GrandmasterP

In 10 or 20 years they won't be young people anymore buddy. Things change. Inevitably. Cultivate and be less stressed man. Be well. :-)

Match ( away) cancelled. Torrential rain. Hey ho. :-)

You have learned well Grasshopper. :-)

Who owns the hotel?

Try this one MH it works here... http://www.forgottenbooks.org/download_pdf/Taoist_Teachings_from_the_Book_of_Lieh_Tzu_1000002797.pdf Thanks for the link BTW cobi.

I have no idea about the OP or comments above. One way or the other. Not a clue. I do think that outsourcing our thinking to quotes, texts or 'scriptures' puts us onto less than firm ground though.

Useless at night.

Pratchett's Long War first book was, to me; just Moby Dick: re- hashed. Very disappointing.

I'm more of a Brad Warner sorta guy as far as texts go. It's all 'some words', useful if we make it so. Seen you over there at Hardcore Zen now and again too Mark. Respect! Excellent posts you do.

This story finally made it into UK newspapers today. I've changed my ebay password already. Everyone should.

Walking in circles is a great way to 'find oneself'. ( Then move on).

Only in America eh! :-)

Yeah we kinda did that elsewhere too. There's tons of quotes from Masters from all sorts of paths along the lines of " CULTIVATE FFS!" I reckon there's enough out there recommending it in order to carry on doing it. Cultivating without any object is for sure, mainly; 'aspirational'. Having no agenda is an agenda in itself. Nu? Hence zen I suppose. Stuff doesn't have to make sense. :-)

Bleddy hell Cap. I wondered where you'd got to. Sent you a PM. Email these guys.... http://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/legal-rights/confidentiality-and-data-protection/ They have a visitor for Ladywell Unit.

Talking of tyres and bananas. True story. Firestone Tyres ran an advert in the UK many years ago before 'trading standards' became big business claiming that... "Firestone Tyres are a hundred thousand times tougher and far better across all terrains. FACT." Turns out their comparator to the test- tyre in the lab tests was a banana.

Absolutley first class book that is. Good searchable Zen Book Reviews over at Sweeping Zen. Type in the title or paste it across from Amazon and if there's a review of the book been done then it'll come up. They use top zennist book reviewers from all the zen traditions at Sweeping Zen. http://sweepingzen.com/category/reviews/books-reviews/

My motto when confronted by greater opposing force has always been.. " RUN AWAY! Really fast." :-)

Dunno who he was or his dates but that saying pops up in Rinzai Zen tradition Koan collections. Maybe he was a samurai who became a zennist. Thing is , to me ; Rinzai is a bit 'samurai'. All that whaling on poor sitters with a stick. Not my cuppa tea at all. Chan suits me best as there's more sitting doing sod all ( I'm good at that) and no whacking.

Chan's kept that method of no method.

A Taoist story tells of an old man who accidentally fell into the river rapids leading to a high and dangerous waterfall. Onlookers feared for his life. Miraculously, he came out alive and unharmed downstream at the bottom of the falls. People asked him how he managed to survive. "I accommodated myself to the water, not the water to me. Without thinking, I allowed myself to be shaped by it. Plunging into the twirl, I came out with the swirl. This is how I survived."

L&R Brain theory is interesting but it is 'theory'. Nothing we need to set much store by beyond mere curiosity. Shake head from side to side vigorously. Anything rattling? If answer 'No' then all is probably as it should be to the north of one's neck.

The master Getsuan said: "Keichu, the first wheel-maker, made two wheels. Each had fifty spokes. Suppose you cut out the hubs. Would there still be a wheel?"

When we articulate these phenomena of cultivation we , of necessity; objectify them. That's fine for discussion but counterproductive to effective cultivation 'whilst cultivating'. Cultivation dissolves wherever there is a strived- after 'target or object ' to doing it during those moments of 'doing' cultivation. That's 'grasping' IMO. Whatever may arise as a result of cultivation cannot be 'consciously created' by means of grasping after anything at all during cultivation.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Method-No-Method-Practice-Illumination/dp/B00DIKYBCW/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1400753075&sr=8-2&keywords=The+method+of+no+method+sheng+yen The late Chan Master Sheng Yen calls cultivation for its own sake. ' The Method of No Method'.

Here in the UK and generally across Europe in the academy a 'graduate student' is a graduate currently pursuing Masters studies and a 'graduate assistant' is someone who has completed Masters and is currently and actively being supervised towards attaining a PhD ( or EdD) . The theory being that the 'graduate assistant' is assistant to their Doctoral supervisor whose name, by tradition ; appears before the candidate's name on the eventual published thesis.Round these parts after the first ( Bachelor's) degree one has to be in possession of the 'qualification' above the one you supervise. The only reason my former employers totally subsidised and kicked my lazy erse towards completing an EdD ( an "Eddie") was so that I could supervise lucrative Masters candidates.