Maddie Posted April 18 3 minutes ago, Apech said: I think you need to think this through a bit more. In any case I'm not going to post anymore in this thread so just ignore me if you want. Best wishes to you and all. I'm sorry you don't feel comfortable to post anymore as I do enjoy your presence, but as a trans person I have to deal with trolls on a regular often daily basis (I live stream regularly) and I do know how to spot them. I was going through his posts and I noticed that he wasn't really asking questions. He was making statements. Nevertheless I think its unfortunately that you don't feel comfortable posting here any longer, but if you do change your mind I am always happy to interact with you here :-). 1 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mark Foote Posted April 18 16 hours ago, Salvijus said: You just need to have the last word even if it's something completely irrelevant... Lol Okay you can have it. I will let this one go. My favorite band, in the '80's: Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nungali Posted April 18 17 hours ago, Salvijus said: That sounds very noble and compassionate and empathic at first glance. However, you can end up pampering someone's ego that way aswell. You can end up conforming to a group just so you don't upset anyone's apple cart. You will end up losing your authenticity. Yes. Thats why ( I think I added in there somewhere ) ' If I feel like it ' - if I choose to . When I choose to it is only under certain conditions . other times, I am , well ......... <see below > 17 hours ago, Salvijus said: I would say be yourself, serve only truth. Deny what is of ego. And the intelligence, wisdom and love that you are will know how to respond to every situation or person in highest good for everyone. And if it be that your presence disturbs people, so be it. It's inevitable. Because truth is always perceived as an enemy to the ego. And the world is still mostly ego. In fact if you're not perceived to be at least a little bit outrageous. It might be a sign you have conformed to insanity that the world is. ... outrageous , annoying , persistent, harassing .... as a friend once said ; "You where not put here to make life easy . " But for some I am . Eg when I nursed the old and infirm, some wanted to be treated formerly and professionally , I would do that . Others wanted it to be informal and casual , I would do that . I would observe some of the other workers there , regardless of how the patient wanted to be treated they would be treated how the worker felt they should be treated , and sometimes, unfortunately that was disrespectful . I dont do it, for example ; if a liar wants to be believed . So its not an 'across the board' sort of thing . Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nungali Posted April 18 13 hours ago, EFreethought said: A bit OT: I think I read somewhere that in (at least some) Indian systems a lot of people have an easier time opening up the higher chakras (like the head) and a harder time near the bottom; some gurus have a hard time getting people to go bottom up because a lot of people want to go for the quick success. Some seem to have no trouble at all < snicker > Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nungali Posted April 18 6 hours ago, Maddie said: Actually if we are going to be doing a trans Q&A I think talking about the topic of trolls is a pretty relevant one. It is actually very common for trans people to get trolled. What the trolls do is often they will try to appear to be asking legitimate questions but the intent is malicious. One way to tell is that no matter how many questions you answer they keep pressing their point to under mind you. They very often open statements with phrases like "I don't mean to be offensive" and the proceed to be offensive. It's not really that difficult to distinguish people that are genuine from trolls. They will also often ask non-questions, like "why do you think being trans is a real thing" or something to that effect. I like that ..... people trying to 'under mind ' you . Thanks, it is now in the Nungali vocabulary 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nungali Posted April 18 5 hours ago, liminal_luke said: I agree with silent thunder about the restraint. This is a difficult topic and I think you´ve navigated through it skillfully. I´ve expressed views which, in my own opinion, don´t align with mainstream trans views and you´ve been remarkably tolerant. Not everyone would have been so it´s much appreciated. Mhe . I think she did much better with that very obvious abusing insulting one . This was a walk in the park after that one ! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nungali Posted April 18 2 hours ago, Maddie said: My ego wants to kick some people in the nards now and then, but I usually tell my ego "no ego lets not do that, if you're good when we get home I'll give you a cookie :-)" and then my ego is like "I really wanted to kick that person in the nards, but oh boy I do like cookies" 🍪🤤🩷 Actually you have hit upon a technique of managing the psyche that I would really like to explore further . But off topic for here . 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nungali Posted April 18 2 hours ago, snowymountains said: Ok, armbar them then ! This could end up rather confusing though ; Training partner ; " Why did you relase the armbar when I didnt tap out ?" Maddie ; " Because , when we get home ...... she gets cookies ! " Training partner ; 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nungali Posted April 18 10 minutes ago, Nungali said: Actually you have hit upon a technique of managing the psyche that I would really like to explore further . But off topic for here . I was being serious . Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Maddie Posted April 18 3 minutes ago, Nungali said: I was being serious . I think we're witnessing some inner Nungali ego dialogue LOL 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mark Foote Posted April 18 1 hour ago, Apech said: Just holding opinions or views doesn't make you a troll. To be a troll you have to present those arguments with a deliberate intent to cause a certain reaction or to mess with the person they are addressing. So if he actually thinks the ideas he expressed he is not a troll, he might be wrong and confused - in which case a q&a like this would be the very place to put him right. I can understand that Maddie did not see any point in continuing a conversation with Salvijus. Salvijus, I would suggest that offering personal experience would be more conducive to advancing a practice than debating angels or devils on the heads of pins. Feelings are complex, my feelings on the topic are complex. Maddie has offered a chance to dive into that. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
silent thunder Posted April 18 (edited) I sense that folks get hung up on 'not understanding' many aspects of life. It makes sense, we are taught to identify with our thoughts and our thinking, rational mind is so exonerated in our western world... but who says this is the be all and end all of life? Taoism surely does not exalt thinking, or words which most thinking is comprised of.... If anything, taoist sharings repeatedly diminish their utility and warns of their endless eddies and side paths. Perhaps, consider the space of being which opens up by allowing yourself to encounter a thing, place, circumstance and not understand it? And be anyway. Be with it and accept it anyway? Perhaps reality is not here to be understood by small mammalian minds? There is such potency in being. In encountering something new and not instantly having to form an opinion about it, either yay or nay. But to simply encounter and perhaps listen to those who share authentically and if still confused, simply hold space and not need to create understanding, but share comradeship in simple beingness... together. Being a cisgender straight man, I have no experience or understanding of what it is to be attracted to other men, or to feel I have manifested in the wrong body. But I have the unshakeable vajra knowingness that to share space and embody love with my gay and trans friends and strangers... I have no need to comprehend, or find a logical path of understanding. And to appreciate their process and listen with the intent to expand my awareness, all I have to be is present and share the essential nature of what I am, which is one small awareness. edit to add: and consider this about thinking and words... if you are thinking in words, you are thinking someone else's thoughts. Unless you created the words you are thinking, they were given to you, created by others and lent to you and you accepted them. Above all it seems utterly essential to cultivate some space within life, for simple being and silence. Edited April 19 by silent thunder 2 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jadespear Posted April 19 On 4/16/2024 at 10:28 PM, Nintendao said: for someone who claims to have manipulated physical reality with your mind, this seems to be a bit limited of a perspective.. ...I think you may misunderstand. I have never claimed to "manipulate" as the word conjures negative connotation of cleverly rendering what is truth asunder by ones efforts. I have only "influenced" things through the way of thought and other ways which have allowed me to understand the way things work and function. A persons biological birth doesn't change over the course of their life...it is part of their "karma" - as in determined by past actions of themselves, and their parents. No one can literally go back into the past and change it so that the present moment is different, it's impossible. Adepts may be able to visit the akasha and experience things from the past - but they can't change all the events that lead up to them... thats literally impossible. Literally Re-writing history isn't possible. Literally re-writing the history and karma of ones past isn't possible - changing this is also impossible. Objective truth is real, is absolute, and cannot be altered by anyone. Literally changing ones biological and genetic make up into the opposite sex by physical means isn't possible. ...Influencing the physical world is simply an expression that everyone does whether they know they are doing it or not - that's part of what I think "enlightenment" is - becoming aware of what you are actually doing and how you are making an impact to the world around you. 2 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
snowymountains Posted April 19 9 hours ago, Apech said: At last the truth. Finally we have the answer to "do cats have Buddha nature" 😁 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
blue eyed snake Posted April 19 15 hours ago, Maddie said: I think exactly zero people were surprised there was a troll in a thread like this lol. the surprise was that it was only one 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Maddie Posted April 19 4 hours ago, blue eyed snake said: the surprise was that it was only one Yeah for real lol. Actually I think what I'm surprised about more isn't that there was a troll but it's that there's a few other people that don't seem to see it and I thought it was very obvious? 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
liminal_luke Posted April 19 (edited) Thought I´d share this great sentence from Michael Tolliver Lives by Armistead Maupin, the author of the beloved Tales of the City series. Our gay protagonist, Michael Tolliver, is about to go home with a transman he picked up in a bar and is feeling a little iffy about getting it on with a guy without a penis. I took courage from the memory of a hot night in Chicago when I smoked a doobie on Navy Pier, then came back to the Drake and whacked off to straight porn on Spectravision and got off on it fine, especially with poppers, because sex, I was learning, is a place where all of us go, regardless of gender or sexuality. - Armistead Maupin The statement isn´t literally true, of course, because some people aren´t interested in sex at all, but I read it this morning and felt inspired to share. Edited April 19 by liminal_luke Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Salvijus Posted April 19 (edited) I think there are certain questions that threaten you and then you guys get triggered and defensive. You believe someone came here to 'attack' you. Some scary troll. A boogyman lol. But ultimatly it's just insecurity and fragile foundation that can't handle genuine inquirying. This whole thread looks to more like an attempt to find approval and support for transgenderism rather than an honest inquirying into the truth of the matter. And who but ego would feel insecure and in need of alliance and support? Something to think about. Edited April 19 by Salvijus Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Salvijus Posted April 19 (edited) Another irony i see is that you guys consider yourselves very patient, tolerant, loving, friendly, righteous and open minded people. And yet all i see from you is just mocking and name calling. Lol... The idea of being on good terms not is even remotely appealing. Lol again. And then you pretend this is a place for an open discussion of transgenderism. Pfff... What a joke Edited April 19 by Salvijus Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
snowymountains Posted April 19 15 minutes ago, Salvijus said: I think there are certain questions that threaten you and then you guys get triggered and defensive. You believe someone came here to 'attack' you. Some scary troll. A boogyman lol. But ultimatly it's just insecurity and fragile foundation that can't handle genuine inquirying. Beyond reading less Eckhart Tole and pop spirituality, perhaps it's also a good idea to read less pop psychology 😁 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Salvijus Posted April 19 2 minutes ago, snowymountains said: Beyond reading less Eckhart Tole and pop spirituality, perhaps it's also a good idea to read less pop psychology 😁 Because according to you listening to eckhart tolle and psychology is somehow cringe and laughable? Never heard such a strange comment before. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Salvijus Posted April 19 6 minutes ago, snowymountains said: Beyond reading less Eckhart Tole and pop spirituality, perhaps it's also a good idea to read less pop psychology 😁 I think you'd benefit from the material you're mocking. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Maddie Posted April 19 25 minutes ago, Salvijus said: I think there are certain questions that threaten you and then you guys get triggered and defensive. You believe someone came here to 'attack' you. Some scary troll. A boogyman lol. But ultimatly it's just insecurity and fragile foundation that can't handle genuine inquirying. This whole thread looks to more like an attempt to find approval and support for transgenderism rather than an honest inquirying into the truth of the matter. And who but ego would feel insecure and in need of alliance and support? Something to think about. I'm probably going to regret this, but what honest, sincere question do you actually have? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Salvijus Posted April 19 (edited) 4 minutes ago, Maddie said: I'm probably going to regret this, but what honest, sincere question do you actually have? Like "what defines gender" i believe is an interesting one. With many different opinions. And many perspectives. And i tend to approch this question from the position that i don't know an answer to it or saw a completly satisfying one yet. Edited April 19 by Salvijus Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Maddie Posted April 19 (edited) 1 minute ago, Salvijus said: Like what defines gender i believe is an interesting one. With many different opinions. And many perspectives. And tend to approch this question from the position that i don't know an answer to it or saw a completly satisfying one yet. Typically its society that defines gender. https://www.who.int/health-topics/gender#tab=tab_1 Edited April 19 by Maddie Share this post Link to post Share on other sites