BigSkyDiamond

maybe a good place to start is to actually know what substance abuse and addiction actually are. so they are not conflated or confused with "worship" or "what the government says to do" addiction and substance abuse are the same whether they occur in India or somewhere else in the world. Just like the flu is the same or cancer is the same anywhere in the world. Because human antatomy and physiology and disease and illness appear in and affect human bodies regardless of the country where those human bodies happen to be residing.

What am I listening too? Dr. Ming Pang discusses qi in Chinese, with English subtitles. He is the founder of Zhineng qigong which is the qigong form I currently practice. He is a medical doctor in Western medicine and also a Doctor of Oriental Medicine who founded clinics in China that were "medicine-less hospital" treating patients with a variety of different diseases and illness. The Zhineng form of qigong was taught to the patients, it activates the self-healing inherent in each of us, the clinics treated over 400,000 people with a 95% success rate, across 180 different diseases treated. In addition to the hospital section where patients were treated, there was also a teaching section (the people who healed often wanted to be trained to become teachers), and a research section documenting the scientific clinical results of treatment. The Huaxia center opened in 1988 and was closed by the government in 2001. Thousands of teachers trained while it was open, and now Zhineng is taught and practiced all over the world. www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4NvN1htYhU&list=PLrasN-9zgUGuvpb763-GNcteP0izjUstv&index=4

"Cannabis, heroin, and Indian-produced pharmaceutical drugs are the most frequently abused drugs in India. Cannabis products, often called charas, bhang, or ganja, are abused throughout the country because it has attained some amount of religious sanctity because of its association with some Hindu deities. The epidemic of substance abuse in young generation has assumed alarming dimensions in India." ---from this article, Substance Abuse in India Pravara Medical Review, published by the Pravar Institute of Medical Sciences in India

Divinity and magic are not the same. They differ in mindset, intention, that which is accessed, and that which is attracted. when i read "low" my understanding is that it may be referring to vibration or resonance. that might make an interesting thread topic, to provide further clarification on how magic and Divinity are not the same. just as there is a difference between God and gods, there is a difference between Divinity (God) and magic, between prayer and casting spells.

EXACTLY. just plain no discussion of politics. Period. Full stop. easy peasy.

my experience has been that for practices such as Zen, the use of psychoactive substances is (a) advised against, and (b) an obstacle and barrier to spiritual development. my experience has also been that the behavior of those seeking to justify use of psychoactives are often times seeking to justify their own addictions. it's along the lines of someone saying "my uncle Fergus lived to be 85 and he smoked a pack a day and drank whiskey every night and worked on the farm his whole life" therefore tobacco and alcohol are not harmful. walk into any bar and ask who here has a problem with alcohol, and no hands go up. same for those who claim psychoactive substances are not only "not a danger" but as post above claims, they are even GOOD for you they are medicine for healing. Typically, those seeking to justify the use of psychoactive substances and justify their own addiction, are not under the care and treatment of a Doctor of Oriental Medicine. Tying this into TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) and the Tao Te Ching and the thread topic, the underlying purpose and practice and prescription is to restore balance and harmony. Psychoactive substances disrupt rather than restore balance.

This came up in another thread and was going off topic. So I am pursuing it further in this new thread. The first part of Verse 42 in the Tao Te Ching has always been one of my favorites. And over the years (OK, decades) i continue to try and decipher understand make sense of what the One and the Two and the Three and the Ten Thousand things are. Please chime in on any of these questions, based on your own understanding and frame of reference: What is the difference between the Tao and the One What do they represent What does the Two represent What does the Three represent what does the Ten Thousand things represent. For the Tao (top of the chain) what for you are its characteristics [for instance unborn, unformed, unchanging, always was, always will be, no beginning, no end] Any translation is fine, I'm not attached to any particular translation. For reference here is a sample translation verse 42. The Tao gives birth to the One. The One gives birth to the Two. The Two give birth to the Three. The Three give birth to the ten thousand things. --- from verse 42, Tao Te Ching ( I will go ahead and post Cobie's response from the other thread, thank you Cobie)

what a great topic. And source of future reading material, too. Books i read over and over: The fifteen volumes of Likutei Moharan (about 450 pages each book). Have read through six times, currently on seventh reading. Includes Hebrew and English. I read the English and refer to the Hebrew. The core five volumes in the Althar the Crystal Dragon set (slim paperbacks), and the associated seven volumes on putting it into practice. These are books i read straight through and then read straight through again, this is continuous. I am on the seventh time reading through them all. Sometimes i read them in reverse order. Human author Joachim Wolffram, material provided by various beings in non-physical form, primarily by Althar. if we are going to include books of prayer then these also. They fall in the category of read 100+ times and stopped counting. Book of Tehillim Fiftieth Gate, seven volumes of prayer by Rav Noson Sternhartz. Based on the lessons of Likutei Moharan Current favorite authors, in the category of "i will read anything they write" so currently reading my way through their complete works Korean Zen Master Seung Sahn (books include Dropping Ashes on the Buddha, Wanting Enlightenment is a Big Mistake, Ten Steps, Compass of Zen, Only Don't Know and others) Chinese Qi Gong Master Luke Chan, practices and teaches Zhineng qigong (that is one of the forms of qigong I practice with him as teacher), his books on the Tao Te Ching and Zhineng qigong include 101 Miracles of Natural Healing, 101 Lessons of Tao, Zhineng Chilel Qigong, Secrets of the Tai Chi Circle, Eight Secrets of Tao Te Ching, Dao of Chinese.

Welcome! Let us know some of the areas or topics you are interested in.

thank you Lairg, it is always a treat to hear your insights on, well just about anything.

nought else is found there before thinking, before thought the not-place to be

yes. absolutely. this makes perfect sense. As all my incarnations (all my different past and future lifetimes) are "joined" then yes information is shared and flows freely between all of them. It becomes available to them, but each of those individual lifetimes has its own free will whether to acess the information, act on it or try and use it. They may get a flash of inspiration, or an inkling of an intuition, or an idea pops into their head. But just like in the here and now we can ignore it or not. We could in those other lifetimes be so distracted by wealth or so consumed with trauma or so desperately clinging to the search for a romantic partner or so engrossed as a workaholic running a successful business, that the idea or flash or intuition is dismissed. But it remains as a resource for any of my lifetimes to pick up and use. Just as various paths and traditions of religion and spirituality have left us maps. My personal contribution assistance to my other lifetimes is lighting the sign above the exit door so it is visible. That too is a "service to humanity." But since we are in a plane of free will, i can't won't don't try to push or drag or rescue or coax anyone else.

karma is karma. regardless of the category or flavor or type of karma. no matter how we slice it and dice it. stepping out of karma is stepping out of ALL of it. at ALL levels. like this earlier brilliant radiant post expresses so beautifully: the bold above can be applied to any problem at any level. "being projected into a ___________ that i could not escape from" could as well describe being stuck in the cycle of rebirth, being stuck in Existence (the universe and everything in it). Beingness precedes Existence. So returning to that state (which i never really left). Why would i discard personal karma but keep all the other karma? What is the compelling reason?

in a workshop recently, it was geared towards identifying and becoming aware of areas we would need to let go of our attachment to, as a requisite for leaving altogether the cycle of rebirth and reincarnation whether that is in physical or nonphysical form (Existence) and not coming back. (Instead having other adventures at the level of Beingness). It was a way of identifying barriers. [And then once identified, observing our willingness or resistance to dissolving those barriers]. so if "unfinished business" is what keeps us stuck in the cyle of rebirth, what all might that include. One area that surprised me was the "vows" I might have taken in other lifetimes, or "contracts" I might have made. Being a monk or nun for instance i might have vowed to keep coming back until everyone is able to leave. Turns out we have the authority and it is OK to nullify the vows, and tear up the contract. It also forces me to examine whatever "role" it is i see myself filling and is that pattern still playing out for me. i don't have to follow old templates. I get to decide in the here and now, is that vow or contract still something i want to be doing, and if it is, then why.

thank you for explaining that. this helps give me a clearer understanding.

i agree and intent can be every bit as low level. that's why i have to be absolutely meticulous and honest to the nth degree in clarifying and articulating my motive and reasons for whatever it is i am doing or asking for or trying to have happen

it's your life, who is in charge of it? Is he determining what you do, or are you? under what circumstances would any being (in physical form or non-physical form) put expectations on you as an adult? i am asking that in the general sense, and it is for myself to consider as well. So not trying to be pushy or judgmental. I am voicing a generic question that comes to mind reading that post. A good portion of my life for the first 40 years was spent cleaning up the messes in my life which stemmed from me trying to please others or fulfill their expectations. So I tend to be vigilant in that arena. and that great phrase: "expectations are pre-meditated resentment" my view is I don't have to "do" anything. it is enough to just BE. in my life, on the planet, in the universe, and as a child of Divinity. just my being is enough. I am the beloved of God. I am the child in whom God is well pleased. THAT is Beingness. (in my view, in my universe, in my frame of reference)

which brings to mind "magic" also. whether it is "good" magic or the other kind, not going there. It is an obstacle to Divinity (for me). The entities associated with "magic" of all kinds become a barrier in proceeding further to the level of Beingness.

since i tend to not trust people for the most part, i also don't trust entities. to my way of thinking it is just too risky. that's just me. for me Divinity is not an entity. And entities are not Divinity. When it is through a book or a teacher or a class or a training, then i can vet them including whatever beings in non-physical form they may work with. if it does not resonate with Beingness (for me Divinity is Beingness, just a different name) then i have no reason to interact with them or engage. Whether it is a physical person or a being in non-physical form. And there needs to be a compelling reason for me to interact with them. Divinity has helpers and emissaries, yes i agree. so bottom line i vet them. but i don't go wandering around seeking them out. They have to show up in the normal course of my daily life, and in that way i can vet them. and my motive needs to be clear and clean. "What is my reason for engaging" "Why would i interact with them" and i have to be honest with myself about that. my motive has to be vetted also.

there have not been many people in my life that i trust. however i do trust Divinity. to have my best interests at heart.

yes. i agree. it is the difference between what someone says and what a person validates and verifies for themself.

oooooh i like that . have you had those kinds of experiences and access all your life, or did it kick in at a certain age? it is fascinating to hear about this. did it take time for you to come to terms with it, were you always accepting of it? I remember in my family growing up i learned very quickly not to talk about any of this. Even asking about God was off limits. (The house was filled with books, education and school and learning were valued, but all those books on all those shelves, not one of them was a bible.) I was a voracious reader and over the years pulled every single book off the shelves to see what they were. I remember I had to sneak a bible into the house and hide it under my mattress and read it with a flashlight. I was about 10 years old.

i do something like that when trying to make decisions or choices. There is a red light and a green light. I visualize myself making one choice, and see which light goes on red or green. And then the other choice, red or green light. I have never thought in terms of light body. i also try and lean in to "how does it feel with _________ (this choice, or that choice)" and compare how each feels. It feels like a way of asking my intuition. I try to stay away from "better or worse" and stick with "how does it feel if i do this" "or that". I try to steer clear of "right choice" and "wrong choice" . sometimes the wording i'll ask is "which choice has my best interests at heart" and then test each one. A therapist told me once "there are no wrong choices, just different outcomes." I was really annoyed when she said that but it was useful in how i word things and bringing awareness to how I think. it's not about being "right" it is about discerning and following what is best for me. Making choices where there is perhaps incomplete information or when it is not clear to me which choice is best, using intuition to provide additional data.

i gotta say you have the most intriguing experiences to relate.

How do they differ? Is it my past lives are other times and places and countries I've lived. And parallel lives are the current me, but if i had say made different choices and then that life played out (like alternate endings reading a book). like "what if i had married my first fiancee at university instead, how would my life have been" not as a regret but as being curious.