liminal_luke

I´ve never signed out on purpose in my whole life. But that´s just me.

Oh, that´s an easy one. We´ll talk about whether or not the election was stolen.

Let´s suppose what Joeblast, Kar3n, and numerous others are saying is correct: Hillary is a corrupt criminal. What is a poor voter to do? For me, Trump is not an option. He´s either a madmen or someone willing to play the part for TV. God knows why he´d want to do that, but it seems possible. We are faced with a choice between someone who sounds good but is covertly evil, and someone who sounds bad (and likely is bad).

To me, Hillary sounded reasonable and rational. But, on the other hand, I´m not sure that it matters much. Knowing how to sound good is one thing, what kind of president she might actually be another. I don´t trust myself to pick the right person on the basis of how good they sound, because I think there´s so much more going on than what I can possibly see. But, yeah, I could never vote for Trump. So he makes it easy for me that way. Perhaps that´s the whole point.

Yes, he kind of made it easy for her. She just had to let him do his thing and then say, in effect...did you hear that folks?

Thanks for the YouTube link of the debate, Wilfred. I think Hillary (or perhaps her body double --who knows?) won.

reformed?

Analytical knowledge of music can contribute to enjoyment, it´s true. But it can also be taken too far. The college I went to also had a music conservatory. Some of the conservatory students complained that their knowledge of music actually got in the way of pleasurable listening; they were so used to analyzing sounds in their heads that they couldn´t turn it off. Arts education can enrich us up to a point, but there´s still a time when you just want to kick back with a beer and a favorite CD, a time to open up to a kind of beauty beyond rational understanding.

If you don´t read the newspaper you´re uninformed. If you read the newspaper you´re misinformed. If you read the internet you´re deformed.

The energy of every throw will come back to you X three.

In a world drowning in moral relativism and airy-fairy go-with-the-flow philosophical mush, Karl remained to his values to the very end.

I was a nerdy, worrywort of a little boy, so I don´t have a big desire to re-experience childhood either. But I get what people mean when they talk glowingly about childlikeness. I think it means the relief you feel in your body when everything just lets go.

Yeah, it kind of figures. Even notice how hard it is to get a handle on who someone really is from their handle? A lot of people take a kind of wizard-of-oz approach to name-picking, choosing a moniker that sounds like it came straight out of the Tao de Ching -- you know, something super esoteric and advanced. Take, for instance, Liminal- Luke. You gotta watch out for that one Who does he think he is, a Skywalker or something? Fortunately, it also works the other way. Some of the kindest bums call themselves snakes; some of the smartest, marbleheads. I´ll never understand it.

Thanks for this, Taomeow I love the metaphor of the leopard changing it´s spots from within because it provides a model for self-transformation that isn´t rooted, however subtly, in self-hate.

Googling quantum lead me to websites for the following companies/products: Quantum Data Storage, Quantum Instruments, Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies, Quantum Sails, Quantum Espresso, Quantum Design ... it goes on and on. So I think quantum theory must have to do with marketing and making things sound new-fangled and cool and impossibly hip. Which is just about as far from the point of existence as a person could get, if you ask me. I think the point of existence is to make peace with how uncool we are, how small and prosaic and Newtonian. To get to the point where we don´t need to puff ourselves up with quantum this or that. Where we can just be ourselves, nothing special. And, paradoxically, at the same time, fabulous.

Interesting. It sounds like your brain is doing whatever it needs to without any help, but you might be interested in Kuan Yin Magnetic Qigong. http://www.thedaobums.com/topic/21297-kuan-yin-magnetic-qigong/?hl=%2Bkuan+%2Byin+%2Bmagnetic The source material is a DVD rather than a book. I did it for a day or two, and it majorly activated my niwan. Actually, in a way that, for me, felt out of balance with the rest of my body -- so I stopped. Very powerful stuff. At some point I´ll try again.

Do you do the Buddha Palm meditation, Cheya? It´s something I learned a long time ago, but haven´t practiced in years. Thinking of getting back to it. I have a DVD of the form from Gilles Marin, a chi nei tsang teacher. I thought maybe you might have done it as I think it´s in the cosmic healing book. If you have, I´d be interested in your opinion. Good practicing, Liminal

Discovering resources and practices -- Zapchen, Kunlun, trauma release exercises, Tibetan Bon teachings, etc. Helping some people. Annoying others. Debating. Learning. Occasionally I try to be funny. Feeling connected to a whole big world of people out there who care about the subjects we chat about here.

Thank you so much for this Silent Thunder. Your words came to me when I needed to hear them. I´m dealing with a challenging interpersonal situation right now, and your post has helped me return to a place of greater openness and acceptance. The way I figure, I might as well give love a try. It´s not like insisting things happen the way I want has been working anyways. Liminal

I´m not sure if "celebrated" is the correct word (there might be traditional holiday merrymaking I´m not aware of), but the autumnal equinox is a special time energetically. Much like the spring equinox, it´s a time when yin and yang come into greater balance on a cosmic scale. This outward balance reverberates on a more personal level if a practitioner is able to tap into it, and it´s thus a good day for practice. The solstices are similarly powerful. On the scale of the day we have sunset, sunrise, noon, and midnight -- also good times for practice for similar reasons. Or so they tell me. Liminal

Liminal Luke -- Speed editor from Hell.

LDMB, You seem to insist that I am judging people who have lots of casual sex, and I keep telling you I´m not. I do have the opinion that, most of the time, sex with strangers isn´t a good idea. I think it can be exactly like drugs or gambling: a way to numb pain that would be better dealt with head-on. That´s my opinion. But if you jump from that to my saying people who are "sluts" are bad people, well, you´ve made a jump that I haven´t made. You say that you´ve had a lot of positive experience with "slutty" people and that they aren´t necessarily messed up at all, that some "slutty" people even have advanced degrees and successful careers. On that point there can be no argument; even some past presidents have been "slutty." But I´m not entirely convinced that they aren´t messed up just because you say so, though I´m willing to keep an open mind. I don´t think I need to "consider withdrawing from the internet until I have a better sense of self," though it might not hurt to take a break, or at least be more selective about the threads I get involved with. (Just FYI: People you´re fighting with online are unlikely to be receptive to mental health tips.) Like most people, I prefer threads with a congenial vibe. This conversation doesn´t feel congenial -- it feels hostile. You seem angry at me for having the opinion that people have casual sex as a way of dealing with trauma. Are you? You seem to think that just because I have that opinion I¨m a hurtful, judgmental thinks-he-s-better-than-everyone-else preacher. But it´s just my opinion, and one I hold lightly at that. You have a different opinion and you´ve stated it clearly. I´m going to leave it at that.

Taomeow, Apech, Cloudhands, Thelerner, Dawai, Cheya, Cold, Kar3n -- thank you so much!!! I was in a cyber-slump this morning, but am feeling much better now. Liminal

Daobums is really getting me down. Yesterday, in the thread about being right or free, I wrote a post about my struggle to feel free and easy and good in the face of personal attacks -- and then I erased it. But since the above post illustrates exactly what I was talking about, I´ll touch on it again. I´m mostly OK with being wrong, but am still pretty sensitive when the debate changes from I disagree with you to you are a bad person. The biggest source of negative criticism in my life right now, by far, is Daobums. Maybe that means I´m doing pretty good. Ideally, I´d use all this blather to fertilize my spiritual garden. I know that and am working on it. I hope to be mature and evolved like that in the near future -- stay tuned. Right now though, I have to admit, it gets to me. Lesstaomorebum...you call me a preacher and a moralizer, and I doubt there´s anything I can say to change your mind. There´s a lot I don´t know about sexuality, so I´m open to the possibility of being wrong. But when I tell you that casual sex can be a harmful thing, that it can be a misguided attempt to deal with trauma, I´m not just talking theoretically or because I´ve absorbed sex-negative values from the culture: I´m talking out of personal experience. This is something I know because I´ve lived it. Now, your experience might be different. Maybe my experience doesn´t generalize to everybody. But please stop calling me a preacher. I´ve had a lot of sex in my life and I don´t think I´m a bad person. Far from it. I think I´m wonderfully imperfect work-in-progress. I´m just another Bum learning and loving as best I can. Please be gentle.

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