I´ve spent a lot of time talking to self-appointed authorities in the healing crystal section of my local occult bookstore and I think I know the answer: some people are here to learn life lessons about having lots of money while others (most) need to learn life lessons about scarcity. (In truth, I´m as attracted to beautiful rocks as the next guy and love to hang out in New Age shops. I draw the line at coastal art galleries offering dolphin sculptures.) ((Hands Apech a tray of delicious vegetarian faux gras.))

You´ve got a point. My idea of wealthy is a pantry full of great condiments, Red Boat fish sauce and aged balsamic vinegar. There´s no point collecting lions. I think it´s challenging maintaining mental balance with too much money, just as it can be challenging maintaining mental balance with too little.

In my ideal world there´d be less super rich people and less super poor, more of a middle class. Still, I´m not sure that shaming the conspicuously wealthy is the answer. I´m not a black tie and faux gras type of person. If I threw a Bum-wide potluck here at my apartment (very unlikely), nobody would think me in danger of being obscenely high-class. Even so, I know what it´s like to be embarassed about nice things. Years ago I bought some computer equipment and hoped to sneak the boxes into my bedroom without my roommates knowing. That´s how ashamed I felt. A mischievious friend who was helping me bring in my stuff made a loud announcement in front of everybody: oh look at this box, must be expensive. I was mortified. These days I don´t think it´s wrong to have money, even lots of it. Well, that´s not really true. I´m not actually that comfortable with money, not yet, but I´d like to be. Many poor people tend to think there´s something morally suspicious about the rich and vice versa. Theoretically, I believe there are good and bad people all along the economic spectrum. Not having money doesn´t make a person a criminal -- and neither does having it. I´m glad to live in a world where some people own yachts and Cartier watches. I hope such people pay high taxes and give generously to those less materially blessed but I don´t want to see them shamed and banished.

I´m adamantly opposed to "forced property seizure by the working-class" yet happy to support programs and policies to keep people from dying in medical poverty. Does this make me exactly the kind of leftist that earns eye rolls from our beloved leader? Perhaps. Still, it´s not all the time that I´m in tune with the American zeitgeist and I´ll take my conformity where I can get it.

Oops! I was reading your second paragraph happily formulating the exact question you say you´d rather not go into in your third. Ah well, as it happens I may have figured it out on my own anyways. Or at least I have some pretty good ideas of what not to do.

Me too. Beautiful.

Ah, OK. I haven´t read so much of the traditional writings. I have my own sordid tale of obsession to tell (although I think I´d rather not) and caution against following in my footsteps. Although celibacy can be a noble goal, I think it´s best when it develops naturally; pushing after it can backfire. What seems sensible and achievable to me at this stage is moderation. Your own interests may be more theoretical or philosophical so my apologies if my musings don´t correspond to the intention of your thread.

Hi Lataif, Are you basing your statement that "traditional Qigong is obsessed with the idea that there is a limited amoung of sexual Jing" on in-person contact with teachers you´ve had? It hasn´t been my experience that there´s much obsession on the part of teachers. Some of Master Chia´s early material mentions the idea of semen retention, but later teachers such as Michael Winn do not emphasize that practice. To my knowledge, it´s not a part of Jenny Lamb´s Yigong teaching or Stillness-Movement or Sundo. In fact, many systems of Daoist self-development either skip this idea entirely or else keep it as something for advanced students who are ready. I haven´t run across any teacher who encourages male newbies to start in right away "retaining" semen. That said, it´s certainly an obsession among many male Bums! There´s no denying that. I´d also caution against the idea that semen is sexual jing. You might read @Taomeow ´s interview here on the site where I believe she debunked this idea. The "substances" may indeed be related in some way but they are not synonymous.

This has been my experience 100%. Which isn´t to say that there aren´t many Christian individuals who veer from the right-wing path. A good friend of mine, a heterosexual woman, once told me that she would not marry as long as gays and lesbians were not allowed to. She based this personal policy on her Catholic faith. Needless to say this was not the official position of the church. Outside the US, Christianity may be associated with liberal causes. I don´t know. But rightly or wrongly, most people in the US don´t associate Christian values with openness towards transexuals, a welcoming attitude towards Islamic immigrants, or socialism. What Jesus himself would do (or think) remains an open question.

Funny thing about fools, Rocky -- if you suspect you might be one, you probably aren´t.

I was trying to find Aretha Franklin´s Chain of Fools which I´d misremembered as "Chang of Fools." Ran into this delightful Thai children´s song. No disrespect intended.

I´ve done them. Getting into trembling mode isn´t difficult for me so I usually just do the final exercise lying down and let my body go. It does work for me, though it often takes more than a few minutes before I feel a noticeable shift -- sometimes closer to an hour. I haven´t done it consistently enough to report any particular life changes. If you do a site search for TRE you´ll find more experiences and opinions.

Is a Ninja? I´ve always used it for when I want to say something that I feel might get me attacked or something that I feel sheepish about. To me, it looks like the figure is hiding. Maybe playfully hiding. If I want to say something playful and mischevious that might get me booed off the Daobums stage, I might end my statement with a . Am I the only one who uses this emoji like this? Shows how much I know!

What fascinates me is not so much the dual or non-dual but the possibility of movement between them. Since I´m more familiar with the dual side of things, the idea of "going to" the non-dual (powering up the ole Merkevah) and bringing back some of that unity juice to the workaday world seems especially appealing. Perhaps the non-dual benefits in a similar way from being infused with the dual -- though I wouldn´t know anything about that.

Not to worry though, CT -- the soul doesn´t know the difference.

Valance

I mostly think along these lines too although some conversations here have led me to believe that this isn´t always true. Perhaps I´m just not a very thorough scratcher?

Then why stay?

This place attracts a vibrant mix of people. We´ve got sages and scholars, scoundrels and (occasional) saints. There are a few here that are diligently trying to see past their egos, and more than a few that are trying to build their egos up. Not everybody is equally worth listening to but everybody gets the same chance to speak. Just like in everyday life, it´s up to each of us to decide where we want to put our attention. Can a person mess themselves up here taking the wrong advice? Absolutely. The Dao Bums is wonderful and dangerous, a garden with the most ambrosial edible flowers and a few brilliantly colored poisonous plants, all growing together in a gorgeous wild heap. I wouldn´t want it any other way.

I´m taking his online Yi Jin Jing course right now and recommend it. Each of the twelve basic movements correspond with an organ (and, I´m assuming, the corresponding meridian). So far we´ve done Lung and Large Intestine. There´s equal emphasis on emotional and physical healing. For example, the Large Intestine work has to do with letting go of stagnation in our lives -- both the stagnation of blocked waste material (constipation) and emotional stagnation.

I suppose we could make a subsection of Discussions On The Way for fools but I don´t think it´d get much traffic.

Not among my crowd.

Some months ago I told a leftist friend of mine that most of the forum members here were right-wing. He couldn´t believe it. Daoists for Trump? Impossible! Now it turns out that an equal number of us are left wingers, some of us radically so. Who knew? I sure didn´t. Were we just hiding our politics under a bushel? Did Sean´s unabashed revolutionary zeal gave us the courage to come out into the light? Whatever the case, it´s been something of a revelation. As a conflict-averse peacekeeper type, I give you my anthem.

@sean @Taomeow Thanks for the recent thoughtful posts. I never thought political discussion could actually be educational, rather than merely combative, but I was wrong. The rewilding concept is new to me. While I´m not personally ready for the collapse of civilization, I think the zeitgeist is moving ever so slowly in a rewilding direction, perhaps not as rapidly as some would like but moving nevertheless. There´s a resurgence of interest in all things analog. A dawning awareness that life is about relationships with other people, relationships that are best fostered face-to-face rather than through technology. People are eating more grassfed beef and wild fish. Some of us are growing our own tomatoes and planting flowers. Foraging and hunting. The Japanese concept of "forest bathing" is gaining a foothold. Physicians in-the-know are telling their patients to turn off their electric devices a few hours before bedtime for the best sleep. I imagine true rewilders won´t be impressed. All these changes will strike many as too-little too-late. Still, I believe in the power of little changes. There are so many little changes any of us can make short of getting rid of our laptops.

I´ve mostly steered clear of organized religion but I think I just found my spiritual home.