Songtsan

I guess what has been kicking around my head has to do with things such as Bodhisattva vows, Karma Yoga, virtuous acts, etc. But trying to make 'work' and 'play' united...really, every second is work, and every second is play (of form illusion). It all depends where you are coming from and what your story demands...if I have spent my life taking and taking, and then suddenly swing 180 and start giving, then that is balance...and vice versa. Did Mother Theresa ever take a vacation? Maybe she ought to have! Balance is probably key....root intent also matters most. To nurture oneself or others may be the same, as long as balance is maintained. Over express self/other focus = burnout one way or another...

Comparisons are real joy killers. Identification with subject/object dichotomies always creates that sense of incompleteness. There will always be something better than what you have right now if you think about potentials unfulfilled. Still, there is a way to steal potential without chasing after it. I also recommend Tibetan Buddhism. One can always approach optimizing all facets of life as if it is a duty and responsibility, vs. Self-centered approach with thoughts of name, fame or gain. If you can see outside and inside as the same, with nothing higher or lower, but striving to be virtuous whenever possible, just trying your best, how can your illusionary self feel lacking? Then, when you can, let that go....

Stay away from dem drugs MB! We like you in/sane!

New sect: AmeriDao

...if Lao Tzu knew that the land and water was being poisoned by wicked men, would he still have just walked off into the mountains?

I don't know!? But, is not the body of us all the body of one that we ourselves are? Isn't there a time to take action, in a non-action kinda way? If you were being attacked by a lion, should you not know and express the masculine and choose to become somewhat fierce?

I was thinking of big time celebratory money blow outs like cruises, honeymoons, etc...me personally, I'd be proud to earn some virtue by living simpler so others could simply live... But be creative, not try to emulate a saint, just think out of the box....

Interesting! I should try....thanks.

Http://www.Vanderbilt.edu/AnS/psychology/health_psychology/oxygen.htm

Dude, you rock! Holy shit!

@Perceiver: agree...I was mind communications that the intent was to simply shift into a more creative use of energy/time, while still having fun....work/play combined....

I think I should explain more: this is only a rant against mindless hedonism. Picture going to Nepal right now, and imagine taking the extra money you might spend in some exotic hotel or locale, riding around on elephants and getting massages, and instead maybe pick one desperate family in need and saying, 'Hey, we want to help you build a new house,' then you finance them with dem American dollars, get to learn Nepalese, live near them, make friends for life, play with their kids, and still go check out the local temples, sights every once and a while- with them as your tour guides! Have an amazing adventure, put it on YouTube, teach some kids some neat skills...I am sure it would be very fantastic....

Also, in India there are those wandering sadhus and avadhutas they like to call 'God intoxicated' - drunk on their own sublimated energies...the term 'ojas' is equivalent to jing...try brahmacharya lifestyle for a while and learn its advantages....just remember to stay calm and equanimous with all that bliss, or risk appearing 'crazy'

Say that to someone that loves to steal, or to harm others. Its never that simple.

Your own impetus will guide you that is true. First, know the root source of your suffering. Can you find it in a single moment? What do you find?

Keep coming here for good advice too. We may not be a formal Sangha, but you can still find many gems and pearls of wisdom if search among this Group Mind.

Isn't B.K. Frantzis somewhere near there?

Depends how old you are, and how much you can handle not sleeping and feeling like you are on speed. If proper relaxation is learned, one can keep the body in a relaxed, buttery, blissful state and walk around in dream-like trance states 24/7...walking Samadhi.

You should just buy a bag of popcorn at the store and pour it on your garden then! P.s. have you tried the Chuao chocolate bars with pop rocks in them?

Ideas are objects. Mind objects. When they become spread they are memes, little mind viruses. The clearest way to immortality that I can see is to try to spread exactly the memes that you want to be dominant in the minds of men. This will insure that regardless of where you are reborn, your ideas will reincarnate. Therefore, you will teach yourself down the road by the signs and symbols you have written. So only write what you want your future self to hear. In fact, try to take away any delusional things you have said to yourself when you were not so smart, literally! If you have posted bad information in the past, go back and correct it. The internet, should it survive, and everything on it be saved, shall now be our Akashic records of a sort, where our past lives have been chronicled...when you are reborn, you will probably be able to spot yourself through resonance! You will follow that persons' life and teachings and say to yourself, 'That person thinks just like me! I recognize that pattern of mind-speech!' So watch, as more and more people read the internet, eventually you will see this occur. This I do believe!

Mind is immortality. Forms are immortality. In a sea of beings, I see this one. For now.

Energy never dies, it just changes form. What really is mortal, than, if everything is energy? I, like you, shall never die.

What if we are all fallen angels, sent down from heaven to learn our lessons, cut off (mostly), from source?

What are you growing that makes popping sounds?

Also, try eating like this for a week or so and see if you like it: no preplanned meals, just have a variety of yummy snacks good foods to eat at your house, in your car, backpack, at work, etc. Only eat when its wu Wei initiated, then watch what happens...forget the words, 'breakfast, lunch, and dinner' forget about systems like, 'stomache half full at breakfast, 3/4 full at lunch, and 1/4 full at dinner' ... This is more in line with eat when hungry, yadda yadda, but one should also not be blind to hunger/hormone cycles either (as in, sometimes your body is still sending hunger signals when there is already enough food in the stomach, I.e. the signaling molecules haven't caught up yet)