thelerner

short answer D. Long preachy one: You bring this up as a valid option. Maybe you should see how much this would cost your parents. Then find out how much McDonalds or say Target is paying per hour, after taxes. Figure out If you were responsible enough to pay for the cost yourself how many hours you'd have to work to pay for the extra expense you'd put your parent through. <note you'd probably couldn't get a job at McDonalds or Target right now since its a very bad economy> As you near graduation you're going to have to stop thinking like a kid and become more self sufficient. Maybe in deep samadhi or heavy drinking you can forget your commitments, but forgetting doesn't end them, it usually just piles them up. I applaud your commitment to spirituality, it will take you far. You have the summer and your whole life to work on it. IMO obligations come first. Michael

Beyond the pleasures of friendship, others serve as ballast, compass and map. Sometimes friends can see us more clearly then we see ourselves. We can rationalize our bad behavior but a good friend will tell it like it is. Michael

Same old, same old. You want something from others. In this case to teach them of the superiority of your path to true cultivation. Unless people come to you, I doubt you'll find satisfaction. The best you can do is let your life be an example. Still friends and human contact are important. Find middle ground, common interests even with people who aren't on your path. Everyone has something to share. Few people are on the Taoist path, but that doesn't mean you can't friendly with all the people moving in your general vicinity. Who knows, maybe they're there for a reason. In every art, cultivation, diet!, athletic, there is a point where practitioners are dumb struck at how lazy and unaware the population is. If they don't let it go they become insufferable to the rest of us and they are in danger of becoming imbalanced. my 2 cents, keep up the cultivation, its fantastic, but keep balanced and in touch w/ people too. Michael

My guesses: Insecurity? Honey? England ambition, sexless drone. Thats all I got at the moment

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When I make my tea, I'll use a tea strainer and make 2 or 3 infusions from it during the course of the morning. The next day the leaves are still in the strainer, usually dried out. I toss them and start w/ fresh leaves for the new day. Q. Should I re-use them? They've been out and exposed for 24 hours. Even if they made tea, wouldn't I be robbing myself of the healthy stuff? Michael

Spectrum, Could you give some definitions and examples of the various breaths, ie Long, Latent, Immanent, Fetal, Real.. Thanks

Wish granted, they can talk and start screaming monster, monster. Apparently they can walk too since the 4 pounder grabs a kitchen knife and starts ambling towards you. I wish I could get a good nights sleep tonight.

Thanks, don't be shy about posting. Jump right in. Michael

Personally, when I 'feel' the earth, its usually part of an elemental system by Rawn Clark called the Archaeous (free system of mp3's at abardoncompanion.com). I get strength, confidence, deep abidement. I don't get some poor suffering Gaian. Earth is abiding, we're just a flash. Course maybe my focus is more the earth element, but that's what I get. my 2 cents Michael

Every generation has said that too, this is the very worst. Its human tendency to draw straight lines without realizing cycles end, runaway growth curbs itself. Developed countries have declining populations. Use of oil has been flat and is actually going down. There are some potentially amazing technologies close on the horizon. The world is far from perfect, but by a few metrics we're actually improving. Michael

Why so much whining?? You all see the cup as half empty, when you should see it half full... w/ a little oil on top. You're only seeing the bad and none of the good. For example I was walking along the beach yesterday and saw an oil covered pelican struggling in the surf. I pulled it out and tried to decide what to do with the thing. I decided flambe; and threw a match at it. It went up like a fire ball, then sizzled nicely. The feathers and skin burnt away leaving a nice, slightly oily chickeny taste. Sea gull and Sea bass were similarly delicious. Sea turtles ended up gently steamed in the shell. People think its a bad time for fisherman. They're wrong, its the best. They don't even need a boat; they can just walk along the shore with a garbage bag. The fish will fry themselves, its like getting a twofer. So people, don't consider it a minor ecological apocalypse, rather think of it as the world's biggest fish fry. Thank you for your time.

My latest Podcast find is EnerSanctum Podcast. The producer is a unique combination of guided meditation and NLP. There's usually a 15 minute or so explanation then a guided meditation w/ strong use of NLP. The reason I bring it up here is he has an interview w/ a Tea Master. Episode 9, The Health, Science and Culture of Tea. Michael

I've found my kids DS game charger was making a very high pitch reverb in my head. I had to unplug it. What ever it was doing was too subtle to hear, but I needed to shut it down to end the buzz in my head. Michael

No. Nature sets things in there proper place. Fish in the sea, people on the land. Color where there is light. Michael

My take on it is the Master is still a human being, even the extraordinary ones. You have to accept it. They'll still fart, slip up and hold prejudices from there youth. Just not as often as the rest of us do. Also who's to say the smoking didn't hold back Bardon from what he could have been? Maybe it did. Mistelle or Rawn Clark had an article on it, but I couldn't find it. Smoking in particular does have pay offs, ie increased focus and a slight surge of energy, plus it was much more common and acceptable in the past. Course there's also the pesky matter of cancer, emphysema, and death. I'm sure when our followers write about us in the future they'll ponder why we drank so much coffee and wasted so much time on the internet

Hear hear

I like to keep it simple. Michael Winn from the Healing Tao USA had an easy Chi gung form on his Fundamentals II DVD. I got the DVD, also learned it from him at a seminar. I usually only do the first 3 moves of the set, Ocean breathing, Sun & moon, Crossing the Ocean. Then I'll do the very simple Pan Gu chi gung. Pro's real simple. Pan Gu is as simple a medical chi gung form as I can imagine. Win's movements are very energetic, its pretty clear what pathways the moves are 'aimed' at. Ocean Breathing all by itself is a great practice. There's a good physical component to them. Crossing the Ocean flexes, strengthens and relaxes the back. The video's aren't too expensive, there's little spiritual baggage in the system (none required anyway), HT teachers aren't too hard to find. Con's. I haven't studied many forms. Most are longer and more complex, they may well be more complete and go deeper. But I'm Keep It Short & Simple kind of guy. Sometimes a local school teaching Tai Chi, Chi gung or yoga is the best, because its live, there's feedback, personal attention and depth of teaching that can't be done on video or at a seminar. Michael

That's an interesting thought, giving them a quick rinse before making tea, actually it may well result in a better first cup. Still tea is supposed to calm me. Worry too much about pollutants and pesticides and the cup is ruined before the sip. Life is full of unquantifiables, poisons and politics, sometimes you gotta say what the hell and just drink the tea. Michael

Mal turned me on to the Amazing Green Tea shop (&newsletter). I used to work close to Chicago's China town and I'd experiment every now and then with expensive teas. I find as a coffee drinker I tend to lack appreciation for finer teas subtleties. Still I find them more filling and recognize them the more expensive ones as being a more potent healthy 'green' beverage. As far as expense goes, since you can use quality teas several times, a little goes a long way. I've learned to use very little and soak them my glass w/ a tea strainer. So even expensive teas are a fraction of the price of a small coffee. Here is a tea newsletter that discusses the issue: AMAZING-GREEN-TEA NEWSLETTER: Solving Problems Every Tea Drinker Faces 3 June 2010 Issue #34: IN THIS ISSUE: >> Tea Prices - Why Are Some Tea More Expensive? >> Two Pre-Launch Offers =============================================== Why are some teas more expensive than the others? This question came up recently from several readers, so I thought it might be a good idea for me to share and discuss. =============================================== An important thing to understand is that tea is unlike beverages such as coffee or wine. The healthiest and cleanest stuff - green tea buds - are only available 3-6 weeks a year. These pristine tea buds contain the least environmental pollutants and the most antioxidants. =============================================== If green tea buds are so healthy, why are we constantly being sold flavored tea bags, sweetened bottled tea, packaged tea supplements and so called "matcha" tea powders? Yes, you guess it right - because most of these products are made from the mature leaves, not tea buds. Large tea leaves cost much less than buds, allowing merchants to make profits more easily. I am not against conventional tea products, there is something for everybody. But if you, like me, are interested in beverages that look good, taste good and more importantly FEEL GOOD, then I would recommend tea buds highly. A standard green tea bud is called "one bud and two leaves", which means it has a pointed, unopened bud with two adjacent slightly unfurled leaves. In hot water, the tea buds turn green, infuse a yellowish-green liquor and release a lovely, albeit subtle, floral aroma. The liquor is highly potent - lasting 3 to 5 infusions, containing an extremely high concentration of antioxidant called EGCG, and a moderate amount of calming relaxant known as theanine. From the beginning of spring, harvesting starts and lasts for only THREE weeks. After that, harvesting continues for another THREE weeks, when the tea buds become more unwieldy "one bud with two and three leaves". =============================================== This is the reason why Amazing Green Tea only sells Chinese green tea. China is the only country where low yield tea gardens can be found easily AND still offer great value for money. =============================================== In low yield tea garden, tea bushes are harvested for only 6 weeks. They are rested for the remainder of the year. This is the only way to ensure that the green tea buds are naturally organic and contains high concentration of the rejuvenating antioxidants and soothing theanine. Now, here is the reason why prices can vary so much, even for the same tea. The earlier the harvest, the higher the grade. Even within these six weeks, there is a great variation of quality. Also, a low yield tea garden will cost much more than another tea garden that harvests 3-4 times a year. The law of supply (just a small amount of pristine tea buds) and demand (green tea is the most popular beverage in the world) means even for the same tea, wholesale prices can vary by as much as a factor of 100. =============================================== What this means is that a Dragon Well green tea sold in Amazon won't be the same as the Dragon Well tea we sell here. =============================================== The one in Amazon could be coming from a high yield tea farm besides a busy road, diluted with something else. While our Dragon Well is from a secluded mountain top, with the same purity as the tea supplied to the Chinese White House. If the name of the tea convey little information about its quality, how can we - as consumers - choose what to buy? =============================================== The good thing is that taste seldom lies, as I will explain next newsletter. This is the reason why between myself and HQ, we methodically taste and compare every single tea that we sell. =============================================== Every tea that we sell - from $5 to $50 - have to meet our stringent criteria of looking good, tasting good and feeling good. It is all about getting the samples and try it out. Tasting, observing and learning. I hope this helps? Any thoughts on this matter? Reply to this email! Until next time. I bought several of there teas, and I've admired them (I'm going through Gong Long Jing, Grade B, right now), but I like my cheap green tea (Hime brand Genmai Cha $4 for 10 ounces) from a local Japanese grocery just as well. Michael

Dream work is fascinating, I try to tackle it seriously every few years, but it ends up exacerbating my insomnia. There is an interesting schism in dream study. There is a Western Technique oriented approach which looks at it as a skill and more traditional approach that sees it as the result of deep cultivation and mature practice. Rawn Clark's written about meetings with other high level people on the astral plane, later they'd call each other to confirm what was discussed and how it was interpreted. Rawn is a pretty mellow guy, but he seemed angry when people compared Bruce Roberts dream work with his. He considered Roberts work to be shallow (I don't agree). Undoubtedly he'd consider Stephen LaBerge's material even more so, since LaBerge is all about practicality. Like Ya Mu and others, he sees a sacredness in dream work that shouldn't be done lightly. Here's what I think works best in the Western quickie model; meditate before sleep 30 to 60 minutes. Clarify the intent to be awake in the dream. Then set an alarm or telling yourself strictly to wake up 90 minutes early. When you wake up, go to the washroom, walk around a little, then set a strong intent to be aware within your dream. With fresh intent in mind go to sleep, preferably in another room. The dreams done in the last REM cycle are easier to recall. Michael

Thanks for the post. Its undoubtedly true that few in the West who consider themselves Taoists here, would be considered such by traditional lineage Taoists. Thats not to say there's not treasures to learn from such a long varied teachings. There was a long discussion here not too long ago about the lines you quote: "Nature is unkind: It treats the creation like sacrificial straw-dogs. The Sage is unkind: He treats the people like sacrificial straw-dogs. -Lao Tzu" Some writers here posited that unkind may not be the right word, rather its impartial. That feels more accurate to my experience. Also some pointed out Straw-dogs are not without worth. They're carefully constructed and fulfill an important purpose, they're just not made to last and are discarded when through with. Impartial feels more wu-wei then unkind. Giving proper respect and attention to whats on hand (creation and people) also feels more Taoish then treating things with disdain. Michael

I wish I remember the title of the book I read at the library a year ago. A U.S. University's pych. department got an endowment to study children who remembered past lives. It was interesting because the writers and the school were very impartial to the idea, but they found amazing cases in the U.S. not just of Children who remembered past lives, but evidence that body features and strangely in some cases death wounds were evident on childrens bodies. Kids in general began to forget as they reached age 5 or 6. Fascinating book because they weren't selling the latest fad. It was straight forward reporting of what they saw. Ofcourse when they visited India the phenomena was so wide spread as to considered a norm instead of weird unsubstantiated new age belief. The book was a real eye opener for me. Few after life theories have the evidence behind them that reincarnation does. Still, in many taoists believes we're not reincarnations of past lives as much as sharing a soul shard w/ them. Michael

Nice, I'll have to share this with my Writing Group. Michael