Leaderboard

Sri Matre Namaha and Namo Amitabha Buddhaya, Hello everyone, Just passing through. I was informed of a few deaths and saw that I was mentioned a number of times since my departure for a couple years. I was reminded of my mortality many times in my pilgrimage the last year, and immediately after while repairing relationships since then after some shifts. Here I am sharing a few insights I wanted to share that re-contextualizes past conflicts here and has vastly improved my life. 1. I was diagnosed last year shortly after turning 41 that I have Autism and ADHD--otherwise known as AuDHD. This means I am tone deaf and sound a lot angrier or more argumentative than I need to be without realizing how it would be perceived by others. My info dumping is a feature of neurodivergence, and this can be seen as being disingenuous by others, even if I and many people like me believe that clarity will help free people from wrongful assumptions and mischaracterizing my intentions. My hyperreactivity also comes from rejection sensitivity dysphoria, or RSD, a feature of ADHD. Many times I would perceive some remarks from people as a personal attack and overreact. It is better to assume good intentions and take the loss before getting into an argument since nobody wins. 2. Cultivation absolutely affects my condition for better or for worse. The right cultivation with qi, diet, and spiritual balance (separate from energy work) can moderate the physiological and neurological differences in my body. The wrong cultivation can make them worse, especially when bringing excess energy to my head. It is not my business if people want to do practices that can harm them, as they are not my students and I am not an expert, I am just a specialist at best. I don't get paid to argue and I don't teach for free. 3. Anyone and everyone can eventually be better when we yield that responsibility back to them and God/Dao/the Universe I lost many friends, including TDB member Nature Beeing or Beeing Nature, also known as Natursein on YouTube, who passed several months ago of Liver Cirrhosis around April or May as his partner informed me via WhatsApp. Some of those relationships were healed just before these people died, and some never got that resolution. As I can't wait for others to come around, it is on me to work on myself and be better instead of waiting for them to come around as a prerequisite to improving myself or reconciling. 4. Neurodivergence does make me more sensitive to energy and spirits Before my diagnosis, I noticed things in nature that I didn’t realize others couldn’t perceive. After my diagnosis, my therapist told me it’s common for us to see things and because I see better when relaxed and peaceful while when stressed I don’t perceive anything easily, I realized neurodivergence is a unique operating system, As such, I read oracles better, can notice energy quickly, and as there are several levels of third eye opening, I can sense the other side a bit better, but still need more refinement since it could be a lot more given the new responsibilities given to me by new teachers whom I have met. Anyway, that's all I wanted to say. I will stay around for a week or so to answer any questions if people had any related to my practices or me. Otherwise, you can visit my new site at innerexpeditions.squarespace.com. Thank you everyone. Sri Matre Namaha and Namo Amitabha Buddhaya.

'' ... So then the wife said ; 'What are you going to do today ?' I said ; 'Nothing.' She said ; ' You did that yesterday .' I said ; ' I ain't finished yet .' ''

I support that right and will fight against the suppression of cast iron cookware .... once it 'gets out ' * they will , no doubt, try to suppress it and replace it with new super dooper high tech inferior crappy products with in built problems . * its long lasting, sturdy , can go on a heating element , in an oven or on a fire , one can use it to have an 'oven' on a fire, when 'cured' and treated properly it is entirely 'non- stick ' - which will also make it rust proof , its thick and holds the heat well for better cooking ... and of course , packs a much more solid whallop than a light aluminium one . This fry pan comes with a picture of itself on the label , so you will know what it is

A well regulated Kitchen, being necessary to the appetite of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Cast Iron Cookware shall not be infringed

You'll have to get used to wayward Daobums conversations - you start out with one thing and end up god know where

I don´t know. It looked to me like it was melted under a broiler in an oven but I suppose there´s more than one way to melt one´s cheese. Never mind me, today I´m operating with half a cauliflower.

And with a full brain you could make Cauliflower Polonaise. In my kitchen it's known as "The Right Way" rather than "Polonaise," as I inherited the recipe long before the attribution. ( "The Left Way" is just steaming it. "The Right Way" may or may not add cheese, it doesn't matter much since you can't improve much on perfection.)

Looks delicious. I´m of the opinion that anything topped with broiled cheese is delicious -- but that´s not an unpopular opinion.

If you had half a brain you could make cauliflower cheese:

Maybe the beauty of having all these "brains" is that we can change what we think without staying strictly in our head. There´s a gut-brain axis? Good! Let me change my thoughts by eating differently. Movement works too as well as various cultivation practices. Getting the right kind of sunshine can have a profound effect on the kind of thoughts associated with a bad mood. It´s often easier to change thoughts indirectly -- by working with the systems that effect the various brains -- than trying to strongarm thoughts on a cognitive level.

And the Lord said : pick up your zafu and walk. And she did walk and the people were amazed.

a prostitute who puts out for every client willing to pay. When margarine was invented, scores of 'nutrition scientists' were tasked with proving it's healthier than butter. For one example, around the 1980s all recipes collections and cookbooks got rewritten with margarine replacing butter in them. The French didn't buy it. But I do remember cooking with it in my younger years when I didn't know better. Live and learn. I believe nutrition as a science hardly exists. For starters it's too complex and mysterious -- the most magical transformation in existence, turning assorted not-you things into you, not-me into me... sheer magic. And to make matters worse, it pretends people didn't eat for a million years before sedentary agriculture, let alone before "nutritional science" -- and step very carefully around facts. Trying not to stumble and fall into, e.g., those fire pits that Native American tribes used for 25,000 to 40,000 years in one place (tribes coming and going, the fire pit being used continuously). They roasted their bison and buffalo whole in those. No wonder nutritional scientists of today give it the widest berth -- imagine falling into something like this and all your margarine and cereals stuffed in your learned pockets going up in smoke in an instant...

I will let those more learned than me answer about hun and po - but the search function on here has always been weak and sometimes it’s better to use google to search - something like ‘the DaoBums hun and po’ might work.

Thoughts are your friends. They help you recognise, organise and understand both your internal world and the external world. Without them you would be lost. Thoughts are your ally, your companion, your way to wisdom. If your thoughts are conflicted, chaotic, relentless, annoying, repetitive, banal, seemingly pointless. Then it you that is imbalanced, conflicted, stupid or mixed up. Find stillness and balance and your thoughts will be healed. But do not criticise them or disown them because they are your friends. Oh but, you say, reality is non-conceptual. True. Absolute reality is non-conceptual in that it cannot be grasped through concepts. But then again is there anything that is not the Absolute? If there is then it is not the real Absolute. The Absolute is the ultimate subject of your thoughts, if those thoughts are taken to their ultimate conclusion. To define the subject we use the often misunderstood formula: S = S + P(n) where S is the subject and P is the predicate of the subject (to the nth term). Or in other words the Absolute = the Absolute plus everything. Chew on that!

Thank you Steve, and condolences for your recent loss as well. Thank you for your vote of confidence. As I am a professional and have changed a bit the last couple years, I would rather not get into offering my opinion on forums as much as possible unless asked because it has led to too many arguments, misunderstandings, and if not my own prior volatility, other people reading it as hostility despite my intentions to be restrained due to my tone being too robotic or my attempts at sarcasm seeming rude. People who do want my opinion can ask me or just go to my page linked above. Such is a reminder that we are not unnoticed especially in our absence! Hello, old friend! I sent an email to you earlier this year and am glad I got to hear from you during this brief visit. Glad your health is better too.

Watch out for nutrition science: ... The stand out example for me is nutrition science. A lot of the big, obvious effects have been picked through and now so much of it is simmering in noise with strong incentives to find various different things by getting significance. Alcohol/chocolate/coffee does, doesn’t, does, doesn’t, does, doesn’t cause increased mortality. I don’t know how we could expect that discipline to turn around. There is good work being done there here and there, but so much of it is GIGO. I have a paper in the works trying to sort out how we can know if a field is producing knowledge or just chasing ghosts . . . (Joe Bak-Coleman, collective behavior scientist at the University of Washington) ... Regarding nutrition science: yeah, this is another field where there’s endless crap being hyped. Also related areas in health science such as that stupid cold-shower study or all the crappy sleep research. I don’t have any sense of an escape route for all this. On one hand, nutrition, health behavior, exercise, sleep, etc., are hugely important and worth scientific study. On the other hand, these fields are so rotten, with really incompetent or unethical people deeply embedded within the system of academic publication and news media promotion, that sometimes it just seems entirely hopeless. (blog "Statistical Modeling, Causal Inference, and Social Science", today's entry by Andrew Gelman, professor of statistics and political science at Columbia University)

Flax lol

I think I heard this from Alan Chapman but he was quoting someone possibly Crowley. The way I see it is if magic is effecting change in accordance with the will, then in casting a spell you are either binding energy to your intent, or releasing energy which is bound to another intent (eg. banishment and so on). My interest in these three gods is not so much how similar they are - or what it is that connects them - but their differences. The character of Thoth is so much different to Hermes/Mercury and even more Odin - and yet they represent the same (similar) roles in their own systems. I also like Odin/Woden because of his two birds thought and memory - especially as I am trying to conduct a kind of defence of thoughts against the (debased) Eastern dismissal of thought. I would go as far as to say the attitude to thought and thinking in some Buddhist and Daoist circles is something of a kind of brainwashing. I think certain teachers do not want their students to progress but to sit at their feet is sheeplike obedience and part of this is getting them to shut off their minds.

That’s what I think too.

Hun and Po are two of the aspects of our soul complex. Hun is Yang and associated with Heaven. It is our moral compass, allows access to higher consciousness and creativity, it is our connection to Divine realm and the Dao. As you mentioned, after death, Hun ascends (returns) to Heaven. It enters the physical body at birth. Po is Yin and associated with Earth. It gives us life, awareness, instincts, desires, After death, Po fades with the decay of the physical body In ordinary unrefined folks Hun and Po remain separate and their leanings and tendencies pull the individual in opposite directions. This is a problem. I will continue in a following post. I need to do some chores, chop wood, carry water, etc

When my cat was only a few weeks old, for some reason she was very interested in vegetables. Every time I come across that ubiquitous meme where a cat is being yelled at for not eating her broccoli, I find it heartbreaking. (Yes, I know it's not the cat in the original photo. Still, I can't help thinking my poor kitty may have been starving in her early kittenhood and would eat whatever... I got her when she was way too small for adoption age -- the woman selling her in the parking lot didn't seem like a reliable cat person, so, who knows. Incidentally, yesterday she brought home her first wild mouse... I mean the cat did, not that woman.)

cats would eat the cheese but probably not the cauliflower...unless straving.

The decision of Hexagram 1: 元亨利贞 (yuán hēng lì zhēn). This is a highly mysterious phrase, appearing often throughout the Yijing. 元 (yuán) - the early meaning was that of a head. 亨 (hēng) - prosperity, success? 利 (lì) - Shaughnessy tells us it originally represented a sharp knife harvesting grain. Later it took on the meaning of 'sharp' as in 'intelligent'. 贞 (zhēn) - loyalty?

like trained or acquired muscle memory for certain physical actions/reactions without the slower process of only thinking through a task...also our instinctive type actions or reactions. Btw, some folks have trained and acquired a lot verbal muscle memory in their mouths, lol sometimes.

Intelligence is found everywhere. Intelligence is not restricted to minds. Minds are not restricted to brains

"Minds are what brains do." -- Marvin Minsky, father of neural networks This statement may seem overly materialistic and "non-spiritual," but the thing is, the very notions of "brain" and "mind" are rather arbitrary. They keep discovering "brains" in places other than the skull -- e.g. there's the "gut-brain" axis, with the enteric nervous system in continuous complex communication with the CNS via complex two-way signaling pathways (e.g. the vagus nerve that equally "belongs" to the gut and the head). The immune system has a mind of its own, and the mind in the head has only indirect and limited impact on what it thinks. It's hard to draw a demarcation line. Or rather, it's somewhat counterproductive. In the organ-system-function cognitive tradition of taoist sciences, you don't separate what they "are" from what they "do." It's all one, and it splits into "matter" and "spirit," "body" and "mind" that don't constitute a whole only when unhealthy. When it's healthy it's unified.

16. To obtain Magical Power, learn to control thought; admit only those ideas that are in harmony with the end desired, and not every stray and contradictory Idea that presents itself. 17. Fixed thought is a means to an end. Therefore pay attention to the power of silent thought and meditation. The material act is but the outward expression of thy thought, and therefore hath it been said that “the thought of foolishness is sin.” Thought is the commencement of action, and if a chance thought can produce much effect, what cannot fixed thought do?

In her youth, Zazen sometimes gets up and walks around. By the time Zazen is in her 80s she still walks just fine, thank you; but, especially after prolonged sitting, she can be a bit wobbly for a few steps until she gets going.

I don't sit lotus, bad enough for me getting up from a sloppy half-lotus! Thanks for asking, about my point. The point is that it is possible to act without will, without willing action to take place. That is the action described as "wu wei", so far as I understand it. As Zen teacher Kobun Chino Otogawa said: It’s impossible to teach the meaning of sitting. You won’t believe it. Not because I say something wrong, but until you experience it and confirm it by yourself, you cannot believe it. (“Embracing Mind”, edited by Cosgrove & Hall, p 48) From Wikipedia: Wu wei (traditional Chinese: 無為; simplified Chinese: 无为; pinyin: wúwéi; Jyutping: mou4-wai4) is an ancient Chinese concept that literally means "actionlessness" or "motionlessness". The term is interpreted and translated in various ways as "actionlessness", "non-action", "inaction," "without action" or "effortless action", etc. Wu wei is effortless by virtue of it being reflex or automatic activity, even though the individual is fully conscious of it taking place.

Here's an interesting article below with a variety of interpretations depending on how you break it up. There are moral, philosophical, divinatory, etc. meanings. In the Taoist I Ching (a commentary by Liu Yiming, trans Cleary)), it is said to be a complete cycle of creation, like the four seasons or the four parts of internal cultivation. https://www.arcjournals.org/pdfs/ijhsse/v9-i11/1.pdf

I´m interested in lonliness, connection, and intimacy. Here´s a Substack post I came across that puts these subjects into the context of spiritual awakening in a way that might be useful for some Bums. The Loneliness of Awakening: From Isolation to Divine Intimacy

It is sort of a weird thing. I think for me, spirituality may be a thing that tends to lead to loneliness, and also overcomes it. But this may be specific to my path and my body-mind. It seems there are fewer people interested in spiritual practice, at least the kind here you practice and "see it for yourself." In my experience, practice tends to be alienating since you stop caring as much about things people are into (i.e. the world), and you care more about things people aren't into (spiritual practice). Also, you begin to operate differently than other people. It can be harder to relate, especially as the years pass by. But there is also a sense of opening and compassion that arises. I'm not sure if this is specific to certain paths. In this sense, there is more of a connection. When you talk to someone, you're not just holding your breath until you can make a point. You can let them be who they are. You may also feel more connected with other things, like the earth, the sky, animals, the lineage, etc. The whole world is alive in a way it wasn't before. For a long time, I kept looking for a live, in person sangha. One of my teachers told me there aren't any for my school the way there are for others, and that it is better to learn to practice intensively on one's own. It is harder, but it does tend to make it stronger and less dependent on externals.

You need to graciously love yourself off.

I heard an interesting podcast with Iain McGilchrist a couple of months ago. Amongst many other things he observed that biological, and particularly medical, sciences were still stuck in a particular way of thinking and modelling that likened biological processes/interactions to machines. A point he made was that there has never been a machine on this planet that wasn't built by ourselves ('Ancient Aliens' aside) - modelling biology as machinery is reductive and a way for humans to start to grasp the complexity of the situation rather than saying anything about the actual nature of the organisms in question. He also pointed out that physics has understood the equivalence of energy and matter for over a century and none (very little?) of that thinking has crossed over into mainstream bioscience yet. I work with scientists all the time. They're people just like all of us, making their way in the world. A lot of them are lovely, some less so. They all have bills to pay and many have families to feed. I'm fortunate to be in an academic environment. Once commercial pressures get applied people might behave differently. I'm not sure that's unique to scientists though.

I share it on my site, primarily. Bits and pieces here and there, either of bodhisattvahs or celestial beings. Other times I make non-linear art that comes from feelings when connected to the Akashic or after long sessions of sadhana and neigong. In future posts I will share some spirits I have seen when mountaineering...in fact, this is a draft of what I am writing now for my next post on the site.

A couple of days ago it was 39 deg C . Today has a predicted maximum of 33 but with a sheep / grazier alert . Grazier alerts are usually cold weather , so I checked ; tomorrow's maximum temp is predicted to be 17 deg C . And just as well we have AI auto weather computer phone prediction and warnings (or whatever they are ) a 'fire weather ' alert has been sent out ; Severity level .... significant threats to life and property. Urgency ..... 'the urgency of this alert is unknown . Affected area .... ' North coast ' . Great ! A significant threat to life but we dont know how urgent that is but somewhere up north near the coast . ( like those roadside signs that showed bushfire danger and warnings in an area . Some one ( usually from the bush fire brigade ) would unlock the sign and move the arrow around to the relevant warning level then lock it again . if it was up high , you knew you were in trouble . Now they have replaced them with high tech ' computery ' stuff . Half the time the signs are out or say ' Check on line at ....... ' or they work but the lowest level is high and the sign shows extreme on days when nothing happens - so people have got complacent about them ; '' Extreme danger ! '' .... nah , it always says that . Anyway ... danger ! Either from your lambs freezing ... or BBQing and a week of solid rain ... with possible bushfires .

*post meant for welcome /newcomers section but unable to post there * Hi all, late 20s man here (married and my wife is also interested in Taoism) I first came across spirituality at age 16 in a Hindu context after losing someone close to me - and read bhagavata Gita, Vedas and then quickly discovered on Buddhism and Taoism; Having already came from a dysfunctional home where i didn't have much of a sense of self /ego to begin with , and had also seen a whole lot of suffering , the teachings of Buddhism resonated with me ; Its probably a well known trope among us Gen Z'ers , but i also used pornography as an emotional coping mechanism and i guess, some level of sex- ed , having received none from home; This started since age 13, and while not excessive by modern standards, the messages in all religions noted that lust was not satiating, neither good , and especially bad for the male body; I pursued Bramacharya , and did some pranayama , and was mostly successful Having been with my wife for almost 5 years now , we decided to explore celibacy and have both experienced, feelings of innocence, more contentment, intuition ,deeper dreams , all within weeks. I would say i have an inclination towards celibacy , and usually feel better and more at peace in this state , within reason. That inspired me to revisit these forums, where i have lurked silently for some time in the past, but rarely actually committed to any practices I am not materialistic, despite working in the corporate world in finance for almost a decade. I have dabbled into nonduality practices, vipassana meditation and the like, but would now like to learn from, and in time offer support, about energy practices- qi gong, cultivation and Taoist philosophy; I do have a yearning to know what is beyond the apparent, and would like to explore it via actual practices and teachings; Willing to even explore masterclasses/ workshops and stuff as well ; These are some of the teachings/teachers i have learnt from ( i have no allegiance, nor endorsement of any teacher's teachings) : -Nisargadatta Maharaj -peter ralston -eckhart tolle -adyashanti -parahmamsa yogananda -swami vivekananda -lao tzu -sam harris -richard lang -leo gura -tara brach -ramana maharshi -mantak chia/ michael winn (briefly) -neville goddard sidenote-i stumbled upon some chinese anime- called donghua, which interestingly, while being fictional, still draws from taoist and buddhist philosophy, and the word cultivation is mentioned alot ;p that has been to a low extent, nontheless inspiring All in all, happy to meet everyone and learn a thing or do ; happy to dig around, research, bring ideas, and experiment/ walk the path Would love to get to know you all and also share more about myself/open up, in time to come

(Haven't read the linlk) it is my experience that to be a mystic means to be on my own with my God (and to be demonised by the 'religious').

Screencap from “The Pink Purloiner” episode of SpongeBob SquarePants.

It was about our views on science, scientists and scientism Then there was a comment about 'life sciences ' . Then we were told there is 'no such thing as a scientist ' . Then a shifting terms claim about science being this ... no that ... no actually its ... ( what was it now ? unpopoular .... not nice ... not currently 'politically correct ' ... or something ? ) . Then a diversion into a claim from science journalism . Then there was a complaint or something like that about the thread not commenting only on life sciences ( even though the title said different ) . Then Luke came in to kick it in the shins ( not his brother this time ) . Then an indulgent poem that smacked of discordian interpretation of the 'philosophy' of Hassan i Sabbah ( 'nothing is true , all is permissible ' ) by a smug cat . Then some info about frying an unborn baby with microwaves . Then ...... cats . Thats what the internet does .... eventually , its all about cats . Then I came back and said ... say ... Science is a good approach , especially for all you post alternative nut jobs that give more reality to your own internal fantasies . Scientists are good and bad , like most groups of people ... except for those 'save the planet' environmental scientists ... they are 'cool ' ( like ultrasound is 'cool' ... apparently , but I dont why ) . and scientism ? Well, that just sucks and one will realize why , if they can tell the difference between the three terms . And now I depart the thread to avoid the upcoming disdainful stares and comments ..... .

Yes of course, most people need to start with a method. But many methods are not necessary, and a lot of folks I’ve seen tend to get caught up in acquiring methods. One good method/system is sufficient to understand, but most don’t have the patience to stick with one. It’s better to dig one deep well instead of a thousand shallow ones

If there is proper diagnosis and early intervention with the right treatment plan, neurodivergence can be manageable and we can be easy-going. As I grew up in an abusive family and developed many traumas, my neurodivergence gives deeper wounding to an already sensitive nervous system that registers sound, light, and touch more intensely than neurotypical people. Thus, it makes me more on edge and combative due to one trauma of being unworthy and often taken advantage of, by both teachers who financially manipulated me and students who devalued me. I don’t lament my suffering and struggle now, as I see my suffering as a gift and this body as an even greater gift to burn off karma and recognize many people do not have awareness, support, resources, teachers, or drive to better themselves. So it makes me more patient and accepting of some of the posts that some have made that used to irritate me for years here. Let people go where they want and I will remain in my own lane. I will try to disengage if anyone does try to provoke me during this brief stopover, and if moderation doesn’t seem proportionate to what I hypothetically may encounter, I will just bite my tongue and return to creating content for my site and podcast, along with raising capital from investors for appropriate equipment.

a Basket case

Latest interview by Rudi:

The reason the plant is called holy is that there is a higher deva over-lighting the species. Give the plant light from your heart every time you look at it, and the deva will take you into its care also

I was recently gifted a holy basil plant and it's very easy to care for. The seeds spread and sprout easily leaving you with lots of baby plants. Once the seed stalk dries out just prune them. For purposes of prayer the traditional structure is usually placed in the center of the courtyard making it is easy to circumambulate.

That's imo a big advantage if you want to translate the DDJ.

Yayoiu Kusama, 'Pumpkin Cat,' 1990 The cat addition to Kusama's famous pumpkin motif is of debatable authorship, but I like it. Kusama is a Japanese artist presently 96 years old. She keeps working every day in her Tokyo studio. Happy Halloween!

The Lovers I was always afraid of the next card the psychic would turn over for us— Forgive me for not knowing how we were every card in the deck. --Timothy Liu