Trunk

This site gets more fabulous every day.

Congrat's Hagar.

My observation is that, scientifically validated or personally experienced, proof of spirituality has a lot less impact on people's view than one would hope. Kirlian photography is a good example. It's been around since the 1940's, and clearly shows "chi", auras, etc. You'd think that everyone would just go, "ok, chi exists". Nope. It's relegated to an oddity along with "all that psychic faire stuff" and that's that. It's similar with advanced teachers, they really get very little attention. Mark, for instance. He's powerful enough that everyone feels something profoundly when sitting with him, and he's got a good resume (teachers he's studied with, lineage). Totally open door, very advanced, cheap. In L.A. (population 13 million). How many people sit with him on a regular basis? 30-50. There should be well over 10x that at every sit. I've seen the same thing with teachers who perform miracles (as well as do transmission) on a regular basis. Around 30 students. It's the public. They'll show up in droves, once a year, for a very few "headliner" teachers. Other than that, ... *crickets*

Yoda's recent blog post (which I snipped with his permission) got me thinking that it's a good time to check in on this topic: I wonder how everyone is on the mco (microcosmic orbit)... We've mostly all 've been exposed to it long long ago, and have time to explore totally other systems, practices, approaches, views, for quite a while. (Plus we've mostly cleaned ourselves of naive party-line thinking, and have come more to simple honesty, however that is.) Interesting to re-look at the orbit now. Do you still practice the mco? Has it held up as a standard and effective practice for you?, Have you found it counter-productive? - in what way/s? Do you feel fluent with it?, partly ok?, all messed up? Which of the things that it's advertised to do does it do for you?, which not? Have you tweeked it in order for it to go well?, or moved on to something similar or related?, dumped it altogether? .. or any mco observations, thoughts, you've got. I raise these questions in the spirit of "all honest answers are good answers", everyone is in a different place in their practice, where ever it goes it's all good, not bashin', just talkin'. Trunk

So, I'm having comedy fun with my new ipod. Awake last night in the wee hours, and so loaded it up with - laughing quietly in the middle of the night. Thought I might buy some cd's & load 'em up also. Fun to play in the car, along with fav music.. Who are your favorite comedians?

No, I'm groovin' on my practice in a different way.I've gone to a couple of the workshops with Master Kim, and - imo - he has an authentic orientation. Also, I have had some little exposure to the beginning practice of Sun Do, and respect it (see the "links" section at my site for a couple of paragraphs on it). My stagnation issues were too intense when I explored Sun Do; couldn't do the lower tan tien breathing for that duration (about an hour) regularly. Plus, I feel that I needed balanced practice lower~middle~upper, and Sun Do emphasizes a really focused lower breathing practice. Classic Taoist approach that one might think of.

Refreshing this thread, as the retreat is next weekend.

ime, the goal of "top college" that you can reach is not helpful, for a lot of reasons. (I've been out of school for a couple of decades, btw.) Misc. thoughts: 1. You should not go to a school that is so difficult for you that it amounts to 4 yrs of brutality. It's counter productive to whatever you want to do after college. 2. Much of what gets people by is finding your own talents, your niche of what works for you, work-wise. My brother dropped out of city college, but he has this knack for big equipment, and building things. He's done well. 3. Most employers don't care what you majored in college; they only care that you graduated. (Excluding, of course, careers that really are education-dependent.) Probably a jillion other hints that people here could think of.

I find that most meditations can be incorporated into standing (with beneficial results), even if the meditation/s are from another tradition. Just my experience.

I don't know if they're comparable. With stretching, your body is engaged in doing the work. That's a huge kinesthetic that changes a lot. With massage, you're laying there receiving. And the results are so, so different. How can I compare stretching my hamstring with someone walking on my back???

Just for those of you who are new to TTBs, you might do a search on posts by SeanDenty to catch up on the conversation. He has substantial back-ground in the HT, and is now connected with some other - very interesting (to understate) - teachers. However, it's a closed-door system, so there are limits to what he can say - out of respect for the teachings and for his lineage.

btw, every woman should know about xiao yao wan. It's maybe the most common herbal patent medicine that sells in Chinatowns for about $2. When I was assisting at a Chinese herb store every woman who came in said it was so helpful for smoothing things out. Also, its' a very safe formula; it's a very middle-of-the-road formula that supplements and circulates blood, and aids digestion.

My 9th level paladin is insulted! Prepare yourself, man! I wonder if, at some point, Wang Liping might travel and give short public teachings. Perhaps more like lectures, as I know that his teachings are closed-door. Though I don't feel in a place right now to approach a closed-door relationship, I'd happily pay substantial money to sit and listen to him for a several hour lecture (and perhaps sit ).

Short answer here.

Seems to me that some anger is natural and healthy. Something bad is going on that impinges upon me in some way, and that's irritating, makes me angry. So, take some constructive action and make the situation better - or, if it's a genuine attack, fight it off. just thought I'd offer some practical non-meditative

uhhhh... Online spiritual discussion sites?

Maybe I'm just basically untrusting but, given your pattern of comments in this thread, I doubt that you've given a balanced legal arguement. (Granted it's an intense topic that people are likely to take strong sides on.) And I'm not inclined to sift through military law to see how this all works. (Where's Noam Chomsky when you need him?) I still have the same assessment as when the thread started: He'll probably have a tough time legally and I stand by him on principle.

I'd like to see your legal reference on that. That would open the door to all war crimes, rape, torture, killing of civilians en mass, anything - allowing the soldier only to report the situation when he got a bit of free time, and then stopping the crimes only when he was ordered to by his superior/s (if they ever even told him to stop). That just doesn't sound sensible, even in the extreme context of war. Seems like there would be limits to that assertion, and that gets into detail of military procedure and law. Again, I'd like to see your legal reference.

...

"Not participating in war crimes" is a good decision. American hero. That you can ever give up your ability to make your own choice (as long as you're conscious and reasonably healthy) seems far fetched to me. Just cause he signed a piece of paper saying he'd go kill people when someone else says, "go!" .. I don't know, call me wild, but I think that going to kill people is weighty - and that coming to your senses, taking your self-determination and moral compass back (which you can never really give away, imo, though you can give them up) is legitimate. I think that when you're on your death bed, at the Pearly Gates, however/whenever you face your own Reconciliation, that "duh.. I was just doing what I was told" doesn't wash blood stains off. Isn't an excuse for anything. You did what you did. You have to live with yourself and die with yourself. He's a man.

Well, there is your picture (obviously). I used to post with my real name, and most people around here know my name and that's cool, but I'm glad I switched to psuedonym & avatar: I have discussions here that I don't & shouldn't with many of my local friends. Once the cat's out of the bag, it's out. You took the path of devotion, bhakti yoga. Classic, classic path for opening. After an opening like that, all it takes is a little flexing and a little focus, maybe a little touch, and whoosh!-poof!. Almost no technique is needed to set things off. Finesse of where to focus, what to do, but close to zero labor involved at this point. Seems to me that you answered the basic ?'s of "What happened?" and "How'd you get it to happen?", very openly. (Some may want more details..) Curious to hear about your diet, when the time is right (book published).

There are more efficient ways to do that. See the sacrum section (and referenced links) in spine essay.

If anyone can answer that one, they get an instant Nobel Peace Prize. (It's in the rules.)

"The Tao Bums". Understood. You just said, so much more clearly, what I was trying to say with my attempt at humor.

Have you considered the forum that SeanDenty has mentioned here lately? Apparently it is aligned with Wang Li Ping. (Not in any way meant as a brush-off.) I appreciate TTBs in that, while the quality of communication is relatively good, as far as students-to-students goes, most of us have at least a strong suspecion that we're full of ####, and shouldn't be talking at all - but do anyway.