GrandmasterP Posted September 24, 2012 Very difficult to cultivate the esoteric side on ones own. Tricky too. There be dragons out there. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
et-thoughts Posted September 24, 2012 (edited) . Edited December 11, 2012 by et-thoughts Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
et-thoughts Posted September 24, 2012 (edited) . Edited December 11, 2012 by et-thoughts Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Marblehead Posted September 24, 2012 sure they can make nice pets! As long as they are the Eastern dragons and not the Western dragons. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
et-thoughts Posted September 24, 2012 (edited) . Edited December 11, 2012 by et-thoughts Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kaaazuo Posted September 26, 2012 But you say one must change himself . Lao Tzu said that controlling someone else means one thing but controlling your self means a better thing . Or something like that .  Now i ask you how can you change your self ? What is the self ? Is it body , is it mind , is it soul , is it heart ? Be careful please in giving a response here because i cunningly ask for a unity and an absolute identification . And this may be one of the most important questions there is . What is absolute and unique ? Or is our self an illusion ? The illusion of the ego ? Is the self an ego ?  I am sorry to ask such troubling questions but how can someone change self if it is not known ?  10x  But the self is known. You are male, located in Romania and has a long list of interests. The self is the person. You know who you are and so do your family and friends not to mention all the other people you deal with outside that circle. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest RBSA Posted September 26, 2012 Male and located in Romania . This is what can be said of this physical body that is typing . Now about the interests , which to me are very important maybe less important considering Maslow ' s pyramid or more important considering my ascetic aspirations , are not shared neither by my family and neither by my few friends . Luckily i got this computer and internet to satisfy my curiosity . I still don ' t know what is better , going along with ignorant closed society or satisfying my introvertite curiosities . I still didn ' t find my way . Maybe this is the purpose of this forum . Now about the person .I read that person comes from Greek persona which means mask . And we have many masks . I am searching for that one thing that isn ' t an illusion and not a mask . This would greatly empower me and would make all other things easy . I am a pervert looking for power you may say . But i intuite that this is the self . Isn ' t it ? Â 10x . Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
et-thoughts Posted September 26, 2012 (edited) . Edited December 11, 2012 by et-thoughts Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GrandmasterP Posted September 26, 2012 We don't so much go along with society in the sense of fitting in or buying into it. A western Taoist in western society is a bit like that chap who jumped into the river... in with the twirl out with the swirl. Society has its uses things like shops, schools and hospitals,money can be good fun too; if there's lots of it. So we can be in society but not of it. Cultivation isn't all that introvert maybe more a sort of enlightened self interest. We are the focus of our own cultivation, that's the only way. Teacher can point at a way but ultimately YOYO... You Are on Your Own getting there. Or there's the hermit path but even they come down from the mountain now and again to purchase goods and services. Monasticism in the parasitic Xtian or Buddhist sense is not an option for self respecting Taoists. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
et-thoughts Posted September 26, 2012 (edited) . Edited December 11, 2012 by et-thoughts Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GrandmasterP Posted September 26, 2012 Bring on that big lottery win. So far the chanting hasn't worked but one perseveres. Oriental World in Manchester have an online sale on in their Feng Shui dept at the mo. Just ordered a resin Kuan Yin for eight quid plus p&p. Maybe she'll do the trick. Working is a complete ball-ache, I've been doing it this 40-years past and never got to like it. But it do pay the bills. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kaaazuo Posted September 27, 2012 Self-respecting Taoists are people who won't go all the way. Half in half out. Neither here nor there. This is call hedging the bet. Â This way, you get the respectability accorded the Taoist. But you are smart enough not to be counted as a fool riding the buffalo. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Marblehead Posted September 27, 2012 Self-respecting Taoists are people who won't go all the way. Half in half out. Neither here nor there. This is call hedging the bet. Â This way, you get the respectability accorded the Taoist. But you are smart enough not to be counted as a fool riding the buffalo. Oh no you don't. You ain't gonna' put me in that basket. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
et-thoughts Posted September 27, 2012 (edited) . Edited December 11, 2012 by et-thoughts Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kaaazuo Posted September 28, 2012 Oh no you don't. You ain't gonna' put me in that basket. Â I've been trying to spot your basket ever since I saw your flowers. Even loonies have their skill sets. Â Horticulture is therapy used in prisons, mental asylums and hospitals. It's for people who are not ready for the real world. Â And Florida is loved by Canadians in retirement, or gay. So, what is a nice guy like you doing in a place like this? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kaaazuo Posted September 28, 2012 Of course you could be counted as a sage riding the buffalo... who is always wise and right... Â It's the same thing. Only the fool can perceive the sage, a picture of himself in finery. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
idiot_stimpy Posted September 28, 2012 freedom from thought Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
et-thoughts Posted September 28, 2012 (edited) . Edited December 11, 2012 by et-thoughts Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Marblehead Posted September 28, 2012 I've been trying to spot your basket ever since I saw your flowers. Even loonies have their skill sets. Â Horticulture is therapy used in prisons, mental asylums and hospitals. It's for people who are not ready for the real world. Â And Florida is loved by Canadians in retirement, or gay. So, what is a nice guy like you doing in a place like this? See? I just don't fit into anyone's basket. Â The progression was: The third divorce, the fish ponds, the gardens. Before that I was in the Army and did my country's dirty dishes. Â My area of Florida is just about as good as it gets. Close to the ocean, out of the path of most hurricanes, a touch of winter but not too long so one tires of it, oh, I could go on and on. Â Yes, I was married to three different women so the 'gay' thing is out. I am American so the Canadian thing is out. Yes, I am retired. Â But even all this, my fish keeping and my garden keeping entered my life only after full retirement as something I enjoy to keep me busy and off my lazy ass. Â Yes, I lived in the world of other people for 58 years. I thought it sucked so I created my own world. I think I did a pretty good job. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Marblehead Posted September 28, 2012 freedom from thought I go there sometimes. Really nice, peaceful place. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kaaazuo Posted September 28, 2012 See? I just don't fit into anyone's basket. Â The progression was: The third divorce, the fish ponds, the gardens. Before that I was in the Army and did my country's dirty dishes. Â My area of Florida is just about as good as it gets. Close to the ocean, out of the path of most hurricanes, a touch of winter but not too long so one tires of it, oh, I could go on and on. Â Yes, I was married to three different women so the 'gay' thing is out. I am American so the Canadian thing is out. Yes, I am retired. Â But even all this, my fish keeping and my garden keeping entered my life only after full retirement as something I enjoy to keep me busy and off my lazy ass. Â Yes, I lived in the world of other people for 58 years. I thought it sucked so I created my own world. I think I did a pretty good job. Â 58 years of marital prison was a long sentence. You must have first gotten into "jail" in your early twenties when you were young and foolish; that means you finally broke free when you were at least 80 years old. Â No offense but would you say that was a wasted life? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Marblehead Posted September 28, 2012 58 years of marital prison was a long sentence. You must have first gotten into "jail" in your early twenties when you were young and foolish; that means you finally broke free when you were at least 80 years old. Â No offense but would you say that was a wasted life? No offense but you fucked up everything I said. Open your freakin' mind to what others are saying. Read the freakin' words! Â I was never young and foolish. Yes, I was young once. Still am mentally. You seem very, very old and set in your ways. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
et-thoughts Posted September 28, 2012 (edited) . Edited December 11, 2012 by et-thoughts Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Marblehead Posted September 28, 2012 Why give it such emotion... and shift the conversation... with respect to what you would say about that life? I would say that was the life chosen, and every life is precious... especially if individuals learn ... Â Why waste life on someone wondering about a wasted life? wouldn't they be wasting their life and our life with such question... Every life is precious... every instant is precious... jabs to push to appreciate and learn now even from this wasted post... First, not a wasted post. Simply expressing my dissatisfaction with those who take another person's words, twist them to cause them to look foolish, and think that they are being funny. Â If one wishes to make a joke of someone they should make it of themself. Harms no on and causes others to smile knowing that you are not so arrogant that you cannot see your own faults. Â Emotional? No. Just expressive. The reply fit the comments very well, I think. Â No, I am not wasting my time on someone who is wondering about a wasted life. The person I was speaking to needed some guidance. I offered some, free of charge, and very willingly. See how compassionate and sharing I can be? Â So apparently it was not a wasted post because it cause at least you to think. That's good. Â And it was also good that I was able to make a point. Don't try to demean others because you might try it with someone who is going to get all over your ass. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
et-thoughts Posted September 28, 2012 (edited) . Edited December 11, 2012 by et-thoughts Share this post Link to post Share on other sites