lazy cloud

Not sure if it is appropriate or ironic that on this last full moon of 2011,

that myself and Zerostao will be making a midnight drive down to Atlanta.

Very interesting year to say the least. Arab Spring, Japan, in 3 weeks we begin 2012

but that is a subject for other threads.

I wish All the Best and a Safe Ending to All Tao Bums for the rest of 2011.

Year of the Rabbit winding down. Year of the Dragon coming soon.

"A wise man does not accumulate for himself. The more he uses for others, the more he has himself. The more he gives to others, the more he possesses of his own. The way of heaven is to benefit others and not to injure."

-Lao-Tzu (c. B.C. 550)

Thought this deserved repeating.

My earlier concerns about how the police are treating Americans who are exercising their First Amendment Rights have not gone away. If peaceful non-violent protesters become physically abused, what message is that sending?

JB, Your earlier complaints to me about congressmen having insider trading advantages is a good point.

There is not a damn thing wrong with someone who has found themself in the top 1% if they have played by the same set of rules that the 99% has to abide by. It is suggested however that some of the top 1% do have special access, corporate welfare laws, and tax advantages that the rest of us do not have.(rigging)

Many of our richer folks do try and help out in a very generous manner, others do not. I do not think it should ever be forced upon anyone to help out their fellow man.

One of the great things about this country is that one has the chance to go from rags to riches. It might be useful for someone who is on their way up to treat the folks they pass by with some respect and compassion.

Because sometimes what goes up will come down and those same folks one passed by on their way up they will most likely meet again on their way back down. Going from riches to rags is another great possibility in this country.

Using labels IMO like buddhist,taoist,christian,democrat,republican,independent,scholar,bum,socialist,communist,capitalist,

are all useless. Just try and be self-reliant. No one ever promised it would be easy. Be good neighbors and check on the folks around you. Be it the elderly or whoever.

In this country it is useful to have friends, trusted allies, partners in crime, be a part of something for mutual benefit. A lone wolf does not fare too well , especially when they would prefer someone bring them their meal instead of hunting for it. It is my view that the 99% expect to work hard for what they expect to be able to earn. We used to want to educate our youth. Now it seems we want to bury them in debt.

One thing that happened yesterday when the super committee failed to do anything. Is that now it will be automatic that the Clinton years Tax rates will go back into effect.

Like I said, nothing wrong with being the top 1%. Just play by the same rules the rest of us play by.

A 99% ravenous wolf pack is un-imaginable?, Right?

Some band call themself Pink Floyd was mentioned earlier in this thread. Well Roger Waters at least.....

"or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

Or Not?

Shouldn't the Police be required to take an oath

to protect the citizens of the United States?

Should the Police be required to take an oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States?

@Todd and Wuji108

Isn't Ling the spirit of being which acts upon others?

Representing emotional comphrehension and understanding?

While alive it is your intelligence and wisdom, and when you die

it is the spirit of your ghost.

Ling Shen is "supernatural". Qi is the source that nourishes Ling.

Ling Qi is "super natural energy, power, or a force."

Ling Gen is the life and foundation of a spiritual being.

@realfastcat

The spirit of No-Thing-Ness means that there is no such thing as relying upon anything outside of your individual mind.

YOU are the spirit of the Thing Itself. Simply Be.

Word. I also understand that 99.98% will never undertand this.

something missed here is 'Nei Gong' as Being different from Chi Gong. Chi Gong is gross ELECTRICAL POTENTIAL of the physical (polarized) form -BODY NEI-GONG is exacted magnetic potential (heart) brought down to physicality for evolution. You keep (for years now) comparing "Nei Gong" with "Chi Gong" Are you ever so much evolved when you cannot discern the difference between the two? Please compare NEI GONG with CHI GONG

Poverty apparently fuels higher birth rates. 99% (not an exaggeration!) of population growth occurs in the developing world. The 48 countries identified as the least

developed expect to triple in population by 2050.

Keep visiting The Tao Bums website/discussions!

Check out the sub-forums The Tao Te Ching , Chuang Tzu, Nie-Yeh.

Check out the Pinned Thread in the General Discussion area: Resources:Books, Links, Articles, Movies.

I agree with the recommendations of Dr. Yang Jwing-Ming and Bruce Frantzis. Ken Cohen's "Way of Qigong" is another good entry level qigong book.

Without debating origins on this thread, Find a Tai Chi Chuan class, book, and or Dvd.

There is much debate about different Tai Chi Chuan teachers, schools, styles. Do not concern yourself too much about this. For a beginner , again Dr. Yang Jwing-Ming is a decent choice. My personal favorite Tai Chi Chuan book is Cheng Man Ching's "13 Treatises on Tai Chi Chuan" Another favorite book of mine is Chang Chung-yuan's "Creativity and Taoism"

Steady consistent progress over time is the correct approach. Beware of claims of fastest or most powerful. There are public teachers on this forum who do have enthusiastic loyal students that are also on this forum. Some cheerleading and some bickering goes on here. Do not concern yourself too much with that either. Also i suggest that you check out some of the Buddhist threads. (( again there will be some bickering))

In time you will find what resonates best for you.

THIS CALLS FOR MEDITATION

Sure did. Japan affected again but let's hope that this 6.8 magnitude at a depth of 138 miles near Okinawa will be the worse of it.

Well its on the way, we shall soon find out.

Thanks for the tip!

 

Future fluidity,

Rob

What did we find out ?

How long did you use these herbs ?

Were they in a Tea or in Alcohol ?

I've written in here before that my sense of a hardy community resilient enough to make it through the next bottleneck will be a hybrid model of ancient Taoist village/modern ecovillage; contemporary permaculture design, appropriate technology, etc, combined with communal practice of traditional Taoist healing and martial arts. The ancient Taoists were the village librarians, craftsmen, warriors, and doctors, so I tend to attach a little romanticism to my pragmatism.

 

I've tried to launch a similar thread several times before but it hasn't caught on. Many people here think the next messiah is beaming down from the mothership any day now, rather than actually taking their Taoist practice to the next level.

 

Have you ever checked out http://www.earthaven.org/ ? They're in N. Carolina. I met Diane Christiansen at an ecovillage symposium; she wrote "Creating a Life Together, Practical Tools to Grow Ecovillages and Intentional Communities." It's a primer for the movement, and it's remarkably Taoist in its orientation.

 

I've lived in barracks, at sea, 10,000 ft. in the Rockies, college dorms, co-ops, youth hostels and apartment buildings. Soundproofing, or the lack theoreof, has frequently been the deciding factor in how well people who need solitude can live in proximity to others. that's why we're going for rammed-earth construction, but also to maximize insulation and minimize firewood. I think we can build the brick machine that's depicted here. http://opensourceecology.org/

Christiansen says emotional maturity is the most important criteria for selecting community members. Skills are important, but they can be taught and learned. Kunstler makes this point too in Long Emergency; the days of indulging in our own private psycho-dramas will be eclipsed by the need to harvest the crops and feed the livestock.

This is the type of post I am trying to elicit. No-nonsense , practical, Taoist.

Just do what you can when you can. There is no reason to put a deadline on that, lazy cloud.❤

Exactly.

I used 2012 more as a symbolic timeline rather than a prediction. When and if 2012 comes and goes without

a glitch , our group will maintain the tribal spirit and our preparedness. We have been doing what we can for

about twenty years. Changes and Challenges are coming.

-K-,

My, that is a lot of questions in such a short post!

Un-Fortunately , I have a crazy busy day today and tuesday too, or is it two for tuesday? whichevers...I digress.

For now all I can say with even a small amount of confidence is that Un is a useful prefix.

Howevers! If you are Un-able to find answers, I will try to have a few answers on or about Wednesday.

Tian Ren He Yi

-K-, Manageable was the word used by the UN report. The manageable number of 6.2 billion is based on current conditions and extends to the year 2100.

Factored in is a decrease of the use of carbon based fuels of 5% a year beginning in 2040. The report also does not consider any major calamities to occur,

no substantial increased global warming, no alien invasions, no world war 3, etc. and that we will only have our one planet to draw resources from.

But you said 'destined'. So what are you trying to get at? What makes people achieve and develop breakthroughs?

 

The idea of a 'manageable population' makes me shudder. What does 'manageable' mean??

If the UN used the word "sustainable" instead of manageable, is it less of a shudder? What is the function of the UN?

Isn't it a very rare few individuals that ever make the types of breakthroughs that effect the lifestyle of the masses?

Someone like a Steve Jobs, Thomas Edison,

is there such a thing as "destined" anyways?

What if the person who could develop a new technology/innovation/energy solution/agricultural breakthrough is not destined to be a first born/only child?

(do not get hung up on my use of the word destined)

Eric Goldschein's Nov 4,2011 article about our world's condition in 2100, has the world's population at 10 billion

with 80% living in cities. 5 sub saharan Africans for each European. 40% less production of rice and corn. Zero oil,

natural gas(which will be used at a much faster rate than oil), and coal.

It also states that a UN report puts the number for a manageable population at 6.2 billion.

Sifu Jenny is the one with the long braids. amazing clip....

 

That is from one of my favorite CMA movies. I am NOT surprised that Sifu Jenny was a part of it!

Thanks for sharing.

www.ic.org

Howdy Folks,

I expect that this subject has been discussed on this forum. With 2012 being 55 or so days away now...I hope that Ideas can be exchanged on this thread

that Share experience, insights, innovations, dealing with special needs, and other thoughts about Intentional Communities Co-ops, Communes, Eco-villages, Retreats, Monasteries?

Also perhaps to establish some network connections between communities for trade/barter/educational/skill purposes.

In my neck of the woods a few of us are taking actions, discussions, transactions with a view to an uncertain future. Luck favors the prepared.

I will start the thread off by saying that my home group will have Natural Resources from Appalachian forests to include but not limited to,

clean spring waters, herbs, wildlife, tillable and wooded lands, caves, and backwoods skills, farm skills.

Our group will not have the problem of "Too many Chiefs and not enough Indians" We accept that each of us is to be a productive Indian and there will

be no Chiefs.

You got the third line right, but the rest is

Or some fine compost? Which will come in handy for the Folks willing to take some personal responsibility and start producing their own produce.

Shit, I know that sounded redundant. Horses will once again become valued partners?

Future wars over water?

I do respect these posts:Especially the contributions from ralis and Encephalon.

Cooperatives, Intentional communities, Where ever you are remember this> United We Stand , Divided We Fail.

We Live In Interesting Times!

The future Low-Tech Revolution?!

This coming Tuesday an asteroid is supposed to pass between the Earth and the Moon.

The key word here is PASS. However, this is a close one!

Howdy -

I wish I could be more optimistic but from my perspective as a lowly geographer the future will not be kind to us social science and behavioral science majors. I sort of carved out my own brand of "End Times" geographical studies, based mostly on post-petroleum realities that many author/scientists have forecast, and some gigs are definitely better than others.

 

As the depletion of oil reserves forces a world-wide economic contraction, the scale of human enterprise is projected to get much smaller, almost neo-tribal, with food production becoming the most important industry. Any person who has well-honed agricultural skills, animal husbandry, permaculture, as well as 1850s-level craft skills will do fine. If the US were ever to wake up out of its oil-dependent consumer fog it could begin with local food production, revitalization of the the railroad system, and reconstruction of housing stock with super-insulated construction techniques. That would put millions of people back to work instantly, providing we could swing another run of the printing presses, but there would still be very little use for social science intellectuals like you and me.

 

I would harvest as much life sciences classes as possible and try to get into a medical program such as EMT/paramedic. They will always have meaningful work, and tribes of the future will treat them kindly. I'm joining an ecovillage in 2014 and am boning up on my former medic skills combined with medical chi kung. But I'll always be able to teach if that luxury avails itself. I still need to learn how to dress a freshly shot elk.

 

Best of luck!

Very well thought out. Or at least very like-minded with our perspective. There are small groups (tribe,clan,gang,etc) here(rural Kentucky) that is/has actively prepared for possible changes/challenges ahead. Competition will be keen. Good luck to you. Luck does seem to favor the prepared.

My Tai Chi Chuan experience before I started Pakua Chang was certainly valuable. I thought it was a required prerequisite.

I still feel that is the case for most players. However after meeting Ricky and Scott , I appreciate that they are accomplished Internal Martial Artists without having a Tai Chi Foundation.

Zeros did have Tai Chi first but once he began Pakua his game jumped up surprisingly quickly. Another friend suggested this to me this morning. "By looking at a little, One can see a lot. By looking at a lot, one may see nothing useful."

It is good to take a look around and see what others are doing and the results they are getting. But do not fall into chasing after schools or teachers (regardless how flashy) unless you have progressed past your current teacher(s).

Trust yourself and trust the teachers you have now.

I recently came off a break myself. Obviously, I am not a long time member of this forum. I do agree that involvement on this forum (0r any forum)

could become an attachment and very time consuming. I am also a father of an 11 year old son and have 30 years of Tai Chi Chuan and 20 years of

PaKua Chang experience.

Even in the "best" of times here,, If it takes quality time away from family or cultivating,, That time cannot be replaced.

Having said that,, I do enjoy my visits and limited posting here. I have found real Gems and Nuggets of Highly Useful Knowledge here.

I also enjoy viewing posts and exchanges from the different schools of thought and from beginners and masters alike ((and all levels))

I also understand the struggles of Teachers, the Enthusiasms and Trials of Students.

TTB IS for a multitude of reasons, a highly useful place, to at least, check in occasionally at.