longevity - good or bad?

[SeiyouTouyou]

...

for your information, my spiritual path is about throwing conclusions out until there is none. i have been calling out other people's conclusions that i once held and debating them. i am extremely interested in the outcome of those debates. the buddha got to zero conclusions by the time he was 36. i am 35 and time is running out for me. all that perceived harshness on my part is not directed at anyone, it comes from my sense of desperation to resolve issues.

 

i don't intend to live past 45 and will push the button then even if i don't get to zero.

 

I think different. I want to live at least until 100. Hopefully, I can reach 150 where I can still enjoy practicing Ba Duan Jin, Yi Jin Jing, SFQ near a big tree.

[narveen]

I think different. I want to live at least until 100. Hopefully, I can reach 150 where I can still enjoy practicing Ba Duan Jin, Yi Jin Jing, SFQ near a big tree.

 

we all want to live forever with no thought of the body. each of us is like a cowboy riding a horse.

we want to keep riding inconsiderately and never once look at and consider the condition of the horse.

do you know that 70% of americans are on prescription drugs for various ailments?

 

what do you use for money? are you going to eat everybody's muffin till you reach 150?

your body may not cooperate and start dragging its feet once it's past 70.

it will give excuses for not going on by having macular degeneration, loss of hearing, oestoporosis, and arthritis.

how will you do ba duan jin then?

[narveen]

the Buddha was the Buddha and you are not the Buddha ... I don't recall him ever saying you had to 'do it' by 36 or emulating him in that sense. Why the cut off at 45 ... you don't know how you will feel when you reach that age ... maybe you will become very wise and happy. Don't make these predictions they will come back to haunt you.

 

the cut-off at 45 is in consideration of two things: the body's condition, and my destiny in life.

if i have no destiny at all, then i would even want to check out now.

there are more than enough people alive and i don't want to take up space for no reason.

until i know for sure, i have an obligation to wait for a mandate from heaven.

 

being wise and happy is not the point. having a meaningful existence is.

a meaningless existence, to me, is the karma of a muffin moocher.

Edited July 1, 2013 by narveen

[de_paradise]

Longevity practice is not about extending some old age infirmed state while continuing to perceive the world though the value set of a pessimistic 30 something. Its about increasing vitality, health, detox, and opening the floodgates of phsycial bliss, mental stability and equanimity.

[narveen]

Longevity practice is not about extending some old age infirmed state while continuing to perceive the world though the value set of a pessimistic 30 something. Its about increasing vitality, health, detox, and opening the floodgates of phsycial bliss, mental stability and equanimity.

 

i understand. but that is you and people who share your conviction.

if all 30 something share my conviction, longevity will have a point.

[silent thunder]

Looks like a repeat of Sree's Tao of Dying. Best stay out of this troll's pit.

Yea, very similar style and perspective. I noted that as well.

[Marblehead]

Well, this old man managed to catch a cold. I might die tomorrow. But then, I have had colds before and didn't die from them. I'm working on getting rid of it now so I can get back to my normal life.

[mYTHmAKER]

it is MY opinion that one of the causes of MY misery in old age is MY ugliness.

Do you think you are presently ugly.

I see some seniors who are quite beautiful.

They openly wear their lines of life and don't try to cover them up.

There is light inside, whereas a young person may have beautiful features and be ugly inside.

So how do you stack up both inside and outside.

[baiqi]

Many people believe that aging is a bad thing. Some are right, you can see some people whose health/mental state deteriorates, they become a burden for everyone, including themselves.

 

However, I believe some people get better with aging: they get more peaceful, and more open-minded (the opposite of others seniors).

Actually, every part of your life can be terrible or great. We see childhood and youth as a good time of life, but for many kids it ain't that good.

 

Just like the seasons, there is a time to do certain things. It changes with the individual, but basically, you play when you're a child, you learn things after that, you make a career when around your thirties, you change your way of life after 40, get some rest at 60....

And when you're old, you can help others with your experience of life, and get ready for the next one.

[Songtsan]

I think I posted this somewhere before...

 

 

a friend of mine says that the old people who look like this remind her of turnips...it sure seems that he seems happy with himself though!

[Marblehead]

a friend of mine says that the old people who look like this remind her of turnips...it sure seems that he seems happy with himself though!

Well, for sure he has great self-confidence. And I suggest that he has more body flexibility and coordination than most young people I know.

[narveen]

a friend of mine says that the old people who look like this remind her of turnips...it sure seems that he seems happy with himself though!

 

why turnips?

i can think of only one reason. turnips are in the ground.

he looks pretty sound physically and appropriately acting his age.

its unnerving watching old people act inappropriately.

for example, paul mccartney singing "when i'm 64" at 70.

or the prancing rolling stones which a uk paper said, "the opening act was like watching the living dead".

i must admit they are in great shape (no fat). perhaps rock and roll is better than ba duan jin?

[Songtsan]

Well, for sure he has great self-confidence. And I suggest that he has more body flexibility and coordination than most young people I know.

 

 

why turnips?

i can think of only one reason. turnips are in the ground.

he looks pretty sound physically and appropriately acting his age.

 

 

He died last year fyi. He was supposedly 117 years old, but a search of records indicated that he was really 105....If I am that fit at his age, I will be quite satisfied I think...

[narveen]

He died last year fyi. He was supposedly 117 years old, but a search of records indicated that he was really 105....If I am that fit at his age, I will be quite satisfied I think...

 

would you not prefer to be fitter than him at age 37?

no matter how fit, we can't wear high heels and be courtesans at 105.

[Songtsan]

would you not prefer to be fitter than him at age 37?

no matter how fit, we can't wear high heels and be courtesans at 105.

 

Oh yes...I am working on it too.

 

I promise everyone that I will not wear high heels when I am 105. I do have some sense of propriety.

[narveen]

Do you think you are presently ugly.

 

can’t complain, actually. women stare at me and it can be embarrassing.

being male, you would understand those stares from teenage girls when you were 17.

it never stopped and i’m 35.

 

I see some seniors who are quite beautiful.

 

i like sean connery (82). he ages well. i like leslie stahl (71).

 

They openly wear their lines of life and don't try to cover them up.

 

when they are at home; on a Sunday; at 8 in the morning with a cup of coffee and reading the new york times.

old age beauty is great health and good grooming.

 

There is light inside, whereas a young person may have beautiful features and be ugly inside.

So how do you stack up both inside and outside.

 

i think both are fairly well-matched, by my reckoning.

which 30 something has my dream for a better word: ridding the world of old age misery?

this was also a dream of the buddha.

Edited July 2, 2013 by narveen

[narveen]

Many people believe that aging is a bad thing. Some are right, you can see some people whose health/mental state deteriorates, they become a burden for everyone, including themselves.

 

this is the rule

 

However, I believe some people get better with aging: they get more peaceful, and more open-minded (the opposite of others seniors).

 

this is the exception

 

Actually, every part of your life can be terrible or great. We see childhood and youth as a good time of life, but for many kids it ain't that good.

 

amen to that

 

And when you're old, you can help others with your experience of life, and get ready for the next one.

 

thus far, all the help from life’s experiences through the ages have led to a reality that is progressively harder to deal with the next time around.

[baiqi]

I made a mistake when I said

 

 

However, I believe some people get better with aging: they get more peaceful, and more open-minded (the opposite of others seniors).

 

It's not a belief, it is true, I have met some of these people for real! And yeah, they may be the exception. Which leads to another question: How can you become one of them when you grow old? I think that many "longevity practices" of taoism are meant for that: they won't necesserity make you live longer, but you could be better when you grow old, just in case you don't die young.

[narveen]

It's not a belief, it is true, I have met some of these people for real! And yeah, they may be the exception. Which leads to another question: How can you become one of them when you grow old? I think that many "longevity practices" of taoism are meant for that: they won't necesserity make you live longer, but you could be better when you grow old, just in case you don't die young.

 

i won't grow old unless tao heaven has a mandate for me and i need to stay alive to make the world a better place.

life that has no purpose is not for me.

i am a strike-fighter pilot scanning the skies for action.

if tao heaven stay silent when i am 45, i push the eject button and dump my ride.

you can have my muffin.

[mYTHmAKER]

ridding the world of old age misery?

this was also a dream of the buddha.

To rid the world of old age and misery one has to have right understanding

so one does not become old and ugly.

One rids the world of ones own ugliness.

[Rara]

Woah, too mayny to multi-quote!!

 

Surely then the conclusion here is just act your age and just be?

 

I agree, could be doing without seeing McCartney like this. Then again, he's having fun....

 

Let people be people...

[narveen]

thanks for your reply. I am sorry you are desperate.

 

your idea that time is running out for you is absurd, fallacious nonsence. So your basic premise which informs your desperate style is faulty. Re- think your foundation and build a different approach.

 

my basic premise is based on actuarial science focusing on the analysis of factual rates of disability, morbidity and mortality. do you think published information of institutions of medical research is absurd, fallacious nonsense?

 

When you get to 44 you will change your mind about pressing the imaginary button, unless you are mentally ill, in which case, seek some help, being truculent on the internet is a fun pastime for expressing and fuelling more frustration but it wont help you directly to get into heart centred relationship with your humanity, which is clearly what needs to happen.

 

the humanity in my neck of the woods informed me yesterday that she has stage 4 lung cancer which has the highest death rate than any other forms of cancer. she has a disease that goes undetected until it's too late for a cure. she is not a smoker. more people get lung cancer than smokers who run the highest risk of getting this sickness. this disease takes several years to reach a detectable level and usually surfaces when people live past 60. Twice as many people will be getting this disease in the next 30 years. The main reason for the increase will be longer lifespans - the older you are, the higher your risk of cancer is, including lung cancer.

 

the search for longevity, in my opinion, is a form of mental illness that comes from the denial of reality. it is not fun but rather painful to think of a wonderful friend, full of life in her early sixties telling me that it's suddenly all over. i wish she was 30 something and could see her future like i can - not through high-minded spiritual mumbo jumbo but looking at down-to-earth facts - and think things out with me about the appropriate way to live this life.

 

There is no button. There's your body, the one you inhabit. It's your home.

 

and that is your opinion. thanks for sharing it.

[silent thunder]

my basic premise is based on actuarial science focusing on the analysis of factual rates of disability, morbidity and mortality. do you think published information of institutions of medical research is absurd, fallacious nonsense?

 

 

the humanity in my neck of the woods informed me yesterday that she has stage 4 lung cancer which has the highest death rate than any other forms of cancer. she has a disease that goes undetected until it's too late for a cure. she is not a smoker. more people get lung cancer than smokers who run the highest risk of getting this sickness. this disease takes several years to reach a detectable level and usually surfaces when people live past 60. Twice as many people will be getting this disease in the next 30 years. The main reason for the increase will be longer lifespans - the older you are, the higher your risk of cancer is, including lung cancer.

 

the search for longevity, in my opinion, is a form of mental illness that comes from the denial of reality. it is not fun but rather painful to think of a wonderful friend, full of life in her early sixties telling me that it's suddenly all over. i wish she was 30 something and could see her future like i can - not through high-minded spiritual mumbo jumbo but looking at down-to-earth facts - and think things out with me about the appropriate way to live this life.

 

 

and that is your opinion. thanks for sharing it.

Dude... if you had an island somewhere and a robot and some crystals... with this philosophy, you could found the land of Logan's Run.

[narveen]

Dude... if you had an island somewhere and a robot and some crystals... with this philosophy, you could found the land of Logan's Run.

 

it's not a philosophy. it's an assessment of prevalent popular attitude in the face of reality.

 

i subscribe to a spirituality that the tao te ching speaks to, a spirituality that is not fake and consistent with reality.

 

i am not here to argue with those who don't share my perception.

i am here, primarily, to engage those who, at least, are curious about why i see longevity this way.

 

let's not brawl over this. if you believe in longevity, then i wish you a long life.

[WillingToListen]

Bad.