Apech

senses overwhelmed... a bright rainbow dazzles me life is rain and sun.

I agree with MH that it was a good presentation - very confident and fluent and it seemed (I don't know if it really was) quite unscripted - which is good. I think you mixed the idea that everything is balanced/perfect with the idea that everything is perfecting/balancing which isn't quite the same thing. If you can look at a raging storm or even a nuclear meltdown and see the perfection in that (as it is) then that is one thing and not the same as how nature will seek balance through bacteria. I'm not saying it wasn't a good illustration of Taoism but I felt it was a bit imprecise. I got lost on the Hit-lur (?) thing ('Eva, Eva, whatever you cook for dinner it always tastes like sh*t to me!'). But overall a good vid and I'd watch the next. Liked the setting too but didn't mind the karma thing cos I think its a bit of a loan concept anyway. Cheers John

My take on belief is this. When someone starts on a journey they have to believe that they can get to the end, to the destination - or at least that it is possible. When an astronomer looks through his telescope he believes that it is possible the understand the universe in which we live. When a doctor is working he believes it is possible to cure (or at least alleviate pain). And so on. In other words belief is not about the kind of blind acceptance that religion often seems to demand but is just a kind of confidence that it is possible to understand, or possible to be a better person or possible to grow spiritually. Faith is much the same being the energy of belief - what drives people to go further in understanding or to be generous to their fellow beings and so on. A good word is 'confidence' which means 'with faith' - this is a key to cultivation or energy work - to follow the way and step by step through experience build you initial belief that it can work into confidence that it is working. This is a very strong approach which will carry you through difficult times. Knowledge is in two ways. Intellectual knowledge and wisdom knowledge. Intellectual knowledge is from thinking and studying and is very important and its importance should not be dismissed. For instance you might read the classics of philosophical Taoism in order to get a really clear idea about the Tao. Wisdom knowledge is when the way becomes ingrained into your being, becomes part of you. The answers to questions are natural and spontaneous. To some degree you don't just know it, you are it. Anyway that's my contribution for now. Cheers John

Now back to some real manly music - 'saving laser's cold' -- see you soon!

http://www.youtube.c...h?v=DYBQdXv0BhM http://www.youtube.c...h?v=RD7s4i_X-p0

Get with it Marbles its been raining black holes for weeks!!!!

The standard Big Bang cosmological model is full of holes ... its cannot explain everything.

Matter can be created and destroyed. For instance in an atomic explosion where matter is released as energy.

a moment's solo the orchestra stares at me it wasn't my turn!

Sure - if we all agreed all the time life would be dull.

Marblehead, Never thought you'd like Placebo http://www.youtube.c...h?v=Nl7ir53Zndc

I manage very well thanks! :lol: Well, it is true that the brain is an important mechanism for the expression of consciousness but it is my view that consciousness or sentience is a function of the energy that makes up everything. It doesn't arise because of complexity or wiring or programming or whatever you might want to call brain functioning. A person without legs cannot walk and a person with brain dysfunction cannot express themselves but this isn't the same as saying they have no consciousness. Obviously there is no proof that I can provide except to say the alternative view produces the problem of saying at what point does the supposedly unconscious matter which makes our bodies actually become conscious? If it is when the brain appears then don't amoebas and bacteria have any kind of consciousness at all???

I think it all boils down to whether you think that you are your body since it is your body which stops working and decays after death. If you are more than your body then it is possible that your spirit or consciousness survives death in some form or another. It seems to me self evident that I am not just my body because if I chop off my leg for instance I don't get any less than I am now. This is true of all parts of my body and even my brain which as physical organ is not in a different status to any other part of the body.

I totally agree that this place only works if we respect each other - not necessarily the point of view (which could be just plain wrong) - but the other person. What I really like is those long rambling threads which go off an tangents taking all the scenery before they come back on topic. These usually involve a lot a healthy dispute and sometimes a bit of argument - but that keeps it interesting and I don't mind some rudeness as long as it doesn't get stupid. But I guess the rule is that everyone has a valid view point even if you don't share it. Cheers. John

me just sitting still while the sun revolves around a day in the life.

Welcome to Taobums. We are all studying (and pretty ignorant too) :) so join the gang. Enjoy your stay. John

The irony is that people who try to preserve life very often live in some strange way which is very much not about potential, for instance the 52 year old Dorian Grey thread kind of thing. So I take your point about not being cautious. I actually believe in continuation after death but not in any of the kinds of fantasy that religion tried to feed us - a lot of that is just a kind anesthetic or opiate as Marx would have said. I think that thinking about death in a non-morbid kind of a way is quite healthy and helpful. For instance it certainly makes you focus more when you realize you are not immortal. I believe in continuation because logically I reason that I am not my body ... but that's just what I think ...

MH, I always read what you post because its interesting and thought provoking. It's a great place, Taobums, to drop in and listen to what people think. I don't know if we are on the same path or not, or even if it matters. I can see you speak with integrity from your heart and your experience and that is all that counts. Cheers A.

Thanks Mal!

Hi, This plant was used for healing and aphrodisiac in Egypt, its scent was supposed to be very important - has anyone any experience of using it for healing and can anyone describe its smell for me? It was deified as the god Nefertem. Thanks A.

Subtle???? I want a Taobums T shirt ... can you still get them?

Oh! That brought me down to earth. Thanks for answering anyway .

Turning the other cheek is misunderstood I think. It actually means volte face - turn around or turn away - so what he was saying was learn to walk away from a fight - otherwise you get a never ending cycle of retaliation and revenge which escalates. He wasn't saying offer up your other cheek to be hit. With the money lenders - he was opposing hypocrisy - good thing for me I hate it too. Not sure about his death - except to say its given a lot of people plenty to think about.