Wednesday, September 19, 2018

7 Ways Couples Try to Control Each Other

1. Guilt - Always used to hurt or control.
2. Anger - Anger is especially effective against those unnerved by openly aggressive behavior.
3. Obligation - Often is the form of an unspoken agreement.
4. Withholding - Primary control ploy used in close relationships. Especially withholding sex.
5. Helplessness - Is a way the controller claims they can not do what they need to do.
6. Teasing - Appears loving and affectionate on the surface, but can be a way for the teaser to make an indirect statement.
7. Questions - Can be an attempt to control when they already know the answers.

These are notes are from a session with one of my favorite long time E-Gurus Dick Sutphen. All credit goes to him and you should look him up if you need Zen in your life.

Saturday, July 14, 2018

Life’s Path

Life, like a trail, as you walk along it will notice there are many places you cant go. Sometimes the reasons you cant go are obvious like off a cliff or through a tree. This is wisdom. 
Fear dissuades you from ever leaving the trail. Those that fear the least are free and forced to the edge by the densely slow moving center. 
The trail provides the illusion of security, because many travel it, it seems to go on forever. It is an illusion because the path was made by many, and no one has walked the length. Those that leave the path with no conviction are forgotten, as no one follows. For it is along the edges we travel to get a taste of the unknown. 
The edge is always expanding as every time we are passed, or pass we walk besides our intended path with another, if for only a moment, those are relationships.
Death is when you find yourself without a vehicle. Nothing is certain, even abandoned paths heal. No two can walk the same path, yet we are never alone. 

Sunday, May 27, 2018

Live in the Dao - Practice Everything, Nurture Life, and Savor the Now

Zhuangzi

The Tale of Cook Ding 

Cook Ding was carving an ox carcass for Lord Wenhui. With each touch of his hand, heave of his shoulder, step of his feet, thrust of his knee – whop! whish! – he wielded his knife with a whoosh, and every move was in rhythm. It was as though he were performing the Dance of the Mulberry  Grove or keeping to the beat of the Constant Source music.

“Ah, marvelous!” said Lord Wenhui. “Surely this is the acme of skill!” Cook Ding laid down his knife and replied, “What your servant loves, my lord, is the Dao,  and that is a step beyond skill."

“At the beginning, when I first began carving up oxen, all I could see was the whole carcass.  After three years I could no longer see the carcass whole, and now I meet it with my spirit and don’t  look with my eyes. Perception and understanding cease and spirit moves as it will. I follow the  natural form: slicing the major joints I guide the knife through the big hollows, and by conforming to the inherent contours, no vessels or tendons or tangles of sinews – much less the big bones – block my blade in the least."

“A good cook changes his knife once a year, but this is mere slicing. An ordinary cook  changes his knife once a month, because he hacks. I’ve been using this knife now for nineteen years;  it has carved thousands of oxen, yet the blade is as sharp as one fresh off the grindstone. You see,  there are gaps between these joints, but the blade edge has no thickness. If a knife with no thickness  moves into a gap, then it’s wide as need be and the blade wanders freely with plenty of leeway.  That’s why after nineteen years the blade of my knife is as sharp as one fresh off the grindstone."

“But nevertheless, whenever a tangled knot lies ahead, I spot the challenge and on the alert I  focus my sight and slow down my hand – then I flick the blade with the slightest of moves, and before you know it the carcass has fallen apart like earth crumbling to the ground. I stand with knife  raised and face all four directions in turn, prancing in place with complete satisfaction. Then I wipe off the knife and put it away.”

“How fine!” said Lord Wenhui. “Listening to the words of Cook Ding, I have learned how
to nurture life!”

~ Zhuangzi: The Inner Chapters - 3.2 The Tale of Cook Ding

Download full PDF book courtesy of Indiana State University 

Wednesday, March 14, 2018

Honesty, Zen, Social Media, and Creativity

Recently I started to self publish my stuff to social media. I used all the social accounts I already used like Facebook and LinkedIn and even started to use some I never have before like Twitter and Instagram.

Today I am baffled by having to open up all my social media pages and seeing each of my different crowds and their likes or comments.

My Zen started to fade as I realized how much work it would take to interact with all my audiences honestly and with real human interest. I also saw Instagram is plagued with bots so you will get far more likes than views.  If you don't believe me upload a video with #hashtags. You also see ridiculous comments obviously misplaced and making no sense whatsoever, but will undoubtedly have a link to someones website in it.

I had never used Twitter before and found it far more mentally stimulating and have replaced my daily Facebook habit with it completely. There are people playing follow unfollow as well, trying to claw their way to the top of the social peak, but it is easily managed with one scroll through who you follow.

So I am going to add a bit of Zen to my life again.  I am going to reduce the number of social profiles to what I can honestly manage with real human interaction. This will both help me become more honest with my viewers, myself, and in fact provide me more time to be creative without worrying who likes it or not.

I will keep my blog.  I really like Blogger.  You can write whatever you wish (countries may vary), be as creative as you want, and post it without having to force it down someones social windpipe. They can search for it when they want to see it, and it doesn't bother them when they don't.

My new social presence...
+ Blogger (pathozen.com)
+ Twitter (curiously interesting)
+ LinkedIn (Resume)
+ YouTube (Video projects)
+ Google+ (never use it, but it bothers me none, and comes with my Gmail.

I am wasting my time with...
- Instagram (too many bots, hard to manage, must update with phone)
- Facebook (politically engaged, closed and private circles.) I might have kept this, but now somehow I can not post my tweets to it because of a technical glitch that they report but do not fix. Perhaps I will reactivate after awhile, it is not personal ;)
- Buffer (interesting tool for managing all social accounts.  Gets views, but increasingly expensive and trial is now more limited.)

I may make more changes.  On the path of Zen our time engaged in ego driving activities must be identified and checked. It is contradictory to a Zen life to have to much or little ego.  It is to live life honestly as you are. Give real human interaction, unless you want to be famous, create an illusion bubble that will pop.  It is your path. It is your choice.

As for me.. if you must have updates follow me on twitter.  I follow back, and only mute you if you post incessantly or disrupt my Zen. Cheers!




Tuesday, March 13, 2018

Trump on Drugs





While practicing cutting up videos I thought it would be fun to use the State of the Union speech for practice.  It was a very well written speech.  I watched it thoroughly, I hope you enjoy.

Thursday, March 8, 2018

Propaganda Awareness Propaganda



Conspiracy is not the problem. Propaganda is.



Zen Dragon takes a look into the wacky mindset of flat earthers and other conspiracy groups, revealing why so many people fall for this parlor trick. Unfortunately many do not understand what is happening when they watch long propaganda videos.

Friday, February 9, 2018

Cayucos Trip 2018





My first attempt at animation using Zen (Cloud) Dragon and pictures of my most recent trip to Cayucos, CA.

Thursday, February 8, 2018

LDIK - Under God Not Added to Pledge Until 1954.

Little did I know that God was not added to the pledge of allegiance until 1954. I learned that it was president Eisenhower that urged it to be. I also learned that in God We Trust was not added to paper currency until 1956. 

I was baffled that Eisenhower was so passionate about sticking God in everything because he was not part of any organized church until the year before his presidency.  How interesting. 

Sources:

Tuesday, December 19, 2017

Oh Satan Clause

Don't do this! Break out the butter and milk!

Oh this Santa is a bad man you see, you switch the N and it’s Satan
This guy dresses red like hell, and so very far from zen
Whipping his reindeer so hard, all the time, they fly
Yet Satan worshippers everywhere welcome him by

He visits in the dead of winter as it is most pleasant for him
He comes from hell, and this is vacation to him
He also flies at night, which is not a surprise 
When else would you expect the devil to rise?

It is no secret he visits everyone in the world without rival
This bastard never knocks or announces his arrival
Slides his fat ass down your chimney assuring a mess
Not to mention the fact he expects a snack for all this

He comes from the North Pole, a resort from hell
Covered in ice, anyone who ventures never tell
Except Satan Clause and his kidnapped bad kids
He calls them his elves in his sweat shop off the grid

Satan Clause is getting rather lazy
Most his toys are just plain crazy
And furthermore stamped on his toys
Proof of outsourcing to overseas boys

Satan Clause is old school by hundreds of years
Bringing wants and greed and plenty of tears
Little kids tell of worse legends of Satan Clause
Like waking up to find him kissing their momma’s

We make fun of ol' Satan the best we can do
We stuff him up fat, and his karma is to balloon
As long as we continue to leave out the snack
Some day he will get stuck ass first, in a stack

Tuesday, October 10, 2017

The Triple-Filter Test

One day in ancient Greece an acquaintance met with Socrates, the great philosopher, and said, "Do you know what I just heard about your friend?"

"Hold on a minute," Socrates replied. "Before you talk to me about my friend, it might be good idea to take a moment and filter what you’re going to say, what I call it the triple filter test. The first filter is Truth. Have you made absolutely sure that what you are about to tell me is true?"

"Well, no," the man said, "actually I just heard it..."

"All right," said Socrates. "So you don’t really know if it’s true or not. Now, let’s try the second filter, the filter of Goodness. Is what you are about to tell me about my friend something good?"

"Umm, no, on the contrary…"

"So," Socrates continued, "you want to tell me something bad about my friend, but you’re not certain it’s true. You may still pass the test though, because there’s one filter left—the filter of Usefulness. Is what you want to tell me about my friend going to be useful to me?"

"No, not really."

"Well," concluded Socrates, "if what you want to tell me is neither true, nor good, nor even useful, why tell it to me at all?"

Three filters...

True
Good
Useful

Friday, October 6, 2017

The Hell of it All - 🐉 LKL

There is a God who went by the name Thoth.  No one could say his name right, and if they did no way to know.  The only way to know is to ask him yourself. Thoth is a God of wisdom and he tells the most outrageous stories to those that don't comprehend.

Thoth did not gain his wisdom on this planet, it simply has not been around long enough. He was a high priest on Atlantis, but when it met it's doom he left toward the land of Egypt.  The barbarians of Egypt at the time lacked the same wisdom, or knowledge as Thoth. If he did not have a birds head at the time the men would have said he was crazy. Having a birds head helped convince these people that what he said was obviously just different, not crazy.

Thoth spoke honestly and openly to the barbarian natives. He told them about how he escaped Atlantis before it's demise in his spaceship then came down to Egypt and buried his spaceship under the Sphinx.  He had compassion on men. A few Gods said he was foolish for intervening with lower life forms, but admired his wisdom in the way he went about it. He knew a few of the other local Gods as well. Such as the Dagda in Ireland who built Newgrange, and others that landed on various areas of the world.

The Gods were just as different from each other as we are.  Dagda was seen as pure alpha male, he to was a God of wisdom, but all Gods were compared to us. Those in Ireland called him the "Good God", obviously having some experience dealing with others they thought not so good.  Gods all had mastered what they were and had power over life and death.  They also die as we do when incarnate on this earth. 

Each God that cared, tried to reason with the people to help them grow out of their innocence that would hold them back. They tried to comfort regarding death, each in their own way. Thoth build pyramids, and Dogda built Newgrange.  They were built out of such large stones people today are amazed and always guessing as to how they must have done it. 

Thoth lived on our planet just as we do in our form.  He is often depicted with various heads of animals in artwork.  This is because he manifested an appearance different from our own.  If he liked dogs, the next lifetime he would grow a dogs head.  He was wise in doing this.  Men all knew he was a God, and if he took the same form men would see themselves as the same. This would cause problems as Thoth wanted their attention.  Plus it looked rather striking, as men painted him often this way.

In his divine wisdom he laughed and drank beers with other men. Beer he taught them to make. One time one of the men ask him, "How come we look different than the other creatures around us?"

Thoth was always a comedian, and enjoyed his wise puns, "Because you see differently."

"Haha! But in all seriousness..", he continued. "A long time ago there was another rag tag group of Gods.  You might call them aliens, but they were wiser than you anyway."

Thoth continued, "They saw your world pop up rather quickly.  It looked volatile, like it would not last long you know. They were thinking something like 6000 years and it would be destroyed or blow itself up. Groups would show up here for awhile, stir shit, and leave. Some used the locals for sport and satisfaction. Some would terrorize the locals, cause floods, volcanoes, plagues, and false doctrines. Some Gods fell in love with the females and made love to them as only God's could do.  In wisdom, as well as love, they did this so there would be wiser beings among you to help you gain self awareness before you blow the world up out of torment."

"All you bare skinned animals are hybrids of one of us, you are children of light as myself. That is why you can deny your instincts, that is why you can evolve in so many ways now."

There was no mistaking Thoth.  He made known to men his control over both matter and energy. He built the pyramids himself.  Men are still trying to figure out how other men made them, but it is quite simple if you know how. If you are a God.  When I was young I was taught that they had found no soot in the tunnels, so obviously there had to be slaves working in the dark. Recently, men have obviously started to only accept as truth what they can accomplish with their own works.

Thoth's wisdom speaks through the ages.  He had men paint descriptions of everything they did.  "Document it in rock", he said.  "The more solid rock, the longer it will last." In one description he had them paint the light tubes they would walk around with in the dark catacombs.  Way before Tesla's tower - the pyramids, being buried so deep and sticking up high, covered with metal which has long since weathered away, focused the earths own electrons in such a way that Egyptians just walked around with glass tubes that worked much like fluorescent lightbulbs. The pyramids themselves acting like wireless batteries. The Gods could charge this light themselves as they had direction over their natural electricity. Men could not do so unless they were enlightened. Thus we now call it being enlightened.  If one was not, they would have a hard time navigating the pyramids, pretty much impossible.  One guy tried to light a torch and go in, but at the time there was a build up of methane gases and he shot out, ass first, on fire as if through a cannon.

Thoth  lived several times on this planet and also in Europe as Hermes the thrice. He spread his wisdom upon men so they may live as they are supposed to, as they truly are, as themselves.

Thoth gave men hope.  He reasoned with them rather simply.  In fact he repeated himself verse, after verse, after verse.  To read his writing translated is fascinating as it is the same truths described with the same words, many different ways. Smart men believe it is hocus-pocus, they believe it is hypnotic propaganda set to confuse and separate the mind. This is why Thoth had his words recorded on a set of emerald tablets.  They were not made out of normal emerald.  It was a green substance that looked like emerald, but was impermeable to oxidization and corrosion. There are stories of other famous people seeing these tablets like Isaac Newton, but since then no one knows where they are at.  I would love to say I have seen them, but only read a supposed interpretation of them on the internet.

His message was simple.  He said we are all children of light, we are infant Gods. To believe you are not is to believe you are of this earth, are no more than dirt. In a material world where there is an illusion of absolute, accomplishment, progress; ego is born. If we grow too fast we marvel in ourselves so we lose our footing through pride. It is because we lack wisdom we think we should resort to power, but without wisdom, we have no power, only illusion.

So he told of these halls through which you pass when you die.  He called them the Halls of Amenti. If you had no ego, you would pass through with ease, and remember the lessons of your past lives, continuing to grow.  If you have ego, you will be reborn again, but your memory of lessons wiped clean by a god of forgetfulness and mercy so you may get it right. It is the nature of the spirit to share and the nature of the ego to take. The hell is waking up to swallow illusion and not grow, then die to relive the same torments, addictions, and weaknesses until finally waking the fuck up.

So enlightenment as it is, is simply the mastery of your own energies.  It can span lifetimes if that is your journey. All of us are children of light, he repeats this a lot.

We are all growing or dissipating. When we are dissipating we do not mind. When we are growing nothing can stop us.  Fear paralyzes our growth. Guilt and shame create karmic debts which may take more than one lifetime to pay off. We should not be sorry, because we should not do things we would be sorry for.  When we are growing we seek balance and harmony, once we have mastered one thing, we move to another, or may rest.

The hell is to believe that this world is all there is to it.  It negates a simple truth in oneself that they are something more than just material decaying. It makes desperate and greedy souls out of men.  Men collect riches, then foolishly save them for another life. The very joke is that this ego, that they may start ahead of others in the next life, will cause them to forget where they buried their treasure. They will begin again until they get this right.  It works with everything.  If you grow ego from anything it will surely destroy the whole, whether it be love, money, power, lust, or pleasures. With wisdom all things easily come, without it you toil for promised treasure. Treasure you promised yourself. Treasure you comfort your own fears with, telling yourself your earthly accomplishments will somehow benefit you in the next life.  Growth does not happen through material alone, it requires energy.  Do you believe you are matter or energy, or both?

Ego is thinking you have a secret shortcut to salvation when it's really unnecessary, or that you may gain wisdom without understanding foolishness, that you may win without first losing, or live without dying.

Thoth obviously moved on to other things eventually.  I don't know what kind of God he is now, but if you call on him for wisdom he has now mastered it.

I suppose really.. your ego is the hell of it all.                 

- 🐉 LKL

Thursday, October 5, 2017

A Story With More Dragons - 🐉 LKL

You never really hear a lot of legends of the Dragon world.  These legends are only partially remembered, filtered through rebirth, as their spirits have found their way to other lands as other beings. Some people say that the world moves through the universe and during a specified time every 12 years you will find spirits born of the Dragon realm. Although not everyone is a dragon that is born during this time, repeatedly you will welcome men and women you will only know, if you knew dragons.

In time, as we know it, the dragon realm existed many thousands of years before, and exist no more. It was destroyed in a violent event that we only hear partial reports about.  The ones we do know of report fires, rocks burning, huge canyons of fire opening up, and their loved ones burned or crushed before them. Even dragons are not sure what destroyed their world.  What they are sure of, is that it had nothing to do with nuclear war, pollution, or technological advances as we know of them today.

This world was far beyond lush, every living thing lived in bounty until it's very own existence balanced living in harmony with everything else. When survival became strained for a living thing it adapted slowly over time, it found it's prey very selectively, and the world bowed to the conquest of the strongest beings.

This world was not unlike our own, but only when we have seen it in it's natural nutrient rich state.  The air was more humid and rich in nitrogen. It smelled like a fertile greenhouse. It had seas, lakes, rivers, lands, deserts, and ice caps. There were cycles of change, but this world was far older than our own.  The mountains lost their sharp edges, life naturally developed and interacted with everything else of all life types. The planets rotation after tens of thousands of years had slowed to a 36 hour day.  Dragons usually only slept 7 hours a day. There was more than one sun and the darker hours were limited so dragons simply rested when they were tired. The days and nights cycled through various colored sunsets and rises from different colored suns. The contrasting light spectrums, and angles brought out the brightest colors.  Colors we can not imagine with only one spectrum of light. There was not just light and dark.  There were creatures that would only come out when the light was deep blue. Their color reacted with the light in such a magical way that it's prey never regretted it's last dinner. They appeared to glow with a pink light of their own. They looked delicious, as if you could taste a color. To view such spectrum is spectacular and it is only wisdom that can protect you from it's beauty. It enchants through desire and pleasure, yet is not evil.  It has adapted.

The planet had more land, less water, and less salt. Storms were not as fierce as the planet had lived a lot longer and was no longer building.

There was one, and only one large being that could fly.  This being was the Dragon. The dragon is one of the oldest living creatures ever, having seen thousands of years of evolution and being incredibly intelligent they were the supreme guardians of the planet. They did not fight crime, it did not exist, justice is not needed.  Life happens regardless of what you think, and there is no need to judge it. The guardians ruled with supreme passion and dedication for the planet. Dragons never developed opposable thumbs. There was no need to develop anything anyway. Every weapon a creature had developed through necessity and had been earned. So using it was just.  It's needs became such a necessity that thousands of years rewarded each with their own tools for it.

Dragons are incredibly wise because there is no fear, no evil force to be afraid of.  In fact this very thing led to the dragons enlightenment.  This world had no language as we know it. They had not needed it. Dragons are passionate, but physical intimacy as we know it does not happen there.  Dragons are scaled to protect them and physical contact and chemistry do not exist as it does for us. Reproduction could be said to be divine, but is a result of asexual fertilization upon unseen electrical or magnetic connection between two. A charge of spirit not unlike our orgasm, but involving the entire being.

Dragons, like lobsters, lived as long as they willed it, considering how well they used their manifestation, and of course, considering physical limitations. The dragons time was not destined or planned, but just as we know we will fall when we lose our footing, the dragon knows when it is time to go.  They did not believe in re-incarnation as we speak of it.  They never really thought of it. However, generation after generation of them continued to become wiser. There were no interplanetary threats that ever lived without adapting to the planet.  I suppose you could say it was darwinian in nature.  The Dragons would always warn, but that is all they could do.

When they played they were performing their biggest service to the planet. They looked upon the world with compassion. When little else was going on they would witness births, death, pain, and suffering.  Whatever dragons purpose was it was mercy. Mercy for suffering, and it was always completed with divine wisdom and love for the planet.  Dragons protect that which they value. They are smart, wise, and particularly different.  A dragon will very much do what he says. You will find it easy to talk to a dragon, but very hard to connect.

Dragons spirits are old to the dragon world and new to any other world they appear on.  Just as the eyes have a moment of blindness as they move from dark to light, so does the soul experience confusion upon awakening.  They never forget what they see, can be foolishly determined, stubborn, and difficult to communicate with.  Their intelligence generally can promote increased compassion for people, or if twisted, disgust and contempt, but then they lose their magic.  They let it go. A suicide of their creativity. Dragons know illusion, many life forms use it for protection, including dragons.

Dragons are independent creatures, naturally gregarious with other life forms. If cornered or controlled they will attempt to fight or flee as every wild thing.   They are extreme in their actions often leading to their early demise in this world. They have a strong tendency to seek adrenaline and dopamine to help nurture a void for quantities of energy they once experienced flying from mountain tops and chasing leopards across the desert.  In the Dragon world you inherently knew your boundaries. You could fly with molecular precision. Dragons have developed a sense of speed and direction that could only be gained with centuries of playful practice. Dragon spirits in other realms are often pilots, very good pilots as that. They have a knack for this dimension, and feel free when they do.  Fear of high places is not a fear a dragon avoids.  It is exciting as hell when you master it, and charges your spirit.  Dragon spirits in other realms often have dreams of flying they can not explain.

Dragons are trustworthy at a very deep, eternal level.  They always believed what they saw in other realms and are always looking for truth in worlds where everything seems strange.

Please remember that not every dragon is new to a realm.  Occasionally they will stay more than one lifetime.  That is if their first experience is not a fucking shitstorm. They may return a lifetime if they find love or compassion for others. Otherwise, to hell with your planet, a dragon will sleep ten thousand years to find a place he loves.

You ask about why the dragon world was destroyed? Nobody knows, they were just living their lives when they witnessed its end.  Maybe we ought to start asking better questions, stop trying to procrastinate, and extend the future. Start living in the now. If we make each moment the best we can, we do not need to worry about the past or the future.