GrandmasterP

Man is my face red? Public and PM'd apologies to Opendao for that typo. It wasn't him that my deleted but repeated post was directed towards.

So far anyhoo. I can't think of one empire from history that hasn't failed. Big businesses seem to go the same way too but quicker.

All empires collapse eventually. It's what they are for.

He was Chinese though and Ch'an's just Taoism but without the silly hats.

Those confucians though! Total shower!

How do you guys get to know all this stuff? My brain has melted a bit just from reading it. If I tried to understand it my head would probably explode.

http://thetaobums.com/topic/7816-death-of-64th-celestial-master/ Prostate Cancer. They did finally accept a successor.

There's room for all sorts and conditions on TTB. It'll be nice to have a vampire perspective on here. Welcome.

Got it. Ta. That Tourettes is a puzzler. There was a first year in our refec shouting abuse at somebody a few tables away. Really effing and blinding at him she was. I tackle her saying.. " There's a time and a place and it's neither here nor now. Please moderate your language in the refectory." She replies... " F*ck off I've got Tourettes." Her mate at the same table chips in without missing a beat.... " She has you know, so f*ck off." Sometimes ya just gotta admit defeat.

Grrrrr. I was going to say 'shoe'. All hail the shoe of prophecy and power! We once had a lad in A&E whose girlfriend had hit him over the head with one of her stiletto heeled shoes. It was embedded.

Check out those lasses in the ringside seats at pro wrestling. It's the same at MMA bouts. Those lasses closest to the ringside are often scarier than the fighters in the ring!

"Sand with the grain" an old carpenter once told me. There's a lot of wisdom in that and not just relating to woodwork. Same guy taught me to... " Measure thrice, cut once."

Isn't 'normal' what people play at being when amongst acquaintances whereas we're different amongst close friends and loved ones. I know some seemingly buttoned up people at work who are right little ravers on the weekend and during vacations.

Apologies. Our path's not about 'self discovery', quite the opposite. I suspect we're trying to equate apples with bananas here. I suppose Teal's right insofar as if one wishes to be selfish then one needs to explore the self if only to locate it.

I didn't understand what that last one meant. My bad. What does it mean please? All the others I commented on in the main post under the original statements. For some reason that Eh? has appeared outside the box with the rest of my replies in.

Cracking post Satya and one that captures the current TTB zeitgeist . Kudos. FWIW and this is only a personal opinion. All these schools and praxes boil down to two sorts of cultivators. Those who do it and those who talk and argue about it. By and large the terminology and texts are describing the same processes. They just use different terms and concepts to describe the effects of praxis. Presuming that the reader is actually practising because no 'how to' text gives the full picture. All texts presume a teacher supplementing and filling in the gaps in the text. Simple example... A text is ambiguous and might have two or three interpretations - consequently the 'reader only' follower will choose their own interpretation and argue for it from what they have read. Now the reader who has a teacher can't fall into that trap because the teacher will say.. " Look this is how you do that" and then coach the student to success. Book learning only ever gets anyone so far and can lead to all sorts of confusion and dissent. Effective cultivation comes from actually cultivating with a teacher and all the 'written theory' stuff can come afterwards as 'added value' but not 'essential value'. Bill Porter in his book on Chinese Hermits met many illiterate hermits , but they were all top notch cultivators because they had been well taught.

Eh?

Mmmmmm. Bit of a recipe for selfishness IMO, but - each to his own.

I was thinking ... " Search horizon and clouds" try playing that on one leg and over ya go. Bump.

I can't think of a single Chinese monk who has ever died from cancer. That said I've never known any Chinese monks. Does Taiwanese count?

Bunny Boiler Def. See under Teal Swan.

Cultivation is a great pain management tool. It can take one's focus away from the pain which doesn't necessarily 'go away' but becomes less of an issue whilst cultivating. That said a broken leg in a cast ( for example) can hinder some forms.

Good call. I'm easy for open or anon. No biggie. Go Water!

I've seen HH the Dalai Lama suffering from a bad cold. He's about as Buddhist as anyone can get.

Sign of the times. I blame those twilight movies. In the old days vampires knew their place. ( Down in the cellar in a coffin during the day).