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Hi everyone, thank you for this space. I have been looking for a community to read and share experiences for a while, and you guys give me a good feeling, so here I am. I have been trying to find my way into inner exploration for some time now, but I am still all over the place. I have been reading and listening a lot in the hope that certain ideas would eventually "click", but sometimes I have the impression that I am just adding to the confusion. I have tried to meditate to reduce the noise, but I am having a hard time finding a practice that suits me and doesn't throw me into mental or emotional states that I cannot manage. So far it feels like I have just been stirring dirt instead of clearing the water. I hope we can have some good discussions while I figure things out

"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power." - Lincoln

Doing japa (repetition of deity mantras) with either Tulsi or Rudhaksha beads is considered beneficial and superior to any other types of beads. It has something to with their texture, feel and the vibrational energy from these beads. The finger tips have lot of sensitive nerves. To feel the texture of these beads by holding them with the finger tips and moving them like in japa is attributed somehow to absorb positive vibrations and to balance the energy.

We have a wonderful mezcaleria, Clavel in downtown Baltimore, with amazing tacos! It's tiny and loud. I LOVE their huitlacoche tacos with a shot of El Buho and a michelada chaser. Mmmmm

We start them from seed, around 60 days to flower. You could probably grow it indoors in a sunny window.

Al Gore said the same thing in 1990, and again in 2000. It's a religion to them.

Heck. Do you guys realize that tomorrow is TACO TUESDAY?! Due to my ongoing but as yet incomplete attempt to heal leaky gut, I cannot eat gluten, glutin, or any nut/seed meals. (I'm keto so I don't eat the grains anyway.) So I am for the time being stuck with coconut flour and protein powder and maybe oat fiber as my sole baking options for making tortillas. Which... ergh. Kinda suck. I did however work out making taco shells out of cheese itself which are surprisingly pretty good (see). Although ridiculously filling! Taco Bowls are easiest but they aren't "real" mexican food. Just spiced chuck burger with shred cheese, diced scallions and tomatoes and jalapenos, sometimes some sour cream or guacamole. I miss carne asada, maybe I should be making tacos with that. Gak. Now I've made myself even more hungry but it's 1am so I'm not going to eat. Tomorrow (er, today, but later) I will eat. TACOS! RC

Its been a while, Rex How have you been, my friend? Trust you & all dear friends here are in great happiness always! Wishing you & everyone here a truly blessed new year _/\_ May all enjoy the causes of great liberation and peace, today and always!

There are forms, and there is that which is aware of forms;There are feelings, and there is that which is aware of feelings;There are perceptions, and there is that which is aware of perceptions;There are thought formations, and there is that which is aware of thought formations;There are sense impressions, and there is that which is aware of sense impressions: That which is aware has always been, is now, and will always be, awakened! ~ Paramito Ladakh ~

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So every now and then we feel we have insight and an enlightened view of life and the world. But! What if all our assumptions are wrong! What if we have to agree that, as all things are relative, we are simply biased from our vantage point? So any mystic worth his salt is forever testing his beliefs, insights and knowing. But are we not all humbled by the infinite unfathomable nature of all? I wrote this many years ago and have yet to improve upon it: The seed of thought, the sum of mind, And through it's memories became entwined. And then it dawned upon it's reason, To tread the path of different seasons And then at dusk our memories cease, And ask no more and rest in peace.

In Aikido there was a saying, Don't leave your Aikido on the mat. It meant this stuff is to be used in real life. Not the martial techniques, but lessons in awareness, movement, mind body stuff. Lately I'm going over Adyashanti's stuff. He seems pretty down to earth. What I'm pondering is his saying that if we keep meditation special and as a separate consciousness, then its not affecting our every day life, ie its either not going to get us to enlightenment, or its a slow rout, as long as meditation is separate 'special' activity. I think Musashi said your warrior walk should be your everyday walk. Adyanshanti seems to want our meditation to be our every day mind. Not even quieting mind, nothing special, just watching it. Thus it'll settle down by itself, but keep watching it, for its tricks, its moods. Anyhow.. I suppose we need to do things mindfully.. yet beyond that.. how do we stay in meditation.. what mindset do we need.. ? Its kind of Pollyannish, but the mindset It's All Good, seems to be a good one. And when the shits hits the fan heavily, it can be naturally dropped. Or is no mindset the best. thoughts..

i am eating tacos, i like tacos, yes almost all kind of tacos, Green salsa tacos, yes i like beans tacos, do you know how many combinations of salsas you can add, do you know how many combination of vegetables you can add, yes you can have them regular and fried, prefer fried mmmm, i love tacos.

Chicago's filled with great taco places. One favorite The Taco Joint, first rate mexican style tacos. You have to pay extra for a clean glass. In Chicago you want to find a great Mexican food, follow a police car. Police know great tacos and you probably robbed either.

I don't think it is a question of dominance. In trying to understand what is represented by the female and male principles, I go back to the I Ching discussions on Qian and Kun. (Any I Ching will do but I found Alfred Huang's the most illuminating) In discussing these principles in terms of Heaven/Earth or yang/yin I found that it was easier to avoid much of the inherent gender bias in the terms male/female and allows the discussion to get closer to the core principles ... by thinking about the principles as the creative and nurturing principles. I think the important thing here is the parity and interdependence of the two principles. It makes no sense to talk about creation if there is no nurturing/fulfillment, and ... no sense to talk about nurturing if no creation/initiation. In this sense the Dao is that which has the potential to provide for both creation and nurturing in that which it manifests.

A big part of the issue is that you have started to open and feeling some energy. That energy is probably spilling over in your mind when you meditate or quiet your mind. You may want to consider some practices that are more about energy movement. It will help you to become more consciously aware of it all, and less subconscious spillover stuff.

Yes the idea of a second referendum (The Peoples Vote) is really being pushed by the Establishment. Whilst Prime Drip May tells us over and over that it is not an option the media broadcast and publish the idea at every opportunity. Their aim is simply to get us used to the term itself (second referendum or peoples vote) so that when it becomes a reality no one (at least amongst the Herdlings) will be surprised. A second referendum is always the preferred option for supporters of the E.U. who have seen this process work before and consider it a tried and tested method of bringing dissenters back into the fold. As regards political suicide you must remember that voters tend to have short memories and the Politico's know this. Plenty of laughs still to come folks.

Walmart was in the city where I live (~15K pop) before I moved here in 2000. They upgraded to 'super walmart' (now just walmart again, but ridiculously large) I think in 2001. We lost five grocery stores, couple clothing stores, auto shops, sporting goods, a pharmacy, and probably several other things I'm not aware of. WM simply put them out of business. Nobody could compete with their prices -- or with the convenience of having everything in one place. One tiny grocer just a few doors down from me survived, because they were on a frontage road from Main St and it was kind of rectangle. So if you wanted milk, you could just run in and get it and run out. It wasn't like you had to hike to Guam at the opposite side the way you do with the big WM. It survived and gradually even expanded and moved across the street. Their prices are significantly higher though. In some respects they focused on the stuff WM didn't, like gluten-free and so on, which made people go there for that. Now even walmart has coconut and almond meal and GF everything, cauli and zuke frozen stuff for grainfree noodles or 'rice' and so on, so I'm not sure if that's helping them anymore. I shop there, because options are limited here now, and because the price of real food is high enough without making it worse. I make myself shop at the other store sometimes, just to support its existence. For the complaints about employee stuff though, I have to say, I know a couple people who have worked there for years. They pay 2-3$ more an hour than any of the other retail in town, there's a % off card, and the conditions aren't any more psycho than any other retail job (often better just because larger environs and formal HR policies reduce the personal-tyranny small places can experience). It bothers me that walmart and amazon (which pretty much have the majority of my non-bill paychecks for the last 15 years) are taking over everything though. There is this (IMO total propaganda) movie called 'The Circle.' It has this ending which apparently many watchers thought was a happy ending, and I thought was the summation of a nightmare. Having some global corp utterly controlling and monitoring your existence is slightly nauseating. RC

Yeah, having had a big fish tank at one point, my complete disinterest in the smell they tend to have if you don't clean them religiously has made me disinterested in anything fishy. I figure the hydroponics will be work enough. So prior to beginning the 'garden room' I have two things that have to be done which all this time later I am only just now getting to: 1/ the electric in the room needs rewiring, it kills electronics and I have something like 87000 Lux in LEDs (not to mention humidifier, fans, window A/C unit, and the basic electronics of the aeroponic and hydroponic systems) I don't want to wreck. It's taken me forever to find an electrician who will work in my small city. All the people listed do business not residential stuff. Finally I found a handyman who can do part of it and thinks he can talk an E. friend into doing the main box upgrade we need that the city has to verify. So maybe if I'm incredibly lucky that will get done in the next couple of months. 2/ because the room is going to be hot and humid all the time it needs to be repainted, so I got a solid primer and a mold-resistant (bathroom sort) of paint, both of them colored a light pistachio green (because white was boring) and I still need to actually do the work of painting the whole room. And the back wall of the closet since my house helper and daughter at some point in the last few years, removed AND LOST (threw away??) the DOOR to her closet. WTH, who does such a thing?! Anyway. So I have not begun yet. But I did, some months ago, buy I think everything I need for the project. I'm going aeroponic misting for the cloning, and several big tub ebb & flow systems for the various plants. I want to grow not just peppers (my favorite thing) but specifically alliums, which nobody I know has ever grown indoors hydroponically (they require a lot of light), and I couldn't even find much on the web about it sadly. On the bright side everybody moved out so I have the back room to make the garden. And I had the bright idea to have a handyman build me a big box in the garage, on legs of a sort, that connects to the joining wall of the living room, with a cat door. And the litter boxes are gradually moving into that so they are technically in the garage in a way -- and I will get my other back room returned to me so I can put my gym in there -- my squat cage, bench and rack has been dominating my living room for a long time now :-) -- and then maybe have more room to do crafts and stuff in the living room (I need to decoupage my kitchen cabinet doors and drawer faces, do some sewing, and so on). I totally have garden fever now because of the season. Usually hits me right before the new year for some reason. I have some novel seeds this year I haven't tried before. Since I'm growing indoors with lights, the season shouldn't much matter for whatever I'm doing. So starting things in -- hopefully -- March, which with Feb is serious winter here on the flat edge of the Ozarks -- hopefully won't matter much. :-) RC

No 1 correllate to "unexplainable medical symptoms" is dysfunctional breathing, where high thoracic breathing is the most common pattern. So working on this might be useful. When it comes to qigong, everybody has preferences. Pick one. You might find that the teacher is more important than the method, but if you are short of funding any method is better than no practice at all. If your system is weak you might want to reconsider the idea of "most powerful method", since you also have to be able to handle the practice.

Day before yesterday my new neighbor came over. She has a 1.5 year old toddler girl named Luna. It was an interesting meeting. I always want to meet my neighbors and have a good relationship with them. It was odd though. She is 25. She and her husband were both meth users heavily for quite some time, and then they found Jesus and each other at the same time and she got pregnant nearly instantly so they married. That was in Wichita, but a distant relative gave them the ref to move in next door via family relation to the owner. She has... not a single personal interest that I could find. I'm not religious but I'd've been happy to spend an hour talkin about jesus (or buddha or anything else) if it made my neighbor happy, but not even that. She did say she likes 'hospital dramas' on TV, that's something, but I don't watch TV really and never that stuff so I had zero base of experience. I spent over an hour covering the entire range of everything I could think of that she might have any interest in -- including books, media, toddlers, even cooking or food -- nope. Nada. I found myself thinking, "For the love of god, NO WONDER this girl was a drug addict. She doesn't read, she doesn't think, she just exists like an NPC and watches TV. What was there to give meaning to her life?" Then I felt like a miserable cretin the rest of the day for being such a judgmental bitch in my head. Obviously, outside my head, I hope I was nothing but kind. I actually gave her my wifi password as they can't afford net and I hoped it would reach into their house at least the part near mine (it does) and I think I have the bandwidth to share. At least now she has netflix and youtube and not just antenna-TV. But it really just boggled my mind that she had no interests, doesn't read... I feel on some level like maybe the drug just sucked some connection to soul out of her. But perhaps that's unfair. Maybe she was that way before it. Here's hoping they don't relapse. * I picked up a hitchhiker a few years ago driving to the other side of town about 10pm. So I was on the way to walmart, which is the only thing open at night in my nowhere small city (in part because it killed off so many other businesses it's nearly the only thing left outside of fast food and medical). I see a young man walking, clearly toward WM because what the heck else is there open, and it's dark, and as he hears me nearing he puts out his thumb and keeps walking, so I ask myself, "Self, will this person do me harm? Life and death here babe, look into it." And self doesn't feel any sense of physical bad in my future so I pick him up. He's flying. "Where are you going?" I ask him. He looks at me, gets a funny look on his face, and then says -- clearly trying to be as scary as he can be -- "To the edge of town. The darkest edge of town." I burst into hilarious laughter. (Don't make me shoot you, kiddo.) He was clearly disappointed this did not have the desired effect. I dropped him off at walmart, after convincing him they had light, bathrooms, and benches to sit on, which would be better than being in the middle of nowhere in the dark alone. ;-) RC

Thanks Zen Pig... I just wanted to verify S-M... and also see what exactly is on Gift of the Tao 1 DVD (including S-M?), because I was considering purchase. I'm not new to meditation , energy work, altered states. Qigong I am pretty new too however.

Here I was, thinking dwai had an alien encounter to share... Don't tease me ... !

Yesterday, took this photo of the full moon. I like the white sparkly stripes around the crater. Also the crater themselves seem empty, whatever collided must've evaporated due to the kinetic energy of the collision. Perhaps the craters were caused by some kind of frozen meteoride, maybe frozen meteoride of water. Whatever it was, I'm pretty sure it crystalized again short after evaporating, cause I guess it's somewhat cold out there without an atmosphere. One theory I am very interested in, if it's true or not, wether the moon always faces the earth on the same face, that it's gravitationally locked unto the earth like an artificial satellite. I have to take another photo to see if the moon has spinned around to show a different side of itself. Would be a real crazy idea to think the moon was dragged there from somewhere else and locked into orbit around the planet earth. I just checked on the internet, and forgot that my moon is upside down, due to mirror telescope. So it's basically the same face I see on the internet. I don't see any picture on the internet that shows a different face of the moon. Strange.

Along these lines it was tragic to recently read about the arrest following sexual abuse charges against John of God. But if the charges are true, this is not surprising during our current Kali Yuga age where the abnormal is the norm. Souls incarnating with great spiritual gifts yet there ego has not been disconnected so they have a great fall from Grace. The problem is that then some people over generalize about this and think that all gurus are not the real thing. Guru means remover of darkness which is the bringer of Light. That is the role of a true guru.

Love tulsi. Actually drinking a cup of Rama tulsi right now. Wonderful adaptagen that is often overlooked.

Spot on Indeed, I guess thats what is at heart of my inquiry. What was the ancient human take on these matters, what came first Geographic strategic needs? or the actual need for home lair empowerment from a energetic standpoint...or both?

Many years ago, when I was in my early 20s, I had a near-death-experience (NDE) during which I emerged completely symptom-free from a 3-day "irreversible coma" when the doctors had said beforehand that this was impossible since there was clearly brain damage and organ damage. During that experience, I could see my body from afar, the entire hospital room, and verifiable things that were outside the range of physical sight (remote viewing). I had glimpses of the universal panorama as well as a mystical vision (which I completely misinterpreted but turned out to be eerily prophetic) that shifted my focus to eastern practices. Having been raised Roman Catholic, I could not explain these and other experiences during this period in the light of the limited Christian theology to which I had been exposed. I followed many of the Taoist and Buddhist practices noted in this thread and actually met Taoist and Buddhist masters in remote regions throughout the world. I also engaged in yoga and related meditation practices. When meeting such masters, I invariably asked how certain unexplainable (by me) happenings directly perceived by me were possible and how certain teachings could be validated for one's self since I was not content with merely repeating the words of others. That began a period of intense purification and validating practices. Eventually, I met a teacher under whom I was to study for many years. Her most appealing words were: "Question everything, including what I say, and, if a teacher can't point you to the direct experiences, then go elsewhere." From that point on, I learned how to validate whatever resonated with me from the eastern teachings and practices to which I had become attracted. It became clear that intellectual understanding and parroting words of alleged masters are not the same as understanding/realization. Here, on this forum, I read many grandiose statements and am in agreement with many of them. However, whenever I ask questions regarding how such statements can be validated or how posters came to those conclusions, there is only silence as the intellectual posturing continues. This leads me to believe that there is a lot of intellectualizing in this form with people parading around as if they are enlightened guides to others. (It should be noted that this is most assuredly helpful to others nonetheless.) However, I am wondering whether all these words are exactly that --- just words --- with nothing in the way of direct validating experiences to back them up. Correct me if I am wrong, but I would like to hear more about HOW posters here came to realize the statements that they make and to read LESS casual quoting of others with no perceived attempt to validate/verify. Without disputing that "Mind creates Reality" or cryptic references to " that which gives birth to the One" and other statements presented here, I would like to hear more about what convinced people of what they write so casually and HOW they went about validating such statements. Otherwise, it is still interesting talk --- but nonetheless just talk by people who seem satisfied with their intellectual astuteness. If that satisfies, then so be it.

IIRC it takes 15 posts to fully unlock that area. Hun Dun are the sewers of the Dao Bums. Make sure you have hip-waders before you spend time there.

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Oh ... my assumption was it was when your Moon entered its own natal sign, not when the Moon entered one's natal Sun sign. And . ... also an assumption that it the 3 days would start at the point of the 'lunar return' eg. my natal Moon is 1 degree Leo, so its the same (at the beginning ) but if it was 29 deg, Leo ..... Or the Moon going with a natal Sun (Mine is 0 Deg. Cancer ), not just at the beginning of the sign. So it must be an earth based (ie. seasonal dynamic ) ? Combined with a 'Sun Moon conjoined' energy, eg @ 23 http://www.sacred-texts.com/alc/harcanum.htm ..... hmmmm ... not like me to make a post without a joke .... half a mo' ..... https://samurai-gamers.com/pokemon-sun-and-moon/soul-dew-ban-lifted/ In any case , I hope you post the results of your experiment .

Thank you for that post @Rocky Lionmouth, it isvery helpful to understand the stance. However unfortunately my knees point inward when my feet are straight so I keep my feet pointing outwards so I can keep my knees straight. This is ok still, right? I found also that my back curves really easily. My lower back learns forward and my upper back leans back. It’s hard to correct this. It’s also really tricky because while doing horse stance i’m doing reverse breathing and moving my hands up and down my body like the other poster recommended. I’m just doing this to maintain celibacy so I have to do everything together. @voidisyinyang unfortunately I haven’t practiced the stance for a couple of days. My prostate area is a little sore because i’m practicing celibacy. Can the lecithin still be expelled from the prostate back into the blood or is there a time limit? Thank you.

Im retaining it so i can improve my body’s vitality as stated in my post.

A core problem I can see is not trusting yourself. "Why are you doing that ?" .... "Because i want to, f**k off". How many industries are run on the basis of telling people to stop and do it this way or that way. It's ridiculous how many people want a piece of you. And how many industries ... a large part of their work is to teach people to question themselves so that they will come running to buy products or services ... the more fear and anxiety they can drive into people the more cash they get. And then you start questioning yourself. Which eventually drives you completely insane ... after all if you don't own yourself ... how can you be sane ? Maybe this is the main problem, not sure. FThat.

Thanks Hippies for the internet and how high were you guys? Thanks for having a cause like equal rights for all colors (especially the psychedelic ones) ending the war, social change, gender equality. You people must have been tripping your lips off. For the new generation just keep track of where your phone is and everything will be OK. Sticks and stones will never hurt you but words will break your bones, each and everyone of them.

This was my most memorable hitchhiker experience.

I've been reminding myself to really see people. I mean not just their facade, not the image they project or that I project upon them - but to actually look into their eyes and see the lifetime of experiences that build up to this small moment. People are like ice burgs, almost all of them is buried. It's so easy to wash them with a single color and call it a day, but we're not background, we're the fantastically rich, beautiful, ugly, messed up, gorgeous whole of it all. Each and every one of us are unique and as beautiful as freshly fallen snow, even the fucked up ones. Especially the fucked up ones.

Happens here on our commune too . We sheltered people in need and trouble, helped them get set up, gave them (not sold them,,, GAVE them ) land to build on . Our worst most troublesome resident came here as a single mother with 3 kids seeking refuge , she got help to do all that , then turned against us fang and claw and tried to destroy the community and have it disbanded (which would have entailed destroying her own site and house as well .... ) Its a bit like being in a safe life raft and then picking up someone in trouble and then having to spend the rest of the time dealing with them stabbing holes in the bottom of the boat they are in

Does being a descendant of Irish bread stealing convicts deported to a penal colony count as 'noble' ? If so, yes then.

[ Okay, if you not an anthro nut like me (or at least interested in human make up history psychology - 'know thyself' , or archaeology , etc .) may as well not read this . ] A little known culture and practice . The Cucuteni-Trypillian culture had the largest settlements in history up to their time. This was a widespread and long-lasting tradition in what is now Southeastern and Eastern Europe, lasting from as early as 6500 BCE (the beginning of the Neolithic) to as late as 2000 BCE (the end of the Chalcolithic and the beginning of the Bronze Age). There is a consensus in the study of Neolithic and Eneolithic Europe that the majority of burned houses were intentionally set alight. Although the reasons behind why house burning was practiced are still debated, the evidence seems to support that it occurred in such a way as to indicate it was highly unlikely to have been as a result of accidental cause. If these regularly occurring burnings, in which the entire settlement is destroyed, were deliberate, then there has still been a debate about why this happened. Cucuteni-Trypillian settlements were completely burned every 75–80 years . There is evidence that every single settlement in this culture probably practiced house burning. No real explanation has been offered, various theories all seem to have holes in them. The remains show food and goods were present in the burnings, bu no human remains. It seems deliberate as the remains are vitrified clay - like baked pottery. Experiments did not get the same results, unless they packed the remade houses with hay and wood up against the walls to get the reqiured temperature for vitrification ; Recreation of a Cucuteni-Trypillian house burning; note the amount of extra fuel (straw and wood) added to the outside of the clay walls to increase the temperature needed for ceramic vitrification. Only one idea seems to hold up ; Symbolic end of house: Some scholars have theorized that the buildings were burned ritually, regularly and deliberately in order to mark the end of the "life" of the house. The terms "Domicide" and "Domithanasia" have been coined to refer to this practice. Using this theory, objects belonging to the house (including food, containers, and ritual objects) could possibly have been viewed as sharing the same "spirit" as the house structure itself. In destroying the house, it would then also be necessary to destroy all of the various elements that made up the house, which would explain why these kinds of items have been found buried in the rubble of burned houses. The physical act of destroying the entire settlement by intentionally burning it to the ground would have required an organized joint-community effort, involving stacking huge amounts of fuel around the walls of the structures, and then torching the entire settlement. Such a systematic act of destruction would leave behind the kind of evidence that is to be found in the archeological sites . https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burned_house_horizon

I remembered in the last post about George Washington Carver. I often remind the story of him as an example of how a person with an open heart can achieve a deep understanding of nature and interact with the outside world. From book Secret LIve Of Trees by Peter Tompkins and Christopher Bird: "From the time he was able to get about by himself in the countryside young Carver began to display an uncanny knowledge of all growing things. Local farmers in Diamond Grove, a tiny community in the foothills of the Ozarks in southwestern Missouri, remembered the weaklooking boy roving for hours through their holdings, examining plants and bringing back certain varieties with which he could miraculously heal sick animals. On his own, the child planted a private garden in a remote and unused bit of bottomland. With the remnants of coldframes and other stray material he built a secret greenhouse in the woods. Asked what he was forever doing all by himself so far from the farmyard, Carver replied firmly if enigmatically, "I go to my garden hospital and take care of hundreds of sick plants." Farmers' wives from all over the countryside began bringing him their ailing house plants, begging him to make them bloom. Gently caring for them in his own way, Carver often sang to them in the same squeaky voice which characterized him in manhood, put them in tin cans with special soil of his own concoction, tenderly covered them at night, and took them out to "play in the sun" during the day. When he returned the plants to their owners, and repeatedly was asked how he could work his miracles, Carver only said softly: "All flowers talk to me and so do hundreds of little living things in the woods. I learn what I know by watching and loving everything." And one else: "Carver's students were greatly impressed that each morning he would rise at four 0' clock to walk in the woods before the start of the working day and bring back countless plants with which to illustrate his lectures. Explaining this habit to friends, Carver said, "Nature is the greatest teacher and I learn from her best when others are asleep. In the still dark hours before sunrise God tells me of the plans I am to fulfill."

(respectfully channeling Marblehead ) I don't know what to say to that, that's all I have to say.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/srinivasan-pillay/the-science-of-visualizat_b_171340.html The Science of Visualization https://www.voler.com/connect/detail/li/SeeingIsBelievingTheScienceBehindVisualization Your brain cannot tell the difference between something that’s real and whether you are just imagining it. Neuroscientists at Harvard taught a simple 5-fingered combination of piano notes to a group of people – thumb, index finger, middle finger, ring finger, little finger – which they played over and over again for 2 hours a day. They did this for 5 consecutive days. Another group of volunteers didn’t actually play the notes, but just imagined playing them. So they imagined the combination – thumb, index finger, middle finger, ring finger, little finger – for 2 hours a day on 5 consecutive days. The researchers examined the brains of the volunteers every day using a technique known as TMS (Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation) and found that, each day, there was little or no difference between the brains of those who played the notes with their fingers and those who played the notes with their minds. The brain areas in both cases grew significantly in size. In many ways, the brain can’t tell the difference between real and imaginary!

Very interesting is the fact that this energy can be stored in objects as simple as paper... the duration of storage and strength of it, plus the forces for release are being investigated. Since the late 1980's the principal author has succeeded in storing (+) Qi Gong energy on a variety of substances including small sheets of paper, and recently has been able to intensify this energy by concentrating it as it passes through a cone-shaped, tapered glass or plastic object placed directly on the (+) Qi Gong energy stored paper. Application of (+) Qi Gong energy stored paper on the cardio-vascular representation area of the medulla oblongata at the occipital area of the skull often improved circulation and enhanced drug uptake. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7572329

A chirp wave is a compression or slowing of energy, with reversal and expansion, and here from a magnetic point of view. The magnetic fi eld oscillations began as 20–30 Hz oscillations, slowing to 8–9 Hz, and then to less than 1 Hz, at which point the oscillations reversed and increased in frequency, with an overall symmetrical appearance resembling a “chirp wave.” The waves ranged from 1–8 milliGauss peak-to-peak in strength and 60–120 sec in duration. http://www.indiana.edu/~brain/measuring-the-qi-in-tai-chi/ http://qi-encyclopedia.com/?article=Measuring-the-qi-in-Taichi Gravity measure as a chirp wave: It was found that an extremely strong magnetic field was emitted from the two individuals. One subject emitted a magnetic field at the level of 200-300 mT (2-3 mGauss) and the other at 0.13 mT (1.3 mGauss). In both cases, moreover, the magnetic needle compass rotated 30 degrees (this was tested 32 times). When the rotation of the needle occurred, a reproducible magnetic field of 800-1500 mT (8-15 mGauss) was indicated on the digital measuring device (this was tested 12 times). It is concluded that traditional Oriental Qi Gong breathing appears to stimulate an unusually large biomagnetic field emission. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9051169 https://bengstonresearch.com/content_assets/docs/JSE_Geomagnetic_Moga_Bengston.pdf

Here is an interesting book reference that is well written, entertaining and a good introduction to the whole field: Which happens to be a very good read also. It is important to realize though, that the brain's representation of our surroundings as "sensory experience", however imperfect or fallible, is not a mere a illusion, but just that, a representation, much like a television picture is a representation, and a very useful one at that.

My boyfriend and I have a code word for love. Inspired by the language of the Na`vi in the movie Avatar, it`s just a few nonsense syllables that for us mean "I love you." This way we can bid each other goodbye in public settings in a sweet, secret way without the hassle of being in an obvious gay relationship. Not that I think we`re fooling anybody. In general, I don`t think straight people have much of an idea what it`s like to be gay. They don`t know what it`s like to come to a spiritual forum like Taobums and read debates about the validity of their existence. I remember looking for information about homosexuality in the local library as a teenager. There wasn`t much. A copy of Don Clark`s very useful book, Loving Someone Gay, and a not so useful psychoanalytic treatise detailing the supposedly aberrant family dynamics that Freudians of that time thought led to people like me. These days people put little stock in psychoanalysis, going in instead for more materialistic, biological explanations. So we`ve got lots of talk of genetics and debate about chimpanzees. Lots of people seem to think that if there are gay chimps in the wild then being a gay human is OK. If there aren`t gay chimps then I suppose homosexulity is more suspect. Well, I`m here to tell you that I don`t care about the gay chimpanzees. I`m just trying to love myself and my partner as best I can, regardless of whether or not we have sexual counterparts in the wild kingdom. What else can I do? It occured to me today that gay people have something in common with straights who, for whatever reason, chose not to have children. There`s just something shameful, or so we`re told, about not procreating. I believe the root of the taboo is the fear of death. Having kids can be a way of girding oneself against the horror of non-existence: parents will die, but they can take comfort in the idea that their genes will live on through their progeny. Gay people and non-procreating straights live closer to death; they are the unprotected. Their very existence is a challenge to those who haven`t come to terms with mortality.

You are not the only one. I saved my first tree when I just turned four. In spring, they planted young poplar saplings in a tiny park next to where I lived, and some idiot with a knife attempted to cut one of them down for purposes unknown, not finishing the job however and leaving a huge gaping wound on the trunk, low enough for me to reach. The wound oozed dark poplar blood. The leaves and branches were going lifeless. I resolved to try healing the tree. I got all the medications that I was familiar with from scraping my own knees or elbows, and applied them to the wound -- sterilized it (this discouraged countless little gnats interested in the sap), liberally applied fresh plantain leaves (I would still do it today for my own scraped knee -- perfect healing herb), and then bandaged the trunk with gauze. Every day, when they brought me home from kindergarten, I would check on the tree, change the dressing on the wound, change the bandage. I think I was at it for about a month. One of the biggest thrills was to visit the neighborhood some fifteen years later, after I'd lived elsewhere, and remember that tree and go check on it. It was now a magnificent, mighty poplar, home to many cheerfully chirping birds, different from all its slender neighbors only in that way high above my head, there was a big bump on the trunk, a scar from that near-lethal wound it had survived with my help. It felt so good to stand there talking to that tree.