Synophion

Being as Im new here and somewhat 'long in the tooth' in regard to spiritual practices of many forms I must admit I've been a bit suprised at some of the replies made on the various threads and upon further research I discovered that none of the profiles that I checked, in an attempt to know my fellow correspondents better, offered their ages or any info at all regarding who they were. Such things are often important to avoid certain misunderstandings and in truth I am not overly comfortable conversing with those whom I have not been introduced properly - so British LOL - though granted the internet does tend to be very annonymous the majority of the time. I suppose if I did a more lengthy search in the Lobby section I could raise the required information but since I feel an understanding of age and cultural/religious background is extremely important when assessing the comments others make, I though I might just start with this poll regarding age [which according to a search does not seem to have been done before] to discover the average age of those who a regular contributors on Tao Bums. The poll itself simply provides a 5yr window for correspondents to register their age group and I hope everyone who visits Tao Bums will participate so as to get a fair representation of the average Tao Bum and if people would like to offer further information regarding their age, experience and cultural/religious background please feel free to add a further MSG or a url to a previous Lobby MSG or a profile elsewhere, or one can simply remain annonymous if prefered. PS - My apologies for anyone over 87 - I suppose the poll options had to come to a close somewhere and I simply chose that option. Mindfully Syn

How to ignore that Putrefaction of grey death Scented like orchids

An interesting thread to any who has had any reasonable expereince in the Neo-pagan/Western Magical approach and made enjoyable reading, however as a Tao Bums 'lurker' I was moved to agree with much of what Taoist81 has said above. Syn

Though I have never studied with this particular Kriya group [though the book 'The Auto. of of a Yogi' is a bookshelf classic] I have studied with Muktananda who also teaches a form of Kriya [depending how you actualy translate or perceive Kriya]. As far as I can see the Lahiri system is pretty standard yoga stuff, aside from the fact that each yoga teacher has his own particular approach to the four limbs of yoga [ie Bhakti, Kama, Raja, Jnana] with their own particular diety in tow and their own particular preferences in terms of pranayama [breathing], asana [exercise] and dhyana [meditation]. This system is really only as different from other Yoga systems as the Methodists are from the Baptists or Presbetarians. Best to read the Yoga Sutras of Pantanjali [the original text for all yoga - yoga meaning 'connecting to god'] on your own, then find the yoga teacher you have a personal preference for rather than listening to any platitudes of what is best or fastest track in the view of other people. There are so many 'genuine' yogis in India they are two a penny, but we often think because a few westerners popularised a particular yogi they met in India, that Yogi must be special, but be sure he/she isnt really that much more special or that much more different than any other. Mindfully Syn

Well considering the internet revolution is still relatively 'new' it is expected that the majority of internet users will be in their mid to late twenties and younger [since it is that age group that is more computer literate and were taught their skills in school]. Secondly that same age group is always in some existential crisis or another so it is also expected that they are the ones more likely to want to talk about in on a forum any forum. What would be most interesting is to take a poll of those aged between approx 15 and 25 who are actualy interested in spiritual things, to see what particular spiritual philsophy actualy appeals to this particular generation. For example that same age group in the 60's was interested in Indian/yogic philosophy, in the 70's it was more Buddhism, in the 80's it was New Age with a lot of Marx thrown in, in the 90's it was Neo-Paganism and the Occult, in the Naughties it seems to be anything associated with one or the other of the Abrahamic faiths particularly Islam - Taoism seems to have always remained a fringe interest for many being just the froth/sugar to some other system/path. Of course the above is a bit of a generalisation and Im sure that there will be those who will pipe up to prove that they were the exception, however each decade does seem to have a trend which is often suppported by the sort of books available and what the media is willing to discuss. Mindfully Syn

YAY 49 votes already, fabulous. This already gives me quite an interesting idea as to the lay of the Tao Bum land so to speak. Personaly Im of the generation that was around when the martial arts craze first hit the West in the early 70's with such characters as Bruce Lee and Kwai Chang Caine which sparked an increasing interest in Chinese philosophy - those in their 50's and 60's are more likely to remember this and the plethora of books that suddenly appeared everywhere on the subject. After that the late 80's and early 90's around the Aceeeeed Era and the Winter of Love was the next period to peak an interest in Taoism, then a more westernised new age form, which the books of Mantak Chia had heralded, which would account for the large amount of people interestyed in Taoism who are now in their early 30's - interestingly it was during the early 1990's that neo-paganism [western taoism with a small t] gained its largest influx of conversions. PS - Being as this is a Taoist forum one would expect their to be at least some very elderly practitioners here especialy considering Taoist techniques of physical alchemey, which is why I took the poll up to 87 and apologised to anyone older for not taking it further - Im suprised more people didnt catch on LOL. Mindfully Syn

As my avatar would suggest I tend to focus on the earthly and solar cycles and have done for decades escpecialy as I participated in the Western Taoist [aka neo-pagan/occult/theosophist] movement for many many years, where great emphasis is placed on the earth/solar cycles/festivals and I thoroughly enjoy their arrival. Personaly I regard the Vernal Equinox as the realisation of the birth of the sun [not son LOL] as witnesed at Winter Solstice. At this point his/er influence upon the earth is now recongnisable and we can enoy the warmth and light of his/er rays just as the earth also starts to react to that same warmth and light. Those evergreens I have kept up after the Winter Solstice [now dry and brittle but still green] in anticipation of new growth will eventualy be cleared away in a flurry of spring cleaning as I welcome the new year into the house. Tomorrow morning I will be up at the crack of dawn [6.03 am] and wrapped in a blanket [as its a bit chilly at present] will sit in the garden to welcome the sun over the horizon, say my prayers, meditate and absorb the exceptionaly strong prana/chi that is present at this time [in my opinon of course LOL]. All day I will practice a special vegan fast that I have devised from foods that do not cause the death of any living thing even plants [ie mainly fruitarian], to celebrate life to its fullest, will study, meditate, plant the garden with bulbs and seeds that I have already prepared and try to avoid toooo much of the usual everyday trivia, without being tooooo harsh upon myself of course allowing myself some enjoyable distractions so as not to be toooo intense with myself or the world. In the eve at 18.14 I will once again watch the sun sink beneath the horizon remembering that night is as much part of the day and light is only recognisable in the dark and vise versa. Of course it would be nice to share this day with others as I do the Winter Solstice when there is always an abundance of people willing to enjoy the season [even those with no spiritual connections] and at the Summer Solstice when I always go to Stonehenge. But the Equinox's often get ignored in this country [especialy the Autumn Equinox], though in Mexico attending the Vernal Equinox at Teotihuacan has became a huge tradition which is just as popular as the Summer Solstice at Stonehenge here in Britian [so if you are American and near the Mexican boarder it might be worth going]. Anyways Abramelin Happy Vernal Equinox and I hope this your first celebration will be as enjoyable as mine always are and I hope that you will find it expedient to continue this practice through the years, as I have always found this practice of great benefit to my body, mind and spirit. Light, Warmth and Colour Syn

I think you might find that having long ears like that is a vestige of the heavy jewelry he supposedly wore before renunciation. Having stretched the ears to that point they never return to normal therafter, thus such an image would mark him as once being a prince or at least an aristocrat, as by tradition, a Buddha must always come from an aristocratic background ie a Kashatriya. As for the 36 marks of a Buddha if one should read them with any seriousness one could only come to the conclusion that a Buddha would be somewhat deformed. Ive always been struck by the size of the tongue which must be large enough to lick his whole face and his ears LOL - which if such marks are actualy literal might suggest a Buddha/Sage would be a cow LOL - certainly a Buddha could never be a North European blond Scandinavian LOL. Mindfully Syn

Im not one for posting specific introductions as I feel one can only really get to know someone after engaging them in discussion etc, but since it is a Tao Bum's ritual to do this, how can one refuse LOL - but be assured I do not require any replies to make me feel comfortable or welcome. I hail from the Isle of Albion and am now closer to the Elysium Fields than I am to the date of my birth. As is typical of my people I am rather 'stiff upper lipped' and proper, prefer a cup of tea to any demonstrations of emotion and do not seek out friendships, but am not averse to such things if they should occur though beware getting between me, my cat, my dog or my TV, LOL. I have traversed the spiritual way since almost as long as I can remember, have studied under many a teacher and traveled the world seeking 'Shangri La', but always find myself returning to the green fields of England upon which those 'hallowed' feet once walked. I enjoy philosophy, psychology, anthropology, archaeology and ecology and of course the usual mundane distractions such as music, gardening and cooking, having been completely vegetarian since I was 13 yrs old and of course as mentioned above, TV & Movies. How I would label myself spiritualy is difficult, sometimes being Pagan suits, sometimes being Buddhist suits, sometimes being an Occultist or a Theosophist suits, but since I am choosing to join this forum obviously I would also choose Taoist occasionaly as well. However I would certainly never describe myself as Muslim and would be very careful using the word Christ-ian, for even though it is itself a Greek word relationg to Greek Pagan concepts it has now become far tooooooo associated with the religion of that Jewish Rabbi Yeshua. My first 'experience' of Taoism was in the early 1970's via the increasing popularity of Kung Fu and the martial arts at that time, none of which I studied to any degree, always being more in the mind than in the body, prefering philosophy to kinesiology. My first 'breakthrough' Taoist book was one I picked up at a second hand book shop entitled 'Monastry of the Jade Mountain' by Peter Goullart, which was a personal account of ones man spiritual search through China in the 1930's. Since I have obtained a large collection of Tao Te Chings and many more books on Taoism of various writers, but only one by Mantak Chi bought in 1984, who though very popular in the West tends to be tooo sexualy inclined for my taste. Well considering I dont usualy do intros, I suppose the above is quite enough, perhaps much tooooooo enough LOL Syn

Thanks Yoda Syn