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What you guys working on in June? Anything strange or new? I'm gonna take a step back meditation wise. Simplify, work on breathing exercises. Particularly those on a youtube Breathing Mantra. They have some nice 30 minute practices with tones. Start with the tri sets of 7-7-7 (in, out, hold)and see how high I can get comfortably. And they have quad sets of x-x-x-x, In, hold, out, hold.. 30 minutes w/ nice spiritual music going. Maybe supplement with my old Silent Grounds tones that were x,x or 1,4,2 rhythm, ie 6in, 24hold, 12 out. At one point I'd worked up to 10in, 40, hold, 20 out. Such breathing practice is a bit of crutch, in that real meditation isn't listening to things outside. Yet good breathing makes for better meditation, so why not refresh myself; see if I can get back to longer breath cycles of a minute or so. I want to work on strength. I've been turning into a Covid potato. So, at least 100 (easy) pushups a day and a 100 squats, maybe 50 squats if done w/ kettlebell. Maybe one day of rest, if I've done 6 days in a row. That along with long walks. With pushups I should build up to 200 (easy countertop) pushups in two weeks, but not if I don't start. Lastly, I want to raise some mushrooms. The mundane, like oysters, and the exotic. Supplies coming.

After finishing a long program of mundane, job-related study, I want to get back to finishing a novel I'm writing and planning another one.

I will be working on surrender. After a three year hibernation, a surrender to the growing desire for regular daily praxis is arising again... I've begun surrendering to it for some weeks now. Going to revisit Wang Liping's sitting process as well as Zhou Ting-Jue's Qi Gong system. I also want to get back in the saddle and resume cycling regularly. Get the kid in on it. I miss that. And our city's been transforming an old railway line into a biking/walking path, which cleverly doubles as a Butterfly Migration corridor, planted as it is with supporting gorgeous flowering shrubs, so it's a stunning ride... In concert with Redondo Beach, Hawthorne and Gardena, it will eventually link up to the coastal path that runs 26 miles up to Malibu, all off street. I love cycling, but street cycling with our drivers and level of traffic is no longer pleasant or relaxing. We could eventually bike up to Wheeler Gorge and go bicycle camping... I'm going to surrender to the desire for a media fast soon, and take a break from all screens. They usually last a month but one of them went over a year, so who knows. All i know is that I've consumed more news in the last four months as in the previous 11 years combined and its influence is palpable. Surrendering to the inner voice beggin me to reduce consumption of media's and random stranger's thoughts and allow space for silence, and for my own thoughts and those close to me to be witnessed. It's noisy of late. The mud settles when i stop stirring the water. If Hollywood doesn't resume soon, (no hints from my contacts of approaching prep work and our department always kicks in weeks before Production/Camera does) so it looks like June and July will be dark. My gut says a few productions may begin in August, but who knows. I left the Morning Show in mid January. So I've had my fill of sitting meditation, screen time, books and movies. So when the hours open up... To Warm up, I have a kit/puzzle I picked up for my son's 12th birthday. He's 14 now. It's a working To Scale replica of one of Da Vinci's catapult designs. It had no gravity for him then, but once he sees me digging into it, he may well want to help. He'll at least, I trust, want to test it out on some targets strewn about the living room once finished. This will be knocked out in a couple hours one afternoon soon. That will be good some good shite... But that short project will be the lead in that should leave my space and tools prepped and ready for the real project. Which is an accurate, 9-10th century replica model of a Viking Longship in scale. The research is done. I have all the blueprints I need and some of the patterns already drawn out on paper. Thinking I'll work in cardboard first, to work kinks out of the patterns, then use those for the wooden final model. It should have full funtion when completed. Rope system, folding mast mount and sail/rudder/oars, storage areas. When painted and finished it should be a nice piece to give a grandchild one day. And while that's going on, it's back to Flutterby's. For years I've wanted to support Monarchs in their migration and host eggs, ever since my wife and I happened on a hibernating cluster of millions of them in a Eucalyptus grove while hiking in Big Sur one day years ago. That was a transformative, peak experience that still resonates energetically and has fostered in me a deep and abiding connection. Monarchs exhibit as a species, a very taoist immortality trait as I see it. Each fourth or fifth generation of them, outlives the previous generations combined and makes the migration back to the nesting grounds in California, or Mexico, to a place they've never been, before laying the eggs for the next cycle of four/five generations to continue. It would be the equivalent of me, living 320 (80x4) years and traveling back to the farm in Trøndelag Norway where my ancestor's came from, without ever having been there. Not to mention the alchemy of creating a sack in which you literally liquify your own walking body and transform it into a new being capable of flight. All with no training, teachers. <woof!> So last year I added Milkweed to our modest balcony garden, hoping to lure some Mama's to lay some eggs the old fashioned way. I'd prefer not ordering eggs online. We got a few visitors, but no eggs. (maybe they're all up on the bike path! ) That plant didn't thrive either, but it seeded in two other pots lol. My plan is to try again with a new plant and if we get any eggs, I'll encase the plant in a light screened cage to protect the little guys n gals and we'll get a chance to watch up close as they transition through their hatching and Chrysallis. Final project gaining inertia in mind. I've been drawn to revisit the DDJ again in depth, another intense immersion. The last study I undertook 9 years ago, lasted almost a year and led to me to write my haiku version of the DDJ. I'd like to commit a hand written version to present to my son as he enters High School and early manhood next year. I'll take one verse at a time, and utterly immerse in it. Through a dozen or more translations, I drop into each verse as fully as possible. At one verse a day it is doable in under three months, but many verses have to gestate for days, sometimes weeks. Or at least they did the last time. I read, reread and reread countless times... that one verse. Memorizing some of them and then carry that verse about with me as i go about my life, seeing life through the lense of that verse and uncovering how it applies and reflects in my daily life. Until I arrive at a point where it synthesizes. This was a life transformative in the extreme for me the last time around. Led me to meeting Master Zhou and then Wang Liping, which also resulted in the healing of my years of crippled disability and internal pain and ill health. It is also what led me here as during my research in finding as many translations as possible, I began lurking Marblehead's and Dawei's conversations here and eventually surrendered to the pull to join in the discussion. So my projects are surrender. To my impulses to act and to quiet down.

Doing my best to act in sync with the times. A circumstance beyond our control, The phone, the tv and the news of the worldGot in the house like a pigeon from hell, Threw sand in our eyes and descended like fliesPut us back on the trainOh, back on the chain gangThe powers that beThat force us to live like we doBring me to my kneesWhen I see what they've done to youBut I'll die as I stand here todayKnowing that deep in my heart:They'll fall to ruin one dayFor making us part

I'm working on some web apps... I'll likely continue them. Continue my study of Vasistha's yoga and meditation in between. Though I've been considering sometime whether I want to leave home and just wander for a bit; my first intentions were to go full Rambo, which isn't great and even worse with covid. Now my intentions are more so about moving out and setting up my own place. Wonder if I can find a nice place to fix up, that's secluded and silent.

staying inside with my face covered. You should too.

For 20 38 years I thought it was- Bring me to Manny's . I thought Manny was the bad guy in the song. That he was incharge of the chain gang. Loved the video. Come to think of it, Manny wasn't in it.

I’ve been getting back to just sitting and sinking the mind back into the heart off late. Will continue with that.

I'll go into a Daoism and qigong bookworm phase. Even if not to take on physical practices, just beefing up on terminology, concepts, culture, context, perspective, appreciation. Hope I can be of help to other seekers someday. Hoarding the pdf collection https://www.thedaobums.com/topic/49954-jun-yu-xian-repository/ (How are you doing by the way @OverseerFeatheredImmortal!) Yang Jwing-Ming stuff is usually pretty solid. Also this looks neat: https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/Occult_Library/Taoism/Louis Komjathy - Handbooks for Daoist Practice/

This thread is not about full lotus, it was posted by a sexual stalker and generated to respond to the accusations leveled against him for publically bragging about assaulting young and underage women energetically. If you're serious about asking for help, I'd suggest you Open a new thread if you're sincerely asking. Perhaps when soliciting advice from strangers on the internet... expect you may not agree with all of what you hear. But to assume people mean you harm right out of the gate is rather striking. CT is one of the most caring and devoted cultivators on this site CCD, with years of experience in both cultivating and communicating here, at length about it. That any of the advanced practitioners spend their invaluable time here is a boon beyond measure. Try and be respectful, when you disagree. No one here needs to reach out and reply to your query for help. If they do, why leap straight to accusations and assault when you don't agree? Why not inquire why they say what they say first and see what develops? Or why not ask yourself why you bother posing such questions to strangers in the first place, if answers are tough to integrate... CT and now ilumairen have reached out and offered friendly advice from a place of experience. If that advice doesn't match your world view, why not simply thank him and move on? So tired of these attacks on folks lending their valuable time. I strove for years to achieve full lotus and got it. I found I prefer half lotus. I have a catalog of stretching routines that allowed me to get there which i sit in as i respond to you... and getting it was a real grind for me you see, I store tension in my kwa, knees and ankles and so even in my Martial days, I've always been less limber, had to stretch longer than other students, for less flexibility. But I kept with it and it bloomed in time. Now, Normally in a post like this, a person sincerely seeking lotus, I'd add links to some of my more appreciated and effective stretching routines... but in this case, I'll decline to help you directly after seeing how you respond. You can either use the search function, or be on your way. Peace. for the record: my most advanced teachers (multiple 18th generation lineage holders) have all downplayed the need for lotus to progress. Chair, standing, lying down, lotus, full or half... matters little. The internal process is the alchemy... not how tightly folded one is in a physical shape.

Internal alchemy is not for everyone. Title is misleading.

Oh the Bardos. I've been getting a lot of Bardo teachings over the past year, before COVID. It is funny because initially they seem like a death teaching, but the bardo experience is everywhere. One of my favorite practices these days is yogic napping, sometimes in the West called liminal dreaming. You lay down to take a nap, and let your mind drift in and out of the hypnogogia. You can literally watch the body dissolve and reform, and the waking and non-waking states arise and pass. It is how I like to do bardo prayers. With a little experience in liminal and regular dream yoga, it is amazing how the bardo teachings really come to life. Yes, I agree. Sometimes these posts just spill out in contact with, and not necessarily in response to, other's posts.

You can take things literally, that’s the fundamentalist approach, or go past the concrete details to the deeper meanings. You can focus wherever you choose. The concrete details of the Daoist sages, the Buddhist scriptures, the Abrahamic stories, all of them are somewhat alien to me. The exaggerated stories and dimensions, the miracles and horrors, pick your poison. If any one of them is a door to self discovery for you, that is a beautiful thing and should be supported. All can and have been a doorway for people to growth and awakening. And some are associated with far more corruption and abuse than others throughout history. That’s part of what it has to teach us for sure. They’re just stories, expressions of humanity. We can learn a lot from them, good and bad, as long as we can find one that speaks to us and that’s a very personal thing. They reflect the collective voice of populations throughout time and space. Wisdom lives in all of them, and corruption too - yin and yang. Rejecting doesn’t make them go away and doesn’t help us grow. They’re here now and for the foreseeable future. Understanding more deeply helps everyone. I can easily see how someone could have an association of opening the heart, of unconditional love with Jesus (or just about anything or anyone else). My relationship to Jesus is a negative one. That’s my experience based on my unique karma. Why judge another’s personal experience and invalidate it? I will never know your inner world nor you mine.

I started building a bathroom so will continue with that . Its separate from the cabin, more a bathhouse. Its between some huge turpentine trees and palms , I have planted tree ferns and various sorts of palms and tropicals and ferns around it . It sits up off the ground, half the walls are glass, done the framing and roof, the plumbing and gas heater is in, got the insulation paper on, about to start some wide and thinner ( 'board and baton' ) merbau ( an ecological managed rainforest timber ) external cladding Waiting for the tiler to turn up . Its one large wet room , just with a shower and basin and taps . I got an oval shaped 'on the bench' carved stone basin . So June will be finishing off and fiddly bits . Also A friend in the city has finished re building his old school Bonnie ( triumph motorcycle) and wants to come up and stay and ride Waterfall Way with me . Triumph and Enfield up the mountain.* My birthday on the solstice . That will do for 1 month . *

When the proverbial S started to hit the proverbial F, I made two purchases I do not regret when the gyms closed: a Weider weight bench (i.e. Total Gym rip off) and a stationary bicycle. A modest investment ($200ish) with great returns. Also, I have found that riding a bicycle is great. I'm in Colorado, so I can ride on a trail for quite a ways. Sometimes it is good with an audiobook, a youtube video (listen only) or podcast. Sometimes it is good just to meditate in motion.

Surrender? I give up.

I was just contemplating the same, and was considering making a request for it to be locked - or even pitted. What about it @thelerner? If you don’t have the permissions to do it, could you perhaps bring the idea to @Trunk’s attention for consideration?

Well a Sutra or two, and a lot of references but by scriptures I mainly mean Vasisthas Yoga. It will likely be the only thing I study for a while. I guess I just say scriptures though as habit because they refer to the teachings in Vasisthas yoga as scriptures

Which Scriptures? You've read them all, right?

Wow Drew youve seem to come a long way, but I think you should have just stuck to riding bikes in snowstorms, dumpster diving for food (whatever that means) and giving strangers remote orgasms from a distance at mcdonalds, i think theres more profit in those fields

@Nintendao Thanks for the reccomendations. I'll check it out if Yoga Vasistha starts to fail me @moment Thank you for your concern. A foundation is truly very necessary and I spent the months before this cultivating in confusion till I could find one suitable for me. Yet I can hardly say whether my foundation is much of one, there are many times while I read the scripture that I forget my understanding and all I can simply do is reread. It is a difficult process for me to examine. Still, thank you. @silent thunder Hello! we know eachother from another place. You may know me as Naveed Chaudhry @Master Logray Indeed, it is an enormous blessing for me to be here. Otherwise thanks everyone. Lately I've been mostly secluded and studying the scriptures, mainly Yoga Vasistha; I can say that I am close to the truth, I understand Infinite consciousness, I experience no cravings, and I know that I am not the body yet it drifts away like a spark in the wind; Constant study of scripture and thinking on it is all I can do, yet I am having trouble. I know that all this effort is for something effortless, as how much do I need to strive to be what I am? Yet my greatest issue comes with letting go. Life goes on though, no worries; I'll keep trying at it. I'd like to give my greetings though to everyone, hope people are doing well. If anyone has any tips regarding the topic of Ignorance and letting go I'd love to hear it. Otherwise, now knowing that I'm approved on the forum, I'll hop in and off from time to time. P.s I mainly first started the spiritual aspect of the journey in February, funny how these 3 months to myself made me ask many of the questions I had for others to myself; blessing in disguise I'd say

As much as I agree with the last paragraph above there is also another side to it . One can be awake enough to see truth .... the internal truth in any of the writings, but the 'clothing' of this truth and underlying themes can also be detected by the 'awakened' For example, Christianity has an element of guilt and redemption in it , and certainly it is a 'death cult' sacrificial religion. On a very simplistic level we can detect this by asking what the purpose of life is meant to be from a specific religious outlook . I have heard the 'qualified' Christian ( famous and or respected teachers or leaders ) declare " To serve God' ... even ' to fear God ' or , for a lot, its to avoid hell or gain admission to 'heaven' . Other religions have other definitions , eg Zoroastrianism says the purpose of life is to have and lead a good and enjoyable life . So IMO one seems about guilt suffering and redemption and the other seems about acceptance and rejoicing . - Internal 'truths' that are VERY different .

Emptiness, not nothingness. Nothingness would be nihilism. What appears is expressions of the dharmakaya (however you define it). However, lacking any unitary, independent, permanent substance to them, they are empty. Last night, I dreamed I was in a house. It was very detailed, ornate, elaborate. There were these old lamps that didn't work well. They would sputter before coming on. The house had old wall paper, and many rooms with moody yellow lighting. It was an old house, probably from the early 20th century. Something entered into the house, very loudly and aggressively, coming for me. I forgot I was dreaming (connate ignorance). I took the expressions of my mind (the house, the lamps, my dream body, the monster) as real (co-emergent ignorance). Because of this, I had fear arise (emotional obscuration). What if instead, I recognized that I was dreaming and relaxed? Even though there was nothing to grasp or let go of? Well, then I would have been able to walk through walls. But there are degrees of lucidity in a dream. From a little lucid, to completely awake. Even when completely awake in the dream, the dream rules still apply. It takes some time to undo the mental habit that prevents you from walking through a wall. Last night, I didn't. I woke myself up. In so doing, the dream world dissolved, and the waking world emerged much the same way, with the same level of detail.

There are also practices associated with each of these 3 poems which point to the characteristics associated with each of the 3 kayas. Body - connecting to the experience of stillness in the body. With time the experience of stillness transcends the physical body and the potential is there to connect with the unbounded or empty aspect of the basic Nature. Speech - connecting to the experience of inner silence, the resting of the narrator and judge. This facilitates connection to the present moment and in this un-fabricated experience all is perfected. Nothing to be added or taken away, the body of enjoyment or perfection. Mind - connecting to the spaciousness of the heart/mind, the openness that allows anything in the heart or mind to arise and depart without interference of grasping or aversion. All that arises is free and liberates in unbounded space. Whatever was blocking us is gone so in our meditative experience we feel the opposite - un-bounded, pure, powerful, whatever... That’s why different people describe the experience differently or why we have different experiences of the Refuge at different times. In that liberation is bliss.The four immeasurables arise and manifest in our lives.

Another way of saying the three kayas are inseparable is to say that the view, path, and result are all precisely the same. Resting in the Nature of Mind is the view, resting in the Nature of Mind is the meditation and conduct, resting in the Nature of Mind is the result. In our tradition the basic teaching is look to the thought. Leave it as it is and it self-liberates. What is next is an unspeakable state. In that instant is the opportunity to connect to the Nature of our Mind. It is nothing special, perfectly pure and un-elaborated, un-contrived. It is clear and vivid. It is always there. Full of infinite potential, giving rise to all without bias. No identification with a constrained subject is there so it is non-dual. When the experience of non-duality arises, the dropping of the identification of awareness with a finite self, that is the 3 kayas, it is the view and the result. Because it is unbounded and unimputable it is called empty or Dharmakaya (we say Bön ku). All enlightened qualities are perfected there so it is Sambhogakaya (we say dzog ku). All is accomplished and manifests in response to what is needed without effort whatsoever so it is Nirmanakaya (trul ku). This is quite literally present in every moment and yet we experience the grasping and aversion of ignorance. Both are equally real and valid, neither is better or worse. If one is preferred that is already duality. That I find an interesting quandary. The lesson is don’t try to understand or explain, just rest.... There are a number of refuge prayers in Bön and all have some “religious” references or connotations. TWR wrote a set of 3 for his secular teachings that I find are beautiful and instructive. They point to the 3 kayas. With time we penetrate the meaning more deeply as we connect to the states being pointed to... Inner Refuge Prayers Body The center of the victorious mandala, one’s own body The source of all positive qualities without exception Is the expanse within the three channels and five chakras I take refuge in this body of emptiness Speech All the gathered clouds of suffering and misery Are complete cleared by the wisdom wind Revealing the unelaborated, primordially pure expanse of the sky I take refuge in this body of light Mind From the pavilion of the five wisdom lights Rays from non-dual spheres of light emanate Clearing the webs of the darkness of ignorance I take refuge in this body of great bliss

You know that purple demon in the corner of your vision who keeps telling you to kill your neighbors and sit comfortably? Well listen to him about the second part.

Thanks for the welcomes!!! I'll see if I can find Cam around the neighborhood and report back. Phoenician Bums welcome to our micro-stakes Texas Holdem tourneys when we start having them again. I'm at [email protected]

Derek Lin 1994 39 Those that attained oneness since ancient times: The sky attained oneness and thus clarity The earth attained oneness and thus tranquility The gods attained oneness and thus divinity The valley attained oneness and thus abundance The myriad things attained oneness and thus life The rulers attained oneness and became the standard for the world These are all from oneness The sky, lacking clarity, would break apart The earth, lacking tranquility, would erupt The gods, lacking divinity, would vanish The valley, lacking abundance, would wither Myriad things, lacking life, would be extinct The rulers, lacking standard, would be toppled Therefore, the honored uses the lowly as basis The higher uses the lower as foundation Thus the rulers call themselves alone, bereft, and unworthy Is this not using the lowly as basis? Is it not so? Therefore, the ultimate honor is no honor Do not wish to be shiny like jade Be dull like rocks Ellen Marie Chen 1989 39 Those of old that attain the One: Heaven attains the One thus is clear, Earth attains the One thus is peaceful, Spirits attain the One thus are efficacious, Valleys attain the One thus are replenished, Ten thousand beings attain the One thus come to be, Princes and barons attain the One thus are exalted in the world. All because they attain the One. Heaven, without that which renders it clear, might crack, Earth, without that which renders it peaceful, might explode, Spirits, without that which makes them efficacious, might cease, Valleys, without that which replenishes them, might become empty, Ten thousand beings, without that which sustains them in existence, might become extinct, Barons and kings, without that which exalts them to high positions, might be toppled. Therefore the exalted is rooted in the humble, The high has the low for foundation. Therefore barons and kings call themselves orphaned, widowed and unworthy. Is this not taking the humble for one's root? Is it not? Therefore the most famous has no fame. Do not tinkle like jade, Or chime like stones! Ni 1979 39 Since ancient times there have been those who have attained the subtle essence of the universe and thus become what they are.Heaven attained the subtle essence of the universe and became clear.Earth attained the subtle essence of the universe and became stable.Divine spirits attained the subtle essence of the universe and became powerful.The Valley of the Universe attained the subtle essence of the universe and became productive.The myriad things attained the subtle essence of the universe and became prosperous.The sages attained the subtle essence of the universe and became wise.All became what they are by attaining the subtle essence of the universe and hence their true nature.Extinction happens to one who violates his true nature.Without being pure, Heaven would cease to be.Without being stable, Earth would burst into bits.Without maintaining their potency, spirits would disperse.Without being productive, the vast Valley of the Universe would become exhausted.Without being reproductive, the myriad things would perish.Without fortifying themselves with integral virtue, sages would stumble and fall.Greatness is rooted in plainness,just as the low forms the foundation of the high.Realizing this, the ancient sovereigns were content to style themselves as desolate, unworthy, and needy.Therefore, one who does not separate his being from the nature of the universe follows the Integral Way.He has no wish to sound like jingling jade pendants in order to court a good name,nor like the rumbling of a stone rolling from a cliff in order to create a bad name.Each one should work on one's own subtle spiritual integration with the subtle essence of the universe. Tao-Ku 1904 39 From of old the things that have acquired Unity are these:Heaven by Unity has become clear;Earth by Unity has become steady;The Spirit by Unity has become spiritual;The Valley by Unity has become full;All things by Unity have come into existence;Princes and kings by Unity have become rulers of the world.If heaven were not clear, it would be rent.If earth were not steady it would be tumbled down.If the Spirit were not active, it would pass away.If the Valley were not full, it would be dried up.If all things were not existing, they would be extinct.If princes and kings were not rulers, they would be overthrown.The noble must be styled in terms of the humble;The high must take the low as their foundation.Therefore princes and kings must call themselves 'the ignorant', 'the virtueless' and 'the unworthy'.Does this not mean that they take the humble as their root? What men hate most are 'the ignorant', 'the virtueless' and 'the unworthy'.And yet princes and kings chose them as their titles.Therefore the higest fame is to have no fame.Thus kings are increased by being diminished;They are diminished by being increased.It is undesirable to be as prominent as a single gem,Or as monotonously numerous as stones. Lin Yutang 1948 39 There were those in ancient times possessed of the One; Through possession of the One, the Heaven was clarified, Through possession of the One, The Earth was stabilized, Through possession of the One, the gods were spiritualized, Through possession of the One, the valleys were made full, Through possession of the One, all things lived and grew, Through possession of the One, the princes and dukes became the ennobled of the people. - that was how each became so. Without clarity, the Heavens would shake, Without stability, the Earth would quake, Without spiritual power, the gods would crumble, Without being filled, the valleys would crack, Without the life-giving power, all things would perish, Without the ennobling power, the princes and dukes would stumble. therefore the nobility depend upon the common man for support, And the exalted ones depend upon the lowly for their base. That is why the princes and dukes call themselves "the orphaned," "the lonely one," "the unworthy." Is is not true then that they depend upon the common man for support? Truly, take down the parts of a chariot, And there is no chariot (left). Rather than jingle like the jade, Rumble like the rocks. Flowing Hands 1987 39 In the ancient beginning, all things came from the one. That’s why the sky is whole and mysteriously distinct. The Earth is whole and firm. Within it, the spirit is whole and strong. The valley is whole and full. The Ten Thousand Things are whole and living. All these things are in wholeness with the Dao. The distinct fullness of the sky maintains the Earth. The wholeness and firmness of the Earth, nourishes the Ten Thousand Things. When the spirit is strong, so all will be maintained. Thus the Ten Thousand Things may reproduce and prevent their breed from dying. Therefore being nourished by the great Dao, the Ten Thousand Things are raised. For the Dao is humble in its greatness. In being at one with the Dao, the Ten Thousand Things are also humble in their greatness, and so they return to it. When man is not humble, the Dao is not great. and so catastrophe will follow. For man assumes he is greater than the Dao. Therefore be humble; do not seek wealth and riches, do not clatter like glass chimes, be at one with the Dao, then you can be truly great.

That's the title of a new book by Scott Bradley. Scott is an excellent communicator who has been writing on the Zhuangzi for many, many years. I greatly value his insights, even though I don't entirely agree with aspects of his interpretation. He has a website called Zhuangzi: A site for discussion of the philosophy of Zhuangzi and its applicability in today's world. About himself he writes: "Scott Bradley has long been a student of religion and philosophy. Among his corporeal wanderings was a15-year circumnavigation aboard his 32’ sail boat. His spin on the philosophy of Zhuangzi comes after many years of engagement with Zhuangzi, his contemporaries, antecedents and historical interpreters." About the Book This book presents a personal non-religious philosophy of life inspired by the 4th Century BCE Daoist philosopher Zhuangzi (Chuang Tzu). In the face of our irremediable not-knowing Zhuangzi suggests we abandon all supposedly definitive declarations of Truth and instead follow along with the trustful elan of life itself. This can lead to the deeply mystical experience of releasing oneself in trust into the Mystery that enfolds all things. Identified with Mystery, "hiding the world in the world", one is freed from all fear of loss. When life and death are taken as forming a single string, we can affirm our death just as we affirm our life. When no event or circumstance can happen outside the Great Happening our happiness depends on nothing and we can "wander far and unfettered" through life. If you feel the need for a guru, make one up. Who knows your needs better than your own heart? The author has written many sages and Xudanzi, the sage presented in these lectures, is but the latest. A dao (path) is made by walking it, and we all walk our own. Xudanzi's dao is only meant to inspire; your own authentic dao arises as you walk it. https://booklocker.com/books/10279.html

Ah, so native speakers experience the joys of misheard lyrics too! But probably not to the extent that I did early in the day. Sometimes I had to make up over half the lyrics. Often I was disappointed when I later learned the real ones -- I thought mine were better -- just as you were disappointed when you didn't find Manny of your auditory imagination. But I did feel relief when Lucy in the sky with diamonds and colitis ("A girl with colitis goes by") was replaced with the real version in mine.

A person who casts aspersions on another and disrespects them, when they really know nothing about that person, is displaying extreme ignorance. There is no point responding to such people. Nothing productive will ever come of it, and by responding to them, you invite more ignorant responses. A wise person steps over or around doo doo when they encounter it on the road, and they continue on their way unphased. Doo doo can only get on you if you step in it.

No, of the pandemic.

There's being helpful & then there's mollycoddling. As far as I know, there's very little of the latter happening here. Sigh. You can't even say anything nowadays without being zapped by one projection or another. The entitlement camp claims yet another life member.

Cinchona, scutellaria, Siberian ginseng, panax ginseng, artemisia, sage, mint. Waiting on a shipment of rhodiola root and planning to gather some stinging nettles today.

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Yoda! Welcome back

Out of curiosity what herbs/tinctures are you currently forging?

Yes, I think I understand the motivation behind the slightly (over)reaction. I can only respond according to what you've written, and the word that jumped out was 'paranoid' - thats a pretty hefty term indicating more than slight aversiveness - which led me to suggest what I did because I was thinking maybe there are steps you need to take to first address that mental challenge before even considering something as trivial (to me, ymmv) as learning to master an unnatural posture over a prolonged period. And the reason you felt that it went across as a discouragement was because it was exactly that - I've seen enough people damaging themselves from such attempts, and have no wish for another added statistic. I don't have a habit of being presumptuous based on whats written here by members seeking advise or encouragement for attempting something quite alien to their comfort level, just as I would not goad a non-swimmer to get into a dinghy just because we happen to be at a whitewater rafting spot. Notwithstanding the donning of safety gear even. As a side note, concussions & knocks are quite common in whitewater rafting, even among seasoned kayakers. But such injuries mend easily - injuring the subtle body... well, thats an altogether different kettle of fish. The fact that you managed to pull a muscle just from sitting on a chair somewhat raised a red flag for me too. Why wouldn't it? In future, maybe it'd be better to just leave such posts well alone.

You are legend here. Nice to “meet” you.

Fascinating, @Nintendao! While explained as a spirit in the video clip, the idea of 'vibratory information' was a new perspective of this phenomenon on me. Thanks for sharing the link and passage. Will definitely need to study this more in-depth to better understand.

Walking is certainly a great exercise, but i disagree about all the walking meditation I think walking meditation is a scam that dosent really work but you can certainly think about things when you walk

how many traditional Christians could handle the idea of actually drinking some of the blood and eating some of body (of Christ) as being part of or derived from certain old (secret) shamanistic practices for astral connection? I don't know much about it, just came across that info years ago.

https://www.amazon.com/Essential-Spirituality-Central-Practices-Awaken/dp/0471392162/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1590621617&sr=8-1 This was written in 1999, well before I was anywhere near "awake," or at least cognizant of the level of my negative unconscious conditioning. Besides being best friends with Ken Wilber, he's a walking, talking encyclopeadia of spiritual development and a professor of psychiatry who writes in an extremely accessible style and it feels like you're getting a course in comparative religion as well. Taoism and Buddhism get a lot of attention here but there are plenty of Western corollaries. Had I read the book 20 years ago, my spiritual evolution would have likely been advanced. https://www.amazon.com/Body-Keeps-Score-Healing-Trauma/dp/0143127748/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1590621992&sr=8-1 What can I say that could do this work justice? For anyone who's been wrestling with pernicious and destructive forms of negative conditioning, those of us who aspire to be better but seem unconsciously programmed to self-destruct in slow motion, here's the bible of getting free. Trauma, and particularly early childhood developmental trauma, is so rampant in America it easily explains much of the sociopathology we are drowning in as a culture. I wept tears of relief for weeks after reading this. https://www.amazon.com/Sober-Truth-Debunking-Programs-Industry/dp/0807035874/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr= For the fellow Bums who took the on-ramp into addiction and found 12-Step programs antiquated, moralistic, and just plain antiscientific, this work will blow you away with possibilities for healing and put to rest any lingering worries that abandoning AA meetings will sentence you to the pit of Hell. I could probably add 4 or 5 more titles if I expanded the criteria but these three form a profoundly accessible resource for those of us who don't have access to expensive treatment or proper mental health care. I can't imagine how my nei kung practice would have advanced had the information in these three been internalzied first, but the practice feels even more satisfying now. `

Methinks 30+ years was enough time for me to get over the last hangover I ever suffered from, but if you are going to keep it down on account of me having one, I'm going to start working on it right now. I've a three gallon bottle of vodka within arm's length. I was using it to dilute 95% alcohol with, for herbal tinctures I'm making. This way it's cheaper to get to the 50% alcohol I need for tinctures made with dry roots than to dilute the 95% alcohol with water, and I also need to keep enough of the 95% stuff undiluted for tinctures made with fresh herbs. But for you, anything. Starting that vodka party right now. Makes sense. Same thing with taoism. Or anything for that matter.

Samsara the cyclic world of suffering is the product of looking at the world through deluded eyes and seeing phenomena which are empty of self as being fundamentally real and developing craving for them.

Neither does a thorn disown the rose's sweetness nor she the thorn's wrath

Hi all I'm a Philosophy student and have recently found myself fascinated with Eastern Philosophy, particularly Taoism. I find the concept of Yin-yang very interesting, and infact very scientific, as well as Taoism's seeming appreciation for natural order and impartiality (correct me if i'm wrong). I loved the 'Tao te ching' and will be reading much more into Taoist scripture.

Oh yes, almost forgot. Damo Mitchell also just released an online Taijiquan program: https://damomitchell.com/taiji-program/

Adyashanti's insights have been in mind since waking today. "Most of us want to feel better, we don't actually want to see that we're misperceiving things. But that's the core of spirituality. And the only way to really wake up is to realize that the way you perceive yourself is not true." Adyashanti "Enlightenment is a destructive process. It has nothing to do with becoming better or being happier. Enlightenment is the crumbling away of untruth. It's seeing through the facade of pretence. It's the complete eradication of everything we imagined to be true.” Adyashanti “All that is necessary to awaken to yourself as the radiant emptiness of spirit is to stop seeking something more or better or different, and to turn your attention inward to the awake silence that you are.” Adyashanti and finally, the first thing I ever read of Adya's... instant recognition and sympathetic resonance that spurred me to seek out all his writings... “If you prefer smoke over fire then get up now and leave. For I do not intend to perfume your mind's clothing with more sooty knowledge. No, I have something else in mind. Today I hold a flame in my left hand and a sword in my right. There will be no damage control today. For God is in a mood to plunder your riches and fling you nakedly into such breathtaking poverty that all that will be left of you will be a tendency to shine. So don't just sit around this flame choking on your mind. For this is no campfire song to mindlessly mantra yourself to sleep with. Jump now into the space between thoughts and exit this dream before I burn the damn place down.” Adyashanti

The Dao is not a summit sat on. No one and no thing attains the perfect static balance of it, or all hell would break loose. The skies would choke, mountains would soar off into space, the rivers would puddle and fester. The ever pulsing dynamic of Tao, breathes life into a world of cycles and rebirth by constantly tearing down the constructs of yesterday, and the relentless chase drags us to our elusive destiny.