paulno

Want to get the one bad one out of the way first...

Even Eastern Religious practitioners can be full of crap. Western Religion doesn't hold a monopoly.

This site helped me learn tons about Advaita Vedanta and Nonduality.

Interesting posts on Taoism in all its forms.

Amazing John Chang videos.

Inspiring information about people from 12 step groups, later becoming fully involved in spirituality.

Anytime you hear something unusual in spirituality, usually someone here knows something about it.

This site is an invaluable resource for seekers.

Didn't James Randi totally debunk everything Uri Geller did years ago? I'm probably telling my age, but I remember an especially embarrassing moment for Uri on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.

I tried some on my own (probably shouldn't have), almost instantly I felt a state of euphoria over me.

Wanted to up this thread instead of starting my own. Wondering if anyone has any background in Holotropic/Shamanic Breathwork? Find it pretty interesting.

I don't disagree with you. We both agree that fundamentalism is bad.

 

Who knows what they taught Stalin at the seminary... I distrust any places that want to teach impressionable young adults and decorate their walls with crucifixes. (Cult of torture much?)

 

How many atheists are anti-theist?

If we agree on that point the rest is details to me. Cheers and thanks for your response.

1. Maoism and Stalinism (and it is these names that ought to be forever branded with the gigantic crimes committed, and not "atheism") were not ideologies of mere non-theism. When you find a dictatorship based entirely on atheism, let me know.

2. Actually, Stalin spent 5 years studying at the Georgian Orthodox Tiflis Spiritual Seminary in Tbilisi. One can just as easily make an argument that it was the seminary that turned him into a homicidal maniac.

3. Anti-theism is not the same as atheism.

1.You could make the argument that religion isn't just about God. So, therefore a belief in God isn't to blame for the atrocities committed throughout history.

2. The reality was he killed and tortured several religious people. Do you think they taught him to do that in seminary?

3. How many anti-theists aren't atheist?

4. You missed the spirit of my original post. Blaming genocide on religion OR atheism isn't valid. Extremism in ALL schools of thought is a very dangerous thing.

There's a lot of it, especially here. Lately I'm thinking the religious side is the braver option, not necessarily right, but gutsier and strangely a little more open minded, just like the atheistic idea was in the past. Fundamentalism in any shade tends to turn me off, and there are plenty of 'non-holier than thou' atheists running around.

 

Me, I'm relatively agnostic, hoping to get silent, long and deep enough to hear something.

Fundamentalist anything is bad. When we stop listening, conflict consumes. Also, I don't want to hear about how atheists have never committed atrocities. Stalin? Mao? Pol Pot? I'm not saying all atheists or all theists are good or evil. Fundamentalists though? More evil than not.

I'm not really focused on the charlatans. Just mentioning them. Mooji does have some good stuff.

This very post sent me out on my quest to learn about nonduality. While the phiosophy is more than intriguing, I was dismayed to find how many charlatans are involved in it. But, you could say that about every and any ideology under the sun.

There's a site called Buddha At The Gas Pump run by a guy named Rich Archer. He does a great job of interviewing Nonduality teachers, facilitators, guides, gurus etc. Anyone who is interested should check it out.

Exactly. There comes a time you have to stop hoping for divine or celebratory intervention, roll up your sleeves and do something yourself. Here's one of my favorite charities: https://secure1.heifer.org/gift-catalog?msource=magento

Flock o Chickens: Provide nutrition for family, a product to sell, they eat insects, scratching and dung makes the earth more fertile, future flocks can be given away to help other families and ofcourse they make good soup.

Well said. Poverty absolutely sucks. Help people.

I'm not sure if this is applicable to this conversation or not, but based upon my personal experience lately of a combination of celibacy and meditation my desire to learn seems to have increased a lot. Also I feel like as I keep doing this my understanding of cultivation principles has improved. I suppose that is the reason monks do all that cultivation along side their studies, or at least part of the reason.

Actually, this makes loads of sense to me. Sex is probably the number one distraction for most men (myself included). Coupled with the focus one can gain from meditation, I'd say your mind would be thirsty to use its new found powers. I could never be celibate though. As I get older I have noticed I'm not as hormonally challenged as I once was. Could be why I feel a bit smarter.

Im with Vmarco actually.

No, disrespect meant. But, that wasn' for you.

Debating Vmarco about anything Christian is a waste of time. He has a deep hatred for Christianity and will branch off from the original topic just to bash it more. Little will be gained aside from frustration.

Horrible sexism? The "N" word in a post? I believe this guy might be an ascended master. Because it seems like he's posting from a cave in the 1920s. Sheez man.

It takes time. Bad relationships can be a beast on the emotions. I had a bad breakup a number of years ago and for months it haunted me. I tried prayer and meditation and it really didn't help.

What I found helped the most? Distraction. Especially, at night. Don't let yourself get too bored. You'll just sit there and marinate in your thoughts. Video games, thought provoking movies and or books, go out dancing, a sport you love etc. etc. Try to stay active as you can for a month. I promise you'll feel better.

Now will it be 100% better? Certainly not. But, you'll be further along. That's the key. Time will take care of the wound. You just need to redirect yourself from the monkey mind in the meantime.

I'm reminded of the wild wooly days when UFC/MMA first came out. Those were the days when winner take all and had to fight several matches in a single night, winner bloody and bruised takes all.

 

As I recall you had some hard style karate men who thought there internal power made them too tough for chokes and take downs. It slowed down the chokes and they took massive punishment, but they went down (particularly against the Gracies). The fighting game relies hugely on footwork and body positioning.

 

Without excellent footwork and ground skills The Tough get worn down and choked out slowly or sometimes surprisingly fast. IMO Iron Shirt can help, but an iron shirt mentality at the expense of footwork and ground skills leads to particularly ugly defeats.

 

One of the old champions Liddell who had a soft/hard look to him, was reputed to do chi gung.

Never knew that about Chuck. Interesting stuff. I do know Roy Nelson practices Kung Fu along with other arts. He can certainly take shots. Not sure if he practices Iron Shirt or not. But, he's got a granite chin for sure.

I had a Kung Fu instructor (who was also a Zen Buddhist) tell me a story years ago that sort of reminds me of this situation.

He said he was at war (I think Vietnam) and when he came up to an enemy he'd draw his gun and smile. He said most of the time, the enemy would smile back and drop their weapon. On a few occasions though, the enemy would raise their weapon and he'd have to shoot.

I asked him how was he able to live with maiming and even killing others at times. He shrugged and said,"People choose their own karma."

Not sure if this is applicable to your situation or not but I've been waiting years to tell this story. LOL

Absolutely,...if you are interested in Heart-Mind, then semantics must be very explicit. I'm not speaking a anal-yzing, but developing and using a specific language that differentiates the head stuff from the Heart stuff.

 

I most certainly can see the point that an evolved Taoist or Buddhist would likely not be either Left or Right,...just as the proper view of Liberal is neither Left or Right. Thanks for articulating that,...it was quite helpful.

 

V

I'm not speaking a anal-yzing...Seriously? Why not just say you agree if you see the point?

Thank you,..for if you ever feel that I'm expressing a beLIEf, that is, an unquestioning acceptence of something in the absense or reason,...then by all means, I'd love to hear it.

 

What I was suggesting, is that those who say neither, most likely do not understand what liberal points to,...but rather believe the term Liberal to have something to do with Left Wing social issues, or even the abolishing of the 2nd Amendment. The fact is however, that a Liberal would not be against any Amendments, like the Right to Bear Arms. Unlike the Tea Party who want to get rid of 4 or 5 or 6 Amendments,...a Liberal, as JFK's definition, desire to defend all the Constitution Amendments, and the Rights provided.

 

The World is in desparate need of Liberals, like Ralis,...and in desperarate need of less Illiberalism, which is the prevailing majority attitude today.

 

V

Definitions shift and change. Its the nature of language. This was never about semantics. What I was saying is I can see how many would feel Taoist and/or Buddhist beliefs wouldn't fall under a Right or Left Wing Banner. Right and Left Wing as we understand them today. Must I be this explicit?

There really is no argument for neither,...you're either Liberal or Illiberal. The argument for neither is among those who do not understand what a Liberal is. For example, IMO, in America, there is not a single Liberal US Senator.

 

Remember the definition (requoted below),...a Liberal is someone who cares about peoples Civil Liberties. Thus consider the May 2002, 9th District Court ruling on the "Pledge." They said that the "The Pledge, as currently codified, is an impermissible government endorsement of religion. " How did the US Senate respond? On the following day the on the following day approved a resolution "expressing support for the Pledge of Allegiance with the impermissible government endorsement of religion." The resolution passed 99-0.

 

Every US Senator is, according to the Constitution, in affect Illiberal and an anti-American.

Jesus, even when I agree with this dude he's gotta come at me. Let me give you an example...Say you make a thread about all native people from Hawaii hate white people. Many would would say that's not liberal. Its very stereotypical. Some would say not a very liberal way to look at things. But, say you're for gay marriage. So, you have a liberal viewpoint and an illiberal viewpoint.

Some Buddhist Sects look down on homosexuality. Some don't. Can you say all of Buddhism is a liberal ideology?

My agenda is the acquiring knowledge. Not really hidden. I have gotten caught up in some debates here. Which showed me that my ego is in serious need of heavy deflation. So, maybe my hidden agenda is realizing I need to kill the ego?

From what I've seen of Western Traditions some of them are just rebranded Eastern Tradition. I saw a woman once talking about "Christian" meditation. She said when you breathe in say "Jesus" and breathe out say "Christ". She's actually selling a book with this method. LOL

As far as genuine Western Tradition outside of Christian Mysticism (which also heavily borrows from the East) and Kabbalah (don't know a bunch about it), I'm not sure there's much out there that's authentic.

Rosicrucianism might be the oldest continual Western tradition. I know the current Druids aren't directly linked to the old tradition of Druidry. I'd venture to guess much of the knowledge was driven out of Celtic lands by Christians invaders.

I'm all about Thich Nhat Hanh. The man radiates love and compassion.