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Always? That's what they want us to think. Totally agree. Well, "deficit reduction" seems a lot better to me than increasing the Pentagon's base budget! We can brush it off by saying, "well he spends a ton in other areas" but at least in regard to this very clear issue, Obama's choice is extremely good and Romney's is extremely bad. Saying this as someone not even Democrat or voting for Obama, of course... That's the typical Conservative perspective regarding Romney/Ryan...not to say it's bad, just saying that people agree with you. The only issue I have with it, is that perhaps it's not entirely true. Do we really know all of the facts, and can we predict the future? Anyway, I hope you're right if Romney wins...I'd love to see our country improve. Oh also...one aspect I don't think would be an improvement is to demand more of people. It's a common Conservative thing these days to blame poor people for not working hard enough (when most of them that I know personally have 2-3 jobs, working more than full time, and still barely make rent). I don't think anyone really likes living on welfare, or unemployment, for instance. It's not nearly as much $ as they'd make in a real job, and it doesn't make the person feel honorable at all. No matter who they are! Sure, it's true that diamonds are formed through intense pressure...sometimes it motivates people to be required to work hard or else starve to death. But most of us are human beings, not diamonds...at other times the pressures of this society can crush us completely. Ever watch "The Pursuit of Happyness"? I don't view that as the American dream, as inspiring as it was to see someone struggling so hard. I view that as unfortunate and not representative of a free country! But, opinions differ... I don't know. I have a friend who really needed that, and still wasn't able to land the job he was qualified for. Contrary to what we'd assume about a person getting free money, he was not doing well throughout that whole time. I agree it is excessive, though...you could say that the person should just get it until they can land a job doing anything, manufacturing, while they continue to apply in their field. I don't know why my friend chose to keep collecting. Something to remember is that most people don't collect for the whole time. They use it in an honest way. Agree, to a certain point. Pretty much just what you said...these programs should be temporary. This is a problem I have with employers, not the government. It's unnecessary to demand someone with a master's degree (this is the new "high school ii" these days), for a job that could only require a month of training for a person with a HS degree. So guaranteeing all student loans...that's awesome IMO. Also if you consider our competition with other nations...from what I've seen in the news, we look like idiots when it comes to our education! I think cutting away at student loans is the last thing our government should do...and as your video showed, it's not something that would help the real problem anyway. I think businesses should do more job training, again. Employers have been the root of the problem; THAT is why post college kids are unemployed with huge debt. They're not sitting at their parent's home because they had access to student loans...they have an education and are more qualified for other jobs because they got student loans! They're better off, even if temporarily unemployed and in debt. Here's a story...I dropped out of college a year before graduation. I was going through a rough time, and was thinking about how I was only going to make 35k tops starting out, so I wanted to look at other options. I took an entire winter/summer doing a job search...spending at least 3 hours a day searching every job board, etc. Found absolutely nothing, except one job I ran into out of luck...roofing. I worked 2 days and killed my back. They were paying me $12.50 an hour, which is pretty damn good for someone without a college degree...but doing the math, that's only 24k a year. So, I went back to school and finished up...now am studying for a board exam, and once I pass, can finally work. I am one of the people who used student loans, sitting at their parent's home, with huge debt, unemployed...but for good reason. This is where I have to be right now. Soon enough, I'll land a real job. For someone who really invests themselves in finding a non-college job...they can get something comparable to a well paying job. My little brother, out of luck, recently got a delivery job that's paying him close to 30k a year. My cousin started out as a welder through an apprentice program. Truck driving jobs are constantly hiring (because it sucks, haha). BUT what I'm trying to say is...right now college is still the best option. I know through experience. Now we're talking. 100% agree.

Hi guys, i've been lurking on this forum for the past year and i've learn alot in regards to spirituality and taoism which has really benefited and impacted my life positively. Though the reason why i first came here was the solve an issue I've had since i was a child, and now that core issue till now hasn't been solved and has caused more issue on the ways. My main issue is my ability to connect with people and women. I have an issue talking to people because i keep believing im not good enough or confident, i get a mild anxiety feeling when talking to people, meaning when i talk to people, i feel my energy in my body just drops is blocked, which leads my eyes to drop and look away, people notice this, cause i can see in their face they are angry or disappointed when i do this, which makes me even more conscious. I'm 22 years old ive never had a girlfriend and my life feels dull and empty and depressed. I've been looking at other things to make social/relationship issues better, by looking at spirituality, focusing on career, my health and body. but i still feel empty and depressed, and only recently have i felt really depressed. Its only been the past two years i'm conscious of this, because the past two years ive been more focused on self improvement and spirituality, I currently have bad habits, such as pornography use, casual smoking(used to be chronic smoker), and over masturbation. i've been using porn and over masturbation since i was 12 till the present moment, and combined that with gaming addiction since i was 11-21,(currently 22 years old). I used to be very obese till only a year ago when i started to go to the gym and become more health oriented. And all this spirituality and sensing, has made me realised and aware, where i got my negative thinking from. My mother has a negative aura/presence, shes always complaining, shouting trying to find ways to annoy me, etc. shes very lazy just sits there watch TV all day eats does nothing lives on welfare and has a gambling addiction. She never really brought me up with values or anything, my dad had good values and had a positive outlook in life, though i never really saw him during my adolescents. because my dad was very strict on me and had high expectations, every time i failed my dad got angry at me or screamed at me when i was young, i was scared to be myself.. my mom didnt care, she bought my a playstation junk food, i can play all day, fail at school, she doesn't care.. as a child that sounds like a dream come true, but when you reach adult hood you realise what a pathetic childhood you had.. i really wished i spent more time wth my dad during my teen/adolescents age. Now that im older, ive come to respect my dad Right now, i don't know exactly know what i where my passion lies, i stress too much about the future about everything. i have very high expectations of myself I have a really hard time connecting with my dad and mum in a loving way, i can only speak to them about daily affairs, or i can only show them love by offering service, but i cant be affectionate or joke around with them, its very rare i laugh with my mum and dad and make a joke its so sad..

That was a really good movie, I enjoyed it a lot even though it disturbed me a little when I first saw it (years and years ago)...I put myself in his shoes and felt tremendous fear at the idea of never being able to wake from a dream.

Earl Hansen retired. Sold the hardware store in St Paul and retired to Florida with Louanne his wife of forty years and fulfilled a lifelong dream of buying a fishng boat. After a few months he began calling himself Captain Hansen. Louanne's sister Betty calls up one day and asks. So Earl's a Captain now is he? Louanne chuckles and replies... Betty to me Earl's a Captain, to the kids he's a Captain. But to a Captain.......

Gee Sean, why does it always have to be me me meme w/ you? Peas Michael Using tools of the dream to wake from the dream. Interesting.

There's a house we looked at in North Norfolk had solar panels, heat pump, wind turbine (squeaky), huge rainwater cache etc. More or less paid its own way energy wise. Trouble was they were asking nearly 2-million pounds for it. At our ages the time we'll have to benefit would probably not be worth the cost of installation plus Mrs GrandmasterP wouldn't let anyone near her garden with a backhoe digger. Somethiomng I would welcome on the veg plot about now as I begin double-digging the horsemuck in. Takes me two weeks on and off if we get teh weather. Backhoe would do it in a couple of hours probably. Hey ho..... a man can dream. .

nice thought stosh. last nite i had a dream i was wandering across some forgotten ridge and i came upon an overgrown plot of land that had a very beckoning energy about it. it was frosted that morning, the air clean and crisp there were marble stones where the words inscribed had been worn away by the weather of untold countless decades i heard the calling of crows saying, as you look across this landscape and marvel in its fall splendor of natural rich colors remember that the ancients placed a garden here not for your enjoyment or rememberance but just becoz they found peace and contentment in a garden of their own when i woke i realized these ancients were like rank strangers to me

The closest thing to "higher self" in Vajrayana is your own wisdom which manifests as deities in night practice etc. clarity being 7 times more in a lucid dream etc.

u can also listen to them without the app i think Lucid Dreaming World-Collective Unconscious Mind – Out of Body Musical Experience Lucid Dreaming World-Collective Unconscious Mind – Lucid Dream

Yeah, thanks for the reminder. I should start taking Protopope Avvakum's warning more seriously. He was the leader of opposition in the 17th century Russia and he visited me in a dream-vision many years ago to tell me exactly this, in a resounding Old Slavonic which I translate below: "Some things can be talked about in a flowery manner and there's no sin in that; other things, let's keep silent about, for the Almighty has given us comprehension not toward many words, but toward many silent omissions." I hope I'm not over my words vs. silent omissions limit for purposes of conformism compliance, Bob. Please include the opinion of the Protopope as my guiding prototype in your report. Have fun in Vegas.

I am looking to buy Healing Tao DVDs & audio products by Michael Winn. 1. Qigong Fundamentals 1 & 2 2. Qigong Fundamentals 3 & 4 3. Fusion of Five Elements 1,2,3 4. Sexual Energy Cultivation 5. Tao Dream Practice 8. Lesser Enlightenment Kan & Li 9. Advanced Lesser Kan & Li: Sexual Elixir Products 10. Greater Enlightenment Kan & Li 11. Greatest Enlightenment Kan & Li 12. Star Alchemy Sealing of the Five Senses Please e-mail me: [email protected] Thanks J,

If it had been a dream there would be two naked ladies out there right now.

Well safer than lions I guess. Its a Chuang Tzu dream maybe

An "exercise" from shaking medicine..before every time you practice or whenever, you try to think of some things you want out of your practice eg Power recognition oneness death love happiness truth joy freedom Then one makes a nonsense gibberish poem using those words... The death of stars is like poo love wondering accross the inside happiness of outside joy out of the concaves of freedom slowly jar truth becomes one before death there was birth, before birth joy, joy and freedom are more like love and hate than love and hate like to admit the power of, the power of joy hates freedom, freedom hates love, love loves truth, love desires recognition into the dinosaur tree of peyote flying away in an eagle of knowledge waking up from the dream of chocolate cookies off to the shop i go, freedom is oneway of the tao techings recognition of recongnising others veracity of their claims, e.t thoughts speaks like this haha ho ho ahahah, oneness is like twoness death occured in the star that was actually me over there, death and love are like keyoboards mixing together in the cooking pot to make vegetarian soup that is like meat the killing of trees and plants the difference is unsightly to the sight of gifts of men of knowledge furthermore the practice encourages laughter, silliness and play

You're probably hallucinating. I was so tired once while laying down that my bedroom melted into my bathroom and I was suddenly standing up looking at myself in the mirror, I once woke up to a glowing phantom of my brother sitting on my bed twitching like a horror film with a ridiculous smile on his face, one time the fan in my room started talking to me before I popped into a lucid dream. I woke up once to a small child patting me on the head and then running into my computer desk which was transforming into a tree house. Another time I woke up to a portal above my bed which I was being pulled into. One of my favorites was waking up to a memory of myself as an indian flirting with an incredibly beautiful woman, before my 'window of awareness' proceeded to pan out to a PSP gaming device which was apparently playing the memory, which shut off and disappeared when I realized what was going on. Basically, what I'm saying is shit happens. When 'you' wake up ahead of your body, your mind will definitely play with you. The question is really how and why, rather than if. Expectations are everything when it comes to sleep paralysis, and fear of the unknown usually colors most peoples experience. But this could be something else, who knows?

Funny you guys are talking about aliens. I'm wryting my first book, it's about aliens and ninjas, even though I don't know much about aliens, just the movie stuff. I tried lucid dreaming but as weird and crazy(and I've had some beyond obscure dreams) as my dreams get, I've only realised I was dreaming twice. The cruel thing is, when I realised I was dreaming I had slight control then woke up inside another dream and didn't realise I was still dreaming

YODAMAN THANK YA FOR REMMEMBERIN ME WHILE ALL DA OTHER COKSUKERS SUCH AS SHIEKKY N SUM WOMMEN BADMOUTH DA MAHALINGAM. POOR ME BE GONNA RETTIRE IN A WINE BARREL LIKE DIOGENES DA PHILLOSIPHER EXCEPT MINE BARREL WILL STIL BE FULL WHEN I MOVE IN. I JUST WANTED TO ADD 5 THANGS, VIZ., 1) DO DA BIG DRAW. YA NEED TO PHYSICALLY DE-CUM-GEST DA HUEVOS N PROSTITE N DA BIG DRAW DO THAT BY ACTUALY SQUEEZIN OUT DA FLUIDS BESSIDES MOVIN DA CHING. 2) ARROUND 3 MONTHS TO 100 DAYS FROM START O RETTENTION, YALL HIT A WALL, BE PREPPARED FOR THAT. 3) EVVENTUALY, IF A KEEP SHAGIN N RETTAININ, YALL HAVE A WET DREAM N LOSE IT UNLESS YA LEARN DREAM YOGA. WHAT HAPEN BE, SUCCUBUS ENTITTIES LURE YER CHING N SUK IT UP UNLESS YA BE LUCID IN YER DREAMS. 4) KEEP OPENIN DA CHANNELS, NOT JUST DA MC BUT ALSO DA SUSHUMNA , DA MACROCOSMIC, DA BELT CHANEL N YA CAN JUST GET AN ACCUPUNTURE BOOK N OPEN AS MANY AS YA LIKE. THEN REMMEMBER TO STORE DA CHING IN YER BONE MAROW AS WELL. UNLESS YA DO ALL THIS EVVENTUALY YA OVERFLOW OR CUM-GEST YER HUEVOS N PROSTITE. 5) KEEP IN MIND THATIF YA KEEP AT IT, ONE WOMMAN WONT BE ENUFF NO MORE FOR SEXUAL SATTISFACTION, SO YA EITHER END UP SEXUALLY UNSATTISFIED OR YALL HAVE TO BANG MORE THAN ONE PEACH, OR YALL HAVE TO GIVE UP SEXUAL CHI KUNG. DA TRHANG BE, YA CAN VIRTUALY SHAG FOR DAYS AT A TIME, BUT A SINGLE WOMMAN WILL PAS OUT BEFORE THAT OR JUST GET DRAINNED N BORIN. THAT BE DA SECRET FOR DA REASON O DA ANCIENT INSTITTUTION O DA HAREM, THOSE KINGS O OD NEEDDED A BUNCHA PEACHES TO GET SUM KINDA SATTISFACTION N THEY COULD FUCK FOR DAYS AT A TIME. OF COURSE BECCAUSE THEY WERE PAST MASTER O RETTENTION. BYE NOW

All of us owe our growth to the dreams we had as children. Isn't this all just our wildest dream becoming reality? Half the fun is the madness of it all, and it is our innately childish nature that allows us to take it and run with it.

Jah I suppose as long as you wake up or sleep within a dream it does

I had a dream once where I went to school and when I came back home I woke up and had to do everything again for real, does that count?

I cannot cook for sure. Porridge is about my limit of culinary expertise. Dream of being just four pounds overweight. According to doc at five foot ten I should be thirteen and a half stone [one stone is 14 pounds] but apart from having malaria and dropping nearly two stone for nine months in hell I have been fourteen stone ten since I was thirty. Are you a veggie M?

As I have said, I came late into the Chinese language. I almost did not know my roots as my mother tongue was English. It was through the works of Westerners like John Blofeld that bridge that chasm for me in earlier years. And the works of the cartoonist Tsai Chih Chung. Take a look at his books, and consider buying them all. Not only you will not regret that, but very likely, will go on to buy more for your friends. He also did some videos in collaboration with others. The Sayings of Chuang Tzu 1a Zhuangzi Speaks From above, you can see the others of this series You might like that enough to go on to his Lao Tzu, Zen , and many others Go dream of that butterfly, and be free The Idiot on the Path aka Shanlung Mountain Dragon http://shanlung.com/

And BTW i had a dream related to dragons last night . Maybe ' they ' accepted me .

there is a lot of discussion on this board about kunlun and if it really works or not and i really couldn't give a shit, but, I was wondering if anyone has tried another k that undoubtedly has profound physical and mental effects...ketamine. ketamine is hugely popular at squat parties here in london and its great fun to take it just to get wasted and stand in front of a massive stack of speakers blaring out various kinds of techno but its effects are also extremely usefully for giving an understanding of how to absorb energy from the earth and universe and make it flow around the body. i have found that when taking things like acid and mushrooms, although they get me overflowing with energy, my mind is far too active and its hard to root myself to the ground. with ketamine it instantly roots me and shuts off unnecessary brain activity and makes every movement feel like im locked into some sort of taiji form. these experiences have helped to further my interest in such practices. for anyone thats never taken it; Ketamine: Summary of Physical Effects 1. Shuts down thalmic processing and sensory input 2. Shuts down primary survival instincts and urges (fight or flight, mating & reproduction, etc.) 3. Shuts down emotional response centers 4. Increases blood flow to the brain 5. Induces nystigmus (jittery or rapid eye movement) and salivation 6. Decreases brainwave activity in the beta (waking) range: 12-18+ hz 7. Increases brainwave activity in the alpha, theta, and delta (deep relaxation and sleep) ranges: 1-12 hz 8. Induces NDE, OBE, and Lucid Dream-like states 9. Produces a fully unconscious state at high doses http://www.erowid.org/chemicals/ketamine/r...project_1.shtml

Some ideas to share: 1) Shen comes up after our having accumulated certain amount of jing and qi, yet it is not anything proceed linearly , but discretely or abruptly. 2) Reading Buddhist writings, especially Zen Buddhist ones, does help. Reading books about modern physics, especially those about the theory of Relativity and Quantum mechanics is also helpful . 3) It is after our having got some taste of that Shen, do we start to know what the Buddhist Sutra really talk . Of course, after that, any argument about whether Taoist or Buddhist way is better becomes meaningless, they are just different ways enable us to reach the same place/ level. Don't argue about whether going to Hong Kong by plane is better than by ship , just see what conditions you possess.. ( I do not work for the HK Tourist Association.. ^^) 4)There will be another Mind, different from our acquainted daily mind , arising...but thinking that all spiritual things must come out from our brain or upper part of our body is just some kind of bias. 5) Please understand that a split of our spirit ( not necessarily in a state of lunatic ) : say, a much clearer, condensed Mind looking back at a trivial, yin-typed mind / reasoning is possible ; please understand that an occasional, abrupt push of detaching our spirit from this physical body is possible ( building up our jing and qi is , in fact, building up the momentum for a Mind capable of leaving this body , notwithstanding we are unconscious of it ...); please understand that having totally dream-less sleeping or sleeplessness in nights , yet without effect on our energetic daytime life , is possible.... Or, it happens that there arises an unstoppable , compelling urge to preach whatever we believe in by extraordinary eloquence ( this, likely turn out to be something negative). ; Or,an emergence of an extreme sharp Mind which unable us to understand whatever knowledge we are told ( Please note that Shen is a formless , content-less intelligence ,which can understand and accommodate whatever knowledge and ideas It is told, no matter where they come from , humans or aliens or other sources); Shen can understand our yin-typed mind , no matter you call it common sense or a scientific mind, easily ; conversely, hardly can we understand what Shen is even we are repeatedly told ... these are symptoms telling you the coming appearance of Shen; Just like physical proofs: needless to eat for a long time, rebirth of fallen teeth..etc, these are also proofs in Taoist practice of our spiritual achievement . ( Of course,the Evil will also come accordingly , just like yin always accompanies yang ). With past Taoist masters' experiences as its basis, with millions of TCM medical cases ( say near-death ones..) as basis, Taoist talks about this arena seems better than the Tibetan book of Death or those strange Zen's Ko'ans ( just my personal preference ^^)