GrandmasterP

The book's out Dave it's on Kindle already. Pretty good too. I could see it being useful in late-primary/ early secondary schools ( upper elementary in USA).

Which 'eternalism'? 1: Sassatavada - the dogma of unchanging being . Or 2: The academic philosophical approach to the ontological nature of time positing that all points in time are equally 'real'. Or 3: Positive belief in the eternity of the world. ....please define the term under discussion here otherwise confusion must arise. Many thanks.

Those low or no wind kites are really something. Here's a clip of a guy cultivating using one in a grove outdoors with natural sounds of bird calls and all. First vid on this page... http://www.awindofchange.com/product/flyingwings_aerobe_wala.html

Mmmmmm. Germans might have the edge there. I'll be glad when it's all over and telly gets back to normal. At least the sublime Tour de France is on now.

Best post on here so far Sheboar. Welcome to TTB.

It would have been nice for Brazil to win the cup IMO. 7-1 defeat was terrible. Read the reports in today's paper, hey've had riots and all sorts as a result of it by all accounts. I feel sorry for the Brazilian team, they'll get all sorts of flack for the rest of their lives. Presumably Germany will now play some other team in the final? Is that right?

For sure and Minke Whales get along really well with those otter- like creatures who are much valued for their fur. Gods alone knows who Sperm Whales get on well with. Retention thread posters on TTB maybe?

I've no evidence for this but like to think that 'our' cultivation energy is the same thing as universal energy. It's all Qi. BUT Our minuscule fraction of Qi is minuscule only because we're not equipped to deal with the big picture. "Potentially, each cultivator's Qi is the infinite Qi, non different as we're all part of the same 'big picture' it all being Tao. We can touch the edge of that infinite sublime indifference now and again. IMO those moments are what some call 'enlightenment'. ( Mistakenly IMO). I reckon those times are non- permanent fleeting insights into that mysterious 'big picture' that cannot be communicated by words.

The Christian 'Ecumenical Movement' grew from a Theosophist original proposal. FWBO- later-Triratna , that's Theosophist at root. Alan Watts Dad was the first secretary and Alan held office at their first London Buddhist Society, which was a Theosophical Lodge. The Liberal Catholic Church started out as a Theosophical initiative. Channelling and Ascended Masters plus 'Angelic' schtick... All Theosophist. For a small organisation the Theosophists were very influential. Not so much these days but maybe their job 'is done' in a way insofar as their core ideas are now accepted pretty much everywhere even where folks don't recognise the ideas they are boosting as being, originally; Theosophist ideas.

Bill Porter in his Chinese Hermits book meets lots of 'sagacious' hermits going about everyday activities. Walking down the mountain to fetch supplies. Cultivating their gardens. Picking tea. When he stops to shoot the breeze ( he is fluent in Chinese) those hermits are as likely to chat about the state of the weather and their cabbage crop as they are about profound subjects. For sure they all have their own cultivations and Bill asks them about what they do, why and how but outside of formal cultivation time the hermits are just going about everyday activities, albeit; usually on their own. All the hermits Bill came across were sociable and hospitable in company.

Nice thread topic. Kudos for starting it. I do a 'thankfulness' five-minutes each morning on awakening. Get to my age and each new dawn is a result.

Here in England when an aristocrat goes in for this sort of thing we call them 'eccentric'. Anyone else does it and we'll say that they're 'crazy'.

It's fair comment and CD's defined his terms so we should debate on and from those terms or start another thread using other definitions. Otherwise there's no constructive chat. We're just arguing about definitions. Let's work with what we have here and maybe use other approaches elsewhere. Take it away CD, what's your input as regards the force and direction of those two concepts in relation to cultivation? Are they in fact two separate and 'independently acting' concepts or might they be facets of one thing ( Tao for example)?

In Zen you hear. " X shaved his ( or her) head back in 1976 ( for example)" Whoever performs the head shaving ceremony on the recipient has significance as it identifies and reinforces the lineage 'tradition'. It can be a token 'shaving' with just a lock of hair snipped depending on the sect and if the person being 'shaved' is bound for ordination or to remain a 'householder'. Householders tend to keep their hair.

Because it MATTERS!

My pleasure.

Baby Olive ( black cocker puppy aged 9-weeks) joined us today and so far it is love at first sight. Old Mr Leo ( orange roan cocker) likes her. Miss Alice ( black cocker) has decided that Baby Olive is her own puppy. The Dowager Duchess Emily Catte ( a cat) has, so far; not eaten Miss Olive so that's looking good. Mrs GMP is enraptured and I am posting this outside on the lawn whilst Baby Olive eats one of my shoe laces. Click on the small image for a bigger version.

Baby Olive can do magic. She's just made a saucer of best-mince disappear!

Keep on liking your own posts there Jack. It's almost humbling to be in the presence of such an intrepid Dharma warrior as your good self. How ever could the Dharma possibly stand without your own striving? You go bro and all strength to you in that worthy striving of yours here on this TTB thread. " A sangha of one gets things done!" Respect!

Mr Leo and Baby Olive

Miss Alice and Baby Olive piccie 4pm today.

There's little that could pass for serious debate on here at all.This thread is a shooting gallery of positions taken and then defended. The Dzogchen boosters use their polysyllabic labels to bash the Buddhists and related trades one of whom makes counterstrikes by cutting and pasting yards of text lifted from his preferred reading, often without reference to source and generally transgressive of the spirit if not the law of copyright. Passing off the words and ideas of others whilst seemingly devoid of any meaningful contributions of his own. I call that the ' Dharma Wheel Gambit' as it's the default tactic of Dharma Wheel posters on some threads. Taoists, in general; think for themselves and can give account of what they think. Believers on the other hand can do nothing beyond copying us all in on those texts that tell them what to believe. Quite frankly, apart from the handful of 'true believers' on here who cut and paste interminably; there is limited interest in dogmatics. Religion, all of it; tends towards turning unanswerable questions into unquestionable answers. Believers need something to believe in but it's truly sad to see young men pinning their hopes and dreams upon dead words from deader texts or placing their trust in some - lama dama ding dong - snake oil salesman flogging 'transmission' for cash on the nail. Their best hope is that they might grow out of it and a better wish might be that they discover someone to hug who will hug them in return in order to fill the aching void of longing that is so clearly reified via their posts.

http://blavatskytheosophy.com/unity-of-the-worlds-religions/ Just posted that link elsewhere. Theosophy on the 'unity of world religions'.

That's a worthy project you have there AnnieeBubble and an interesting draft you linked to.All good wishes to you for every success as you progress towards completion. If you are aiming for KISS ( Keeping It Short n SIMPLE) then maybe stick to bullet points and key theories/ beliefs and avoid the digressions such as that Tony the Trainspotter story. Those stories might make another and slightly different book than a 'basics of world religions' guide. You'll have looked no doubt at what's out there already. Theosophy ( for one example) ploughs a similar furrow to your stated aims.... See here and related links..... http://blavatskytheosophy.com/unity-of-the-worlds-religions/ Hope that helps. Just found the Kindle version. 77p on Amazon UK so it's cheap enough to sell well. Well done you for finishing the book and then publishing it with all best wishes for mega sales.

Alan Watts too. Alan lived and died the Theosophist he was raised to be.