Stagnant waters stink, they breed disease and continue to do so faster and faster with the longer they sit. Running waters cleanse themselves, they purify themselves with everlasting tumbling over rocks, streams, through soil and stone they push onwards and in the end, it is the water that keeps flowing, keeps moving, and keeps changing that is the purest, most desirable water.

In nature, plants and animals that do not evolve with the ever-changing environmental circumstances are those that die out. Those species who remain on their toes, aware, and ready to change with the flow of the world, are the ones who survive, grow, and prosper into the future. The seagull who flies against the wind struggles frivolously and goes nowhere, the gull who opens his wings with the wind gets both a free ride and can focus on other priorities.

The man who finds comfort in his ways, remains in his ways, forever. A cycle of comfort creates a situation where the mind, and the man, can easily slip into something I can only describe as "average-ness". A state of, neutrality in excellence. Why settle for average, when your have the capability to be extraordinary. The man who seeks change, welcomes adversity, and keeps an ever-changing goal in his sites will remain in peak shape physically, mentally, and spiritually. The cycle can only be broken by the individual, this cannot be forced. It must be welcomed, and embraced. Just as the seagull embraces direction of the wind reaps great rewards, so does the man who embraces and seeks change.

But what about having a solid, describable self? Will there be no self, no identity if one seeks only change?

Wrong. Change in this sense does not represent a deconstruction of what you are, it represents a modification, revamping, or addition to what you are. The person you are is the person you are meant to be, but the degree to which you are an excellent, extraordinary, phenomenal human being is your choice.

Namaste.
I. Smith

I was with you until you hit "Namaste".

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Lo' there do I see My Father.
Lo' there do I see the line of My People, back to the beginning.
Lo' they do call to me, they bid me take my place among them.
in the Halls of Valhalla, where the brave may live forever.

Totally off topic, but curious what that meant, I discovered that it is supposed to be said at the beginning of something written according to wikipedia...

You study a lot of various cultures Smith, I see where you get so much of your interesting perspectives from. Wish I had more time to get around to reading the various books of religion I've picked up, such as the Koran.

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"The 'Brick Walls' are there to allow you to prove how badly you want something!" ~ Randy Pausch

~ Rye

It's a greeting in South Asian cultures, and was imported along with yoga, healing crystals, and Deepak Chopra. It seems to be the calling card of hippies and New Agers, both of which I loathe. Sorry Smith.

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Lo' there do I see My Father.
Lo' there do I see the line of My People, back to the beginning.
Lo' they do call to me, they bid me take my place among them.
in the Halls of Valhalla, where the brave may live forever.

Namaste is actually a Saskrit word that originated from Ancient Indian cultures but has been adopted by many different people. For instance, hippies and New-Agers (both of which I also loathe), yogi's, buddhists, daoists. It can be used as a greeting or in departure, or in many other situations. The way in which I use it, means "respect".

I personally picked it up from my yoga studies. But just like any other word when people get their hands on it, the word tends to change meaning over time.

Yeah, wikipedia said it was East Indian as well. Generally spoken in greeting, with the accompanying hand gesture being made again at departure. The more formal version being "Namaskar" I believe.

Yay knowledge. Expand your mind boys! As I was telling a student just yesterday, never turn away from knowledge, simply because you assume that it doesn't fit with your beliefs, for you cannot make an informed decision on what your beliefs are that way. If you don't agree with the point of view expressed by the knowledge, that is fine, you don't have to; that doesn't mean that it can't enrich you by expanding your perspective on the world and give you more things to relate to others with. Never choose to be ignorant.

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"The 'Brick Walls' are there to allow you to prove how badly you want something!" ~ Randy Pausch

~ Rye

Never choose to be ignorant, my man I can't agree with you on that more. Also, the opening post on this thread is very good, informative, and a motivational plug. To change for the better is what living, learning, and life is about.

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i lust for jessica alba, but now since she is preggers. I am lusting for Nicole!!! It's New Year's Day. It was Ben Franklin who said, "Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better man."

Lol, nice to know I'm being referred to as a student

Is it just me, or has anyone else noticed that the quality of the threads posted recently are increasing more and more as days go by?

It's such a joy to see that. A sign that we, as Smith brilliantly said, are striving to push through our average-ness in hopes of being better versions of ourselves.


I agree with this post.

I agree completely Rye. Also it gives you more to talk about with people when you're out sarging or just out and about. You can never learn too much. Even though I'm not a huge fan of NLP I still learn about it. It gives me stuff to talk to you guys about and broadens my horizons about the different pickup styles that are available to us. There are still styles out there that we haven't even learned about What's to say that one of them isn't the next big thing? If you passed over it because it was new or because you didn't like it you'd be missing out on a whole new world of things.

I actually believe that the various pickup techniques can be combined. They already all intertwine with the same basic roots, so what's to say they won't all turn into one someday?


Just some food for thought. Good to see some intellectual posts in here that are intended to broaden our horizons.


Kudos Smith

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Seduction isn't making someone do what they don't want to do.Seduction is enticing someone into doing what they secretly want to do already.

Just as a side note, regarding knowledge...

Don't rely on Wikipedia for your information. While it may be generally correct most of the time, I have found it time and time again to be very wrong on the important details of most things that I use it for.

But yes, knowledge is power. This is no new concept.

Daoists do not use the word Namaste. Daoism is and remains a Chinese religion/philosophy, and with the exception of the peripheral impact of its contact with Buddhism, does not incorporate any elements of Vedic culture.
If something is incorrect, you should fix it--that is what the edit tab is for. Furthermore, any good article on Wikipedia is extensively referenced, so you can refer to the references if you want primary or secondary information.

Wikipedia has been shown in a number of studies, including one in Nature that it is as accurate as Encarta and other major print encyclopedias.

However, like any encyclopedia, it is intended to give a broad overview on subject. The advantage that Wikipedia possesses is that due to its essentially unlimited space, it has the ability to give SPAM of rather esoteric subjects.

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Lo' there do I see My Father.
Lo' there do I see the line of My People, back to the beginning.
Lo' they do call to me, they bid me take my place among them.
in the Halls of Valhalla, where the brave may live forever.

Just because Daoism is and remains a Chinese based religion, doesn't mean others don't pick it up brother. I have met Daoists and Daoist monks from all sorts of walks of life. And yes they have used the phrase in conversation. The Daoist way of life is extremely eclectic, and just because most may not use it, does not mean that ALL do not.
I should fix it? Says who?

While Wikipedia has been proven to be correct in any number of "studies" it has also been shown to been maliciously edited by outside interests in a rather large number of subjects. Like I said, don't RELY on it. I never said don't USE it.

I completely agree with what you posted, as I have been following this guideline pretty much my whole life.

We need to be open-minded (willing to learn new things), willing to change and evolve, or we will stay frozen in time and die. No one ever reaches a point where they are fully mature. We're always learning new things. If you think you're fully-mature, then you have a misconception and have stopped being open minded.

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"I use to believe when a girl said she love me, but now I take off, don't look back and keep runnin. A hundred MPH Im hidin my smile but now I find time just for writin it down" -Equipto

"Life's not a bitch, Life is a beautiful woman" -Aesop Rock

Naturally, anyone can say anything they like. A Christian, Muslim, or Branch Davidian may also use the word 'Namaste'. The point is that the term carries no particular significance within the Daoist religion.
Says Jimmy Wales and the other proponents of Wikipedia. Wikipedia is built by individual contributors. Of course, no one is compelling you to, but it is the nice thing to do, and I would imagine that I would want to correct an error if I saw it...give little back to the world.
Reliability is a necessary condition for accuracy. If you are to concede that the studies have show it to be accurate, if follows that you also accept Wikipedia as reliable. And since we assume that we can rely on something that is reliable, I don't see what the beef is.

Also, I'm not sure why you used scare quotes around the word "studies". You realize that Nature is arguably the most prestigious academic journal in the world right? Those conclusions have also been verified elsewhere.

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Lo' there do I see My Father.
Lo' there do I see the line of My People, back to the beginning.
Lo' they do call to me, they bid me take my place among them.
in the Halls of Valhalla, where the brave may live forever.

I am doing a huge research paper for college and wikipedia is not an acceptable source for information. Just throwing that out there.

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I'd rather go out swinging than strike out looking.
A lifestyle is a terrible thing to waste.
What I say when I see her is what I'll say.