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Yeah... really "heavy handed censorship"? Do you even realize how many chances we Mods here have given you because we all kinda enjoy your crusty grumpiness? The way that you repay us is to keep pushing the edge and creating more unnecessary work for us. You are out of chances. Next time it's points and a time out as far as I am concerned. There is nothing in the board rules that supports violating them because your "truth" is more important than they are. This is not a platform for free speech.

‘heavy handed’? Really?

Playing the hatchling, my friend?

Thank you.

yes, and they are set for the harmony of the group, for the health, peace, and well-being of the community also known as "plays well with others"

Imo Every system needs to set boundaries (that’s what I learned from the Original Dao forum).

there is greater clarity, when "opinion" is not conflataed with "truth"

I have come to see the psyche not merely as a mind in the psychological sense, but as a layered energetic system populated by subtle forces. At the heart of this view are the subconscious emotional and mental currents, and deeper still, two complementary unconscious currents that I’ve come to think of as the Shiva aspects and the Shakti aspects. The emotional and mental currents we’re all familiar with, but the Shiva and Shakti currents are less obvious, so I will go into some detail about them. They can be recognized through many vivid symbolic pairs: Wildfire / Fireplace The dynamic blaze that consumes and transforms. The hearth that holds the fire safely, giving it purpose and warmth. Fish / Fishbowl The darting, elusive vitality moving through hidden depths. The clear bowl that contains, supports, shapes, and protects its motions. Cat / Dog The graceful, sensitive, easily startled nature that seeks comfort. The loyal guardian that stays close, watching over and calming. Fearful / Protector The trembling instinct that recoils from perceived danger. The steady presence that stands firm, offering safety. These pairs are not idle poetry. They illustrate how the unconscious houses instinctual forces that must evolve together. The Shakti aspect represents a dynamic, vital current — the drive toward life, transformation, emotional vitality, subtle creativity. The Shiva aspect provide containment, the instinctive intelligence that knows how to protect, restrain, channel, and nurture what would otherwise be chaotic. In each pairing: The dynamic life-force is untamed, vital, transformative. The caring containment is protective, shaping, enabling that energy to flourish without harm. They are co-arising: the wild needs the safe space to exist meaningfully; the container finds purpose in cradling the life within. If one seeks only to awaken the dynamic energy (as in a blind kundalini pursuit), without fostering the complementary instinct to contain and guide it, imbalance is inevitable. The system can flare into anxiety, delusion, or emotional overwhelm. This is why so many teachings stress that cultivation is not merely about amplifying energy, but purifying and preparing the mental and emotional channels first, so the deeper forces can safely develop. To purify the emotional and mental currents tangled by personal history, they must be witnessed and brought into greater flow. They are the first terrain of inner work, and through methods such as shadow work, dream exploration, deep feeling and understanding etc, their dysfunctions can be gradually resolved. Only then can the deeper unconscious forces, the Shiva and Shakti layers, find their ground. Importantly, it is the Shiva aspect that must awaken the Shakti aspect, otherwise containment will not occur, and the Shiva aspect in its turn has to first be activated by the flowing current of the emotional and mental currents. Recently, my dreams have begun to show me that when these two deep unconscious instinctual layers find each other and start to mature in their interaction, something new emerges. In symbolic terms, this is represented as a smaller, independent vehicle that will one day travel on its own. This resonates with images from Daoist Neidan (inner alchemy) where an alchemical child is born - an autonomous subtle body that eventually can separate from the main system. This smaller independent vehicle or child is the fruit of a long interplay between mature containment (Shiva) and vitality (Shakti). But the picture does not end here. Overseeing all of this is the witness self, the faculty of clear seeing that stands apart from the energies it observes. This witness is the part that learns to trust that the humble, instinctual containment field is capable of guiding the system more wisely than the anxious grasping of the conscious mind. It slowly informs the conscious mind, which may then serve as the executive agent, ruling not by force but by insight. In the end, I see the conscious mind, gently taught by the witness, becoming the wise steward of the system - allowing these deeper layers to do their work, neither interfering unnecessarily nor abandoning responsibility. Thus the entire architecture of psyche - subconscious, unconscious, witness, and conscious mind - becomes integrated. Each layer performs its unique role, culminating in a new life, an independent vitality born of the interplay between our deepest instinctual forces. A compact visual map (Divine / Mother/ Highest Source) ↓ Witness Self (objective seeing, clear awareness) ↓ Conscious Mind (steward) (makes decisions based on witness insight) ↓ ----------------------------------------------- | | Emotional Stream Mental Stream (Subconscious patterns & biases) ↓ ---------------------------------------------------------------- | | Dynamic Vital Force Containment Field (Shakti aspects) (Shiva aspects) - wildfire, fish, cat, fear - fireplace, fishbowl, dog, protector ↓ Interplay gives rise to: Smaller independent vehicle (new independent ‘entity’ directed by the conscious mind)

Very common ... well, around my place ... and most places . I had a pet one once, found a little fledgling on the road side and raised him up until he could fly off . A couple years back they hollowed out a termite nest up in a tree right by front door and bought up two babies there . I have at least one resident one ( but sometimes they gather to welcome or farewell the daily sun in a chorus . He usually sits on a branch of the bottle tree outside my kitchen window . When its cold he gets his 'beenie' on When I put food out for the other birds he often sits watching , aloof an uninvolved . Except for two days back , I decided to make Persian roast duck breasts ( with orange and pomegranate glaze ) the duck breasts were over fatty so I sliced it off around the edges , making long fatty strips and put them on the tree stump .... 'I'll have some of that ! " - other birds didn't stand a chance , its a large bird and has a BIG beak ... as the song says " Kookaburra , king of the bush is he ."

Things aren't what they seem. Our perceptions have little to do with reality and are instead the outcome of filtering the input through multiple pre-installed prisms that can (and do) do a number on the incoming light. What is worse, the incoming light -- or what we perceive as light, as truth, as reality -- is, in the case of any incomplete, lacking personal participation, indirect, manipulated, or outright fake picture presented to us is pre-filtered for us through someone else's carefully installed prisms. Ulteriorly distorted, mind you. The range of distortion may vary, from slight to total. Yet perceiving a totally distorted picture can be every bit as convincing to the observer as looking at an absolutely accurate one. More so, because distortions tax the brain, it's scientific fact (established in experiments with very young children, too young to have learned to lie) that lies require of our brain the kind of equilibristics and contortions that the rest of what we are can't possibly accept, and that's the beginning of the split, of the fragmentation of consciousness. The outcome may vary -- from mild stupidity to profound mental disorders. (Caption: "The brain doesn't immediately understand what's going on in this picture." )

Yes ... a poisonous snake rather than a venomous one .

Excellent choice! Here’s another selection of real dialogues between Zen masters (mainly from the famous classical collections 「碧巖録」Bi‑yan lu (Blue Cliff Record), 「無門関」Mumonkan (The Gateless Gate) and others). These examples are usually very brief, stripped down to the essence — and that’s exactly what makes them precious: the masters seem to play with each other, testing and pointing beyond words. 🌿 1. Master Xuefeng and Master Yunmen Xuefeng: Why doesn’t a person of great awakening remain in the state of Buddha? Yunmen: Because he is not a Buddha. (A bold move beyond the concept of “Buddha” as a goal.) 🌿 2. Zhaozhou and Master Tianran Tianran: What if everything turns into emptiness? Zhaozhou: Throw it away. Tianran: And if I throw it away? Zhaozhou: Then carry it again. (Paradoxically: emptiness cannot truly be “held” or “discarded” — and that points beyond duality.) 🌿 3. Daou and Master Changqing Daou: What is Zen? Changqing: I am at peace. Daou: And if the world burns down? Changqing: The ashes are still pure. (Zen as a peace that does not depend on external conditions.) 🌿 4. Linji and Master Huangbo (Linji’s teacher) Linji: What is the essence of the Dharma? Huangbo strikes him. Linji: I still don’t understand! Huangbo strikes him again. Linji silently bows and leaves. (Awakening comes not from understanding words, but from the direct blow that shatters intellectualizing.) 🌿 5. Yunmen and Master Xinfeng Xinfeng: What is Buddha? Yunmen: Eat your rice, go wash your bowl. (A direct pointing to simple everyday life as an expression of Buddhahood.) 🌿 6. Huangxue and Master Daou Huangxue: How can I see the truth? Daou: Close your eyes. Huangxue: And what will I see? Daou: Who is asking? (The question turns back to the questioner — where the truth resides.) 🌿 7. Two unknown masters (from oral tradition) First: Where does the cloud go? Second: It never left. (A hint at non-duality: phenomena neither come nor go.) 🌿 8. Zhaozhou and Master Yunyan Zhaozhou: What if someone comes who has no mind? Yunyan: Let him sit in mind. Zhaozhou: And if there is no mind? Yunyan: Then there’s no need to sit. (Even the idea of “mind” is cut away — so sitting itself becomes unnecessary.)

_/\_

if you join and take vows under a particular teacher and order that is far more applicable than here with our widely eclectic group ranging from A-Z. Where btw. anti-god or no-god folks can also roam without being nixed, and who are not in harmony with those that are 180 degrees from where they are at. So please don't lecture about there being one big happy community of like thinkers or people. We have more like total diversity which can get messy but is also flexible and can be instructive. Another thing imo that does not help such diversity is the unspoken cowardice of downvotes except when used for gross or violent attacks on other members.

If I disagree with a veiled political post, what options do I have? No good ones. To reply back stating my contrary opinion would be to disrespect my fellow Bums (many of whom don´t want to read about my politics), to disrespect the mods (who are trying), and to violate my own values. To say nothing would be to accept that other people -- but not me -- are allowed to talk about "current events." Back to the light (or, perhaps better yet, the darkness).

Oh my goodness, "my" truth is not the nut we are cracking about, its the truth(s) of millions of people that are suffering and those that are not afraid to mention it reasonably and with proven facts. Where in any spiritual precept or order is such not an issue, including Buddhism with its core teachings about suffering in any or all forms? Enjoying "grumpy crustiness" sounds like something in the eye of the beholder...and you are welcome ;-) Btw I'll give it some rest. .

Expressed true feelings like milk shared before the scorn a true life saver 🛟

visiting again? she said through a forced smile that expressed true feelings

Just reading the comments on this and catching up. While we are talking about female martial artists. Cynthia Rothrock sprung to mind, she is the real deal if you ask me one of the rare few female martial artists to make it as a competitive martial artists and a great film career out of her art too…

Sweet iced tea with mint wish I had a time machine visiting again

I can't imagine what today's kids imagine when they're taught "sex education." I guess it used to be simpler for kids in the countryside -- they could at least observe what animals do. An animal doesn't screw with one's mind when it screws. It's all rather straightforward. My own ideas at the age of innocence came from misinterpreting an article in a magazine called "Health" -- a kind of medical 101 for lay people, which my mom was subscribed to and I loved to read. The country kept all sex related information under wraps back then but the magazine devoted to 'Health" had to somehow mention STDs at some point, right? Well, at seven, I read this article therein about syphilis. It was presented in the form of a real life story: a girl meets a guy, they hit it off and start dating, then they exchange kisses... Then the guy disappears and the girl starts experiencing this and that, all symptoms presented in dark and gloomy but rather unclear hints as to what they are exactly -- the only symptom that was clearly named was, her eyebrows started thinning out. And also there was clear emphasis on shame, this was no ordinary disorder, apparently it was something that destroys one's social status and turns the victim into some kind of untouchable whom everybody shuns and despises. The article terrified me. Since nothing sex-related was revealed, I had to infer that the sequence of events leading to this shameful, despicable, and in some unclear way horrible disease was just this: 1) girl meets boy and likes him; 2) they kiss; 3) he leaves; 4) as a result she gets a horrible disease. I gave the article to my best friend to read, and we discussed it, wide-eyed with fear, trying to figure out a way to prevent this syphilis thing by never liking boys and never god forbid kissing them. Then keeping our fingers crossed and hoping that no boy would ambush us, jump out of some corner and plant a kiss -- oh horror, this could result in that devastating disease! We better watch out! (An aside: Naive as it was, today I believe most people's ideas about where and how various illnesses originate are as much removed from reality as was the case with that one in our case. And I don't just mean lay people.)

growing up in the Blue Ridge Mountains, and playing in the woods pretty much every day, i remember learning at a very young age (6) to recognize and avoid the three poisonous snakes (rattlesnake, copperhead, water moccasin) we played in the creek pretty much every day too. And that black snake was not harmful. We were taught to freeze whenever we saw any snake, identify it, alert anyone else nearby, and to slowly back away.

Your Mother is right.

As my mother always said, "Red-on-yellow, kill-a-fellow! Red-on-black, venom-lack!"

https://youtu.be/B3B2Jc4sFuA?si=sUeWNMFpvPNMSdSh

Interesting choice of words , since polarized means ' to restrict the vibrations of a transverse wave, (especially light) wholly or partially to one direction . So polarized thought would seem to be more like unity than duality . To have duality in thought means being able to see both sides of the issue .

I can agree with that , one reason is its easier to scam people on line or remotely . A 'spell' might be insufficient . I am talking about something more powerful with a better chance of success . or an 'elaborate ceremony' might not be needed wither . It could be a silent process . If they are that powerful to stop you seeking help they would not have allowed you to post here . or to even listen to or respond to what I said above . However they might have convinced you that the only way to be free of them is via something you cannot do ; like find a special person that needs to do a face to face elaborate ceremony . 'They' will put all sorts of things in the way of resolve . Oh would they now ? However they don't seem to have power over your fingers typing this do they ? YOU might have more power over them than you think .... one of the first methods of gaining power over people is to lead them to believe they don't have power themselves . However your realized and enacted true nature IS more powerful than they are . That's why they are starting to get worried .

You left out the most obvious - cleaning the windows .

Chapter 24 of the I Ching (as used by Syd Barrett in the great song of the same name based on it nearly verbatim): "The seven is the number of the young light, it forms when darkness is increased by one." Taoist dialectic: extreme yin turns into yang, and vice versa. Of course those who are not familiar with this inevitable cosmic scale dynamic process that is followed by all of the "ten thousand things" will always try to increase light by taking it all the way to its ridiculous, caricature level extremes. Whence it will flip into darkness -- inevitably. In social movements and in "spiritual" pursuits alike it's especially obvious -- the best, most enlightened ideas, trends, intentions inevitably flip into their darkest opposites. (And, less obviously, vice versa. And slower. Yin is slower... yang is always in a rush. That's why light flips into darkness more readily than vice versa.) So, the sensible way to increase light without going overboard is by increasing the nourishing, nurturing dark yin which we all come from (remember the womb?) and return to. A good night's sleep A dark retreat, or at least meditation with your eyes closed, in a dark room Black sesame seeds, blackberries, bilberries (nourish the retina and literally make it more receptive to light, improving night vision while protecting from the irritating effects of excessive illumination) A screens/electronics fast -- limiting one's exposure to all those oh so bright, oh so much light devices that, predictably, darken the soul. And so on. Look for where yin is deficient and increase; look for where yang is excessive and decrease. This is a yang-skewed civilization, in most situations you will find you need less light, not more. And if you do find you need more light, go for the mellow kind -- sunset, sunrise...

Actions that bring us closer to the light... gardening looking at the ocean walking (extra points if done in nature) socializing with friends hugs good books, good art, good music home cooking finally cleaning out the garage pizza (OK, maybe not but this is my bias) Actions that might or might not bring us closer to the light... posting on Daobums

Perhaps at the end of the day we are all sock puppets of the One.

@Apech how come there’s a laughing sockpuppet? I thought he was banned?

there wouldn’t be much traffic on the forum otherwise.

Some people and some people at various stages need a 'bubble' around them . Its a fundamentals and basic principle in many systems of magical practice . One practices to actually form this 'bubble' . I would even go as far as to say it is , at first, an essential practice and it goes further than a magical practice visualization - it is actually the first principle of philosophy given out during the first knowledge lecture in the first initiation . Which is basically ; if you are learning to use your energies , how will you control them if you cant contain them ? ( and since I cant repeat the lecture here , I will outline the philosophical lesson into other words ) Consider the steam engine and its massive potential power that can be put to all sports of uses ... how will it work if the pressure is not contained in the first place ... the steam will just waft away as vapor . of course , I don't expect you to agree :Lairg ... or even respond . I put this here as its important for some people at this present time and for some peoples level of development .

Should the clear simple list of answers to the opening question be put down yet ..... or do we need a much longer to and fro into obscurity first ?

if you are asking the questions, since you are asking the questions, then there is a part of you that is ready

I have posted before https://www.thedaobums.com/search/?&q=heart light&author=Lairg Feel free to ask about specific aspects

Perhaps I should avoid dwelling any deeper, as I might not be ready yet, but I wonder: 1. What can one do to refine the heart? 2. would you mind providing me with an intellectual framework, in hope that it might dawn on me one day? Thank you.

Logos is Greek for "word". You may recall "In the beginning was the Word" Do your own experiments. It is useful to find a competent observer for feedback

For most humans the emotions are more refined and aligned than the mental processes. Accordingly feeling uneasy about some action/relationship/direction is usually a sign that things need to be reassessed. That is complicated when the human has interfering entities and significant karma. Fortunately the higher subplanes of the heart are cosmic so that working with the light of the heart is usually reliable Most humans do not have enough control of their thoughts to rely upon mental analysis

The human has functions beyond its species - as demonstrated by the geometric Tree of Life fitting on the human and on various continents. Since our god is a god of right relationship the human is expected to carry out that function as a direct impulse from that Logos. If a human loves itself from the heart then it is doing well. Humans that do not love themselves are facing away from the Logos

Are there principles of cooperation with the macro, or does one has to go on gut?

The each human format contains perhaps a trillion intelligences that more or less cooperate to produce an entity that functions in the local cosmos. A universe contains a vastly greater number of intelligences that need to be coordinated, refined, aligned and integrated so that Logos has a coherent body that it can use in relating to other universes and their Logoi The human is a microcosm so that a coherent/enlightened human naturally propagates that coherence into the local aspects of the universe If the human is incoherent the universe will instinctively protect itself from that contagion

What is this; and why is it something to be avoided; and how does a person know if they are going down that path? Thank you.

Thank you, could you elaborate a little on the concepts mentioned, please?

In this universe our god (the Logos) is a god learning right relationship - but referred to by humans as a god of love. It is better to support the work of the universal Logos That may avoid having a bubble formed around us

Gnosis with a sense of humor, what more can one ask for. I feel like many of these tales (like Star Wars, lord of the rings, dune, Harry Potter and a bunch more) have a lot of depth, tho.

So the younglings didn’t have to die? PM