Bumping this.

Don't forget to email questions if you can't call in. ANd set up your MP3 players early.

Blessings,
BE

__________________
Brit Elders
CEO - ShirleyMacLaine.com

Hi Brit and Shirley,
I fell asleep at 2:00 am (7 pm EDT) and instinctively woke up at 4:00 am, dialled your call-in number and was told by the operator that it wasn't available for my region(Greece). Couldn't participate in the IE Program. So, by 4:10 am I was asleep again.
I listened to the show today and am happy that members from around the world are taking action to stop burdening our environment. I, too, plan to install solar power units on my house this summer. Greece is blessed with constant sun and wind but utilizing this energy is still surprisingly in the pre-infancy stage.
Next time, I'll send an e-mail question...
Oh wait! please tell me how you like my story in the "Laugh" section.
Keep walkin',
Your friend,
Steve

Hello Everyone!


As a new member as of yesterday, what an UNBELIEVABLE surprise it was to call the telephone # to listen to the show, to have some strange guy answer and ask 'What's your question?' instead!
What do you mean, 'What's my question?!!! Are we on the air??' Oh God, what the bleep is my question, I prayed, just about falling off my chair. 'I'm going to sound like a total idiot! As it was, I did not have time to be TOO nervous, although - I was ECSTATIC to TALK TO SHIRLEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A dream come true!!!


Many Blessings, Andrea

Hi Andrea

I had to work last night, so I didn't get a chance to listen to the show till this morning. And I heard you~~you sounded great! And now to read that you just joined yesterday...how cool. Welcome to the site and our Shirley community. She has been so busy with her movie and it is always fon when she's home and can play with us.

Nice to meet you, nice to hear you ...welcome to the boards and the site.

Hi Steve and a big welcome to you too. Greece? Wow, fabulous, what a glorious place to call home...

off now to go and read your story.

I'm Jade and I live in Wyoming.

Jade

__________________
It's all about the Joy you know

Checking out a map I noticed that there's a city in Wyoming with a Greek name, "Thermopolis". Have you been there? Hope to visit your great state someday. Jade, thanks for the welcome.
Best Wishes,
Steve

You've come 'round at an exciting time.

__________________
His touch, our touch
His life, our life
His heart, our heart

Hi again Steve. Thermopolis? Oh yea, only about 30 miles south of here. I am there quite often. Little town of about 3000 people centered around a mineral hot springs. The Native American population (only a few miles away from the WindRiver Indian Reservation) consider the waters healing. Quite an intersting little town really, and the point of an energy vortex. People compare the energies as similiar to Sedona AZ. (Just not as well known) My job takes me there to work with clients, I also have joined the drumming circle community there~~drum and dance around a fire. Big drum circle coming up this weekend...full moon drum energy...I'm jazzed Some days, I like to go sit in the Canyon. Very pretty in the spring, lots of red cliffs dancing with green fields, blue sky. Also a buffalo herd living on the edge of the park.
LOL, do I sound like a travel brochure? Giggle Maybe you WILL visit one day. I love travelling and Greece would be great too.

Jade

__________________
It's all about the Joy you know

I enjoyed listening to your segment on the show. It was good of you to talk so clearly with Shirley about changing the economic worries by conservation, and you dove right in. What sign are you?

Anyway,

We all need to study Yin and Yang. Shirley stresses this as a way to understanding the HUMAN condition. Not so much separation of ego from man/woman. I bet you related, with your handle and all Andromeda.
I enjoy talking with Shirley, but sometimes we are so in tune with eachother, I'm not sure who's talking and who's listening.

Loved being there. Thank you. I better start studying. I am researching and found this for all of us today. I am sure this is just the tip of the iceberg.

Taoism


Return to Balance

Taoism is not a religion, nor a philosophy. It is a "Way" of life. It is a River. The Tao is the natural order of things. It is a force that flows through every living and sentient object, as well as through the entire universe.

When the Tao is in balance it is possible to find perfect happiness.

The primary religious figures in Taoism are Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu, two scholars who dedicated their lives two balancing their inner spirits.

The most common graphic representation of Taoist theology is the circular Yin Yang figure. It represents the balance of opposites in the universe. When they are equally present, all is calm. When one is outweighed by the other, there is confusion and disarray. The Yin and Yang are a model that the faithful follow, an aid that allows each person to contemplate the state of his or her lives.

More a mode of living than an actual theology, Taoism asks that each person focuses on the world around him or her in order to understand the inner harmonies of the universe. It is a kind of religious system heavily focused on meditation and contemplation. The Tao surrounds everyone and one must listen to find enlightenment.

Taoism is a religio-philosophical tradition that has, along with Confucianism, has shaped Chinese life for more than 2,000 years. The Taoist heritage, with its emphasis on individual freedom and spontaneity, laissez-faire government and social primitivism, mystical experience, and techniques of self-transformation, represents in many ways the antithesis to Confucian concern with individual moral duties, community standards, and governmental responsibilities.

Taoism encompasses both a Taoist philosophical tradition (Tao-chia) associated with the Tao-te Ching (Lao-tzu), Chuang-tzu, Lieh-tzu, and other texts, and a Taoist religious tradition (Tao-chiao) with organized doctrine, formalized cultic activity, and institutional leadership. These two forms of Taoist expression are clearly interrelated, though at many points in tension. Aspects of both philosophical and religious Taoism were appropriated in East Asian cultures influenced by China, especially Korea, Japan, and Vietnam.

Traditionally, Taoism has been attributed to three sources, the oldest being the legendary 'Yellow Emperor', but the most famous is Lao Tse's Tao Teh Ching. According to tradition, Lao Tse was an older contemporary of Kung Fu Tse (Confucius). The third source is Chuang Tse's (untitled) work.

Confucianism, Buddhism, and a clutch of other Eastern religions - Books of Tao from around the time of Christ more closely resemble an unexpurgated 10 commandments than the poetic Tao Te Ching, carefully delineating everything from the proper system of greetings to the proper way to clean one's house. Most modern Taoists consider this to be a radical departure from the true Tao, since Lao Tzu abhorred the caste systems of Confucianism that riddled the later Taoist books.

"I am good to the man who is good to me, likewise, I am also good to the bad man." Literally, this sentence would read, "The good man, I good him. The bad man, I good him too."

Action through interaction,
- the practice of going against the stream not by struggling against it and thrashing about, but by standing still and letting the stream do all the work.

Thus the sage knows that relative to the river, he still moves against the current. To the outside world the sage appears to take no action - but in fact he takes action long before others ever foresee the need for action. Thinking well about one's actions before making them is another aspect of the Tao.

Likewise, the Taoist is not precisely a pacifist. He will take military action when he has not seen far enough ahead to prevent the need for violence in the first place. When violence is needed, the Taoist leader will fight until he has achieved his goal, and then stop, saddened at the need for bloodshed and with resolve to foresee better into the future.

Clearly interrelated, though at many points in tension.


In contrast to the Confucian program of social reform through moral principle, ritual, and government regulation, the true way of restoration for the Taoists consisted in the banishment of learned sageliness and the discarding of wisdom. "Manifest the simple," urged Lao-tzu, "embrace the primitive, reduce selfishness, have few desires."

As the Tao operates impartially in the universe, so should mankind disavow assertive, purposive action. The Taoist life is not, however, a life of total inactivity. It is rather a life of nonpurposive action (wu-wei). Stated positively, it is a life expressing the essence of spontaneity (tzu-jan, "self-so").

While the Chuang-tzu and Lieh-tzu are guides directing all persons in the realization of total freedom, the Tao-te Ching is addressed in particular to rulers. Great rulers, taught Lao-tzu, simply follow Nature and the people only know of their existence.

************************************************** *****

Interesting this stuff has been around for so long and no one seems to understand the impact of its awareness from long ago. It could matter today, but it does'nt so much. It should matter. It doesn't really though I'm afraid.

Attached Images

 

drum and dance around a fire. Big drum circle coming up this weekend...full moon drum energy...I'm jazzed Some days, I like to go sit in the Canyon. Very pretty in the spring, lots of red cliffs dancing with green fields, blue sky. Also a buffalo herd living on the edge of the park. [/color][/font]
[font=Fixedsys][color=#9932cc]LOL, do I sound like a travel brochure? Giggle Maybe you WILL visit one day. I love travelling and Greece would be great too.


Drums, moon, cliffs, herd= music, universe, earth and life...all the rhythms living in harmony. I will visit one day. If you haven't been, hope you make it to Greece. Beyond noisy, stuffy cities there are still untouched mountains, and islands to be discovered.

Very glad your back & had such a wonderful time
Filming...
Who wouldn't in those locations?
As usual ; you were perfectly synchronistic with this Circle of Light....
Feminine FUSION....is the book I am finishing now...& so many of the questions & answers were ones I have been experiencing...as I turn each page...
& I loved it when you said ...
poor men ...if only they could stop being afraid of connecting with their feminine side....I have been thinking that for a long time...& especially about my husband...just have to love em...& hope for the best!
Enjoy the good parts! & guide with a GENTLE whisper of love!
BALANCE!...yin & yang
xxxto terry!...bet he really missed you!