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I´ve also found the Bums a mostly kind-hearted group. It sounds like you have Good Forum Karma! I hope you continue to find this a welcoming, accepting place for many years to come.

I loved the first season and the rest not as much but the overall effect worked for me, largely because of the nostalgia. The mall was silly, the evil Russians too caricatured. That said the Americans were far more evil. I mainly liked the fact that we enjoyed it as a family and my kids lived the series. I also recently watched Life of Chuck and really enjoyed it. Just teasing about the “other stuff.” Some of it is fun!

Have you ever watched "Altered states?" It's a 1980 sci-fi/horror movie, which starts out as a great and unusual sci-fi and then devolves into a trite and unimaginative horror one. But up to that unfortunate commercial plot twist, it's cool and even somewhat plausible.

'' In your dreams .... ''

Sounds like stuff that myths and legends are made from. "Thousands of years of work that protective beings have done". If I was writing a novel then I would like to use that. Would you mind? There is no doubt that "there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy". "most orthodox shrinks know nothing of the other side". Thumbs up. Sterling said, "Demons and voices are "makyo" Thanks for the reminder.

The Buddha said karma is intent. So no the person with no malevolent intent with dementia would not accrue very much karma in that situation.

This man has an inspirational story and says he may be evolving back into a monkey. This man also has inspirational stories & may be trying to evolve to become more like a fish. And so maybe there is hope for people to become more like koala bears if needed.

Demons and voices are "makyo": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Makyō They are distractions that come from the thinking mind. If your mind is still, they aren't there by definition. The stillness is the deeper reality of these experiences - the thing that is ALWAYS there when the mind is allowed to stop. Many experiences of all kinds occur during meditation. Most of them are blissful. Some people have supernatural experiences, some don't. It's good to have recourse to a proper teacher to check in with who has seen and understands these experiences, so that when things like this happen they can be framed in their proper perspective and there is some tuning of your practice where problems arise. @Cadcam, if you are continuing to experience anhedonia you should really be in contact with a mental health professional.

This is a koala's paw. As you can see, it has not one but two opposable thumbs. Perhaps our problem, as a species, is not that we built our lifestyle around the fact of having the opposable thumb that allowed us to mess with things. Perhaps the problem is we don't have two of them. If we did, it would make climbing trees so easy and enjoyable that maybe we wouldn't ever get down and start messing with things on the ground.

That’s an interesting way of working with it. I’m not personally opposed to ideas like past‑life or group trauma, but for me, honestly, dealing with this life already feels like plenty 😄 In my own experience, whatever the ultimate cause, I tend to approach recurring pain and discomfort through the lens of tissue history, nervous system patterning, and lived experience in this body. That alone turns out to be a deep enough rabbit hole, and it’s given me more than enough material to work with in practice. Different frameworks clearly resonate with different people, though, and if a model or technique helps someone resolve suffering and move better, that's all that matters.

Yes other practices are sometimes necessary. I needed Chiropractic treatment to get my body better aligned, as I was somewhat twisted and therefore couldn't practice Tai Chi due to knee problems. I also did specific breath and emotional Integration work to integrate some of my early life traumas, and the fascial work of Tai Chi has been continuing that journey at a deeper and more refined level

I completely agree. Thinking you’ve “got it” is, in my experience, one of the most dangerous pitfalls in Tai Chi. When that happens, practice stalls into choreography, and the refinement of interoception stops progressing. This is, I think, one of the biggest cause of plateaus: the body and nervous system stop being challenged, and nothing new is discovered internally. Genuine progress comes from continually testing, sensing, and integrating, even when the movements look “correct” on the outside. We need to stay curious and with a beginners' mind through the whole journey.

Yes absolutely, and that's why teaching Tai Chi well is so difficult and such an art I really like what you said about engaging with others to test progress, I agree completely. For me, one of the most valuable aspects of Tui Shou is that it provides real, external feedback on what's actually been developed. It’s easy to get caught up in sensation or “perceptual fantasy” when practicing solo, thinking you’re aligned or relaxed, when the body might tell a very different story under pressure. Tui Shou keeps you honest, highlights weaknesses, and shows where the internal work is actually translating, or where it’s not yet. In that sense, it’s not just a method for transitioning towards combat; it’s also a mirror for the body-mind integration that solo practice cultivates.

@thelerner @liminal_luke the golden mean? No but reallly, I agree with you. These things isn’t something I’d share with every and anyone. Reason I did it here on daobums, is I consider you kind hearted people and in many ways… friends. 🎉

How do you sit in silence or quiet when there are demons and voices? Are these outside forces? Or is it the mind fighting to not let go? For me, I have not experienced demons or voices other than my own which presents memories of the past which make me want to jump out of my seat. But, remaining with the alertness and sitting quietly, eventually the mind quiets and less and less thoughts arise. IDK. I hear of some people who have experiences of lights and colors while sitting in meditation. Personally have not had that experience. Don't know if I am doing this wrong or not. Or maybe just too early??? Not looking forward to demons and voices.

Yes I have asked for Divine help. I have also asked for many people to pray for me.

Your experience resonates strongly with my own. For me, neijia, neigong, and neidan are journeys of self discovery. A teacher can give pointers and direction, as well as exercises to engage with, but we must engage and discover for ourselves the true meaning, proper technique, and results. Externally, the teacher can adjust the posture but internally, the inner details of posture must be discovered. This is the only way we can learn to self-correct and make meaningful progress in our practice. Once we have developed adequate skill and confidence, engaging with others allow us to test our progress and discover our weaknesses and errors, such as in tui shou, san da, and so on. This is why it is said in taijiquan that we must 'invest in loss.'

Loved the series, including the finale! Not sure what everyone else is talking about…. 🙃

If you trust wu wei as a principle, you must let it happen. The more you is there, the less it happens. I am a straw dog, and will be stashed away between performances, Dao continues to flow. Feel the Dao in every moment. I trust this moment more than I trust what I think about it.

Yes, it's true. There are websites where you enter your birth date, time, and place, and they’ll generate a profile plus timing forecasts. They sort people into “types” (or patterns) and describe traits, strengths, weak spots, and likely life cycles. The specific framework depends on the method: BaZi, Liu Yao, Qi Men, Ziwei Doushu, Da Liu Ren, and Tai Yi are systems built from classic Chinese cosmology and technical traditions, with Liu Yao being the one that most directly runs through the Yijing. Each uses a similar, but slightly different framework. BaZi (Four Pillars) uses the sexagenary calendar (Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches), yin–yang, and the Five Phases (Wood / Fire / Earth / Metal / Water) to describe your baseline pattern and how luck cycles shift over time. It’s usually read through the Four Pillars (year, month, day, hour), the Day Master, the balance of elements, “ten gods” relationship categories, and multi-year luck cycles (commonly described as 10-year cycles) plus year-by-year and month-by-month influences. Liu Yao (Wen Wang Gua) is directly based on the Yijing: you cast a hexagram and read changing lines for a specific question. The reading observes which lines change, the moving-to hexagram, and the role each line plays in a structured way (like “roles” inside the hexagram), so it’s less about a personality profile and more about diagnosing a situation, timing, and likely outcomes if nothing changes. Qi Men Dun Jia uses a time-and-space chart (stems, doors, stars, deities, palaces) to judge momentum, timing, and best actions for a situation. It’s used for strategy: what to do first, what to avoid, what direction supports the goal, what obstacles are active, and what timing window is strongest. Zi Wei Dou Shu (Purple Star) is another common system that can be done from birth details and produces a chart with “palaces” and stars placed into them. It tends to be read as a life map: personality patterns, relationship patterns, career themes, health tendencies, and timing cycles based on how the palaces and stars activate over time. Da Liu Ren is a calendrical divination method that also builds a chart from a moment in time, then reads layers of relationships inside the chart to answer a question. It’s treated as technical and situational, and readers use it to judge dynamics, hidden factors, and timing. Tai Yi is another high-level method that uses time cycles and chart structures to forecast trends and larger-scale momentum. It’s discussed alongside Qi Men and Liu Ren as part of the older “strategic timing” traditions. Western divination has the same structure mainly through astrology (natal charts, transits, progressions, solar returns, horary), which can also be calculated and assessed online. Many sites generate a natal chart from birth data, then add timing forecasts by tracking how current planetary cycles interact with that chart, and some also offer question-based astrology (horary) that functions more like situational divination than a personality profile. I'm partial to Bazi Calculator for Chinese divination, and it offers calculators for a handful of systems. For online Yijing readings, I prefer Hilary Barrett's version. For Western astrology, the calculators I use are through Serennu and Astro-Seek.

There are various accounts of such intelligences: - Recording Angel - Lipika Lords - Lords of Karma. My observation is that the Lords of Karma are hierarchical: - Planetary Lords of Karma - Solar systemic - Galactic - Universal - Trans-universal - ... The issue seems to be that the Spirit that uses the planet/system/galaxy/universe as its body of incarnation is discomforted by actions that are contrary to its intended development. A common expression: our god is a god of love. If that is so, our god may be discomforted by actions that are not based on love. What would that god do about the situation. As far as I can tell, the Spirit that incarnates as this solar system has previously learned right energy, is now learning right relationship, and will later learn right intent. I am told that at later stages of enlightenment it is possible to petition the Lords of Karma to relocate group karma. It seems that karmic energy follows lines of least resistance and often there are several such lines