silent thunder

god: tao christ: te spirit: tai chi experientially this works for me... no idea how real it is...

My instincts say, raise vibration by clearing blockage. Release mind/thought/self. Clear like light.

All beaches are graveyards. The sand of our ancestors and our children's grandchildren.

That epiphany released so much of my blocked energy. It takes energy to always judge, always defend and attack. I strive to take life less personally, graveyards are perhaps effective at expanding awareness of this...

I used to spend time just hanging out in a graveyard. Had no idea what meditation was, but would spend time pondering the gravestones and names, wondering what their stories were and where their smiles ended up. It was a peaceful place.

Bigotry of mind is a personal thing and affects the individual. Bigotry of speech is opinion and is an emotional territorial claim, usually stated as fact and affects those who choose to listen and engage. Bigotry in action is the seed ground of war and affects others against their will, or without consent. Where do I engage and stop it? When it becomes abusive. Who defines that? The same I that has the experience. (illusory) Much like porn, hard to define, but easily recognizable. Reminded myself this morning that the world isn't about me, and that the Tao treats all impartially. These words on a computer, wield the power I send them and no more. The sun shines on the healer and the murderer equally.

yes, thank you... that word was hanging for me as well. or awakening... edit: na upon thinking about it, I was trying to convey taught... the filters and perspectives are taught in an effort to help you 'understand' from the perspective of your culture or your family. It is this that is released when mind is released and light flows.

I have experienced this as well. Truth is experiential; beyond the mundane. Mundane is steeped/infused in duality and contradiction. To take the mundane for truth is to miss the forest for the trees, for in that realm, any statement/observation creates its opposite in the moment of its being spoken or observed.

One gem has many facets. What are the qualities of those facets without light flowing through them? Facets/perspectives filter the One Light which I am taught to 'understand'. When I release mind, there is no understanding, there is no self. Clarity and Light remain.

As simply as I can state it, my take on ch 5 is: Be in the world, not of it. Awareness without attachment. Impartiality that implies not taking anything personally. Neither contempt for things as lower, nor worship of others as higher. Full awareness and complete acceptance. The conditions of experiential Tao involve no judgement, no value. Te. This thought occurred to me once when in meditation and I think it could apply here: Nature takes no pains to explain herself, yet she spares no pains to ensure she's understood. Things will play out as Te springs from Tao. Whether we 'get it' or not, nor how we judge it, the conditions of Te play out from Tao and our 'take' on it is irrelevant (except to us).

Truly the similarities in the christ story and the horus tale lend credence to the potential for christ being a retelling of an older tale with a new name. That said: there is nothing that precludes both tales from being true. Mirrored experiences happen often in life and the cycles of human experience repeat like the seasons.

I suspect that the stories are based on a real person. But I'm rather agnostic on the topic since 'proof' is absent either way. For me, the difference lies between knowledge of christ the man (story or not) and the experience of Christ Consciousness; and the distinction between being experiential and subjective, so it's tricky for sure to talk about, but surely not impossible. Much like enlightenment, how do you describe an experience beyond words or ideas? With care, tact and an open mind. If mind cannot remain open, mouths should close.

Wow, perfect example of this infuriating theme... Another great academic topic, taken hostage by an intentional swarm of repetitive inflammatory replies until the topic is pitted then even locked. I wonder where the thread could have gone had it not been ransacked and some of the truly learned folks of the community got a chance to log in and add their breath to the garden... no more garden, just fungus and dark-pit-lockedness. This is intentional, aggressive and damaging to the atmosphere. And man I'm pissy about it... time for me to breathe it out. Lame and Weak!

I go back and forth. Mainly I think that I'm tuning into something that has already been going on for some time. Although, I also sense that with continued, cumulative practice, that the efficiency of that system in increased.

Cool stuff. Welcome to the Bums!

Wow thanks... There is no now. Enlightenment does not exist. There are no problems. There is no time. There is no space. Awesome stuff... I'll be chewing on this for a while, which means I'm totally lost and not getting it, but loving it just the same!

The power of ignore is awesome! The fuel of ignore is willpower...

Sure. This was my typical day from the ages of 20-22. I'd arrive at school around 7 am, coming from my night shift at the restaurant, which let out at 6. When I had a later first class, I would sleep up to 2 hours at a time, then hit class. but more often my sleep came in 30 to 90 minute gaps in the breaks between classes. 24 credits was my average per quarter so I was at school all day M-F. I grabbed catnaps whenever/wherever I could. Being involved in the theater dept. performing and constructing props, I had access to awesome nap locales on campus, either on an empty stage or in the prop warehouse or green room on a sofa. Also had access at school to the showers in the dressing rooms, which really made this work. Having to go home to bathe would have been a deal killer. Classes would run until 5 pm and then there was usually another 2-3 hour break before rehearsals for the show would start, so I'd grab food and crash into another nap. I carried a wind up clock with me, but I found by the end, the act of setting that alarm would set an intention within and my innate hatred of the sound of that alarm prompted me to start waking up within the minute or two ahead. This has continued the rest of my life to the point where I have not awakened to my alarm in years. After rehearsals which would be out by 10pm, I'd head home, hang out with my wife and my cats for a bit, then crash and get up to go to the restaurant again. On the odd off-days, I would binge sleep. Interesting to note the affect of crowds on my vitality while in my performing phase. Vast amounts of energy were spent performing, but this is where I first developed an understanding of myself not as a bucket full of energy that could be empty or full, but rather I was a conduit through which energy flows, which could open and constrict. As much energy as I was pouring out on stage was replaced by the attention of the crowd and the interaction with the other performers. Rarely was I drained after a show, with the exception of the really emotional roles. (the emotional toll is what drove me out of acting... the body/spirit doesn't know you're faking emotions and the toll is unreal) So the overall, the pattern was about 2 hours sleep in the morning and evening roughly 12 hours apart, with one or two shorter naps during the day when I didn't need to study. In Summer I didn't study shit and played my ass off with my wife and friends. edit: Some of the side effects of this phase in my life were a spike in lucid dreaming, bouts of sleep paralysis and hypnagogic visions. These culminated several years after school with full blown visions, encounters with the hat man and several orb spirits.

Well it appears that TTB are mirroring the polarizing atmosphere that seems to be getting more extreme over the last few years. Here a small, extreme group are hijacking and holding hostage many attempts at discussion to spray their scented opinion. Much like what's happening in America's Congress with the Tea Party and their scent spraying=hostage tactics. When you claim God as your source and proprietor of your thoughts and words, any open discussion is rendered rather moot. If someone in the discussion is not with you, they are not with God, which means they are with the Devil and so you are justified, even obligated in your hateful actions towards them... Discussion in this atmosphere cannot take place, because as George Bush Jr succinctly said "Either you are with us, or against us."

I developed a polyphasic sleep pattern instinctively when I was first married, living off campus, taking 24 credits/quarter at University and performing with the Minnesota Shakespeare Co. I maintained that pattern for a little under two years, with 3 month breaks each Summer. It was amazingly effective (effectiveness was probably compounded by the fact that I was in exceedingly good health and was 20-22 at the time). edit: It was probably also effective as it was really my only option. Necessity is a great source of vitality and stamina.

And then there are those forms in which drugs are the practice.... Drunken Master is not just a movie...

Exceedingly lame to watch the bullies roam free and slaughter good conversation with intentional ass hattery...

Sometimes we only know ourselves, by knowing what we are not...

I often experience the sensation of wind, water or warm oil sliding under my downward just under my skin, most distinctly in the middle dan tien and the face. This used to occur during qigong, now it comes on spontaneously. Bodies within bodies. I've had a persistent sense since childhood that I am a small aspect of a large being, composed of smaller beings.

I find the draw I have to weapons is similar to the draw I have when passing an accident on the road; there is a palpable draw and interest, underlying that, is a mild to moderate repulsion for what it represents... For me, when weapons are drawn all parties have failed. That said: I find the bo staff to be the most elegant of weapons and is my weapon of choice. I am deeply amazed at the level of craftsmanship expressed in a finely made katana.