GrandmasterP

Cities are awful though. We once lived in London. Good job, awful city. Since 2005 we've lived 'deeply rural' and it's nice but getting busier by the month with new builds springing up since they changed the zoning laws. Hence, all being well and before summer ends we'll have removed to deeply rural seaside. That way, at least on one side of the property, nobody ( without gills) can build new houses. Wherever we have lived we're the same people but a noisy environment impacts upon peace. For Mrs GMP and myself if we can only just see our closest neighbour's chimneys then that's plenty close enough. One thing I have noticed since living here in the boonies is that some city folk who buy a rural idyll hereabouts tend not to stay much beyond their first wet winter. We only get the two seasons - Warm and Mud. 'Mud' being by far the longest of those two seasons.

"That the birds of worry and care fly above your head, this you cannot change. But that they build nests in your hair, this you can prevent." ( Chinese Proverb and someone posted it on TTB today) Pretty good motto IMO.

In the UK medical doctors are registered and regulated by the British Medical Association. Nurses by the Generl Nursing Councils for England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. The HCPC regulates other recognised medical-related practitioners such as podiatrists. Dentists have their own council as do surgeons and opticians. There is currently no statutory regulation for 'complementary' medical practitioners, TCM for example. We do have the CNHC.. The Complementary and Natural Health Care Council. http://www.cnhc.org.uk/ Registration with the CNHC is currently voluntary however the CNHC is keen on seeking statutory registration for its members and lobbies/meets with the Department of Health towards that end. Right now in UK, anyone can set up a shingle claiming to be a therapist in something or other providing what they claim to be is not covered by one of those State recognised bodies. That's neither good for the complementary therapies profession nor for the patients.

Good call Reversed. Cultivation has to be done in order for it to be effective. Whichever cultivation suits you aim to cultivate it at the same time each day every day. Anything above that is a bonus but that core of disciplined daily cultivation is what sets the firm foundation for development. The reason why the majority of people don't succeed is that they become bored or flit to some other interest and neglect the cultivation. Ten minutes at the same time every day beats ten hours every now and again when the fancy takes. Once disciplined cultivation is ingrained, at that point - but not before; one can work on increasing the time. Baduanjin ( 8 Piece Brocade) QiGong can be worked in ten minutes for a slow steady set. That's easy enough to learn and great mental training to memorise the mnemonic for the moves. You can use it as a 'mantra' until it becomes part of you. There's a Baduanjin moves photo- set via my ( Chinese Health QiGong Association) sig link or you can find sets on youtube. Don't be phased by slight variations between what you see. That's down to history and lineage, they all work equally well so just pick the one that speaks to you and stick with it. I'd strongly advise starting out with a standing set, there's less to think about with that so you've more space to appreciate the developing effects. Warmest best wishes to you for every success. Keep at it and you'll succeed.

It's a co-ownership concern according to the website. The workers are the shareholders. That's a good corporate model. Equitable. If they are getting a living fair play to them. In that game you're only ever as good as your last gig and nothing travels faster than a bad rep. Hence if they are getting bookings then they must be delivering what their customers want. Most 'solutions' training providers are based around a distinct philosophy. Daniel Goleman's Hays Consultancy is one of the better known outfits. The Scientologists used to operate front training provider services under various guises but since the internet came in whistles can be blown so much faster than once was the case hence they stopped.

Now back in the day we had real Zen teachers. Of course back then we didn't call them Zen teachers we knew them as laundry guys. There was one down our street right by the five and dime. Now inventory meant something when I was a boy so that five and dime was a good store, you could buy hard candy taffy and even a plough if you needed one too. We never had a plough mind you. My father used to hitch up me and my brothers, your uncles Ken, Bob, Jobab and Ken Junior to an old wardrobe and we dragged that across the field. It did a pretty good job considering but it sure was heavy and those old rusty chains sure dug into your shoulders. You see, we were dirt poor. All we had was each other. Trouble was we detested each other. So ya see Zen teachers back then were real Zen teachers , they knew how to starch a collar I can tell ye! We only had the one collar to share between all us boys, That collar lasted us all through the Roosevelt administration. Now Roosevelt , or " Mister Chicken" as he was known back then was a..... ZzzzZZZzzzzzzzzz

I'm an old geezer. Sifu Grandpa Simpson is my mentor. Feel free to ignore these geriatric ramblings. They seek to signify nothing at all.

Meaningful boffing is the best remedy for sure. If all else fails then other avenues are sure to present. Your own body is your best teacher, work with it rather than against it. All things in moderation and be kind to yourself.

Boffing outside a relationship is just wrong, sad and, potentially; abusive. The idea being to find one's significant other and then boff away to your mutual hearts' content. Try TaiChi. Nine times out of ten you'll be the only guy in the class and all the lasses will have similar interests to you as far as cultivation goes. Yoga and TaiChi classes beat speed dating hands down plus you get to learn new cultivations.

Or that old standard... " Git off the stove mother. You're too old to ride the range."

+1 Celibacy is just wrong for "householders". It isn't especially healthy for a proportion of the ordained either as we can all see, should we care to peruse news media.

Slice anything as finely as you can, right down to sub atomic levels and beyond , there's still Yin and Yang at play and in constant motion. Hence there has to be both Yin and Yang 'at play' in all negative feelings. Wittgenstein to Popper on 'feelings' BTW ( Popper was furiously brandishing a poker at W at the time).... " Whilst we all have feelings Popper, sadly ; intellect is less equitably distributed."

Shirley Borderline She just has to be a Country singer. She'd have to cover these songs... Did I Shave my Legs for This? by Deana Carter (courtesy of Scott) Don't Believe My Heart Can Stand Another You. by Tanya Tucker (BMI).... Can't ya just hear that lonesome train whistle?

" This is how following the Tao changes followers of the Tao: not by whisking them off to a better world, but by teaching them how to see this one differently." (Chen XiYi)

The Magus of Strovolos http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Magus-Strovolos-Extraordinary-Spiritual/dp/0140190341/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1405285216&sr=8-1&keywords=the+magus+of+strovolos Got it 'used' for one penny plus postage from Amazon partners as it was mentioned by a poster here on TTB and sounded interesting. The overall style is very similar to The Magus of Java but it's better written. The author is ( or was) a sociology don on sabbatical from a US University researching the subject who was a Greek Cypriot healer and mystic with quite a following on Cyprus. Events reported seem mainly to have happened in the late seventies or early eighties of the last century. Worth a penny plus postage for sure and passed a pleasant sunny afternoon in the reading of it.

Flog it 7-8 followed by Storage Wars 8-9 ( two good shows for me to watch) and now Mrs GMP has NCIS 9 until 10 by which time this interminable footy contest should be at an end for another four years.

Head.... Wall Classic dualism. Lose the wall and save your head some pain.

Spot on Manitou. Good can come from bad in many unexpected and marvellous ways. Said it before. One tutor we had at uni was a mean, careless person who was always late to class and sometimes smelt of booze. She 'mislaid' some student projects, was tardy with what bit of marking she did do and when she did mark something nobody could decipher her comments. Absolutely useless she was and should have been sacked, but back then; that was a rare occurrence. Every week that semester she 'taught' us I learnt a bit more from that teacher how NOT to deal with students and those lessons have served me well.

"Anyone claiming to be 'enlightened' - isn't." ( Dogen) There are some nice folks over on batgap with some inspiring testimonies, but 'enlightened'? Maybe they are according to some definition of enlightenment that lives in their heads and seeks to communicate via words from their mouths. Thing is though it cannot be defined in words, ever. Is-ness just 'is'. That's all there 'is'. Try to define it and it dissolves.

"American back- formation from adulation" and still 'not a word' that would pass muster in the academy here. Student writes adulated, marker comments... " 'adulare'?- how so?" Still and all I'll give you the point TI as it's a 'grey' area over here whilst apparently not quite so 'gray' across the pond.

+1 Often the actual question implicit from the student to the teacher is.... "Please will you take responsibility for my life?" Effective teachers always answer no. Really effective teachers have lots of kind ways to say " No".

Organ donors maybe? The very thought makes me shudder, don't know if I could do that and hope that I never need to find out, but kudos to those who do give up an organ to save someone else.

YaMu's "intent" works for me. Our path encourages..... "Cultivating with intention for the benefit of others." Sounds altruistic but there's some "enlightened self interest" involved in that as well because a cultivator focusing intent upon another or others is less focused on her or his own 'self-centred' issues during the set.

Hello 4bsolute. Thank you for that post. If it's any comfort at all please rest assured that as you get older these current priorities of yours will shift. The world, along with the multiverse; is no doubt unfolding as it should. Chen XiYi the hermit reminds us in that poem of his..... "Be still like a mountain Rooted like a tree then move like water. Soft and supple, gathering Qi. As your movements flow... Search for the meaning of the Tao.. and follow its natural way." Hope that helps.

Thanks for sharing Jack. Adulated isn't a word BTW. That apart your English is quite good here but where does all that anger spring from do you think? Sharing your anger won't make it go away. Cultivation can do that.