...

[adept]

Indeed. It made for some bizarre experiences. I thoroughly enjoyed it though.

[hydrogen]

I like people wathcing. I like dress up parties. I like BDSM parties. Though I haven't been to any for a while.

 

I worked in a swing club for a few years and a strip club an bouncer for a year. It was highly entertaining.

 

I'm not comfortable to be the center of attention. However I sometimes do crazy things, for example, modeling as a leather pony boy in a hugh BDSM party, being a male stripper in a private gay party (I'm straight).

 

I have to say my "old ego" was very interesting. I don't know if can do those "crazy" things he did.

[Vanir Thunder Dojo Tan]

It's official, The Bums should get together and party!

 

'Slong as I got a good fire pit to tend to, im good. n_n

 

[三江源]

.

Edited June 23, 2014 by cat

[Friend]

Edited August 17, 2013 by Friend

[becomethepath]

I'd be interested to know about bums of all ages.

 

 

1. If you were a clubber/party person.. how long did you do it for? DId you have one phase of clubbing, or more?

 

 

2. What do you think you got out of it? Why do you think you did it?

 

 

3.Do you see it as relevant to you being a person that cultivates? Is there a connection?

1. I wouldn't say I was a clubber/ party person, but I did go out to parties, nightclubs and bars. I would say infrequently, spontaneously for one year. It was just a phase for me.

 

2. I did it because there was nothing else to do at night, and since everyone is at the nightclubs and bars, why not? Overtime, I see how funny it is to see people dance, to see guys ask girls and get rejected, to see people puke, to see drama, to see bouncers acting hard, to see promoters thinking they are cool, to seeing girls wear dresses and heels to a disgusting place called the nightclub. And come on, guys and girls, both are human, but for some reason it's like everyone has their own walls and barriers up.

 

3. It is relevant because I finally saw the pointlessness, suffering and ridiculousness of nightclubs and bars. The temporary pleasures, after you want more and more, but they are just temporary feelings of satisfaction and ejoyment. I don't know how to describe it but it's just funny to me, it's like I'm an alien in this planet and seeing people in that inebriated state is just silly to me. It's silly if you ask me. People drinking alcohol. Silly! Just the thought of a person moving with the beat and how they dance is silly. To see people meet up at the club to hangout is just silly. I don't know why I just find it SILLY and lame.

Edited August 4, 2013 by becomethepath

[skydog]

nop

Edited August 5, 2013 by skydog

[三江源]

.

Edited June 23, 2014 by cat

[hod]

Jesus, just realized I never got back to my saved spot on the first page and now you're on page three. Well to answer the question... partying, yes, don't mind if I do.

 

I've been drinking a lot, more than usual... no maybe the same as usual. It's hard to tell because I'm in France and the wine is so cheap here. I'm spending the same as usual on drinking but maybe drinking more than usual or maybe the French are just a bunch of EDIT (lightweights) and making me feel like an alcoholic when in the US I was just your run of the mill drinker.

 

Clubber? I prefer to woo her, then make sweet love to her while she's conscious, but if you prefer to club her over the head opposed to good ol' fashion macking... then to each their own.

 

EDIT: What I originally called the French was wrong. They are just not as concerned with masculinity as us Americans.

Edited August 5, 2013 by hod

[skydog]

That's why, in the U.S., some cities have Ecstatic Dance venues.

 

And Ecstatic Dance retreats --

 

 

Yes, those are cool

[Vanir Thunder Dojo Tan]

Clubber? I prefer to woo her, then make sweet love to her while she's conscious, but if you prefer to club her over the head opposed to good ol' fashion macking... then to each their own.

D'HAW!!! I love the satire

 

 

They still call it clubbing, but now days they use drugs and added the nickname "date rape".

Edited August 5, 2013 by Northern Avid Judo Ant

[三江源]

.

Edited June 23, 2014 by cat

[hod]

And when you say 'masculinity' .. knowing the French somewhat, I'm guessing that you mean 'overt macho-ness'.

 

Oui oui

 

EDIT: I cannot tell you how many grown men I have seen riding Razor Scooters around Paris... freaking Razor Scooters that they sell during Saturday morning cartoons. Businessmen, tough guys, hipsters... they don't care, "we are French, we'll ride a Razor Scooter and smoke a cigarette." Now tell me how many grown men you've seen riding Razor Scooters in the US. Now I'm not saying this is wrong, just no overtly macho by American sensibilities (which I, for better or worse, am ingrained with).

Edited August 5, 2013 by hod

[三江源]

.

Edited June 23, 2014 by cat

[zerostao]

i can see me now riding one of those on the back roads or ridges of appalachia.

i just hope some moonshine drinkin' hillbilly is able to see me from their ford 450 with lift kit.

maybe even hope a bouncing white tail deer would see me in time to avoid wrecking me.

[Sloppy Zhang]

Growing up I was shy and ran with a pretty straight group. No drugs, very little drinking even coffee, no clubbing. I always preferred a get together with a few friends over big crowds. I'm a late bloomer finding my vices later in life.

 

Same way

 

Pretty boring square kind of guy Early 20's. Me and my friends were always more of the "let's hang out and talk about life" kind of guys. We'd talk about philosophy and religion and the nature of existence. Get some dinner, see a movie, hang out and talk, just chillin. No drugs though. "Too smart" for that. Then we'd play some video games or something like that.

 

Only really go out to bars/clubs if it's with a group of other people I know. I'll drink to get a buzz but never to get stupid or black out or anything like that. I get that other people like to do it as a form of social bonding/releasing inhibitions, etc, but for me it's not necessary for either.

 

I prefer more personal experiences for social bonding, and with regards to inhibitions, I either break them myself, or have a good reason for why I'm not going to cross a certain line.

 

I know plenty of people who decided to let go of their inhibitions, and had great experiences that will affect them for the rest of their lives.

 

And I know plenty of people who decided to let go of their inhibitions, and had terrible experiences that will affect them for the rest of their lives.

 

Call me risk averse, but if there's a way to examine my thoughts/inhibitions and expand them without also taking away my faculty of thinking critically, I'm going to take that one, sorry.

Edited August 5, 2013 by Sloppy Zhang

[三江源]

.

Edited June 23, 2014 by cat

[Colonel Goji]

1. If you were a clubber/party person.. how long did you do it for? DId you have one phase of clubbing, or more?

About 5 years, from 14-18 and then another year or two when I fell off the wagon a few times in my early to mid 20's. I had my hippie phase of partying, my tweaker and coke head phase of partying, and my Goa/psy trance phase of partying.

 

And then I woke up from all the mindless self indulgence.

 

2. What do you think you got out of it? Why do you think you did it?

I've done just about every type of drug in existence, and I really got nothing out of partying except that my hallucinogenic use has showed me that partying is not the right road if I want to reach my full potential. I did it due to peer pressure, naivety, and a curiosity and desire to have fun in what seemed a really exciting stimulating type of way.

 

Marijuana, alcohol, and other typical drugs of abuse didn't really offer me any insight or give me a desire to stop partying, whereas psychedelics have been a wake up call, even a slap in the face on a couple trips, to quit partying and live most virtuously and return to a good path in accord with The Way.

 

3.Do you see it as relevant to you being a person that cultivates? Is there a connection?

No, well maybe since I have already partied harder than most people I know I have seen that that particular indulgence offers no long term benefits to a person, and will only hinder their cultivation eventually.

 

edit: lol, obviously all the partying i did revolved heavily around drugs and drinking, as is pretty common in club scenes anyways. can't say i did much sober partying!

Edited August 5, 2013 by colonel_vegan_spartan

[hod]

Get some dinner, see a movie, hang out and talk, just chillin. No drugs though. Too smart for that. Then we'd play some video games or something like that.

 

That's just like your opinion man.

-The Dude

 

 

I don't mean to pick on you, but smarts and not doing drugs have nothing to do with each other.

 

What would be smart, is saying you tried them and realized they are not for you (that's smart).

 

You were just too scared or a million other reasons you might have had to not do drugs. But not doing something and having no experience or knowledge of it and then saying you were to smart for it, has nothing to do with smartness, it's actually a little ignorant.

 

This is based on the premise of your post where you used the word Drugs - which encompasses a lot. I am too smart to inject heroin into my veins because I have seen what one use can do to people. But saving you're too smart for weed, mushrooms, acid, DMT, saliva, mescaline, etc without doing them isn't smartness, it's something else.

 

I just don't understand how you can be too smart - I can see how you can be too scared or too reliant on your normal state of mind... but smart just isn't the right word because it involves an extensive knowledge of something. And if you said you have never done it, you cannot have an extensive enough knowledge of it to be too smart for it.

 

Like I said at the beginning, not meaning to pick on you. People say that a lot and it just always bugs me. The English language isn't the best, but there are better ways of using it to say what you meant.

 

 

I apologize if this offends anyone... but it's just like my opinion man.

-Hod

Edited August 5, 2013 by hod

[Sloppy Zhang]

That's just like your opinion man.

-The Dude

 

 

I don't mean to pick on you, but smarts and not doing drugs have nothing to do with each other.

 

That was more of a commentary on society's marketing campaign against drugs that I grew up with in the 90's (DARE program, "dope is for dopes", etc) than an actual reflection of my own opinions toward drug use (I support recreational drug use).

 

Put quotes around "too smart" in my first post to reflect.

 

I'll continue responding to the post, because I think it's fun for discussion

 

What would be smart, is saying you tried them and realized they are not for you (that's smart).

 

Not necessarily, you are merely basing your decision on certain evidence. But direct personal experience is also not the only type of evidence, and not the only way to intelligently use evidence ("being smart").

 

My father might have been an alcoholic, so I could be incredibly averse to drinking, even though drinking in moderate amounts might not be problematic (and may even be healthy). It doesn't mean I'm "less smart." In fact, I'm arguably "more smart" because I have multiple situations that provide evidence to support my position.

 

Same arguments can be used for weed, ecstacy, heroin, etc.

 

You were just too scared or a million other reasons you might have had to not do drugs. But not doing something and having no experience or knowledge of it and then saying you were to smart for it, has nothing to do with smartness, it's actually a little ignorant.

 

Maybe I was scared (interesting that you picked that one word out of a "million other reasons"). What if someone took advantage of me in a less than physically aware/vigilant state, and I woke up in a bathtub full of ice minus one kidney?

 

I would have been out a kidney, but at least I would not have been "scared". It least I would have been "less ignorant", and only then would have had a legitimate reason to be anti drug "I did drugs once and lost a kidney to black market organ dealers."

 

But wait, someone would have come back and said "just because that didn't work for you once doesn't mean you have the right to make an overarching argument against it." So hey, there's no winning there

 

This is based on the premise of your post where you used the word Drugs - which encompasses a lot. I am too smart to inject heroin into my veins because I have seen what one use can do to people. But saving you're too smart for weed, mushrooms, acid, DMT, saliva, mescaline, etc without doing them isn't smartness, it's something else.

 

You may be using the same argument I may have used, but just moved the goal posts.

 

I could say I did heroin once and it was awesome, and you're just being scared/ignorant in how you're not using heroin.

 

I just don't understand how you can be too smart - I can see how you can be too scared or too reliant on your normal state of mind... but smart just isn't the right word because it involves an extensive knowledge of something. And if you said you have never done it, you cannot have an extensive enough knowledge of it to be too smart for it.

 

That statement is a bit ignorant as well. You can be incredibly educated about the physical/neurological/psychological effects of a drug based on huge volumes of research (personal or peer reviewed) and determine that is not a state you want to put yourself in. You don't need to put yourself into a situation to know about it (unless we want to get into a philosophical argument about what knowledge is, and whether first hand experience is required for "true" "knowledge" (I put them in their own separate quotes for a reason)).

 

Like I said at the beginning, not meaning to pick on you. People say that a lot and it just always bugs me.

 

I think some of the verbiage in your posts hints at why.

 

The English language isn't the best, but there are better ways of using it to say what you meant.

 

It's not just the English language, but culture. Not just culture, but American culture. Not just American culture, but American anti-drug culture present in schools during the time in which I grew up, and subsequent knowledge/experiences I gained through life (both drug and non-drug related).

 

I apologize if this offends anyone... but it's just like my opinion man.

-Hod

 

TTB discussions have never offended me, and I don't mean to start now

Edited August 5, 2013 by Sloppy Zhang

[Rara]

1. If you were a clubber/party person.. how long did you do it for? Did you have one phase of clubbing, or more?

 

I'm 25 and ages 16-21 I was pretty much conformist drinker/clubber. Since I found Wing Chun and Taoism, this has become less and less. So much so, the idea of going out with big groups is of 0 interest. I went to a BBQ on Saturday night and got bored. I only knew 4 or 5 people there out of around 20 but damn, it wasn't my scene at all. I just showed up to show the effort. Errrr...is there something wrong with me? lol

 

 

2. What do you think you got out of it? Why do you think you did it?

 

I was young, I liked alcohol, I was in a band and listened to too much Motley Crue at the time.

 

3.Do you see it as relevant to you being a person that cultivates? Is there a connection?

 

I originally wanted to escape it, so yes. Now I don't know if it's escapism anymore, just my nature to be the way I am

[Harmonious Emptiness]

I'd be interested to know about bums of all ages.

 

 

1. If you were a clubber/party person.. how long did you do it for? DId you have one phase of clubbing, or more?

 

 

2. What do you think you got out of it? Why do you think you did it?

 

 

3.Do you see it as relevant to you being a person that cultivates? Is there a connection?

1. I was very much a party person from the first week of high school until a few years after University. Always loved music and dancing, including moshing during the grunge and later 90's metal days. Also would do lsd or mushrooms a couple times a year, and smoked weed a bit too much. Never got into chemicals as I didn't like what it seemed to do to the people I knew who did.

 

The other side of this would be in playing small improvised music shows with/for friends starting around 2000, which was always quite debaucherous but also opened me up to some doors of reality in the ways people are connected. It put me deeper in tune with my senses which I think pushed me more towards learning what mystics said about life.

 

2. a) because it's fun when you're into it. b. (edit from b-parenthesis, or ) because that's how people socialized

 

3. I probably would have seen the sense in cultivating regardless if I happened upon the same information that got me into it, but I think the partying also made me realize that there is a lot one can learn about one's self in such situations too. Cultivation to me means also just being effective at whatever you do and being able to thrive in all sorts of situations. A lot can be gained from the collective energy of a party atmosphere, and not just in a vamp way. There can be an exchange almost like dual-cultivation where you feel stronger and more flexible afterwards.

 

Also the social aspect can teach someone the reality of ego, since you can easily spoil your fun by egoic worries, while when you are IN the party and enjoying the time together it's easy to realize that your ego can get in the way.

 

In short, I wouldn't discount the real benefits of it to personal development/cultivation.

 

 

2nd edit to add:

only used lsd during highschool..

Edited August 6, 2013 by Harmonious Emptiness

[ion]

That's why, in the U.S., some cities have Ecstatic Dance venues.

 

And Ecstatic Dance retreats --

 

I used to live in a little shack off grid on the big island. On the dirt/lava rd. that ran paralel to mine there was a place that held ecstatic dance over at my neighbors place. Not that place in Kalani though it was in Kalapana.

 

My place was tucked way back in the woods and the road was over grown but everyonce in a while Id get these people popping out of the jungle wandering up to my shack looking for the party because they forgot to turn. They used to startle the hell out of me.

[ion]

Yes, I feel pretty blessed to have lived there for a few years. Id love to go back. I felt like I was made for the place.

[Green Tiger]

I've done just about every type of drug in existence, and I really got nothing out of partying except that my hallucinogenic use has showed me that partying is not the right road if I want to reach my full potential. I did it due to peer pressure, naivety, and a curiosity and desire to have fun in what seemed a really exciting stimulating type of way.

 

Marijuana, alcohol, and other typical drugs of abuse didn't really offer me any insight or give me a desire to stop partying, whereas psychedelics have been a wake up call, even a slap in the face on a couple trips, to quit partying and live most virtuously and return to a good path in accord with The Way.

 

I can resonate with that. I don't think 'clubber' would accurately describe me, but I've definitely been to some parties of all sorts. Went through different phases of partying all of my adult life. These days, my idea of a party is a good book and a couple bottles of IPA.

 

I used to be very experimental, though. About 7 years ago I stumbled upon what you might call 'psychonaught culture'. People who were very much into the introspective, entheogenic substances. Some of the people were partiers, some were wannabe shamans, some were just curious. I was a little of all three. I was only in that scene for a few years, but it was eye opening.

 

One of the most important things I took away from those experiences, though, was that you need a guide to show you the way. Otherwise it is very easy to get lost. I never did find a good guide then, but later I met a tai chi instructor who introduced me to new methods of introspection. Then, more recently, a neigong instructor who took me even deeper down the rabbit hole.

Edited August 8, 2013 by Green Tiger