TheSongsofDistantEarth

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Yes, like some crabby old uncles, we're decrying that the world ain't what it used to be! But in a sense, we are noticing another effect of technology, by being told what the change is by a machine and not having to figure it out in your head, it affects the way people interact. The old way was a much more couteous human interaction, the new way lacks any real contact. I try sometimes to figure out how to make such interactions more human, I guess friendly conversation can do a lot, but it's the small gestures, oft-repeated throughout a day, that define us.

I like it, and will reply more when I have the time. The Classic Twelve Steps works beautifully for some people, works in a modified form for others and not at all for many. I particularly dislike when fundamentalist 12-Steppers say that their way is the only way. Another thing I don't accept is the taking on of labels: 'Hi my name is Jeremy and I'm an alcoholic/addict'. It is essential for the fundamentalists, but doesn't need to be a part of everyone's recovery. If you object to this, you're "in denial". I wonder how you feel about the taking on the permanent identity of an addict in your model, Twinner? BTW, for an non-Judeo-Christian organization, nearly every meeting that I have attended ends not with the Serenity Prayer, but with the Lord's Prayer. There is definite bias, despite the protests that "your higher power can be anything, even a doorknob". I have voiced objections about it, but everyone just thinks I'm being cranky and ignores me and does the 'Our Father' thing anyway.

Welcome. We need more good ju ju here.

Here's one of my pet peeves: The way people hand you back your change in a store. The just put everything in your hand. The worst is when they make a little hammock out of the $ bills, the receipt on top of that, then with the coins just sort of sprinkled precariously on top, so you have to stop and sort of deconstruct the whole mess, balancing it while you try to put the change in your pocket, then the bills, then the receipt. It's a faintly annoying repeated daily experience. Back in the day, people used to have to calculate your change, instead of the machine doing it for them. So they would count it out to you as a courtesy, usually adding the coins until it reached the dollar, then the rest of the change. Giving you the coins first gave you a opportunity to slip them into your pocket with one hand, then receive the bills in the other. It seemed so much nicer than being handed this wobbly pile of money and receipt all together, and it was a nice little human pleasantry. Oh, well. I will just have to get used to it, I guess.

Years ago, I used to be into mescaline entheogenic journeys, and have some San Pedro cacti still growing in my back yard, as I like the mescalero plant spirit. The problem is that there is some sort of creature, a pack rat I'm guessing, who constantly devours this cactus. All my other cacti are untouched, but I will watch the gnawing marks continue regularly until the entire cactus is eaten away until even with the ground. Obviously, the animal world is interested in expanded consciousness as well, I can only barely imagine what a tripping pack rat's visions might be! San Pedro cactus (Trichocereus Pachanoi) is legal, and can be found easily in many nurseries in warmer climates. It contains mescaline and many other psychoactive alkaloids, giving it a different energy/experience than Peyote (Lophophora Williamsii) when ingested. It is a rapidly growing columnar cactus, and I am really tuned in to them from my days experimenting and journeying with that plant spirit. As I said, I no longer do, but I love having powerful plant allies surrounding me, so I continue to grow them. I love they way they look when they are big and healthy specimens.

Perfect joeblast tune!

Yes, it is. Several here have done so recently.

Yes! Perhaps you're made "from the same mole"!

That was fast! Wasn't it like two days ago you thought you were alcoholic? Hmmmm... You sound mighty certain about all this. It might sneak back at you in a few months when your guard is down. Be careful, Will Robinson.

If you change your name from 'everything' to 'nothing' you might feel a little less overwhelmed.

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Good for you. I hope it works for you.

Yikes, man. Everyone likes being high. That's the problem, is not being able to control it. It's not that easy just to switch to "drinking some soda instead" if you actually have a problem with alcohol, and from everything you've written in this thread, clearly you do. If alcohol gives you an experience similar to opiates, you have your work cut out for you. No judgement, but addiction is not about willpower. It's good that you're admitting to a problem Vaj, but it's naive to think it's going to be easy. It's kind of odd that you're playing this out in this forum, but if it gets you to face the problem, whatever. A good start would be going to AA meetings.

I think the addiction is to compulsive force feeding proselytizing Buddhism, not the beliefs themselves. That's what we're all picking up on. And yes, there does exist genetic variants in the expression of alcoholism, (but it does not explain all alcoholism). Some people actually process alcohol differently, and there is a genetic variant in which some opioid receptors come into play, so that the addictive experience and tendency is much stronger. There's no easy way to tell of you are affected, so if there is a family history, it is considered a strong risk factor for being alcoholic.

Vaj, I kind of suspected there was a problem with some of the stuff you posted over the past year and a half. No judgement, bro. Getting to this realization is what is important. If you think you might have a problem, then you probably do. And yes, alcoholics or "problem drinkers" can't drink like "normal" people. I too,have strayed near the edge, what's important is that we do something about it. I think all the spiritual work you've done will be strongly in your favor. You have to get away from that "my teacher says I can drink in moderation" stuff. It seems that you can't, so start from there.

Yoda also posted this in a separate thread on barefoot walking. I found it very inspirational too. It is an article written during Victorian times in England. What happened to Yoda? He was a really interesting taobum.

NeiChuan, you're my new hero. It makes sense to me that the Taoist runner would run barefoot.

I love resurrecting interesting old threads. How often do you run barefoot? Do you notice any chi benefits from doing so? It would seem that one would have to adjust the form of running away from the 'heel strike' style that running shoes encourage that are so hard on the joints. Here is an interesting book I found on Amazon about the 'Pose Method' of running. While it does not address barefoot running, it describes a different, 'natural' style of running that it seems to me would go well with barefoot running.

Time to bump this thread. Anybody here run barefoot? What about just walking barefoot outdoors as much as possible? I'm thinking of taking it up. One variable could be using some Vibram 'Five Fingers' shoes, although I really like the idea of absorbing earth energy directly through the feet with nothing intervening. Better for chi absorption.