhism - and Taoism. After commenting to a Taoist recluse in the White Cloud Monastery that "...of the many wise hermits encountered during my wanderings, the few who had betrayed signs of being, as I fancied, closest to illumination had almost all been Buddhist." - the recluse wondered if even one of them surpassed the Taoist recluse known as Tseng Lao-weng. Arrangements were made for Blofeld to meet Lao-weng, what follows is part of their conversation. *** "Venerable, it is just that, as most of my teachers are Buddhist, I am ignorant about what Taoists mean by such terms as wisdom and illumination, and about their methods of approaching the Tao." He laughed. "How strange. Can there be two kinds of wisdom, two kinds of illumination, Taoist and Buddhist? Surely the experience of truth must be the same for all? As to approaching the Tao, be sure that demons and executioners, let alone Buddhists, are as close to it as can be. The one impossible thing is to get a finger's breadth away from it. Do you suppose that some people are nearer to it than others? Is a bird closer to the air than a tortoise or a cat? The Tao is closer to you than the nose on your face; it is only because you can tweak your nose that you think otherwise. Asking about our approach to the Tao is like asking a deep-sea fish how it approaches the water. It is just a matter of recognizing what has been inside, outside and all around from the first. Do you understand?" "Yes, I believe I do. Certainly my Buddhist teachers have taught me that there is no attaining liberation, but only attaining recognition of what one has always been from the first." "Excellent! Your teachers, then, are true sages. You are a worthy disciple, so why brave the bitter cold to visit an ordinary old fellow? You would have learnt as much at your own fireside." "Venerable, please don’t laugh at me! I accept your teaching that true sages have but the one goal. Still, here in China, there are Buddhists and there are also Taoists. Manifestly they differ; since the goal is one, the distinction must lie in their methods of approach" "So you are hungry not for wisdom but for knowledge! What a pity! Wisdom is almost as satisfying as good millet-gruel, whereas knowledge has less body to it than tepid water poured over old tea-leaves; but if that is the fare you have come for, I can give you as much as your mistreated belly will hold. What sort of old tea-leaves do Buddhists use, I wonder! We Taoists use all sorts. Some swallow medicine-balls as big as pigeon's eggs or drink tonics by the jug, live upon unappetizing diets, take baths at intervals governed by esoteric numbers, breathe in and out like asthmatic dragons, or jump about like Manchu bannermen hardening themselves for battle - all this discomfort just for the sake of a few extra decades of life! And why? To gain more time to find what has never been lost! And what of those pious recluses who rattle mallets against wooden-fish drums from dusk to dawn, groaning out liturgies like cholera-patients excreting watery dung? They are penitents longing to rid themselves of a burden they never had. These people do everything imaginable, including swallowing pills made from the vital fluids secreted by the opposite sex and lighting fires in their bellies to make the alchemic cauldrons boil. I shall have to talk of such follies for hours, if you really want a full list of Taoist methods. These method-users resemble mountain streams a thousand leagues from the sea. Ah, how they chatter and gurgle, bubble and boil, rush and eddy, plunging over precipices in spectacular fashion! How angrily they pound against the boulders and suck down their prey in treacherous whirl-pools! But, as the streams broaden, they grow quieter and more purposeful. They become rivers - ah, how calm, how silent! How majestically they sweep towards their goal, giving no impression of swiftness and, as they near the ocean, seeming not to move at all! While noisy mountain streams are reminiscent of people chattering about the Tao and showing-off spectacular methods, rivers remind one of experienced men, taciturn, doing little, but doing it decisively; outwardly still, yet sweeping forward faster than you know. Your teachers have offered you wisdom; they why waste time acquiring knowledge? Methods! Approaches! Need the junk-master steering towards the sea, with the sales of his vessel billowing in the wind, bother his head about alternative modes of propulsion - oars, paddles, punt-poles, tow-ropes, engines and all the rest? Any sort of vessel, unless it founders or pitches you overboard, is good enough to take you to the one and only sea." The secret and the sublime: Taoist Mysteries and Magic ~ John Blofeld Idiotic Taoist full of puerile curiosity as to what bad actions and burden do you think you have be that real or self inflicted!

*BOOT* Yanking this to the top by the root of its hair! Taoistic Idiot bored with just drinking when thirsty and eating when hungry

I went around trying to explain what Taoism is to folks who do not know what the hell that is but knowing at least the existence of Zen Buddhism (although I suspect they do not really know Zen Buddhism either ) that Taoism is the Zen of Zen Buddhism. I am relieved that they did not ask me what Zen Buddhism was all about. And if they did, I got to tell them go Google for that, not that I felt Google or any other thing or humanoids can tell them what I know I am not capable of telling. An Idiot on Taoism, and of Zen Buddhism for that matter.

Some stuff I wrote long ago on my experience in taijichuan even longer ago might amuse you even if that is not likely to be any guide to you. http://thedaobums.com/topic/24575-taijiquan-styles/page-4 Idiotic Taoist

You see me here sporadically once in a blue moon. Peek out of your window after you see this mail and if the moon did not appear blue to you, you might have some vision disorder. I do not write just because the moon is blue. But in a 66 hours work 6 days week, not much time is left to me or energy either. It might be found my recent writings here normally appear on Thursday or Friday as that is the day off in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia even if I do not go to the mosque. In truth , I am supposed to be on a 60 hour week. But through some quirks of time dilation that I will not be bothered to give you the mathematical equations, 60 hour transmogrified to 66 hours. Go Google for those equations especially when you Google for Zen and Tao so you can know that better. Making me wonder if the Tao still can be found in my 66 hours work week. No argument the Tao is still there as nowhere the Tao will not be. But it would be very nice if the Tao can be found by me even if just to report to you folks that I found the Tao. As you seen my saga, I have been searching from East to West and from high to low, and from up to down, from contemplating my navel and fluff in it to being chased by Komodo dragons. And why not now in the process of killing myself in a 66 hour work week. Not all that bad as I do have 2 weeks off after 11 weeks. And I just came back from Amsterdam and my 2 weeks there. And even so, I could not find the Tao there even in the coffeeshops. Am I on a Quixotic search? or is the Tao only found in some bamboo grove in distant foothills of Kunlun or Himalayan ranges or in the fluff of the navel of Russian with pointy elbows? I was there (Kunlun and Himalaya even if not in a russian navel ) as so recorded in my blog even if I did not find the Tao there. Perhaps the Tao threw this path to me as the Tao knew I could not find the Tao in my retirement and can only be found in a 66 hour work week. After all, as Lao Chuang told us the Butcher and the Oil Seller and the Wheelwright found the Tao in their work. That perhaps the secret is that Tao can only be found when you are working. So my 66 hours work week should lead me to the Tao. But do not quote me as I am the Idiot and not only I do not know, and if I know, I do not remember the words to type out even if I cannot say those words. Idiot stumbling on the Path searching and searching and searching and searching

I see a light at the end of this tunnel of 66 -72 hour work week. I have given 3 months notice to allow for hand over. And extended a bit beyond that time even because the person coming to take over had problems with getting of visa into KSA. I was so glad that he came eventually, kind of strange but true even if he was to boot me from my chair. My next contract is contract 747 or contract 380 starting on 8 Aug 2015. Taking me back to that little porcelain urn and a couple of months with my wife before I set out on the back of the ox onto where ever the Tao might lead me to. Idiot not certain he ever left the Path or if the Path left him regardless on a 72 hour week or on a 0 hour week.

That is only talking the talk. Kogis, a very ancient people in Columbia and still walking on the path just like their forefathers walk the walk as far as the CAVE and more. Their spiritual leaders are known as the MAMAs. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kogi_people Training of MAMAs From birth the Kogi attune their priests, called Mamas (which means sun in Kogi), for guidance, healing, and leadership. The Mamas are not to be confused with shamans or curers but to be regarded as tribal priests who hold highly respected roles in Kogi society. Mamas undergo strict training to assume this role. Selected male children are taken from birth and put in a dark[citation needed] cave for the first nine years of their lives to begin this training. In the cave, elder Mamas and the child's mother care for, feed, train, and teach the child to attune to "Aluna" before the boy enters the outside world. Through deep concentration, symbolic offerings, and divination, the Mamas believe they support the balance of harmony and creativity in the world. It is also in this realm that the essence of agriculture is nurtured: seeds are blessed in Aluna before being planted, to ensure they grow successfully; marriage is blessed to ensure fertility; and ceremonies are offered to the different spirits of the natural world before performing tasks such as harvest and building of new huts. Idiotic Taoist trying to see the reality that underlay the illusion of shadows that all believed to be the real world

Taoism was already very old even before lust enter the heart of Laotze father and the gleam started in the eyes of Laotze mother. Taoism is as likely the offshoot of Buddhism as I am likely to be borned before my great great great great great grandfather was delivered from the womb of his mother. Exercising my guru emeritus of CtrlC-V , from http://www.silk-road.com/artl/ibn_battuta.shtml Introduction Abu Abdullah Muhammad Ibn Battuta, also known as Shams ad - Din, was born at Tangier, Morocco, on the 24th February 1304 C.E. (703 Hijra). He left Tangier on Thursday, 14th June, 1325 C.E. (2nd Rajab 725 A.H.), when he was twenty one years of age. His travels lasted for about thirty years, after which he returned to Fez, Morocco at the court of Sultan Abu 'Inan and dictated accounts of his journeys to Ibn Juzay. These are known as the famous Travels (Rihala) of Ibn Battuta. He died at Fez in 1369 C.E. Ibn Battuta was the only medieval traveller who is known to have visited the lands of every Muslim ruler of his time. He also travelled in Ceylon (present Sri Lanka), China and Byzantium and South Russia. The mere extent of his travels is estimated at no less than 75,000 miles, a figure which is not likely to have been surpassed before the age of steam. Travels In the course of his first journey, Ibn Battuta travelled through Algiers, Tunis, Egypt, Palestine and Syria to Makkah. After visiting Iraq, Shiraz and Mesopotamia he once more returned to perform the Hajj at Makkah and remained there for three years. Then travelling to Jeddah he went to Yemen by sea, visited Aden andset sail for Mombasa, East Africa. After going up to Kulwa he came back to Oman and repeated pilgrimage to Makkah in 1332 C.E. via Hormuz, Siraf, Bahrain and Yamama. Subsequently he set out with the purpose of going to India, but on reaching Jeddah, he appears to have changed his mind (due perhaps to the unavailability of a ship bound for India), and revisited Cairo, Palestine and Syria, thereafter arriving at Aleya (Asia Minor) by sea and travelled across Anatolia and Sinope. He then crossed the Black Sea and after long wanderings he reached Constantinople through Southern Ukraine. On his return, he visited Khurasan through Khawarism (Khiva) and having visited all the important cities such as Bukhara, Balkh, Herat, Tus, Mashhad and Nishapur, he crossed the Hindukush mountains via the 13,000 ft Khawak Pass into Afghanistan and passing through Ghani and Kabul entered India. After visiting Lahri (near modern Karachi), Sukkur, Multan, Sirsa and Hansi, he reached Delhi. For several years Ibn Battuta enjoyed the patronage of Sultan Mohammad Tughlaq, and was later sent as Sultan's envoy to China. Passing through Cental India and Malwa he took ship from Kambay for Goa, and after visiting many thriving ports along the Malabar coast he reached the Maldive Islands, from which he crossed to Ceylon. Continuing his journey, he landed on the Ma'bar (Coromandal) coast and once more returning to the Maldives he finally set sail for Bengal and visited Kamrup, Sylhet and Sonargaon (near Dhaka). Sailing along the Arakan coast he came to Sumatra and later landed at Canton via Malaya and Cambodia. In China he travelled northward to Peking through Hangchow. Retracing his steps he returned to Calicut and taking ship came to Dhafari and Muscat, and passing through Paris (Iran), Iraq, Syria, Palestine and Egypt made his seventh and last pilgrimage to Makkah in November 1348 C.E. and then returned to his home town of Fez. His travels did not end here - he later visited Muslim Spain and the lands of the Niger across the Sahara. On his return to Fez, Ibn Battuta dictated the accounts ofhis travels to Ibn Juzay al-Kalbi (1321-1356 C.E.) at the court of Sultan Abu Inan (1348-1358 C.E). Ibn Juzay took three months to accomplish this work ,which he finished on 9th December 1355 C.E. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibn_Battuta Ibn Baṭūṭah (/ˌɪbənbætˈtuːtɑː/ Arabic: أبو عبد الله محمد بن عبد الله اللواتي الطنجي بن بطوطة‎, ʾAbū ʿAbd al-Lāh Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Lāh l-Lawātī ṭ-Ṭanǧī ibn Baṭūṭah), or simply Ibn Battuta (ابن بطوطة) (February 25, 1304 – 1368 or 1369), was a Moroccan explorer of Berber descent.[1] He is known for his extensive travels, accounts of which were published in the Rihla (lit. "Journey"). Over a period of thirty years, Ibn Battuta visited most of the knownIslamic world as well as many non-Muslim lands. His journeys included trips to North Africa, the Horn of Africa, West Africa and Eastern Europe, and to the Middle East, South Asia, Central Asia, Southeast Asia and China. Ibn Battuta is generally considered one of the greatest travellers of all time.[2] Taoistic Idiot on travelling about within and without the Path

I felt my clicking on the like button to be so woefully inadequate. I had to exercise my mastery of Ctrl C-V or its equivalent, to highlight too my losses and gains, Which amazingly mirrored whats copied and pasted above. My losses and gains which was only at back of my mind unformed and unworded until brought to life with words by Steve. Idiot stumbling about on the Path

From more on mind & tofu // Dommie at Omer//kitties// Riamfada and 3 turns on dime 888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888 Soya beans I saw this thread in "Think twice before feeding Soy Beans " http://www.greyforums.net/forums/showthread.php?190576-Think-twice-before-feeding-Soy-Beans I continued and last letter below aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa >^..^< To the only person that I know here that could not be written with the 26 characters of the alphabet. I thought this thread had ended with tarm doing a steak for me and I bringing the beer. I had to come back on some of the inaccuracies in your writing. My name is not revered. More accurately , I think I am regarded with some sort of fascinated horror as a kind of heretical madman who needed to be tarred and feathered. Only question is if thats to be done now and then, or all the time. I was cute , very cute in my toddling days. Not that anymore. In a dark night, if good folks are caught between me and a fragrant tofu stall, they turn and walk towards that stall. The arguments against soybean/tofu rested on its estrogen content and phytates. When I first entered this thread, I felt like a bumble-bee buzzing into a symposium of theoritical experts expounding away with calculations and graphs proving to beyond shadow of doubt that bumble-bee just cannot fly. Yet there I was flying about their charts, bodies and clipboard not knowing that I could not fly at all. The estrogenic ickky stuff, causing low sperm count, little or no sex drive, should have caused the Chinese and East Asiatic races to have faded away. The East Asiatic people is among the largest component of the human race despite supposedly having the low sex drive and low sperm count from the evil soybeans. Unless they take the fermented tofu, which alas, to those without elevated taste buds, might well prefer the curse than the cure. The estrogenic iccky stuff is also supposed to cause breast tissue to form. I find it fascinating that Chinese women seemed to have about the smallest breast sizes in the world. When I was in Taiwan, the amount of adverts hitting the air on how to increase the bosom of your girlfriend, or to the women on how to prevent the boyfriend from wandering away, flogging potions made from bananas, snake oil , and everthing else but soyabeans. Westerner women were the rage in the East. More for their lungs and not for the looks. I could not believe those Westerner women had a fetish for eating tofu burgers and tofu hotdogs. With all the unfermented tofus with estrogens in them, the saddest part of that is Chinese women have the least oogle-able bosoms. The phytates article in Wiki is not a contentious issue. Some topics in Wiki are so contentious that what you see there depends on who decided to edit there last. At any rate, it was clear lots of other food stuff contained enough phytates even if tarm and I could not exactly agree on which got what. We agreed washing and soaking and washing and soaking get those stuff away sufficiently. I love to take up your offer on steak when I am in your part of the world. http://www.sfweekly.com/2001-07-18/d...ch-of-success/ gave explicit directions to that restaurant in San Francisco that served that delectable tofu. After that steak with you, I will go with you to that fragrant tofu restaurant to let you know if they kept the standard up or toned that down for the Americans. In Taiwan and Hongkong there are so many fragrant tofu stalls. Not all are the same. The best I ever had was in Chiayi city where I stayed a couple of years with Tinkerbell and been back to even more years to be with my sweet Tink again. That fragrant tofu tasted so delicious and meaty that you would have sworn it must be made from Kobe beef and the Spanish black pig combined together. That stall could be smelled not just across the road, that stall could be smelled down the road as well. Extracted from Tinkerbell Summertime2011 -Being with her Part 1 // 30th June - 2 July 2011 aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa Later that evening, we went to the stinking tofu shop that could be smelled down the road and not just across the road that I spoke about in Soya beans// Feather Plucking //Alcohol http://shanlung.livejournal.com/118404.html more on mind & tofu // Dommie at Omer//kitties// Riamfada and 3 turns on dime http://shanlung.livejournal.com/118669.html Proud owner 35NT a portion My enjoying every bit of it at Mrs Yu father house nearby. Recently in an episode of Andrew Zimmern in his Bizarre Food program, I laughed despite my cracked ribs when I saw him gagging and defeated by the wonderfully delicious stinky tofu that he tried in Taipei. I bet what I had in Chiayi was a lot more fragrant, and even more delicious. Idiotic Taoist munching on tofu and still horny like hell despite the tofu

Piece of cake for a Taoist who is Idiotic Taoistic Idiot and Maestro in Ctrl-C and Ctrl-V

I recall a posting by Rene made many years ago which is valid and should be in this thread. Especially as she quoted from one of my favourite author, and my chief guide and guru on this Path, and his Mentor Tseng Lao Weng. I will leave you to decide if breathing and wheezing like asthmatic dragons and with chi here and there and other magical stuff thedaobums.com/topic/16408-is-your-method-really-working/ aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa There is a great little book written by John Blofeld, who visited China in the 1930's and 40's - researching Buddhism - and Taoism. After commenting to a Taoist recluse in the White Cloud Monastery that "...of the many wise hermits encountered during my wanderings, the few who had betrayed signs of being, as I fancied, closest to illumination had almost all been Buddhist." - the recluse wondered if even one of them surpassed the Taoist recluse known as Tseng Lao-weng. Arrangements were made for Blofeld to meet Lao-weng, what follows is part of their conversation. *** "Venerable, it is just that, as most of my teachers are Buddhist, I am ignorant about what Taoists mean by such terms as wisdom and illumination, and about their methods of approaching the Tao." He laughed. "How strange. Can there be two kinds of wisdom, two kinds of illumination, Taoist and Buddhist? Surely the experience of truth must be the same for all? As to approaching the Tao, be sure that demons and executioners, let alone Buddhists, are as close to it as can be. The one impossible thing is to get a finger's breadth away from it. Do you suppose that some people are nearer to it than others? Is a bird closer to the air than a tortoise or a cat? The Tao is closer to you than the nose on your face; it is only because you can tweak your nose that you think otherwise. Asking about our approach to the Tao is like asking a deep-sea fish how it approaches the water. It is just a matter of recognizing what has been inside, outside and all around from the first. Do you understand?" "Yes, I believe I do. Certainly my Buddhist teachers have taught me that there is no attaining liberation, but only attaining recognition of what one has always been from the first." "Excellent! Your teachers, then, are true sages. You are a worthy disciple, so why brave the bitter cold to visit an ordinary old fellow? You would have learnt as much at your own fireside." "Venerable, please don’t laugh at me! I accept your teaching that true sages have but the one goal. Still, here in China, there are Buddhists and there are also Taoists. Manifestly they differ; since the goal is one, the distinction must lie in their methods of approach" "So you are hungry not for wisdom but for knowledge! What a pity! Wisdom is almost as satisfying as good millet-gruel, whereas knowledge has less body to it than tepid water poured over old tea-leaves; but if that is the fare you have come for, I can give you as much as your mistreated belly will hold. What sort of old tea-leaves do Buddhists use, I wonder! We Taoists use all sorts. Some swallow medicine-balls as big as pigeon's eggs or drink tonics by the jug, live upon unappetizing diets, take baths at intervals governed by esoteric numbers, breathe in and out like asthmatic dragons, or jump about like Manchu bannermen hardening themselves for battle - all this discomfort just for the sake of a few extra decades of life! And why? To gain more time to find what has never been lost! And what of those pious recluses who rattle mallets against wooden-fish drums from dusk to dawn, groaning out liturgies like cholera-patients excreting watery dung? They are penitents longing to rid themselves of a burden they never had. These people do everything imaginable, including swallowing pills made from the vital fluids secreted by the opposite sex and lighting fires in their bellies to make the alchemic cauldrons boil. I shall have to talk of such follies for hours, if you really want a full list of Taoist methods. These method-users resemble mountain streams a thousand leagues from the sea. Ah, how they chatter and gurgle, bubble and boil, rush and eddy, plunging over precipices in spectacular fashion! How angrily they pound against the boulders and suck down their prey in treacherous whirl-pools! But, as the streams broaden, they grow quieter and more purposeful. They become rivers - ah, how calm, how silent! How majestically they sweep towards their goal, giving no impression of swiftness and, as they near the ocean, seeming not to move at all! While noisy mountain streams are reminiscent of people chattering about the Tao and showing-off spectacular methods, rivers remind one of experienced men, taciturn, doing little, but doing it decisively; outwardly still, yet sweeping forward faster than you know. Your teachers have offered you wisdom; they why waste time acquiring knowledge? Methods! Approaches! Need the junk-master steering towards the sea, with the sales of his vessel billowing in the wind, bother his head about alternative modes of propulsion - oars, paddles, punt-poles, tow-ropes, engines and all the rest? Any sort of vessel, unless it founders or pitches you overboard, is good enough to take you to the one and only sea." The secret and the sublime: Taoist Mysteries and Magic ~ John Blofeld Idiotic Taoist happy to know he never left the Path and the Path never left him

Oh no! Not another load of crap about the badness and evilness of soy beans. Let me plagiarise from what I wrote a few years belore in 2010 and obviously still applicable here Mentality of parrot // Soya beans// Feather Plucking //Alcohol that extract 888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888 Soya beans I saw this thread in "Think twice before feeding Soy Beans " http://www.greyforums.net/forums/showthread.php?190576-Think-twice-before-feeding-Soy-Beans Where Tarm quoted a paper on the evils of soya beans and that luckily the fermentation process was discovered by Chinese 2000 years ago which could remove those poison. I felt compelled to enter. aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa I almost feel embarrased in entering this thread. By all the accounts posted such as, Originally Posted by tarm In men gynocimastyia sp? Which is formation of breast tissue in men. Sterility, lower testosterone, loss of sex drive. Fat accumulation. Enlarged prostate. I should not have existed to write a reply. Considering soy has been in the diet of Chinese over the last 3 thousand years, the cumulative impact on Chinese and other people such as Koreans and Japanese, we all should have faded away and dwindled to nothingness. Yet, there might be 1200 millions of Chinese in the world. There might have been more, but Beijing restricted their Chinese to just one child. 130 million Japanese do exist too. And 75 million Koreas. Or 1400 million tofu and soya bean eaters in the world Those researchers who wrote all those stuff must have a hard time explaining that. I saw they all decided it must be because Chinese ferment tofu and abacabra! the Chinese saved themselves from extinction! Fermented tofu and byproduct do exist. Largely as soya sauce. Soya sauce is just a sauce. Miso paste is a kind of 'condensed' soya sauce. But those ferment soya is such a tiny part of the diet. But perhaps miracles do exist where those tiny amount of fermented soya went on to save the Chinese and other East Asiatic race from extinction and fading away. Fermented soya also exist as fermented tofu. The other name for fermented tofu is 'Smelly tofu' or 'Stinking tofu' Eating Smelly tofu is an acquired taste. I love eating Smell tofu as it is so delicious. The tofu is fermented to make it delicious and not because Chinese realised soya bean is poisonous and fermenting it takes away the poison. The vast majority of Chinese hate smelly tofu with a vengence. They eat the regular unfermented tofu. Westerners might like cheese. How many Westerners can stand blue cheese? Blue cheese smell like roses in comparison to the Stinking tofu. And why are there so few chinese who love Smelly tofu? Surely, those who love poisonous unfermented tofu should have lost their sex drive and have lot less offsprings than those who ate the fermented smelly tofu? Surely, the current Chinese race should be loving the smelly tofu if only smelly tofu allows them and their forefathers to procreate? Isnt that standard Darwin principle? Or I gotten that wrong? Its long known that unprocessed soy beans is poisonous. The standard way is to soak and wash , soak and wash repeatedly soy beans before cooking. This is what I have been urging since 2003 when I wrote on Tinkerbell Mash. I do believe enough photos of Tinkerbell, Yingshiong , and Riamfada are available to see their state of health after all the years on Tinkerbell Mash. I do not believe any commercial parrot pellets that use soy beans would do what I have done. A 3 days and 3 nights of soaking and washing of the soy before the cooking. Morning with Harry & the decision// Sultan of Oman Palace// Tinkerbell Mash Batch 7 http://shanlung.livejournal.com/109957.html But what do commercial parrot pellets makers care? Didnt they use stuff like Ethoxyquin , originally used to preserve rubber , BHT/BHA , petroleum products , Propylene Glycol, de-icing fluid for airplanes to enable long shelf life for their pellets? So excuse me for writing. I should not have existed together with the hundred generation of my ancestors because of the evil poisonous soya bean we have been eating over the last 2000 years and more. Neither do 1,200 million chinese could have existed. Especially when most of them hate the Smelly Tofu. I have not known of a single Japanese who love Smelly tofu. Do continue on this worthy discussion as if I never came here to write. aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa Followed by Quote Originally Posted by Birdnut @Shanlung: Your post cracked me up. Thanks for sharing this alternative viewpoint. Certainly no one can say that your birds have not been in excellent health. It sounds like you do agree that it is probably best to avoid the commercial products with soy, as surely they do not have the knowledge and have not taken the care to prepare the beans properly as you describe. But why do you need to worry about the commercial parrot food lack of preparation of their soya beans ? Should not one be even more worried of the icky stuff that they used to have long shelf life? Ethoxyquin , originally used to preserve rubber ? Butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) ? Butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT)? Propylene Glycol, de-icing fluid for airplanes? While unprepared soya beans are bad, I am a lot more paranoid on the above! Go make your own mash aka Tinkerbell Mash and you have no need for all the worries. You then have more time to smell roses instead. aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa And yet another from me. There was a recent attempt by a group in Hongkong to ban the sale of Stinking tofu. That ban failed. Stinking tofu fans may not be that many, but all converts are die hard converts. Just that you know, you need to bring blue cheese near your nose before you can smell the blue chess. You can smell stinking tofu stall from across the road! Never mind how many lanes that road is (6 lanes in Taipei if you want to ask but dare not ask) Unkind wicked people of un-elevated taste swear stinking tofu can be smelled upwind of the stall. Those writers of 'fermented' tofu have never been anywhere near a stinking tofu (fermented tofu) stall in China, or Hongkong or Taiwan. Or even talked to any Chinese and if they eat fermented tofu before they wrote of fermented tofu/soya bean saving the chinese race. Folks here might think I exaggerate on how bad fermented tofu smelled like. I love this dish with all my heart and I found I was mild in that description as knowing how delicious fermented tofu is the smell, at least in my nostril, is wonderful as the precursor of enjoying that in my mouth and soul. I checked on the web and was fascinated by the description by others http://www.sfweekly.com/2001-07-18/dining/the-sweet-stench-of-success/ How stinky could it be? As it turned out, pretty stinky. It was a stink that could make other stinks recoil in horror, a stink so mean it could beat a man senseless, drink his whiskey, then run a marathon through manure in his best suit. It was so dense we could almost see it hovering over our table during the brief period we spent acquainting ourselves with stinking tofu. and http://www.ellenskitchen.com/faqs/stinkytofu.html Stinky tofu (also known by its Chinese name, Chou Dofu), a fermented tofu dish which has a very strong acrid odor, is sometimes politely called "fragrant tofu". Its smell has been described as "baby poo," "hellacious" and "sharply foul". Tourists in Taiwan or Hong Kong who follow their nose have no trouble locating a stinky tofu stand � street hawkers who sell it have been fined for breaking air pollution laws. . . . Like the most fermented European cheeses, stinky tofu makes an unforgettable impression; non-native eaters find it either exotically tasty or unbearably repugnant. Twice-fermented stinky tofu, chou doufu ru, makes even stinky tofu smell good. Even many native eaters can't stand the smell. aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa And another of my letter judygram :-) Jayd, I remain very good friends with folks that regularly clipped their birdies. It is not necessary to do the same thing and think the same way to be friends. That will be a boring world. We will remain friends even if you run screaming and gagging away should we approach a fragrant tofu stall. During the time I was in Taiwan and Hongkong, never once could I get any of my expat friends to pop one piece into their mouth or even getting near one of those stall. They cross the road to walk on the other side. I find it sad they never will experience one of the most tasty and yummy dish in the world. Do resist the urge to run away and try just one tiny little piece should you come across those stalls. You will be a die hard convert after you experience that gastronomical delight. Tarm, I do not know of USA and the fetish there for soya burger or soya hotdogs . I guess thats part of Vegan mythology. I am a carnivore and love meat and to sink my teeth into those succulent meat dripping with juice. That said, one close friend of mine is a Jain where Vegans are considered as closer to being a carnivore. Yet we are friends. I am a carnivore as I have this aversion to hearing the tomatoes scream with pain when the knife cut into them or peas squealing for mercy when forked into the mouth. Soaking, germinating, washing and soaking and washing and soaking removed much of the phytate. I had been advocating this, and have been doing this in Tinkerbell Mash since I started in 2002 and not just on the soya beans. Fermentation to soya was done to change and improve the taste. 2000 years ago, no one would have known what is a phytate even if that came marching down the street with a huge brass band. As for that evil phytate, a lot of food stuff contains phytate, and not as if soy bean is the only evil one. I am no expert. There are enough experts plaguing us with their thousands of papers. In the early days when I stood almost alone in the parrot world publicly flying Tinkerbell, experts of all sizes and shapes came running along to declare what travesty of parrot caregiver I was to allow Tink to fly. That they are 'experts' were enough argument for them. Even more 'experts' came to tar and feather me when I advocate taking your parrot out on harness and leash in the early days. Allowing birdie to fly and to take them out safely in harness and leash is so routine nowadays. The world financial meltdown were brought about by another bunch of 'experts' with even more PhDs and affiliations. We the laymen all over the world are good for nothing and good only to bail them out. I am a student but I do like to think I am a well informed student. Extract From wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phytic_acid Phytic acid (known as inositol hexakisphosphate (IP6), or phytate when in salt form) Food................... [% minimum dry] [% maximum dry] Sesame seeds flour .....5.36 .................5.36 Brazilnuts ................. 1.97 .................6.34 Almonds ................... 1.35 ................ 3.22 Tofu ........................ 1.46 ................ 2.90 Linseed...................... 2.15................ 2.78 Oat Meal .................... 0.89............... 2.40 Beans, pinto................ 2.38 ................2.38 Soy protein concentrate 1.24 ............... 2.17 Soybeans ....................1.00 ................2.22 Corn ...........................0.75 ................2.22 Peanuts ......................1.05 .................1.76 Wheat flour ................. 0.25 ................. 1.37 Wheat ........................ 0.39.................. 1.35 Soy beverage............... 1.24................... 1.24 Oat ........................... 0.42 ...................1.16 Do notice the tofu , or precipitated soya bean that those experts said removing the phytates have more of that then the beans. Luckily I love the fermented stinky tofu. I and all who feed our birdies with brazil & almond nuts have even more phytates that soya. Why is there a campaign against the phytates in soya beans and not a campaign against feeding of brazil and almond nuts? Do we have to cook the brazil and almond nuts before we eat them or give them to the birdie? Note food stables like corn and wheat. The phytate in them are just marginally less than in soya. But folks do eat hell of a lot more of corn and wheat than soya in burger or soya hotdog. Is the phytate in corn and wheat different from soya ? I was thinking of taking a photo of my chest to show my breast look very normal. But I think the mods here would scream and kick me out for doing that. I thought also my fondness for stinky tofu disqualifed my breasts to be shown either. I know you wrote in good faith doing the best that you think you can for your birdies and for all other birdies. I am doing the same too. Warmest regards Shanlung aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa The thread ended amicably. Tarm confessed to being a carnivore too. I accepted his invitation for a steak dinner and to clink glasses of beer together should I be in his part of the world even if we do not agree on soya beans. 888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888 Idiotic Taoist munching on tofu and still horny like hell despite the tofu

It is just so beautiful. I accept her claims that she was in mental rapport with the beasties and that she walked and played with them as an equal among equal. giving them the courtesy and respect as fellow sentients. Idiotic Taoist

I somehow missed this thread entirely. Must have been during one of those 76 -86 hours work week in Riyadh where I barely have time to drink when hungry and eat when thirsty or something like that. I am glad it got kicked up to be seen by me now. Fragments of earlier memories of Taiwan Why I am a Taoist? . Above will relate how I met a Taoist Immortal , or a Taoist Immortal met me, one day in Ray Fang, a little village in Northern Taiwan on a wind swept and rain swept typhoon day. Who spoke right into my mind. And influence events even more crazy than merely speaking into my mind. He did not try to convert me to Taoism and not a word of Tao was uttered by him. His silence on Tao was a lot more eloquent than pulpit standing bible thumping brimstone throwing preachers I met. (extract from above) I am now a Taoist, a simple Taoist. The meeting of that monk was that turning point. He never said he was a Taoist or even tried to convert me. For those who wondered just what is Taoism, Taoism is the Zen in Zen Buddism. ( what highlighted in bold written for my birdie and beastie friends who have no idea of Taoism , which I know it futile to explain , but have some inkling or heard of Zen Buddhism) Idiotic Taoist and his fragments of memories

Perhaps nothing to do with the Tao. Or what you get from training to be with the Tao. But on the other hand, since none of us are able to say where the Tao is not, perhaps I was with the Tao then. And even though I am back in Riyadh as from yesterday, I never left the Tao. But talking of poppies in field of Flander, there I was, at the very spot where John McCrae sat and penned his canticle to poppies. In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below. And sitting next to a clump of poppies blowing about in the wind. Even if the larks did not feel like singing then. But neither were guns going off. Then I was back again in Amsterdam. At Max Eweplein playing chess Under gigantic Latin words HOMO SAPIENS NON URINAT IN VENTUM Quite likely an admonishment to chess players for wasting so much time and energy on chess (Above are old photos taken when I was there and reported in) HOMO SAPIENS NON URINAT IN VENTUM But how to play chess seriously when such things like below were going on in bar/cafe just next to the place where we played chess. We both adjourned the game and with other chess lovers, went to watch antics going on in the bar. I cannot say I felt closer to the Tao then, but neither did I feel to be further from the Tao. And a pair of tits look the same as other pairs of tits even if they too embodied the Tao. So we went back over 64 squares to zombie out over kings queens knights pawns and rooks. snip snip snip snip/ censored censored folks got to rely on memory on what distracted me from the chess game. I never thought of asking her permission as I never thought of posting that photo of her here. I never thought of what my fingers will do when I sit down in front of keyboard as the message will take shape only when typing. But I got asked if I got that lady permission which I sadly not thought of asking her as I went back to that 64 squares. So before she wander into daobums and complain my flaunting of her tits here , therefore I got to take that photo down. After all, as said, one pair of tits look like other pairs of tits. You do not miss much. And if you miss that, rely on your memory of what I posted. snip snip snip snip/ censored censored Idiot who love Taoistic poppies, and tits now and then.

I hope my own taiji experience can shed some light as to whether I get killed. Extract from a thread in this forum http://thetaobums.co...n-styles/page-4 My take on taijichan as martial art and another attempt to explain fajing Taijichuan martial arts I know folks might just want to do taijichan as an exercise. Nothing wrong at all with that. BUT they must do it with a Master who know taijichuan as a martial art. I make a further distinction. That Master must truly know taijichan as a martial art and not his interpretation of martial aspects of taijichuan. Taijichuan is not just waving and moving slowly of legs and arms. That is nothing but a parody of something truly profound. Almost like looking at the Ecce Homo restoration by Cecilia Gimenez and thinking that was what Ecce Homo by Elias Garcia Martinez all about. Taoistic Idiot

That too! But always in moderation . be it drink, eat or anything else. Must be in moderation with balance of Ying & the Yang. Will be the way of a reasonable Taoist Taoist on an Idiotic search for the Tao

I just want to drink when thirsty and eat when hungry Taoistic Idiot

Greetings from Amsterdam where I am in and will remain over the next 10-11 days. But 3 days will be in Ypres where I can pay respects to those that never grow old and where poppies blow over Flander's field., Hairs growing back and strong and black! Toe nails mucho stronger and harder and firmer! Seeing colors in rainbows and seeing even through what is most subtle! All that and more in following the Tao , or Koran or Torah, or Bhagahvad Gita or your favourite Guru/Sifu, even those with pointy elbows. Then I thought back again, to exhortations from many others better than me. That while they know of the supranatural that may happen on path of the Tao. Where hairs growing back and black and toenails mucho firmer or seeing through what is most subtle. They kept urging to ignore those chi in tantien or chi in longmaidumai and things more wonderous. There was this story of a dliigent tudi and on enabling himself to run on water, he ran on top of the river following the boat carrying his Sifu. He shouting to Sifu " Look ! I can run on water" . Sifu then laughed at him, " Learning and learning ten years just to save 2 coppers to be ferried across the river. To seek just those goals will then make those your goals. Running on top of water To grow hair again or toenails To have a more humourous wife Or to see the hidden behind the subtle Or to join that small crowd sitting on the Pillars of Creation Maybe still arguing the shape and size and taste of the Tao The Idiot on the Tao

I recalled seeing this thread on tea and tea drinking. Mentioned was in there of tea on mountains of Taiwan and the preparation of the tea there. Then a while ago, I came across an old photo I taken many years ago. With a group of tea pluckers of mountain tea in Taiwan in the background. I tried to search for that tea thread to insert that photo. Damnn! Just cannot find that thread. When there are roses to smell and images to conjure as to whats under the black abaya and hijab , and the rare Friday of the week, I cannot search anymore. So here is the photo of Taiwanese tea pluckers after their morning work. At Alishan mountain, on the way to LungYen (Dragon Eye Pavilion) http://www.shanlung.com/w9Volitionalrecall.htm (with some photos of tea gardens there) and Tinkerbell Revisited - Pavilion beyond Dragon's Eye once again. Idiotic Taoist - yearning for a cup of Wulung and sweet images of flesh and skin under the black

Not withstanding I had to leave Tinkerbell behind when I left Taiwan in 2004, I been back almost every year to see her. The last visit was in 2014 and recorded in Tinkerbell2014 . And in 2013, Tinkerbell2013 of course. I actually planned to go in June this year as well with my wife on my 11 weeks on/2 weeks off. My wife's company busy period is sadly in June and she cannot come with me. I told my friends in that last visit that the next visit will be with my wife. Since she cannot come, I am too embarrased to go myself alone this year. Which is why come friday 5 May, I will be flying off to Amsterdam yet again for my pork chop and my beer there. My wife too busy to join me. Idiot on the Path

I could not see that video. My VPN proxy got too slow for me to try to see that. I can imagine the maker of that video tried to show a very ugly side of folks, who should not even be allowed to keep dogs or cats , and keeping parrots. I believe that anyone who keep a beastie, and especially a birdie, must treat the birdie with the courtesy and respect due to an intelligent sentient. Not only the physical needs to be taken care of. In that good healthy food and water , and good clean and big enough environment provided. Not those sick advice from EXPERTS that as long as the wings do not touch the side of cage, the cage is big enough. And IN ADDITION , the mental and emotional needs of the birdie must be satisfied. If not, those people should keep a Norwegian Blue or a teddy bear. Idiotic Taoist