Undecided

Primal diet? People in the US still get either very sick or occasionally die from eating raw/undercooked meat. And some of the bacteria in raw milk can also cause great harm to people with developing or weakened immune systems. Although pasteurization does take away some of the benefits of dairy... it also makes dairy safer for the general public to consume. Where do you get the info for: "Allergies are mainly caused by pasteurization." ? I have worked with many allergists who in no way are funded by "Big Dairy", yet would laugh hard at that statement. Allergies are often natural phenomenon. Grab a biology book. I am open to holistic and all natural habits to ween us from the often artificial diet that gets advertised to us. But "no thanks" to getting some nasty parasite and a lengthy hospital stay all because of playing russian roulette with a primal diet. Raw veggies.... sure. Raw dead critters.... not if you paid me. Dairy swarming with "all natural" wild things doing the backstroke... seems like a dangerous fad. We get enough immune-provoking bacteria from other sources already.

I am also trying to get better at using another language (Spanish) and am a big fan of the internet translation sites. Good luck with your English studies! As for learning about the Tao, I can agree with your description as being an onlooker. One can learn a lot by simply observing.

Tao to me? A mystery. I am not sure if I will ever recognize the tao for what it is, or if I will fall into the human fault of seeing what I want to see and calling it the tao. The only thing I can do is try to keep an open mind.

I worked in a Hematology/Oncology department for a few years, ending last Fall. Although blind faith in anything is rarely good, I trust the doctors and scientists that I worked with. There is no way any of them would give this linked book credit. I imagine laughter and a lot of rather rude words about the author would fill the hallways if I were to share the link. Fiber is no wonder cure. There is no wonder cure. But fiber is a major part of every omnivore's diet. (which humans are). Just as carbs are necessary for a healthy body. It is a shame that so many supposedly educated people try to profit by selling a very unnatural way of life. That goes for the writers pitching a fiber cure-all diet that has people stressed with too much fiber in their diet. How about individuals simply pay attention to their bodies and feed it accordingly. Short of fast food cravings, I think our bodies will give us enough clues to figure it out on our own.

Thanks all for the welcome! Dan Tian, You have given me much to think about. I appreciate that. Like many people, I have a fairly hefty amount of cultural/ideological baggage that I will have to work through before I can truly accept some ideas such as Qi. And I definitely am Western in the sense of looking at things scientifically. I think skepticism is something that childhood teaches most Westerners. But I try to have an open mind. I look forward to reading and occassionally participating in future threads here.

I have been lurking around this forum for a good while now and have decided to throw my hat in. I am intrigued by much of the philosophy of Taoism, but am unsettled by the ease in which Taoism can and has been used to keep people in servitude. And while I welcome the benefits of meditation and practice... I am not ready to except a key component of the religion in which the "chi" is the foundation. If forced to, I identify with Buddhism more... but very much the Western interpretation. So there are my cards. Likely there are a few members here that could state the same. Now I just need to sit down and begin my masterwork called The Tao of Border Law Enforcement. No doubt there is a publisher out there ready to cash in. I hope to contribute to future thread discussions.