LoneHaven

I did do a search for previous posts like this and only found results with (...) in the subject line - so I created this. Sorry for the duplication. I do wish to seek out answers on my own but not from power - where did that arise? I watched your videos and am glad that you made it so far - but having gone so far how can you be so attached to money and such anger-inducing responses, as your post above? 'I have reached enlightenment so I will charge-out-the-ass?' Really? That is what it is all for? So the Golden Flower becomes the Golden Purse - great, have at it. Some things are beyond money. One would not charge money in exchange for love, for his/her heart. Enlightenment is not on the same level as a car or a college course on mathematics - it is on the same level as the heart itself. How can money be exchanged for that? I am not asking for something for free (nor have I) - I just cannot see true enlightment getting exchanged into business. Yes...he had bills due...but when that was the first thing he stated after telling him I just had surgery, it turned my heart. But you are right in that he had bills since he taught out of a building he rented...thanks!

Yoda, Thanks for the link! It seems their domain has been shortened - here is the link that I was directed to: www.aypsite.org I don't understand how money balances out karma - but maybe I have an incorrect ideology of what karma is. I think of it as overall cause and effect - whatever action I take, there will be an overall effect from it. It terms of teacher-student, would the eventual teaching that the student will do in his/her future be enough to balance out the knowledge that was bestowed upon the student by the current teacher? Maybe I am thinking way to ideological anyway though. I live in a world where money is an everyday event and yet I want to escape its grasp somehow, because it seems lacking to me. Yet I can't because in younger years I was financially inept and now owe money to others...live and learn. In terms of learning enlightenment though, it seems like money should be nowhere near the subject - again idealistically I suppose.

I can relate to this post very well. Though, for me, I would rather find love than sex at this point. My thing is with the beauty of the female form and what it triggers in me. There seem to be little things, outside of nature, than can even come close to a woman's overall beauty. And it does seem natural - I do not intend or strive for the attraction to a woman, I just naturally feel it. But I will say this - in the stretches of time where I pushed my libido aside, I have felt more at peace internally and I look at an attractive woman more as a person than a short-lived desire. So I think there is something to rising above inner-passions for some amount of time. After some period of meditation, this would actually be a good thing for me to come back to - to see if quieting internally has an affect on outer-desries. -LoneHaven

I hope so...it is the one that stood out to me when I was searching. It is encouraging to know that someone else approves it though....thanks!

Hello all! I have been reading here for a few days and love all the information and experience here. I am new to Taosim, though have had it in the back of my head for some years. Many paths seem to exist for those new to Taoism. For now I am going to start with reading 'The Tao of Meditation: Way to Enlightenment' by Jou Tsung Hwa and 'Scholar Warrior: An Introduction to the Tao in Everyday Life' by Ming-dao Deng (though I have recently discovered some misgivings about this author - I guess I can still learn from it). I am very excited about the first book as it seems to be a beginning, yet deep, introduction to meditation. My time is limited due to poor past decision; thus a current stressful day-to-day life. I am hoping meditation will be my light at the end of this long tunnel as well as the start to a deep-inner awakening. I don't just want to surface-learn about Taoism but I do have to start slowly for now. I probably will not contribute a lot for quite some time as I will not have much to offer - but I hope to in the future. Question: Does Taosim involve the the will? Thanks for the forum and the knowledge within and any future guidance. -LoneHaven

It was just a question I had. I Had a mid-state mind experience that mentioned the will a couple years back and it is always in the back of my head. Did some resarch in esoterics and the like; and since I believe all is connected (always have) I can see that the will can be a force. It just popped in my head when I was joining this site and was wondering if the will relates to Taosim. I got my books in the mail and will start reading during spare time and hope to start practicing soon.

Here are his links to those two...I was looking for them at work earlier before I joined here because he stated you could use those three things to learn. I have saved them for future reading as I am just starting out. Heart-Mind Fasting Meditation: http://www.thetaobums.com/index.php?showtopic=4817&hl= Eight Silk Brocade: http://www.thetaobums.com/index.php?showtopic=4803&hl=