Yi Tao

2 weeks ago I decided to renew my lucid dreaming practice. I thought I would try the wake and back to bed routine. I get up at 4:30am to dream journal, walk, qi gong and relax with the StressEraser. Back to bed by 5:30am and sleep for 90 more minutes. I'm fighting with the monkey, but I'm making progress. I'm also investigating sleep and dream supplements. Calcium before bed is supposed to be good, so is b6. There are essential proteins which deepen sleep and promote healing. There is also a dream herb used by ancient shaman, who used it to make a tea and smoke. A few years ago I quit smoking cigarettes because I couldn't stand the opposing duality with breath-work. Now I'm considering the health risks of smoking again. Not habitually like cigarettes, but occasionally as an aid to dream work. Does anyone know of specific practices that will promote lung repair and healing? Is there anything I should avoid, such as bellows?

What exactly is animal suffering? Does it really matter? Am I willing to spend more money so that an animal can have a comfortable life and a painless death? Could the extra money that I spend be used better elsewhere? Who gets to decide? It often occurs to me that the conceit of environmentalists far exceeds their abilities. If they think they can do a better job, why are you only whining about it? There is a difference between constructive imagination and wild, uncontrolled daydreams. There is a difference between deciding the best way for yourself to live and trying to impose that belief on others.

I agree. It's more of a humming noise.

That's probably why your not Christian.

The Old Testament and the New Testament are both part of the Christian Bible. You can think of it as the old contract and the new contract if that helps. Jesus didn't come to replace or destroy the old contract, but to complete it. The old testament required blood sacrifice for the forgiveness of sin. It was an agreement of the law. The new testament does not require blood sacrifice because Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice. It is an agreement of grace.

The word for "God" is "elohim". It is always used in the plural form in the Old Testament. Christians believe in a Triune God. A single God in three parts. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. The term trinity does not exist in the Bible, but it is an invention of Christians to explain what is contained in the Bible. Some say that it doesn't make sense that there is only one God, and yet there are 3 aspects / parts. This is easily explained (avoided) because there are mysteries of God that we'll never understand. It comes down to faith. Believing without seeing, or believing without human understanding. If you need a somewhat rational explanation of the Trinity, consider a coin. It has heads and tails. So there is Coin the Heads and Coin the Tails, but only a single coin. I guess a cynic would say God in schizophrenic and just talking with himself.

Breath in, breath out. Everything is going to be OK. No people are where they started. People flow and intermingle. Native Americans are not native. They just have a longer history. I've been reading an amazing book by Isaac Asimov, "The Greeks, a great adventure". It's the story of the beginnings of western civilization. It's crazy to read how humans acted and treated each other. The idea that we have today about what is civilized behavior makes me laugh. Collateral damage wasn't something to be avoided, it was the norm. Sack a city, take it's gold, kill everything that moved, and burn the rest to the ground. War was natural. The Goddess of War (Athena) was also the Goddess of Wisdom. Patriotism is a love of and loyalty to one's country. I love the USA. The freedom and liberty I'm afforded because I live here and now is beyond amazing. The so called stains on America are nothing better nor worse than anyone else's history. We started this country to be a "more perfect" union. Not perfect, but more perfect. I think we're doing great.

I have to agree with you on that one. I think an actual bush would do a better job in congress as well.

Hee hee. That's patriotic? I don't think so. It sounded like using the Libby case as an excuse to rail against someone you don't like. I'd say politics, not patriotism. I've only followed the case briefly, but I don't see any major problems for President Bush. If you hate Bush, you'll still hate him. Everyone else won't care. For clarification... Libby didn't leak Valerie Plame's name and Bush didn't pardon Libby. When the investigator questioned Libby, he already knew who leaked Valerie Plame's name. Libby was accused of lying. I'm trying to find the actual lie that Libby told, and the only detail I can find is that he disagrees with Tim Russert about a conversation. Libby said they discussed Valerie Plame. Russert says they didn't. The actual conversation was about Joe Wilson, Valerie's husband. Libby's motive for discussing Valerie Plame was to help discredit her husband, Joe Wilson. There are many curious facts about Joe Wilson's trip: Valerie Plame is only one small detail. Now if Libby knew about Valerie Plame before he spoke with Tim Russert, Valerie Plame would have been brought up in the conversation. If Libby found out about Valerie Plame after their conversation, it's possible he might have thought that Russert told him about Valerie Plame. Like I said, Valerie Plame is only one small detail about Joe Wilson's trip and it's really an afterthought. His unprecedented oral report and his conflicting newspaper account are much more interesting. Of course if you hate Bush and automatically distrust anything that comes out of this administration, then you'll assume the worst. Libby's conviction and commutation is only a small detail. If the conviction is overturned on appeal, the commutation will actually be seen as a positive. But don't worry, the phrase Halliburton will resonate much better. And don't forget "no bid contracts" and then their's always "big oil" and a hundred other phrases that stir up the hatred pot for Bush the second without requiring any actual thought.

Use of technology is destroying my hands. Especially my left hand. Last week, after some extreme stress, my left pinky and ring finger started to complain: numb, fatigue, sore, and ache. They are still bothering me occationaly. Either they haven't returned to normal, or I'm just starting to pay attention. Any ideas for hand rehabilitation?

If you are new to Tai Chi and want to learn from a video, I'd suggest "Tai Chi for Busy People" by Keith Jeffery. Nicely filmed and explained. He doesn't teach a classical form. He teaches 9 movements, one at a time. After you learn all of the movements, he combines them all into a 5 minute routine. It's great for beginners and quick to learn the basics. Highly recommended for your situation. If you try to learn an entire form from video, you'll be wasting a lot of time on choreography rather than movement. Since you won't be getting feedback from an instructor, you'll have to be your own instructor. You'll need to get your awareness into your body and into the movement. That's why simple is best.

Besides meditation and body awareness, the mental chatter can get in the way with reading and drawing. Speed reading only works when the internal chatter is eliminated (reduced) and the eye is trained to move quicker. These 2 processes go together and reinforce each other. One of the most interesting books I've read on speed reading was called "Speed Reading with Semantic Restructuring." It's available as a free ebook online. (http://www.semanticrestructuring.com/lookma.php) Drawing, done right, is a non verbal activity. When you learn to draw with your eyes and your right brain, the chatter stops because you're thinking with the non-verbal side of your brain. Through drawing, I've been able to experience reality without the constant chatter. I've been involved in shapes, contrasts, and lines. After 10-15 minutes of drawing, I'll realize that the chatter was silent. I am able to recognize the brain shift that took place, but then the chatter starts to analyzing the brain shift.... Sigh. The book "The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain" by Betty Edwards is an excellent self study book and easily accessible.

Some Taoist have beliefs about death related to Taoism. Michael Winn has written about the 3 hun (heavenly souls) and the 7 po (earthly souls). If you don't integrate these souls, there's nothing to reincarnate and you simply get recycled back into the Tao. Taoist Internal Alchemy Others apply Taoism to life and their view of death is defined by other beliefs. For example, I see no conflict between Christianity and Taoism.

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I was reading the Tao Bums forum and came across the StressEraser; a biofeedback device. It monitors heart rhythm to determine vagus nerve activity and physical relaxation. It is a focusing tool for the monkey mind that uses the exhale to create a properly timed harmonic that effects the nervous system. It sounds really cool. There is a certain aspect of Taoism that just demands obedience and action without over analyzing, but I've heard that western practitioners sometimes out pace their eastern counterparts because they ask pointed questions rather than stumble in the dark. I've placed my order, but of course it's on backorder so I have to wait. It feels like cheating or maybe giving up on the way. But it's nice to have a flashlight in the dark when you don't have a guide.