bindo

Many people think 'being natural' means doing whatever they want, acting on impulse, even irresponsibly and chaotic. As vortex said, you have to uncover your true nature before you can be 'natural'. Then you'll be removed from "natures machinery" and the herd mentality.

ummmmmmmm,no. Never mind. Go higher.

I was thinking the same thing. I mean, about the weather balloon.

I had a profound experience the second night after the first seminar I attended. I consider it a positive experience. Has anyone seen these photos taken by (Kunlun) Kan? http://www.eceti.org/Eceti.IndexII.html you have to scroll down just a little.

What problems does Buddhism solve in our society right now? And on a spiritual note; "An uncomprimising theory of illusion solves no problem of our existence; it only cuts the problem out for the individual by showing him a way of exit." "The theory of illusion cuts the knot of the world problem, it does not disentangle it; it is an escape, not a solution." Sri Aurobindo - The Life Divine p. 486-487

I love cats! I grew up with dogs, and they're awesome too! We can learn a lot, spiritually, from both of them. I had a cat for many years, until he died 2 years ago. He was such a sweet, loving little friend. I was crushed when he got cancer. He taught me so much. He was somewhat of a "celebrity" at the apartment complex where I lived, and received special priveleges. He was such a cool cat, people I had never even seen before would say,"Hey, where's Lucky?" and neighbors would tell me they loved him. At one point, there seemed to be a big influx of outdoor cats at the apt. complex, so the apt mgr. put out a notice that all cats are supposed to be kept indoors. A few days later the mgr. called me and said,"Don't worry about Lucky, he can do whatever he wants. He's the apt. complex mascott." He wasn't afraid of strangers. More than a few people told me they would love to have him if I ever had to give him up for some reason. He was a wonderful teacher. I consider dogs and cats as primary teachers. Just very different.

By including the practices I mentioned, it will redirect and refine the energy and your ability to handle larger and larger amounts of energy increases. So, the symptoms of aggression, restlessness, etc., are reduced if you give it some time. I struggled for a long time. It wasn't until I focused on spiritual growth, rather than not having sex, that I was able to really make any real progress. If my motivation had been mostly about the physical benefits, I'm not sure I would have gone very far. I was always girl crazy and loved having sex. There's definately a "rough patch" that has to be pushed thru. Most people don't make it thru and quit before the benefits start to accrue. Do the best you can, and when the time is right, you'll just do it. Just know that 2-4 weeks is a very small sampling, and abstinence, even for long periods, will only give you limited benefits. The key is to work towards overcoming the sex desire as part of a spiritual practice. Then the desires will begin to fade away on their own. I'm not suggesting there are no gains to be had energetically, or spiritually if one is still caught in sex desire. Just, the gains are wider, deeper, and longer lasting. Having strong sexual energy is good. But you also need the awareness to see when it starts producing sexual thoughts, which leads to sexual acts. Learn to control the energy before it controls you.

There's way more to energy cultivation than not ejaculating. Everything you see, hear, smell, touch, and taste is energy. Every thought you think, every word you speak or read is all energy. Not to mention having a formal energy practice, like chi kung, hatha yoga, etc., and practicing equanimity, mindfulness, stillness, etc.

I'm not for, nor against smoking weed... but, fiveelementtao, your reaction to weed is extreme and very unusual.

I just battled this monster - TR/ Crypt.Zpack.Gen trojan - I was about to go insane! It just wouldn't go away. For two weeks it just got worse and worse. It would take about an hour just to get online and everything was all messed up. Anyway, some guy on the Avira Antivir forum suggested something and it worked! My computer is humming like new now. http://forum.avira.com/wbb/index.php?page=...threadID=104078 --- Look for the posts by FFreestyleRR Good luck!

Don't even go there mewto.

Agreed.

Hey Blasto, I was hoping you would see the video I posted. It's interesting to see the similarities between Chu Nei Kung and Yang Ba Duan Jin. I've got to get down to L.A. for instruction from Jim.

I like this post by Chunyi Lin Chunyi Lin - Hello my dear friends! I saw a photograph of a man with a cake on his 100 year birthday. He had a big smile while lighting his candles with a cigarette! This made me laugh! The message is: if you want to live a long life - be happy.

This version is pretty cool

oh, never mind

Here's a list of Alan Watts audio lectures. http://diydharma.org/search/node/alan+watts His books; The Way of Zen The Book...on the taboo against knowing who you are The Wisdom of Insecurity are quite good. I've read each one at least five times. Probably closer to ten times. I live in the same area where Alan Watts lived, in Marin County. My ex-gf used to live in the same house that he lived in, (and died in) with a couple that were good friends with him. Many moons ago, (almost 20 yrs ago) I spent a summer hanging around Mt. Tamalpais/Muir Woods (near Alan Watts' home), reading his books, smoking pot, and letting my hair grow long. It was great! It was what I needed at the time.

Drew, could you explain it without all the technical mumbo jumbo, please?

Hey Sundragon, Good to have you here. I trained as a hypnotherapist 20 years ago. Never did anything with it, but I'm glad to have taken the training. In fact, just a few days ago, I pulled out all of the training materials to review. Thanks for the tip about Dr. Lloyd Glauberman. I've been interested in his work for a long time but never bought any of his products. Milton Erickson's work is a fascinating study as well. He was a brilliant man ahead of his time.

These definitions are my own, based on experience. But, you would be correct in suggesting a Hindu influence. People tend to use these terms rather loosely, especially westerners, so I would suspect there are differences based on culture and there's also the problem of translation from one language to another. I think one can have sex and still be "chaste". It's just sex based on love for one's spouse. Without perversion,(very "vanilla")pure, God's love's expressed through two people and shared with one another, not dressing provocatively, etc.

Retention, abstinence, and celibacy are all different. retention is when you have sex/masturbate without losing the precious fluid. Abstinence is not giving in to the sex urge for a, more or less, short period of time ( 30 days, 100 days, 1 year, etc.) but usually still having the normal sex urge, sexual thoughts and so on. Someone may practice abstinence to achieve a particular result. For example, to build up the body's energy for advancement in one's chi kung practice. Or, one may wait until being married before having sex. Abstinence is the first step towards celibacy and may last many years if celibacy is the goal. Celibacy - most people consider long periods of abstinence as celibacy. But true celibacy involves complete rejection of the sex urge and all sexual thoughts until one is no longer a puppet in nature's machinery. Someone who chooses to be celibate may see the sex impulse as something animalistic, of the lower consciousness, and preventing one's opportunity for complete spiritual fullfillment. True celibacy is a life long vow.

All about watching the breath. http://diydharma.org/mind-well-trained-thanissaro-bhikkhu