GrandmasterP

Aldi dark chocolate is really good and much cheaper than most brands.

I once read a story about the Greek philosopher Socrates that highlights the point well. The story goes that whilst Socrates was sitting outside the gates of the ancient city of Athens, a traveller approached him and expressed an interest in moving to the city. As part of the conversation the traveller asked, ‘What are the people like here?’ In response Socrates asked, ‘How do the find the people in your own town?’ The man responded, ‘I’ll be glad to get away from them – they’re all backstabbers and thieves!’ With a look of sympathy and regret Socrates told the man that Athens would be a poor choice for a relocation because he’d find that everyone was exactly the same there. Later the same day, another man approached Socrates and similarly asked about the virtues of moving to Athens. Again, Socrates asked the man, ‘What’s it like where you live now?’ The man responded, ‘If I move away I’ll be leaving many friends. Everyone in my town goes out of their way to help one another – cooperation, kindness and respect are part of the culture there.’ Socrates smiled and said, ‘Welcome to Athens – you’ll find everyone’s just the same here.’

There's a whole 'orgonite' cottage industry out there. Those guys sell for big bucks. Somebody must be buying. Rabbi Lionel Blue ( media radio-rabbi, author and all round nice guy in the UK; now retired) in his autobiography describes his entirely positive experiences with a Reichian therapist.

Has to be dark chocolate for me. Milk choc just does not do it.

Welcome to TTB freeone and student. Who is 'mastering' what? How? Why?

The only bitch round these parts is a cocker spaniel and she's really cute. She can be a little devil sometimes though. Especially around discarded socks. "Sock" in the language of cocker spaniels translates as 'chew toy'. :-)

Yes but he did have a great war record. ( Glenn Miller's Greatest Hits).

Match cancelled tomorrow. Torrential rain forecast.

Most forcefully. :-(

Page 67 "This is the reason we can accurately apply metaphor theory to ancient Chinese thought: people in Warring States China had the same bodies and basic embodied experience as modern people in North America, where metaphor theory developed." I tend towards not accepting that as a given.

Chocolate is a fruit. Fruit is good for you.

Orgone isn't Qi? When did that happen?

Really silly hats. Can't have a religion without really silly hats. That's the law. Religious Taoism wins hands down in the silly hat stakes.

Orgone is Qi. Reich ripped the idea off chapter and verse.

Otis Reading. He had soul. :-)

It doesn't work if one locks the car keys into the boot ( trunk) of the car. When that happened a disgruntled Mrs GMP had to drive to my workplace with the spare key. She has never ever forgotten.

Yes you are right. You see no difference here.

Harbouring resentments and plotting revenge, real or imagined; usually damages no one but the resentful plotter. I tend towards negotiation rather than confrontation. Been a union rep these 30 years and more past and never once called members out on strike.

I am one of those 'IA slackers'.Ya want any slacking done.... GMP ( Ye olde firm. Slackers to the Gentry. Est.1952) ... Then look no further. :-)

"In what can be called traditional Zen the gateless gate is Mu (no). Mu is the formidable barrier of the Gate of Zen. Backing up a little, we are to ponder Zen master Joshus Mu which was a response to the question, Has a dog the Buddha-nature? We are to transfer our entire being into this one word so that we might see the hua-tou, which is pure Mind before it is stirred by Mu, from which Mu came to be our barrier and will eventually disappear back into the hua-tou. Sound too esotericnot what you expect Zen to be? I understand. If we wish Zen to help us psychologically we might decide to go to a Soto temple a few miles away. Maybe it can help us to deal with our psychological frustrations, not to mention, at times, our emotional pain. We might learn Dogens strategy which consists of four points of view. 1. Non-calculating or non-pondering 2. Just sitting with correct bodily posture 3. Dropping off body and mind 4. Just sitting or shikantaza With a good teacher these four points can be expanded so that practicing them on a daily basis will bear fruit, perhaps enough to take the edge off ones immediate psychological problems, provided they are not too deep. Of course this is not going to permit us to answer Mu, so that we might pass through the gateless barrier old Joshu set up for us. This requires an entirely different attitude, one which has a sixth sense, so to speak, for the profound (yes, the esoteric) and also possesses a heaven soaring spirit that is willing to tackle what seems almost impossible; sticking with it for years if necessary. No quick fix here. Here we can see two Zens. (Yes, you can take your pick.) One is the traditional Zen which is totally mystical and one which is oriented to psychology, trying to help people cope with their stressful lives which are the result of many things, for example, wanting too much or lacking self-control." ( Thanks to Dark Zen blog earlier this week).

Thanks Ken, I stand corrected.

Did you assume that? Apologies if that was the impression conveyed as such was unintended. A good teacher is there to teach, encourage and correct where and when one is learning. A book or DVD can't do that. You'll perhaps have noted my comments as to lineage elsewhere. In brief.. Cultivation is not a belief it is a practice. Reputable teachers are recognised other than self-referentially. All quacks are self referential, most lineage holders are not but some are as they create and authorise one another to create their own dubious lineage. Hence 'lineage' is a sticky term. Our fundamentalist Buddhist ( for one example) chums who really need to believe in something believe in lineage as some sort of magical woo. For them a piss head like Trungpa was still a wonderful teacher because he held lineage. Anywhere else the guy would have been sacked as a teacher because he was generally drunk off his face when teaching and was less than gentlemanly and worse towards some young women students. That's one extreme of lineage. On the other hand an accredited 'line' of teachers within a long established school and subject to the ethical precepts , training and quality assurance of that school's line - may not be seen as a 'valid lineage' by the sorts who think lineage is magical woo ( it isn't). I don't think that it is and prefer 'accreditation' to 'lineage'. I'm accredited by the Chinese organisation linked to in my sig. That, to me; means something and it also means that my students are taught and receive accredited qualifications by and from an authorised body. They know what they are getting and the awards are 'portable' and internationally recognised. No biggie in one way but what sort of degree does a patient want to see? Something from a bogus 'college' situated above a kebab shop saying that the holder is a 'Doctor' or something from an accredited medical school. These dime store diploma guys can and do simply print their own and their learners 'qualifications'. There's neither peer review nor independent quality assurance. Ultimately if you need to believe in something mystical then mystical-lineage is probably as good a thing to believe in as is any other mystical-woo and serves equal purpose. None at all beyond the narrow confines of those 'true believers in woo'. Hope that helps.

Loved that " fishy guys here on TTB.", MH excluded of course, he's genuine and his fish are Koi carp. Quacks is a maybe politer and more accurate for the nostrum slingers. If the bogus 'medical' dime store 'doctors' on here and elsewhere weren't potentially dangerous they'd be merely contemptible. Having a real teacher there with you beats any and all solo efforts attempted via books or DVDs.

Sod's law here. Stopped raining, sun shining and I'm off to work soon. Grrrrrrrrrr. We don't get much fungal disease here apart from potato and tomato blight, some years worse than others.

MMA rocks. A good MMA player will kick the erse of most purists. That argument has been fought and won time and time again. Cultivation though... Fess up ( talking-to myself here not criticising anyone on here and have no right to).... Most IA students don't even cultivate one form a fraction as much as a purist MA player cultivates and trains. Every day, every week the MA player cultivates their form. They turn up to dojo and sweat. The IA guy is in his apartment either doing it or more generally not doing it, very little application generally no teacher hence far less motivation than the dojo-goer with a teacher. The MMA pros work even harder than the purist MA players work - cos in MMA they have to train loads of styles not just one. Now, in comparison; your average internal cultivator just fecks about. A burst of enthusiasm to start with then less and less practice then switch to some new fad and so on. No way do most internal cultivators bring a fraction of the application to their form that even the laziest MA player still attending a dojo brings to theirs. Hence the 'best' IA cultivators, in my opinion; come into IA from MA and bring that MA mindset with them. Stickability.