oak

As opposed to giving objects a piece of his soul which would be idolatry. People can be objects/idols too, at least that is my interpretation of the term "straw dog" in the DDJ.

Was thinking of starting a thread on such an important book when I found out that you already did steve. I really love the minimalist straightforward style of the book never using two sentences when something can be explained in one, like the DDJ.

Welcome. Just place your awareness in the subtle sensations in your body. Soon you will feel a lot.

On the street where I work there are oaks as well as cedar trees.

My experience tells me that all of that becomes banal with time... like everything else in life. What does one feel when entering the ocean for the first time?... Primal fear right? A few years later one becomes a prized surfer. Be patient, don't rush things, life will happen to you as well as all of us in its due time.

In all ages there is always the need to feed the slaves with vulgarity!

I think you'll find confirmation to your thoughts in chapter 4 of the following book https://books.google.pt/books?id=NdwZBQAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=road+to+heaven&hl=pt-PT&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=road to heaven&f=false Bill Porter spent a good part of his life looking for buddhist and daoist hermits in deep China.

Hurried bitches give birth to blind puppies! It's a saying from my country but it's so daoist....

Been there Lost, know very well how it feels... not for many years now. If it helps, your suffering has a reason to be as you will probably understand sometime in the future and...even be thankful for it. WuDao's suggestion is a wise one STOP! Stop looking freneticaly for a way out of it, the answers you want may be in front of you but your anxiety won't let you notice them. Notice how you're struggling constantly inside yourself and try stopping that as much as you can. Do much less and trust more. You are never alone. Best wishes.

Thank you very much dawei

Hello dawei! Can I have a practice journal?

Clarity in what we want, yes, but knowing that the path itself isn't linear and yin and yang will always manifest in different ways...

For me the author which better explored this point was Krishnamurti. It's very worthwile a thorough study of what he said about it.

Cedar Tree, besides "formal practice" I think most of us dedicate quite some time to experimentation. On this thread started by the gentleman above there are some useful ideas:

plunge

asthmatic breathing

"Shine on you crazy diamonds"! Glad we have you here with us thunder. Near or far, all together in dao's heart !

sunset

Thank you my friend.

rest

Jeremiah was a bull-frog he was a good friend of mine I never...