silent thunder

It is a very specific scent. The same every time.

Yea, Happy Solstice! It was a good one on the West Side. It's been hot here for the last few days, but as soon as that big Full Moon rose and the Sun set, the pressure dropped along with the temp and we spent the rest of the night in the heavy winds flying out to Sea. They're still with us today. Highly charged. Good stuff.

I'm with you on this. Seems more of a co-conditional arising, than a pinpoint origin.

You don't know who your Mum is...?

Great thread! Thanks for sharing.

Potent stuff. Thanks for sharing mate.

So it's not that I'm in love with you. Yet somehow when I'm with you, or I think about you, that which is love in me, naturally releases and encompasses my experience of the present moment and I say 'I'm in love'. It's not because you do certain things, or say the 'right things' to me, or about me, that 'make me love you'. Certain things cut through the fog of my monkey mind and shake me a bit and remind me of the love which is already present and I momentarily release my blockages on that love and it flows, naturally. Then I analyze this and say "you love me". Love just is... Do I really have to give myself permission to not need permission to be this love? edit to add: This came to me one morning while sitting, it was a note I left for my wife by the tea pot for when she woke up.

Rumors... echoes... of Love. Strong emanations. Continual vibrations.

man is pure and woman is impure? sigh... okayyyyyyyy

Wei Qi

Seems pretty clear to me that the source of psychological discord in the issue stems from the instances of twisted family members and the overall cultural atmosphere that is constantly reinforcing to the individual that they are evil, second rate citizens undeserving of equal treatment and fair protection under the law.

Good point dragon... and in the end, all our plans are really just intentional, projected illusions anyway. The conditions where you arrive and your reactions to them, which are almost wholly automated will dictate the experience. Keep the heart open and go man go!

Yea, in my experience there were times when I thought I was in the state of love, but it was a state of want, need and desire. If there is any sense of ownership, of debt, of give and take, then I am not in the state of love. When I have experienced Love, duality dissipates in the presences of love, revealing it as the illusion it is... Also one key feature I realized about this is that in loving there are two avenues, giving out love and for me, here was the kicker for a lot of years, freely accepting the love of others. So often, with my pride, it was easy for me to offer love, but when it was given to me, I would hold back, out of fear, or pride, and one day I realized, that the act of negating love that is freely offered, actually was a major block to me experiencing the state of real love. To cut off that flow in either direction, is to withdraw from the state.

For 11 years I cycled everywhere. Didn't own a car. God I miss those days.

Not presently. He has been studying full time the last couple years.

In my experience, most change happens very fast. What is often slow, is my response and adaptation to it.

I had one four years ago. It was a good decision for us. My wife came to me after and revealed that she had no concrete idea just how worried she was about another possible pregnancy and how that was affecting her ability to let go and be truly intimate until we got the all clear. We were planning on having a child when she got pregnant, but we hadn't yet gone off birth control, we were waiting another six months to start trying after a trip to Europe. Well, she came to me one afternoon and said "I think Europe will have to wait honey... your Viking sperm stormed my defenses and I'm pregnant!" How blissfully awesome of my son to come into my life in such a manner. Her birth however, was an emergency c-section and both my son and wife nearly died during the procedure. (this was a major reason I had resisted having a child my entire life with her as I had been having precognitive experiences of this my entire life). So the fear she experienced in the face of love making was very deep and quite debilitating. Not only at our age were we not prepared for another child, but it could have been exceedingly dangerous given the past and our age. I consulted my cousin, who had the procedure over a decade ago, prior to my decision. He has a long standing Qigong practice and is an acupuncturist. He is an energetic powerhouse and when we were discussing it his experience mirrored his teacher's reaction when he brought it up before his procedure, 'the energy finds a way'. He then lifted up his feet, one after another and showed me the holes burned through his practice shoes directly under his Yongquan. He said he had noticed no debilitation in his practice at all. Four years now after that procedure, I can say my practice is thriving, I have noticed no detrimental effects at all and the intimacy between my wife and I is one of the great treasures of my life and has been reawakened due to a lack of fear. Unlike many of the retention crowd... I have never suffered from any debilitating effects after making love to my wife. Although, my approach to sex is not very typical of a Western male anyway. Only two partners in my life, both of them women of extreme wisdom and open, loving, spiritual hearts. So the energetic connection and synthesis of energy in the union has always surpassed any energetic loss, but I digress. Let me reiterate, that my experience has resulted in no debilitating effects, my cousin, now some 16 years after his procedure mirrors the same and on a wonderful benefit side, it seems to me that one of the greatest possible aphrodisiacs for a woman over 40 is the word 'vasectomy'. Our life is rich, full and deeply connected. I wish you well. Oh and the recovery, was very mellow. I was slow moving the first day, but felt fine day two... don't believe the hype of the pain. edit: cursed spelling and grammar goblins... someday I might really proofread.

More dancing! More music! and More Rain! I could use more of all three... two are under my control and who knows, if I do #1 right, maybe I can bring some of #3... I'll get back on that... in the meantime...

I'll echo that.

I can share some, but the majority of it, I still haven't put into words. It was all very personal. A lot of heart work, which was the focus of my attendance. Those ten days were imbued with deep and profound shift and my overriding reaction is still gratitude that this type of teaching is actually available to a simple Midwestern guy. Master Wang and Richard Liao make the work accessible, but do not water anything down. It was remarkable, I remember when working with the trees, how Richard would remark and make suggestions the instant I lost touch with the energy. These guys both operate on a profound level of achievement. Sittings were twice a day with a concise lecture on concepts and time for questions usually prior to the sit, walking meditations in the mornings, tree work at night, and sleep meditations before bed... some of it, the sleep meditations in particular, were so intense it expanded my view of what's possible in life. It's affected my stillness work in a deep and subtle manner... while it's still just me sitting there, the words I'd use to describe the changes would be... refined, tangible and potent. It's affected my Qi Gong in a similar manner. I'm fortunate that my Qi Gong practice albeit from a different teacher, is also Wudang and is compatible. I share a bit of detail in this two page thread started by Charles who attended the April retreat. http://www.thedaobums.com/topic/40149-questions-for-wang-li-ping/?p=664876 I had no health issues going in and requested no particular healing in the advance questionnaire, but a few days in, I realized that I hadn't been using my reading glasses. While sitting at the restaurant for my evening meal, I suddenly realized I could see crystal clear and just forgot I even brought them along. I haven't needed them since. Another student experienced healing in his hip. He told me he hadn't been able to sit cross legged on the floor to meditate for four years, so he got clearance to use a chair in the sessions. In one of the early sessions, he said he felt a pop in that hip and from that point on, he was able to sit on the floor again with the rest of us.

He holds one or two retreats a year. I went last December. Best decision ever.

verse 31 rings out particularly strong on this point... Weapons are the tools of violence; all decent men detest them. Weapons are the tools of fear; a decent man will avoid them except in the direst necessity and, if compelled, will use them only with the utmost restraint. Peace is his highest value. If the peace has been shattered, how can he be content? His enemies are not demons, but human beings like himself. He doesn't wish them personal harm. Nor does he rejoice in victory. How could he rejoice in victory and delight in the slaughter of men? He enters a battle gravely, with sorrow and with great compassion, as if he were attending a funeral.

That is not something I had even entertained CT... very interesting, thank you.

You are a bird of interesting colors Karl. I'm glad you are singing in our forest.

This is such a potent experience for me in the last few years. My experience of forgiveness has been indescribably empowering and in the space left vacant when resentment, judgement and bitterness are released, clarity, compassion and love manifest naturally, effortlessly. They weren't kidding when it was written that to follow Tao, we don't add something each day, we let go, lose and release what we realize is not our nature. And by far, what I am most grateful for losing is my desire to punish, or lash out in retribution, or to harbor resentment over past slights. This does not mean I allow myself to be a victim, nor that I could sit by idly while others are harmed. I still firmly and without any conscious choice or hesitation what so ever, will immediately subdue and isolate anyone harming another if and when it's in my power. But once the perpetrator is isolated and the threat is diminished. I no longer harbor and replay and feed the beast of outrage that I used to revel in for months and years. I no longer have any desire to lash the perpetrator with foul and justified assaults. Merely to isolate them, so they cannot do further harm, then if possible, heal all parties involved. But really, I let it go. I think perhaps it's one of the benefits to being rather amazingly lazy. One day, I realized as intensely as is possible for me, that I only have so much energy and I had lost the impulse, desire and fortitude, to continue to feed energy into fighting things. I simply realized, I want to spend what energy I do have, on nurturing the things I love, rather than chasing some selfish ideal of personal judgement and justified punishment or retribution. Of late, the most terrifying word in the English language to me, is 'justified'. As soon as one feels justified in a course of action or punishment... nearly any atrocity is permissible. To forgive is an act of self love, or for me, of realization. Realization that I have no more energy to devote to fighting what I hate. I want to spend that one nurturing what I love.