voice

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Everything posted by voice

  1. The Last Airbender - Book 1

    My son (11) and I saw it, knowing that it would be bad, because we love the TV series so much. It was very bad. But, my son insists that it was better than "Toy Story 3"! Strange, because reviewers give TS3 99% at RT and give Airbender 8%! He insisted that TS3 was too childish for him. So, children can have a different way of looking at movies!
  2. Got Any Fiction Recommendations?

    I can recommend (in the spirit of "The Magus" and "One Hundred Years of Solitude"): 1) Anything by Neil Gaiman, especially "American Gods". 2) Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac 3) Anything by Herman Hesse, especially "Magister Ludi". 4) Litte Big, by John Crowley (His Aegypt cycle is supposed to be good too). 5) Winter's Tale, by Mark Helprin. 6) "DaVinci Code" by Dan Brown. Fluff, but a page turner; I got the copy with copies of art in it. 7) I second the suggestions of Wilson's "Illuminatus" trilogy and anything by Douglas Adams; and I second (or third) avoiding "The Alchemist" and all things "Celestine"! 8) "The Island", by Aldous Huxley. 9) Anything by Henry Miller. 10) "The Unbearable Lightness of Being", by Milan Kundera. 11) "Possession", by A.S. Byatt. 12) "V" by Thomas Pynchon. 13) "Trout Fishing in America" by Richard Brautigan.
  3. This USA Today article talks about how "The Secret", the book and DVD, is getting it bigtime. Props to whoever it was that first alerted us to it here! Chris
  4. This video shows how just knowing how to "pick up" a girl, doesn't mean you've got the game to keep her. Note: in case you can't speak Italian, the classic line that the woman speaks to the boy is "suck, don't blow!" Fellini's "Amarcord"
  5. How to Pick Up Girls

    So, Haryutun, what book/tape/resource do you recommend for the decent heart-based PUA?
  6. Acting: Great Performances

    Aiwei, if you are talking about "The Fountain", then I agree. It had some beautiful visuals, but my wife and I both found it hollow. I listened to the director's commentary, and they clearly were just trying to do something significant, but it was based on ideas and not on experience. It is based on Mayan ideas about the center of the galaxy being a spiritual place, and for trying to be faithful to their beliefs I do give them credit. Cat - did you enjoy the film? One of the best films I can remember for acting is "House of Sand and Fog." Ben Kingsley and, especially, Shohreh Aghdashloo gave amazing performances. I also found the acting and story in "Closer" very good, especially Natalie Portman and Clive Owen.
  7. I tried the big draw a few times many years ago and hated it the forcefulness of it, and have never done those manipulative, external sexual practices again. But, I can deflate a raging hard-on fairly rapidly by shifting the sexual energy into the Lesser Kan and Li...if I am willing to find the energies of the woman inside me.
  8. Gong for the hands?

    A problem in the hands is probably due to compression in the shoulders, which is due to an asymmetry of the spine, which is due to...a web of compensations spun through your body due to a life of western living. If the above rings true, look up a Feldenkrais practicioner and prepare to have your world rocked.
  9. nature spirits, faieries

    I've never seen fairies, pixies etc., but friends of mine who are very energetically sensitive (and very rational!) see them regularly. These "nature spirits" exist in a different dimension, and so you have to be sensitive and not too stuck in our 3D world to see them. But, you do need a strong grounding in Earth energy to be able to see them and not lose your center to their dimension (and thus the many warnings in fairy tales, about avoiding fairies).
  10. i will be gone for awhile, perhaps forever

    As time is accelerating ever-faster...forever just isn't what it used to be!
  11. Finding Time

    The inner smile can be applied always An inner smiled focus to your lower tan tien can keep you grounded in yourself when classes and assignments and desire for escape pull you away from the task at hand. When heading to sleep, simple massages of your organs with a smiling intent to them will help with deep sleep.
  12. pandora internet radio!

    Thanks Lozen - I appreciate you! I didn't know about Pandora and it is great with all the indie artists in it that the other music sites I used (finetune, radioparadise) don't have.
  13. Selflessness and Competition

    Welcome! You probably have many positive attributes (e.g. bright feathers, nice song), and don't just take up space. And, the apartment has some energy/consciousness as do its neighbors. So, if you are of value to that apartment/area, you might be "chosen" by it as its occupant. Thus, you don't have to fight, but go with the larger flow.
  14. "The Secret" hits it bigtime!

    Thaddeus wrote: "It's basically all about reducing the ego. When you're ego based, you want to receive for yourself. When you can transcend the ego, then you want to receive in order to share." Chris writes: I'd say that what you describe is an increasing of the ego beyond your skin to include the center of others. Identifying with the self and others is increasing the ego. In Tao Alchemy, we work to ever increase the extent of our ego, our sense of self, to include all. But, you probably have something more specific in mind in your use of the word "ego"? Chris
  15. i will be gone for awhile, perhaps forever

    a stone in the mud is obscure
  16. Meditation and sex

    When I began learning these methods I did try them during sex. But, unlike you, ended up with low-quality experiences. Training and living can be two different things - we train in a controlled environment, and live in an uncontrolled one. Training in some martial arts may not help you in real life, if your opponent doesn't employ the same constraints that you trained under. Training in an internal art, like Daoist practices, lets you explore your inner world in a controlled manner. Sex, is an uncontrolled situation - using some of our training practices in that situation can reduce the complexity of it. Indeed, reaching into the core of someone's being, as we do in sex, is a very priveleged setting, and to "do" things is to miss out on the great power and richness of that field. Keeping the basic motivation of our practices, of developing communication between the inner and outer, is certainly key to fantastic sex. But I do it instinctively, like an animal -- sometimes in sex I follow an energetic track that dead ends, or we build an energetic field that dissipates, and so like an animal, go hunting in some other direction.
  17. Wayfarer asked "Chris- You seem to be rather well balanced for someone who has studied with Winn... the rest here seem distracted from reality & somehow imbittered...Why have you come out seemingly unscathed? Did you not take him/his teaching to heart?" _______________________________________ Michael's personality is often bothersome to me, and I have challenged him on that several times, including on his discussion board. I have not seen the insensitivity that Sean Denty talks about, though I do not doubt it. But, his teaching takes me deep, way deep, and that is what matters to me. Every course takes me into levels of being much deeper and more profound than I could imagine, and I couldn't ask for anything more. Why am I unscathed by the HT practices? My former Shaolin teacher tells me that I have a special constitution to my "blood", and whenever we meet he gets scolds me for not teaching and sharing that state with others. So, maybe it is something I inherited. Or, maybe it is the many years that I spent before HT, dwelling in my crap, getting my house in order. I trust my inner heart on people, and my inner heart is joyful on this path with Michael Winn. Chris
  18. This is a fascinating series of insights and exchanges, with much pain lurking and many truths shining. My take is simple: Later Heaven (3D world) is unalterably divided. We cannot find common ground at this level. Personality differences, experiences, needs, goals etc. make it impossible for us to all get along. At deeper levels we do connect, and that may be part of why we are all on this board together. There is no solution through the war of words, as they are of Later Heaven. Whose teacher is best, whose teacher is most evil -- all these thought are true, but they can never be resolved. When someone attacks me or lets me down (which must happen, as I have a Later Heaven life), as time goes on, I learn to fight or complain less and less. Instead, I connect with deeper dimensions of them, and I feel satisfied. Chris (disclaimer: I've been a student of Winn's for 9 years)
  19. I'm new and i don't know what to do...

    Great that you are discovering Taoism so young! There are lots of free information on the web on Taoism and other spiritual paths. That information can get you started, and to help organized your thoughts. Practice, though, is where it gets a bit difficult without a teacher. The importance isn't so much the words of the teacher, but the energy and itelligence with which they vibrate and with which you can resonate. I am a student of Michael Winn's. He has a great ebook on the inner smile, a truly wonderful and fundamental practice. You can get the ebook for free if you visit his website, and join using the box toward the upper-left. Your intuition to read the Tao Te Ching is a very good one. There are many online versions of it to be found at the bottom of this Wikipedia page Watching/feeling nature is another really good thing. You can just sit with a nice houseplant, hold its leaves while you breath in, feeling gratitude for the oxygen it provides, and as you breathe out feel gratitude for it absorbing your carbon dioxide. Walk around a bit holding your breath, only allowing yourself to breathe while touching the plant. That exercise can really help you bond with living organisms. It isn't about chi, but it helps them become real, not just decoration. Enjoy!
  20. I am often pretty free-form with my alchemy. When some energy like that appears, I try a few things: - find an "opposite" energy to balance it with - take it as my center and experience things from its perspective (might be a bit much if this is strong) - ask it what it wants - watch how it interacts with parts of me on its periphery - explore aspectis of it by allowing it to connect to dream images/places/people/history Also, the hunger maybe suggests a lack of grounding earth in the alchemy. In Winn's Sun-Moon-Earth alchemy, the connection with Earth is incredibly grounding and can make me so full that I can't eat.
  21. 2-15-2005

    Love it! ...except for the tree "barking", and the last line mirroring the first-- those contrivances are too cutesy for me. Wonderful mood evocation. thanks, Chris
  22. Happy Birthday Sean!

    Happy 31st! What is it like, being a child of the Vernal Equinox? Chris
  23. "Stranger Than Fiction"

    The movie "Stranger Than Fiction" just came out on DVD and I really recommend giving it a rent. It is similar to "I Heart Huckabees" and "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" in terms of examining our control of our lives. But, I found "Stranger Than Fiction" to have strong parallels with deepening in spirituality: first we hear the voice of our narrative (our "fate"), then we learn to shape it. Will Farrel and Dustin Hoffman are great in the movie. Chris
  24. Typical Whacko

    Amy, Welcome home -- we're all whackjobs here! A jonin, according to this webiste is the leader of a ninja clan. You will see that the picture on the front of that website shows people with...swords. My take is that you need to grow and unfold yourself like a tree. Also, you need to develop the metal element (the sword), which could again represent strength in yourself. Both the tree and the sword are strong. The metal element in Daoist Internal Alchemy is gold, and it reflects our internal transformation and strength. I suggest you check out my teacher, Michael Winn. The front-page of the website is crass, but there is much information. Place your post in the forum there, and he should get back to you with very insightful suggestions. much luck, Chris
  25. What is it that you pursue?

    NO! NO! NO! NO! I mean, uhm, I disagree. My training with Winn is not to discard the ego, but to expand my self to come into communication with all beings and all fields of energy, in all levels of being. As the sense of self shifts from this tiny body, it no longer has the need to crystalize itself into some distinct ego. Well, an ego is still needed for this later heaven life, but the sense of self does not identify itself solely with that ego. So, nothing to discard, just more and more to eat. Some of it is bitter, but much is sweet...and there have been some salty bits, and that one thing tasted so much like chocolate-of-heaven flowers... Chris