moment

Nicholas Hiatt

civility

ditto

Eeyore

“It's the end of the world every day, for someone.”
― Margaret Atwood

manure

bulls

Maryjane

smoggy

DAAAARGHK

LOL

whatever

3 hours ago, Yueya said:

A slightly edited version of something I wrote a while back on another thread: 

 

As someone who lives a fairly reclusive life, I come here for community to some degree. I like connecting with other people whose spiritual life is foremost. At times I feel the real warmth that comes from genuine connection. And there’s plenty of variety in personalities and perspectives here.  Also, there’s occasionally information I find particularly helpful. 
 
However, the nitty gritty of my experience is in working through difficulty.  I live within a semi-wilderness environment and my communion is mostly silent interaction with nature. That’s the core of my life. I don’t need any shields against intrusive human vibes or to expend energy on projecting an identity. But that in itself can lead to inner weakness. I’ve learnt that I also need meaningful opposition. That’s what I find on Dao Bums. 
 
The forum abounds with heavily defended city dwelling people, sensitive people who have needs for strong psychic shields. There’s so much unexpressed emotion lurking behind the words, so much psychic content to contend with.  Strong ego’s, forceful opinions, powerful identities, hostility both expressed and covert.  You name it, it here in spades. All these attributes help me gain insight into similarities within my own psyche. In particular, it reveals my emotional weaknesses and shows me how fragile my serenity can be. That shows me the specific areas I need to work through in a way that allows my heart to remain open amongst difficulty and opposition. For me, that's achieved by an ongoing alchemical process of enhancing and enriching my ability to feel in an undistorted way through the harmonisation of my innate feeling sensitivity by means of transmuting my emotional vulnerabilities so they become inner pathways into deeper reality. I've found by doing so I naturally enhance my alignment with heart-mind of Dao, with Spirit, with my Buddha nature (or whatever else you might like to call it.)  And that's the only true basis for inner strength. 
 
If a community could ever be perfect then none of us would need to develop inner connection with Spirit, with the Divine. Of course, I appreciate the effort people here, including myself, have made in the past and continue to make to try to maintain some degree of health here. That’s vital. It's in all of our interests. However, it will always be a futile task to try and impose that from the outside using rules. Ultimately the quality of discussion can only ever be a reflection on our collective de, with the most active contributors having the greatest influence.  To my mind, Dao Bums does very well for an online community. Underneath all the surface froth there’s real Spirit at work here. And that can only ever be something that's revealed to us in glimpses.  

 

[Addendum: The new moderation team has definitely reigned in some of the more hostile forum traits I've mentioned.] 

 

 

Excellent!

endangered

Malala Yousafzai

When she was still a young girl, Malala stood up against the Taliban in Pakistan, insisting that girls be allowed to receive an education. In 2012, she survived a shot to the head by a Taliban gunman and went on to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for her human rights advocacy work.

“When the whole world is silent, even one voice becomes powerful.” — Malala Yousafzai

Miep Gies

Anne Frank didn’t hide herself. Hermine “Miep” Santruschitz Gies is the woman who helped protect her and her family from the Nazis for over two years during World War II. She is also the woman responsible for saving Anne’s diary after the Franks were arrested.

“Permanent remorse about failing to do your human duty, in my opinion, is worse than losing your life.” — Miep Gies

Johan van Hulst

In 1942 and 1943, Dutch educator Johan van Hulst arranged for the transport of some very precious cargo. It was passed over a hedge, hidden in basket and sacks, and then whisked out of Amsterdam by bicycle. The cargo wasn’t food or supplies: It was Jewish children, smuggled and saved by van Hulst and his colleagues during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands.

Sarah Winnemucca

Sarah Winnemucca was the daughter of the Chief of the Paiutes tribe, who became a writer and educator who advocated for Native rights, and in the 1870s served as an army scout and an interpreter, and even spoke with President Rutherford B. Hayes, though promises he made to her tribe were never honored. In 1883, she published Life Among the Piutes [sic] in which she called out white people for their own savagery, reappropriating the term often used toward Natives. She also spoke out against sexual assault and corrupt government policy, speaking on the lecture circuit and becoming a prominent and outspoken advocate for Native peoples.

Geronimo

Geronimo’s mother, wife, and three young children were murdered, while he was trading in a nearby town. The famous warrior, a Chiricahua Apache, vowed to take vengeance and succeeded in outfoxing U.S. troops for decades, always evading capture against overwhelming odds. He was the last Native American leader to formally surrender to the U.S. government, who immediately reneged on their agreement, and kept him jailed for the rest of his life. He became a popular celebrity and was allowed to attend Theodore Roosevelt’s presidential inauguration in 1905. He used the occasion to ask for the freedom of his people, which was again denied. There was much more to the man than just his famous name—

Susan La Flesche Picotte

From the Omaha tribe, Susan La Flesche Picotte was the first Native American woman doctor. She lived during the mid-1800s and decided to become a doctor when she was just 8 years old. Reportedly, she waited with a sick elderly Native woman who had been told over and over that the local white doctor would come. When he didn’t arrive and the woman died, Picotte became aware that Native lives were less valued. She earned her MD and eventually opened a hospital on a reservation, the first of its kind, where she served patients of every ethnicity.

It is indeed a family of sorts and unsorts.

On 9/16/2020 at 10:28 AM, Efewq said:

Hello guys,this is my firt post. In 2018 I started meditation. At first everything was ok but I start to feel pressure at the 3rd eye chakra. I stopped doing meditation but even after 2 years the pressure is still there and is causing major anxiety. I noticed that chigong makes things better but only for a little while and I was told to stop all esoteric practises. If anyone can help I would appreciate your input

If you can find a TCM practioner in your area with legitimate lineage; you may want to pay a visit.  If you do not know where to start, contact a Naturopathic university.  Bastyr University in Seattle, Washington has good world-wide connections in TCM.  They may be able to direct you toward someone.

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” – Margaret MeadIn