Songtsan

No - don't bother. I already have topic areas for my own articles, etc. The title should not have had my name in it in the first place. DB is just being selfish and supercilious. Maybe I should create a few threads with her name in them, such as "Deci Belle's pedestal," or "Deci Belle's thread where if I don't like what you post I will derail the thread and try to make you look bad, just because it irritates me that you think your expressions could possibly have any kind of wisdom in them that could even exist in the same dimension as what I write." - although that would be a really long title...probably wouldn't fit.

You know what - this is probably not worth worrying about - I should save my energy....if I can!

Pursue the goal without attachment to outcomes. Learn to constantly refine. Being unattached doesn't mean you don't have plans - it means you pursue plans without attachment to outcomes. Continue to refine your methodology, continue to remain unattached as you pursue. Above all be wise in your pursuits. Don't scratch at stone walls with your bare hands.

here is another one - although not the one I was looking for: http://www.vintageantiquecollectible.com/collectables/Swords/Chinese

of course! Even when I do take things seriously here - I also don't! Personas are amusing - even my own. They are just as much a part of reality as anything - I have an avid interest in egos and why they work like they do.

yeah - best Chinese swords most likely come from China - wait till you see this guys stuff - its all in museums...

I knew you would show up! lol This isn't anything new....I am simply being a mirror for Deci. Vanity understands vanity like none other.

Don't be attached to outcomes. Be a child of illusion.

I like Jians a lot too. I assume that was a typo? I will see if I can find the site for this swordsmith in China who makes what I consider the most artistic swords

Indeed.

I'd prefer not to be caged and segregated thank you. And thanks a lot for your snobbish and disdainful treatment of what is basically my first real attempt at poetry - you have such a beautiful heart - I just hope you can find it someday. Your thread was about reality - I am a part of reality - you say that you find wonder in this reality, but seemingly you find more wonder in your own reality than anyone else's reality. My post was about reality, and was in line with the threads topic. It was how I was seeing reality at the time. By trying to invalidate where I am at, you merely show where you are at. I told you I could help you see yourself. Remember that it's not all about you. You are attached. If you want people to respond in a certain way in threads you start in general forums, perhaps instead start your posts in your own private practice forum, where you can edit to your hearts delight. However, without being in the real world, where you have no authoritarian control, your refinement process will certainly slow down. Find humbleness if you can. You would make such a teacher if you weren't so full of pride and arrogance. This is image-consciousness at its worst and unworthy of you. You will likely try to play some kind of spin on this to make it seem as if you are in some higher place, but it has been noted too many times by too many members for it to be anything other than a weakness on your part. Please take my name out of the title of this thread, as it really is not mine. I think you might need some remedial study - you seem to have forgotten some important basics...I went and did the work for you: The wise Teach without telling, Allow without commanding, Have without possessing, Care without claiming. The Great Integrity, having had no birth, Expresses its immortality Without pronouncements. The wise are heard Through their silence, Always self-full through selflessness. The highest good is like water, Nourishing life effortlessly, Flowing without prejudice To the lowliest places. Can our affairs of the heart, And our affairs of state Be so unconditional That we grant unqualified permissibility? Can our reasoning mind be purged of coercion, Allowing our heart its unfettered joy? Can we act like every other species, Seeing no reward, Taking no pride, Guiding without enslaving? When knowledge and teachers appeared, Hypocrisy was their inevitable accompaniment. Because the wise observe the world Through the Tao, They know they are not knowledgeable. Because they do not perceive Only through their perceptions, They do not judge this right and that wrong. Because they do not delight in boasting, They are appreciated. Because they do not announce their superiority, They are acclaimed. Because they never compete, No one can compete with them. Standing on tiptoe will only make you tipsy, Walking with long strides will not allow a long walk. Shining the light on yourself will never enlighten you. Being self-righteous precludes you from being right. Boasting about yourself will never boost your eminence. Parading yourself parodies leadership. Tao consciousness avoids The cultivation of all these ego bloated voids. These are the paths to enlightenment. Those who arrive at their destination Teach those who are still on the path. While those still on the path Are sources of wisdom for the teachers. All attempts to control the world Can only lead to its decimation And to our own demise Since we are an inseparable part Of what we are senselessly trying to coerce. When attacked, those on the path of the Tao Defend themselves benevolently, Never revenging. Achieve success without arrogance, Without seeking glory, And without violating others. The wise hold steady on the passive yin path. Those who are aggressive prefer the active yang path. What is overexpanded becomes diminished. What is too strong becomes weakened. What is too high is cut down. What is overpossessed becomes impoverished. You can readily recognize the highest virtuousness Because it never places itself on display You can readily recognize the lowest virtuousness Because it is always announcing itself Those on the path To the Great Integrity Flow without forcing, Leaving no space for disasters. Wise people are not absorbed In their own needs. They take the needs of all people as their own. Wise people merge with all others Rather than stand apart judgmentally. In this way, all begin to open their ears and hearts, More prepared to return to the innocence of childhood. Those who know don’t lecture. Those who lecture don’t know. The more taboos and prohibitions there are, The poorer the people become, The more deadly weapons there are, The more our fears turn us numb. When craftiness spreads far, The more bizarre what is done, The stricter the laws there are, The less the robbers run. Therefore, the wise know To make no one a foe. The less coercing we do, The more tranquilities grow. When harmony reigns, And we rule ourselves with felicity, Everyone gains, And we’ll all live in simplicity. When a government is more benign, The people are more productive. When a government is more tyrannical, The people are more rebellious. Be firm and armed, but do not harm! Be sharp as a knife, but do not cut! Be ready to transform, but do not provoke! Illuminate the darkness of ignorance, but do not blind! To serve humanity, There is nothing more important Than to be moderate. In ancient times, Before there were those who were governed, And those who governed over, The sage blended with others, And all was done through the Primal Simplicity. People lived in innocence. When the Great Fragmentation Replaced the Great Integrity, Cleverness defeated wisdom. Even some enlightened sages Became victims of the rulers Commanding the highest intrigue. When are thousands of people attracted to a sage? When she positions herself below them, Always listening, tirelessly responding to their needs. Never commanding. Never coercing. Never manipulating. Such a sage is forever adored. Since she treats everyone with love and respect, Everyone loves and respects her.

When one gathers potential, what is one gathering exactly? Where is it kept? What is done with it? etc...

I hear that - I just think that we can have significant control over external situations as well - especially as a group...If humans wanted to, we could probably blow up the moon.

hmmm... circles.

http://www.huanuo-sword-art.com/huanuoproducts3.html http://sevenstarstrading.com/site/ http://www.arscives.com/bladesign/default.htm http://www.zhengwu-swords.com/ http://www.enlightenmentswords.com/index.html my favorite sword: http://www.angelswordstore.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=shop.flypage&product_id=807&category_id=56&manufacturer_id=0&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=92

Meal timing is important too - exercise about 3-4 hours after eating a meal. This will increase the likelihood that fat will be mobilized from where its stored at, vs. your body using what is available in the blood stream if you had just eaten.

Kundalini rising, whatever it really means, tends to cause disassociation from the body, and bring a lot of energy up into the head. Then it becomes harder to maintain or have an erection because you are not as aware of feeling sensations down there, and you tend to be easily distracted by the increased ability to produce intense feeling states with your mind simply by having thoughts. Kundalini seems to strengthen that ability to produce bodily and mental effects with the power of thought - which is a bad thing if its uncontrolled.

I have practiced some Tonglen and found it useful and freeing - when you embrace negativity, especially that coming at you personally, it becomes not so uncomfortable, and in fact gives one a sense of ego transcendence, when one decides not to act in habitual and stereotypical knee-jerk ways. Then there is nothing to defend, because you invite in what may come without complaint, even seeing it as your spiritual work.

No - there is always stuff going on in the brain - no complete silence, even if you are in a sensory deprivation tank, there are still energy fluctuations going on in the auditory parts of the brain. However, if one were in an absorption state, it is possible that there would be relative stillness of one vibration occurring over and over...but there would still be wave-like activities going on, as the universe works on wave/particle action. If one is observing soundlessness, then there is soundlessness and the observer - two things. Time would have to stop to have stillness, but then awareness would no longer function I imagine. I can prove nothing however These are just ideas anyways...'stillness' of ideas would be fun to experience though.....I think everything works on vibratory levels, and vibration indicates waves. One could be aware of what appears to be stillness, but I can't imagine it would be some kind of flat line...

You can control both to some degree - external example: I can pick up a rock and throw it at somebody - therefore I am the external to them. On the other hand - one cannot control the entirety of their internal - can you choose the way that you feel? If that was true, I would choose to feel no hate, no fear, lots of bliss, etc.

low carb diet using 40% carbs, 30% fats, 30% protein (% by amount of calories) Cardio - moderate endurance level, often I'd estimate her basal metabolic rate at approximately 1400 calories a day - take this number, and, depending how active she is, you can determine her daily caloric needs - probably around 1600 or so...so have her try to eat between 1300-1400 calories a day to lose weight gradually - aiming for 1-2 lbs a week weight loss.

Do not be attached to having anything be a certain way, including you being any certain way. Hold the intent to stay highly conscious and aware of reality as it is without judgement. Act from the wisest center of your 'self' as often as possible Be aware of the root intent behind all your actions.

One of the reasons its a good pose is that it keeps you locked in place quite effectively, assuming you have the proper pelvic tilt (best to sit on a raised surface like a cushion). Meditators who were entering states accompanied by deep relaxation of the nervous system and extreme states of focus would therefore be protected from unconsciously slouching due to loss of attention to muscle holding patterns or even from accidentally slipping into sleeping states. Those with extremely rev'ed up nervous systems, with high amounts of joint pain, tendonitis, inflammation, back pain, etc. and with trouble relaxing the muscles and grosser aspects of the nervous system - and those who have trouble falling asleep in normal situations may actually benefit more from meditating less formerly at first, even lying down, while training the physical body (mindfully) until it becomes less of a torture to assume such fixed positions. If one has to wait until they can master padmasana to meditate effectively, one could spend ten years or more before one experienced an effective meditation.

...this is a very interesting post. I have often wondered why on a site regarding spirituality and self-cultivation striving towards true seeing that members seem to get mired in personal dislikes for what most people should know are illusionary constructs (i.e. personas, egos, etc.). It is very wasteful on resources, and I could see why withdrawing would be useful. Yet in this situation, could not one treat the disparaging comments and perceived 'petty annoyances' as 'dust in the eye' and just let a blink wash it away? One need not address the dirt and take it to task. It is, after all, just action/reaction chains as usual. To let it stress you in any way is getting involved in wars with illusions.

I will try to explain, although this is meant to be a kind of playful joke thread. Disclaimer though - I am just a scholar type of person, but not directly realized - you might want to take serious questions to those further along...as in, I would hate to be a source of misinformation...so take this as an interesting conjecture, but don't believe anything I say...and, in the spirit of the thread, remember that nothing is absolutely true - "The Tao that can be known is not the Tao" - as in what can be said is just an interpretation of the 'real' - you can't really know what reality is like by thinking about it. Anyways: An illusion, like flame on a log, cannot exist without a substrate, or material on which the process is conducted. Consider reality to be the log, and the I am as the fire. Awareness penetrates both, is inexorably intertwined, and yet also stands somehow untouchable - i.e. its ultimate nature cannot be blemished by the play of matter and energy, only disguised. As the fire is dependent on the log, you cannot separate it from the log - it's an expression of activity of the interplay of material processes. The I am is because the reality it stems from is. Thus, they are not separate. When you say inside/outside, you create two separate things - i.e. 'myself' and 'everything else' - as if you somehow exist apart from reality. 'You' are part of reality, which 'you' are calling the 'external'....so 'internal' (i.e. the mind created concept of), is created from the ground of reality, and is inclusive as part of it - your mind is co-created from reality and is part of the reality. The internal is included in the external - just another part of that whole. 'Parts' in fact, are illusionary demarcations - 'mind constructs,' ideas, etc. Reality is a seamless blend of 'isness' - i.e. itself as it is. Attempts to define things are illusions - they are lie maps for the territory - but the maps lie in the territory itself - they are not in a separate reality. The map of reality in your mind exists within the reality of the body, which exists within the reality of the cosmos. This is the nested doll metaphor...All have the same root - which is the ground of existence. These are all just views however - no matter how you try to understand it, you are just creating mind maps. You must become the territory to understand the territory. When the two become one, then you are in samadhi, AKA 'absorption' where dualities disappear.. I think I am confused myself now... What really matters is to actually practice direct seeing, which transcends the mind. This happens when the mind is clear of the maps it creates and reflects reality purely. The 'ego' or I am is a false construction which interferes with direct perception. So what I am saying is that not-thinking will give you a truer understanding of reality than thinking will - if you maintain consciousness during the process...I think? So, in summary - you can get mired in endless mental acrobatics - or go directly to the source by directly looking at the source of all things - whatever that is... really though - don't listen to me! learn to meditate! If these topics interest you, let them motivate you to start a practice of direct awareness. That's what I am trying to do too... If you have a serious question, ask someone who has seen the answer, not someone who has read about the answer...you still won't understand it though when they tell you...you have to see it for yourself. One thing you can do to help you understand from a mental level is to learn the definitions of all these different phrases and terms you see on this site. Don't settle for just one definition either...