moment

1 minute ago, ralis said:

That is a great painting. A very good friend of mine has an image of that in his studio. He happens to be one of the great landscape painters on the planet and I am fortunate to own one of his paintings. 

Always good to hear from you, ralis!

Wanderer above the Sea of Fog (1818) – Caspar David Friedrich

the first human trial in Europe of a coronavirus vaccine has begun in Oxford.

Two volunteers were injected, the first of more than 800 people recruited for the study.

Half will receive the Covid-19 vaccine, and half a control vaccine which protects against meningitis but not coronavirus.

The design of the trial means volunteers will not know which vaccine they are getting, though doctors will.

Elisa Granato, one of the two who received the jab, told the BBC: "I'm a scientist, so I wanted to try to support the scientific process wherever I can."

The vaccine was developed in under three months by a team at Oxford University. Sarah Gilbert, professor of vaccinology at the Jenner Institute, led the pre-clinical research.

"Personally I have a high degree of confidence in this vaccine," she said.

"Of course, we have to test it and get data from humans. We have to demonstrate it actually works and stops people getting infected with coronavirus before using the vaccine in the wider population."

Prof Gilbert previously said she was "80% confident" the vaccine would work, but now prefers not to put a figure on it, saying simply she is "very optimistic" about its chances.

So how does the vaccine work?

The vaccine is made from a weakened version of a common cold virus (known as an adenovirus) from chimpanzees that has been modified so it cannot grow in humans.

The Oxford team has already developed a vaccine against Mers, another type of coronavirus, using the same approach - and that had promising results in clinical trials.

6 hours ago, Tryingtodobetter said:

Several years ago when I was in a relationship with a woman who claimed to be from puerto rico and I was experienced strange bodily sensations I went to this forum to seek counsel.

 

After messaging him for help forum member named spotless told me that I had "a white mist floating in front of my stomach" and when I asked him to specify he said "Well, I thought you knew what that meant. Gotta go, see ya!"

 

Now, a few years ago I found myself having strange bodily phenomena and a spiritual/energetic crises of some sort when I began a relationship with another woman, although her words and actions caused me to question the validity and authenticity of the relationship. I once again consulted spotless for advice, this time he told me to ask jeff.

 

There has been a number of times I have encountered the name jeff in recent time. From seeking help from an acupuncturist named jeffery, which after the treatment I've found that my circulation is not what it was and I am unable to exercise with any regularity. Blood pools in my hands when I take relatively short walks about town, and I have veins showing in my right forearm constantly. Lost of memes with the name Jeffrey aswell, "my namea jeff". I received a dress shirt with the name geofferey bean on the tag. There is more.

 

 

Also during the latest crises I asked another member for advice and he told me to try focusing on complex objects such as orange cross-sections, leaf veins and mountains.

 

My entire conversation with the aforementioned member and spotless is missing from my inbox on this website.

 

 

*On a possibly unrelated tangent. Why did the creator of lone man pai change the slogan of his practices to "blood and honey"? I have seen a pattern of bear imagery over the last few years, even on trips to places. Some of the bear and bee imagery seems self-referential and it doesn't feel good*

 

 

If you ever receive info by PM, about contacts, etc,  that do not turn out well or make you feel uneasy, please bring it to the open forum here to talk about it.

On 11/29/2019 at 10:08 AM, silent thunder said:

I lived in chronic pain for over a decade.

 

Undiagnosable for many of those years, the source of the pain was truly 'a mystery'.

 

Unrelenting, stabbing, piercing, relentless pain.  No position would alleviate it.

Countless trips to doctors.  Sleep was always a struggle. 

 

I went from a thriving man who saturated in martial arts daily, had a career as an award winning Shakespearean stage actor and stage combat choreographer, a free rock climbing champion, who logged tens of thousands of miles on his bike solo camping across the Midwest and Canada... to a guy stuck in a chair, unable to walk without a cane, suffering without hope of escape... for over ten years.

 

Eentually, I recalled the words of Hamlet and the prison began to break for me.

I realized that in spite of the two surgeries that 'saved my foot', the degeneration and atrophy may well have left me in permanent disabled status with chronic pain as a side dish...

 

But even though there was pain, that did not mean I had to suffer it.  I recalled a practice i developed in high school, whereby I could push a pin through my hand and not suffer from the sensation.  It started slow at first, pushing the pin a small ways into the palm of my hand to simply experience the pain of it.  Then, I began to 'project my entire awareness into the center of the sensation'.

 

I found I was able to focus awareness so fully into the center of the 'pain' that it ceased being pain and became sensation.  Shortly after that, i found awareness could become so fully immured in the center of the sensation that the sensation ceased registering.  There was no pain, no sensation, only awareness focused in awareness.

 

Unable to withstand the fog and walking coma of taking heavy duty western pain meds, I began to 'go into the pain'.

 

In the midst of this, my mind offered me some aid in the form of a glaring memory of stage days that was most appropriate to my current situation.  Hamlet. Act 2 Scene 2.  Rosencranz and Guildenstern, Hamlet's college buddies, are brought to court by the King and Queen to help ascertain why Hamlet is so sullen, depressed and prone to violent outbursts.

 

In the scene, while probing, Hamlet reveals the subsidiary source of his malady.

"Denmark's a prison" comes at the end of scene 2, in Act 2.

 

HAMLET
Then is doomsday near: but your news is not true.
Let me question more in particular: what have you,
My good friends, deserved at the hands of fortune,
That she sends you to prison hither?

GUILDENSTERN
Prison, my lord!

HAMLET
Denmark's a prison.

ROSENCRANTZ
Then is the world one.

HAMLET
A goodly one; in which there are many confines,
Wards and dungeons, Denmark being one o' the worst.

ROSENCRANTZ
We think not so, my lord.

HAMLET
Why, then, 'tis none to you; for there is nothing
Either good or bad, but thinking makes it so: to me
It is a prison.

ROSENCRANTZ
Why then, your ambition makes it one; 'tis too
Narrow for your mind.

HAMLET
O God, I could be bounded in a nut shell and count
Myself a king of infinite space, were it not that I
Have bad dreams.

GUILDENSTERN
Which dreams indeed are ambition, for the very
Substance of the ambitious is merely the shadow of a dream.

HAMLET
A dream itself is but a shadow.

ROSENCRANTZ
Truly, and I hold ambition of so airy and light a
Quality that it is but a shadow's shadow.

HAMLET
Then are our beggars bodies, and our monarchs and
Outstretched heroes the beggars' shadows. Shall we
To the court? for, by my fay, I cannot reason.

ROSENCRANTZ, GUILDENSTERN
We'll wait upon you.

 

His mind had become his prison.  As had mine.

I thought my body had imprisoned me, but it was my mind, my awareness that was holding me hostage to the sensations of pain.

 

I began to 'go into the pain'.  I entered it so fully with my awareness that the response was like entering a room with an overpowering stench of perfume, which after a time, is rendered unsmellable due to it's over saturation.

 

I began to play my old kung fu forms in my mind as detailedly as possible and found a route to internal martial arts on my own, sitting in a chair in los angeles, without a teacher.

 

Eventually I found it tolerable to 'go with the sensation' even while putting weight on the leg.

 

Several years into this process of hobbling about, I encountered Master Zhou Ting-Jue, who taught me a process to help my body heal itself. 

 

Within a year and a half, all my former aches and pains, including the searing pain of the 'nearly lost foot' were gone.

 

I'm back working in film and television, working 60-70 hour weeks constructing scenic elements.  I wrestle and teach my 13 year old son Ju Jitsu and still occasionally, the ankle will bark, but it does not control my awareness. 

 

 

Denmark, the world, our sensations, our families, may be unpleasant, but it is our awareness that allows them to become prisons.

 

 

Free your mind, and your ass will follow.

 

As I read this a second time--- A deep bow to you, sir!

poll/ 54% of Americans rate Trump’s coronavirus response as poor or not so good. By contrast, 72% of Americans give positive ratings to the governors of their states for the way they have dealt with the crisis. (Washington Post)

The FDA approved the first at-home coronavirus test. The nasal swab kit is expected to go on sale to consumers in most states, with a doctor’s order, within weeks. (CBS News / New York Times)

The malaria drug widely touted by Trump showed no benefit – and more deaths – in a U.S. veterans study. About 28% who were given hydroxychloroquine plus usual care died, versus 11% of those getting routine care alone. About 22% of those getting the drug plus azithromycin died too. (Associated Press)

Five hours ago.

Written by: Quazi Hossain MD, Physician, Hospital Medicine, Philadelphia, USA.

I am a physician in a suburban Philadelphia hospital. The majority of my patients are Covid-19 infected. Many of them are on life support with ventilators; some get better and go home, and some others unfortunately expire.

In general, covid-19 patients who have low blood oxygen level, or complain of shortness of breath, or imaging studies show extensive pneumonia get admitted to the hospital, the rest go home in quarantine.

I am not sure if it is possible for me to comment on whether European physicians and hospitals feel more overwhelmed than we do in the USA. If I compare the information in the media coming from hottest spots in the USA, like New York, to Europe’s hotspots like Italy or Spain, I see a very similar picture.

Remember that Covid-19 patients are not the only patients we have. We also have to see all other non-Covid-19 patients as well. It is overwhelming, at least to us, who are taking the brunt of it.

Being in the Philadelphia area, we are very near to the greater New York City. Theoretically, Philadelphia has’t had its peak yet, although my prayer is that hopefully we are through the worst part of it.

We are fighting to the best of our capacity, with whatever manpower and PPEs we have. We don’t know how long this crisis will continue or how long we shall be able to continue this struggle.

I just want our people and our politicians to understand that this crisis is a crisis of all humanity. We are all in it together. We need to watch out for all humanity, starting from our families, our neighbors, our fellow human beings, irrespective of political affiliation or racial orientation.

We should not stigmatize any race or nation for our current crisis. We should exchange experiences and scientific ideas from all the doctors and scientists across the globe and direct our effort to get an effective vaccine and a medical cure for this disease.

We should not stop funding WHO, which is the most vital organization to help the covid-19 infection in the poorest of poor countries of the world. If there are problems inside the WHO administration, please appoint international watchdog to monitor it’s finances and fix it. Please don’t let the poor suffer because their are glitches in the system that can to be fixed.

Please do not politicize the medical management of a health crisis of this magnitude. Please let the medical science lead us to a solution, not personal political whims

Why Donald Trump's reopening plan is stupid:

 The current testing program in the United States is poor. About a month ago, the Trump administration promised 27 million tests would be available by the end of March. Late April is now approaching, and yet only about 4 million tests have been conducted.

Harvard researchers say the US needs to test 20 million people a day to fully remobilize the economy

We have a huge shortage of protective equipment for health care workers. Demand is rapidly out-growing supply as the urgent need for personal protective equipment (PPE) such as surgical masks, respirators, gloves, and gowns, as well as for ventilators, continues to grow faster than supply.

The U.S.A. does not have a plan for contact tracing. Contact tracing was vital in reducing the virus’s spread in South Korea and elsewhere.

Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Animals taking over during quarrantines

1 minute ago, SirPalomides said:

While it's easy and fun to make fun of the stupid MAGA protestors claiming that quarantine violates their rights, it's worth remembering that Western media were saying similar things in January about China's quarantine measures. For example: https://slate.com/technology/2020/01/coronavirus-2019-ncov-china-quarantine.html

 

Fortunately for the US pundits, Americans have exceedingly short attention spans and shorter memories.

Being a U.S. citizen, it is embarassing to admit that ( in general) of all of the first world democracies, we are the least educated-- in every sense of the word.

Just two months ago!

22 minutes ago, C T said:

 

even warts and farts

Mara's belly's bottomless

give it all you got

give it all you got

with everything you have got

warts, farts, and bums all

55 minutes ago, dmattwads said:

 

That is indeed the process 😌

Indeed! I wish you the best!

10 hours ago, dmattwads said:

I think in my experimentation this week with various mantras and chanting that the medicine Buddha seems to be digging up the most problematic karma.

well, you've already stated the best way to handle that. Let it go through without attachment.  It has to be done sooner or later.  It is just a matter of how much you handle at a time, eh?

"This too shall pass"--ancient persian adage

11 hours ago, anshino23 said:

 

How do you understand real kundalini within your lineage? What are the signs? Or are they secretive? Why would kundalini not be helpful if it arose from doing correct practice within a lineage process?   

 

 

I would never presume to answer for freeform so, this needs to be considered as an aside of sorts.  I have experienced Kundalini.  The definition of which can be very problematic.  Because it affects everyone differently.

Kundalini is always helpful (at this very moment, freeform has made a reply to you and I read it) IF it is done through correct practice and a natural process.  I would add you need to share your experiences, from the very start, with people you know, and trust that have had similar experiences.

By slowing down, we open up and out.

On 4/10/2020 at 8:53 PM, Earl Grey said:

 

Those are more for what we are consciously aware of--the fact is, working with the internal arts will bring out the shadows and the subconsciousness--which is what we are often not prepared for most of the time. So it doesn't help as much as you think it does. 

That: "working with the internal arts will bring out the shadows and the subconsciousness--which is what we are often not prepared for most of the time."--- There are cults in the world that are formed in exactly that way.  The disciple is very vulnerable when the subconscious is being kicked up.  The unscrupulous leader is waiting for that instability to form the student in his or her image.  An image that produces lifelong servitude.  Very powerful stuff.

4 hours ago, Iliketurtles said:

I really like the painting of the mouse at the top of the page. 

 

Nice to meet you all.

Hello, nice to meet you, your timing is good. Do alot of exploring here. The layers run deep.

12 minutes ago, ilumairen said:

 

 

If this was actually true, you would not be.

 

"You" have an investment which leads to a vigilant and defensive stake in this particular game. Nothing wrong with this imo, but "you" are certainly here by choice, and this choice indicates a "want" of some type to be here.

 

Thank you for spotlighting a certain type of deviousness!

14 minutes ago, ralis said:

One thing regarding newbies in disguise which means duplicate/sock puppet accounts are not allowed. You will be found out. 

Hopefully, VPNs are making it much harder.