We few, we happy few, we band of brothers, sisters and all

[dwai]

As they slowly made their way to the valleys of Mt. Daobumis, some angry looking individuals stood blocking the way. They loudly proclaimed, “we are the original dao bums…and we claim sovereignty over Mt. Daobumis!”

 

@zerostao was a bit bewildered, as these were all part of the bums family — led astray due to a preference for their right side. He asked, “what is original? And what is artificial?” 
 
The “originals” retorted, “we challenge you to a battle, as per the old tradition. Limber your neurons and sinews as we shall battle with our knowledge of the dao, emptiness, void, and samsara.”

 

The quicksilver @Earl Grey stepped forward, and replied, “allow me to go first my friends”.

The “originals” sent forth their champion, “the blaster of joe”. 
 

The two opponents sat down facing each other in seiza, and as the battle was about to commence, a loud voice from behind a boulder shouted, “stop! You cannot possibly battle without mastering the full lotus! Here…let me show you how it’s done”

 

It was the drew of hempel, as he split himself astrally into his twin, each facing its counterpart. They sat down in full lotus, and flexed their pineal glands, sending themselves into infinite spirals of paroxysmal bliss! 

 

 

 

 

 

[Bindi]

Yes indeed Yueya t’is true, the whole town is on high alert, today is expected to be worrying. It’s WA”s turn this year it seems. 

[Earl Grey]

3 hours ago, dwai said:

As they slowly made their way to the valleys of Mt. Daobumis, some angry looking individuals stood blocking the way. They loudly proclaimed, “we are the original dao bums…and we claim sovereignty over Mt. Daobumis!”

 

@zerostao was a bit bewildered, as these were all part of the bums family — led astray due to a preference for their right side. He asked, “what is original? And what is artificial?” 
 
The “originals” retorted, “we challenge you to a battle, as per the old tradition. Limber your neurons and sinews as we shall battle with our knowledge of the dao, emptiness, void, and samsara.”

 

The quicksilver @Earl Grey stepped forward, and replied, “allow me to go first my friends”.

The “originals” sent forth their champion, “the blaster of joe”. 
 

The two opponents sat down facing each other in seiza, and as the battle was about to commence, a loud voice from behind a boulder shouted, “stop! You cannot possibly battle without mastering the full lotus! Here…let me show you how it’s done”

 

It was the drew of hempel, as he split himself astrally into his twin, each facing its counterpart. They sat down in full lotus, and flexed their pineal glands, sending themselves into infinite spirals of paroxysmal bliss! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Musical interlude:

 

"Hey! Listen up! We got enough problems with bandits, bums, and boobs! But we can all agree that a little booze and time to schmooze makes everything better!

 

"Places everyone! Make way! for the Singing Samurai!"

 

 

And now, for a little Bollywood for varrrrrrriiiiiiietyyyyy!

 

 

"Get up and dance, fools!"

 

 

[Bindi]

6 hours ago, zerostao said:

Z and the small recon group make their way back to the main group, he is trying to talk but has lost his voice. 

@Nungali splashes z with a bucket of ice water containing chunks of ice, "Get hold of yourself, we already have @liminal_luke ranting around like a babbling loon, saying he has encountered a large breasted blond" Nungali yells at him.

 

"On a related note, I was given a message to give @Bindi" Z said while coughing out small chunks of ice.

Nungali inquired, "What message?"

"Please find Bindi."  Z implored

Bindi made her way up to z, who had shards of ice falling from his nostrils. "Please overlook me in this condition, but I have a personal message from the wayfairie tumbir aka @deci belle to be delivered to you."

"What message?" Bindi asks. 

Z looks over to make sure Nungali is present to also hear of this message. Z also looks to make sure Nungali has no handy bucket of ice water. 

"I need to scrawl a diagram." Z reaches in his backpack and finds a note pad and pencil. 

Z then draws a pentagram that when looked at turns into a pyramid. 

Bindi and Nungali raise their eyebrows but wisely say nothing.

the wayfairie tumbir said to say this after I scrawled this, to quote--

 

"Reality has no meaning, it just is as it is. Seeking meaning in things (body, mind, society, events— the four empty names) is just the perpetual result of mental agitation of the intellectual apparatus.

 

Seeking anything is simply over-stepping upright immediate acceptance and selfless response to reality as is. By virtue of this psychological momentum, habit-energy provides an arbitrary construct based on the personality’s endless quest to seek ascendancy over the fundamental reality of causeless unity.

 

It is just evidence of self-servility habituated to death-seeking energy constituting karmic bondage. Living sane energy is open awareness no different than your own mind. That which is self-evident is immediately known without discriminatory awareness habitually seeking reasons for meaning.

 

Knowing the taste and temperature of water as you drink it is experience beyond the ken of meaning. Further removed is speculative processes rationalizing (comparing) data. Eschewing habitual intellectualism until it ceases to be a psychologically compulsive activity is the basis of self-refinement."

 

Z, then said, "The message I was told to give you was actually about seven times longer than what I could remember." I apologize for my fragility of mind in this important moment, but that recon trip was a bit overwhelming."

 

Z yells for @Apech

the white cat appears in front of Z.

Z asks, "When we were coming down from that cave, did you notice a @soaring crane fly overhead?"

 

 

 

 

Hmmm, bindi said with a note of sarcasm in her tone, though she was trying hard to not appear rude. This isn’t like the other messages I’ve been given. I reckon if you don’t know the meaning, to believe there is no meaning is really quite an elegant and logical solution. But when it comes to meaning, or lack of it, elegant and logical solutions, though apparently satisfying, can fail to capture the mystery of the actual reality.
 

Just then, a lone rhinoceros came charging out of the woods and impaled bindi with its horn, and tossed her into the air. “WTF does this mean” she screamed as she came tumbling back down and landed on the rhinoceroses back. That’s what happens to people with a different view said Apech sagely, I’ve seen it time and again. 
 

 

[ilumairen]

3 minutes ago, Bindi said:

Just then, a lone rhinoceros came charging out of the woods and impaled bindi with its horn, and tossed her into the air. “WTF does this mean” she screamed as she came tumbling back down and landed on the rhinoceroses back. That’s what happens to people with a different view said Apech sagely, I’ve seen it time and again. 
 

Looking confused, ilumairen asks what seems to her to be the only question of import, “They get to ride a rhinoceros?” 
 

And to herself she wonders what different view she’d have to express to get her own rhino.

[old3bob]

not to worry campers, an out-sider but decent guy named Jerry is coming to lend a hand in our troubled times...and some day we can all be happy campers again...

Edited February 6, 2022 by old3bob

[zerostao]

Z stepped in, stepped up to the blaster of joe, and asked, "Are we enemigos?"

The blaster of joe adjusted his sunglasses, and said, "of course not brotha."

 They fist bumped and broke into laughter. "I have some cool pictures to show you Z"

"Sounds good," replied z.

@Aetherous said, "We have no need to fight over Mt. Daobumis, we have our own sovereign territory where we reside peacefully."

Z nodded in the affirmative and added, "There is room throughout the web for each of us Dao like cultivators groups to expand and find those who seek us out for our experiences. Do not some bums also visit OD? @Cleansox comes to mind.

And the fracture caused hurt on both sides, it didn't decide who was right, it only decided who was left here and who left for there."

 

@windwalker was watching this scene intently. 

 

Z continued, "I am grateful that marblehead wasn't around to see that all go down."

Z turned away, perhaps wiping a tear from the corner of his eye. 

 

 

[S:C]

thanks for the dance here, need to go back 

Edited 18 hours ago by S:C

[Apech]

PART III    The Reckoning of Sean

 

"A Cat knows a Cat when they see one."

                                                                     Chapter 9 Verse 143 The Great Book of Daobums

 

 

And it came to pass, in the darkness of the Interwebz of yore, when all was Netscape and AOL and Windows XP, when the people called out with the beep beep beep of the 56k modem, there arose the Sean, and the Sean was online just as the people of that age were online.  And he saw that the people were strange and had read the dark book of Mantak Chia and did not ejaculate thereof.  And rising from his place of meditation he proclaimed 'Let there be a messageboard, and let the messageboard be called the Tao Bums - for he had not yet learned to spell it with a d and not a t.'

 

And there came theretoo a great throng all clamouring and shouting, saying they had raised the kundalini and it was good.  But they were rude and swore at each other 'thou art wrong and talkest shit' - and so the Sean made there to be a moderation team, so that the people instead of shouting at each other could blame the moderation team for all that went wrong.  And it was so.  And so the ad hominem was cast out from their midst and the people had to behave or risk a ban.  But there were those among them who still swore and talked shit - and they were cast into the Pit.

 

Such were the first days and this is how it was.

 

 

 

 

[zerostao]

z became disinterested in the reality of reality and the meaning of no meaning. Looked over at questionmark, thinking of when he saw that silhouette a few nights earlier, when he was in the hollow poplar tree with Owl. It tugged at him then; that swirly q reminded him of a long lost friend, a familiar look. A brilliant disguise?

z looked for clues, not trusting his intuition, this was weird. He looked past the obvious; apech's sub title of his previous message, there to read for those who read. 

z's mind went empty when he turned his gaze towards Nungali's fire. There was a brief thought, Nungali; bushman of fire and ice.

Then z dozed off, zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Edited February 6, 2022 by zerostao

[Iliketurtles]

On 2/5/2022 at 11:37 AM, Apech said:

"You know where you are by reference to where you are not," said @blue eyed snake.

The cat looked at her, up to the sun and back again.

"Do you need a hat, or a parasol?" he asked.

"No," said @Bindi , "she means we need a map.  One with a big blue arrow saying 'YOU ARE HERE', or several red arrows saying 'YOU ARE NOT HERE' ."

@Nungali put down the pack and took out some paper, carefully unfolded it, gazed at it for a moment and then folded it again.

"A map?" asked the cat.

"No," said @Nungali , "I just like origami."

"Perhaps," said @zerostao, "if we go to that high point we can get our bearings."

He pointed up the ridge line to a huge outcrop of glistening rock. And with that the company made their way up the natural weathered steps to the very top.  The view spread out before them.

 

A winding river ran Northwards, to the Western bank of it was a vast ochre coloured plain which seemed to have no other side, on the East, tall hills of tortured and twisted rock.

@steve gasped, "I know this place!" he exclaimed.

Smoothing the rock at his feet with his hand he exposed it as white shot through with red.

"This is the Marblehead," he said, " and before us runs the river Taomeow.  If we follow it North we will eventually come to the hamlet of Drew Hemple and the McDonald Inn."

The group gazed in amazement that they had come to such a mythic place.

"What then," asked the cat "is that horrid plain and those twisted tortured hills?"

It was @dwai's turn to speak in awe.

"That horrid land is no other than the Plain of Buddhawarz ... a place so desolate and empty of life and meaning ... and those twisted tortured hills are the ancient battle ground where the giants of Kun Lun and KAP fought for the possession of Daobumia in ancient times."

They all said wow.  Then not thinking of anything else to say, said wow again.

"But what if we follow this river to the village of Drew Hemple - eat at the MacDonalds - without any untoward and unwelcome feelings at a distance of course - what then?" asked @Bindi.

And @steve then hung his head.

"Beyond, " he said with gravity, "lies great peril, the Gorge of Jeffery ... and then the dark walls of Castle Mo Pai with its flickering light bulbs of doom."

And with that they sat upon the Marblehead and wept.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Nungali]

19 hours ago, Bindi said:

Yes indeed Yueya t’is true, the whole town is on high alert, today is expected to be worrying. It’s WA”s turn this year it seems. 

 

I saw on last nights news, I was going to ask about it today  and if you where nearby .

 

May the wind turn and the flames pass by, elsewhere .

[Bindi]

The danger is over, at worst there was just a lot of smoke for the town though sadly a few houses in the bush got burnt down - and it’s thanks to all the volunteer and professional firefighters, without their round the clock work it would almost certainly have been a much worse outcome. 

[blue eyed snake]

2 minutes ago, Bindi said:

The danger is over, at worst there was just a lot of smoke for the town though sadly a few houses in the bush got burnt down - and it’s thanks to all the volunteer and professional firefighters, without their round the clock work it would almost certainly have been a much worse outcome. 

 

Thanks for updating us, it scares me to think of those bushfires.

Glad you and  and your city came through unscathed but my heart hurts from thinking of the people that lost their homes to the fire.

[Apech]

27 minutes ago, Bindi said:

The danger is over, at worst there was just a lot of smoke for the town though sadly a few houses in the bush got burnt down - and it’s thanks to all the volunteer and professional firefighters, without their round the clock work it would almost certainly have been a much worse outcome. 

 

 

That's good news.  I know how scary wildfires can be.  We have them here.  Even now in February there have been some in the mountains.

 

Stay safe.

[blue eyed snake]

Blue eyed snake looked around, the companions were well fed and watered, the barrel of honey-mead had been put to good use too. Everybody looked happy and satisfied. Small clumps of people were softly talking to each other, or snoring. She saw some loners as well, they had not yet found their place in the troupe.

She looked at the paper she’d wanted to use to fold cranes, but back in Drew’s village she had seen it was a map after all. But not one she could read in this lifetime. Musing on this she thought, we need maps, but the last part of the road we’re mapless, we will be wandering through our own uncharted lands.

 

Seeing a crane flying, her thoughts had gone back to Soaring Crane, he was the one that had welcomed her as she first entered Daobumia as a young cartoonish snake with a goofy smile. Ah, the naivety she had at that time. Crane and Marblehead had put her at ease,  Marble, we stil miss him, all of us I think. Between the followers of several paths and the searching youngsters he was always the one with an enormously big, warm, caring heart and a purely philosophical take on the old Chinese wisdom. Chapter by chapter going through the DaoDeChing and ChuangTzu, I learned from that experience … ah… memories. It would have clicked nicely with that young Questionmark. They would have happily analyzed things together, they may well be carved from the same block. I wonder what she would make from the story of the butterfly.

 

Listening to the stories around her she heard someone talking about about being impaled on a rhinoceros. I had somehow expected we would find oxen along the way,  those of the hard to catch sort. Well, maybe some people find a wild rhinoceros instead of oxen, one never knows…. These would be even harder to tame though...

 

So many thoughts, I know what is the matter with me she muttered, I need smoke. She poked the fire a bit, drew out a long pipe and a pouch from her cloak, aah there’s still a bit of Old Toby,  yes, this is a good moment. Contentedly smoking her pipe she fell into a reverie about the preciousness of comradeship. I really never felt at home anywhere she thought, but since I am back in Daobumia after my long absence, I do feel at home.

[zerostao]

 A gopher ran over a sleeping z, gophers are silent and perfect for sneaking into and out of camps. This one had to emit a short high pitched screech to wake up z who was sleeping like a log. When the gopher noticed z waking up, it dropped a small note by his face.

 

z thinks What is this? Oh, it is expedited gopher delivery of a raven's dispatch.

z opened the note and read, the note saying 

You will hear coyotes yipping on the fortnight, this will signal their return from annual vacation, location not disclosed----

Opossums have been aware of the situation since before the beginning--

 @goldisheavy says that if the troupe was within twenty minutes of his apartment, he would gladly join up,

however the Troupe is beyond the range of a twenty minute hypersonic flight---

gih, adds, good luck on the journey---maybe next time, if you happen to be within twenty minutes of my apartment----

 

 blue eyed snake and i like turtles were sipping, either coffee or tea, idk, heck, it could've been honey mead as the dawn approached, ambient magenta light covered the meadow.

 

z looked over and said, "Ive just had the strangest experience."

I like turtles said, "we noticed the gopher drop the note off to you."

"Not that, before the gopher, @Vmarco stopped by and showed me a vision of the temple he has been staying at. There were joyous temple dogs laughing, wagging their tails, even the ones whose tails had been cropped." z said.

"Temple dogs with cropped tails?" sssssspoke blue eyed snake.

Z stood up and said " Yes, all the temple dogs were pit bulls."

 

 

 

[old3bob]

 

3. "I hear the song of the nightingale.
The sun is warm, the wind is mild,
willows are green along the shore –
Here no Ox can hide!
What artist can draw that massive head,
those majestic horns?"

Edited February 8, 2022 by old3bob

[blue eyed snake]

oxen, pitbulls and rhinoceros.

who will tame them, that's the question,

it looks like Bindi has met the challenge, now for the long struggle to tame the beast and ride it home.

 

 

6. Riding the Bull Home
Mounting the Ox, slowly
I return homeward.
The voice of my flute intones
through the evening.
Measuring with hand-beats
the pulsating harmony,
I direct the endless rhythm.
Whoever hears this melody
will join me.

[S:C]

._.

 

Edited 18 hours ago by S:C
..

[zerostao]

z tried to send a psychic message to questionmark   ----still rather brilliant though-----

[Nungali]

Our band of travellers takes a break and sits down in a cool glen , two take the water bottles down to a creek to replenish them .

 

But the creek is  muddy and rancid . They return and tell the others so they decide to press on looking for clean water .  But there isnt any, the next creek is the same .  Off to the east they can see a wide expanse of forest ....... missing .  The clay earth is bare except for tree stumps and lines of  branches and tree trash bulldozed together . They look glumly at each other , but press on.

 

Eventually they come across a small camp of  a dozen people  , one of them jumps up to greet the others , enthusiastically :  "Oh good ! You have come to join us, we need all the help we can get . Tomorrow promises to be quiet the challenge !   They plan to illegally  cut down one of our  ancient old growth protected  ancient forest . And they know we plan to try and stop them - also we have heard the local hotel tomorrow is putting on free beer for loggers and anyone that supports them . Then they plan to all come up here in the hotels tour bus  and  get rid of us .  Now that we have more numbers  , we feel a bit safer . "

 

'Well, we actually DIDNT know about that, "   said one of our group , " we just happened upon this place ."

 

" Oh, I see .... but can you help us anyway ? .... I should warm you first though .... this could end violently "

 

" I suppose we could put it to the vote  of the group . "

 

" AND ,.... "  Nungali piped up ,  "  Get some consensus  on what TYPE of action we could offer ... HOW  we should deal with this ..... I dont want to go into this with a bunch of unplanned unprepared people running around in chaos and confusion . "

 

So they group sat down and  'passed the stick '  each in turn  spoke as to what they thought should be done  ...........

 

?

 

 

Edited February 7, 2022 by Nungali

[S:C]

...

Edited 18 hours ago by S:C
...

[Apech]

"Odd that," remarked the cat, "if I look at this book through one eye it reads one way, if I look at it another way it tells another story."

 

With that he slammed shut the Great Book of Daobums and lay back in the morning sun.

 

Dozing, he dreamed he was a Daoist dreaming he was a butterfly, dreaming he was cat, that dreamed he was a man.  When he woke he realised he was none of those.

 

 

[Iliketurtles]

6 minutes ago, Apech said:

"Odd that," remarked the cat, "if I look at this book through one eye it reads one way, if I look at it another way it tells another story."

 

With that he slammed shut the Great Book of Daobums and lay back in the morning sun.

 

Dozing, he dreamed he was a Daoist dreaming he was a butterfly, dreaming he was cat, that dreamed he was a man.  When he woke he realised he was none of those.

 

 

 

He was a turtle.