Conference hydra::dejavu

    By having equivalent powers oneself.  If someone with such powers
    _really_ didn't want the people without such powers to know they exist,
    They'd be successful.
    
    Steve Kallis, Jr.

    Ahhh....I was hoping to catch your attention......if someone were
    to have certain abilities them selves, would they be able to 
    "pick up" on ... say ..... certain vibrations in the "air" if the
    person in question were applying their abilities at the time???
    
    For example, I was told by a spiritualist (a person whom I and 5
    others can verify the existence and effects of her particular gifts)
    that my aura was a strong light green with turqouise highlights.
    She said that this signified an unusually high level of healing
    energy. If this were accurate and valid then I would assume that
    a high degree of empathy, which I imagine, would be attendent along
    with the primary talent, would be integral and active. 
    
    Could a high level of empathy (empathy=sensitivity??) pick up on
    the use of other psi/paranormal abilities??
    
    			Samurai Writer

    	Yes, these people can be located.   If you see auras, that is
    one way, easier still just watch the person in action.   The powerful
    healthy psychic is detached, purposeful and "lucky".   Try looking
    at people with all the sensations of your body, not just your eyes.
    	Look for people who don't fear the "unknown", "unconscious",
    etc....   Look for evidence of right brain/left brain integrated
    thinking abilities.    Look for someone who is relaxed (ie, not
    carrying a lot of extra chronic tensions).    Look for someone who
    is running on their own inner guidance and not so dependent on
    rules and rituals.    Look for a person who is able to control
    their emotions, yet also able to give in to them.
	Many successful psychic people will deny they have abilities,
    prefering to seem "normal".   But questioning them you may find
    they have highly developed visualization abilities, and they know
    this ability is related to their success.
	Good psychics are relativly common.   Finding one who also
    knows something about the occult is MUCH more difficult.
    
    Alan.
    

    
    
    	re. -1
    
    	I don't know if this belongs with this note, or even in this
    file, but in Taoism (philosophy, not religion), one tends to have
    this "go with the flow (with one or two interjections at key points)
    and everything will work out in due course" type of attitude, or
    feeling.  Sort of like, relying on luck.  I'm not "heavy" into Taoism
    , but I have done a "little" bit of study with it, and I do sort
    "go with the flow" and tend not to let road blocks bother me, I
    know they will move out of my way.  And I have to say that it actually
    works.  I mean, everything I do seems to "work" right at the last
    second.  And if it doesn't work out just as I wanted, it tends not
    to be too severe.  
    
    	I don't know if any of that made sense, but I just thought I'd
    get it out and see if there would be any comments...
    
    	Mike

    
    	Now that I think about it, maybe I'm just plain LUCKY!
    
    
    	:^)
    
    
    	Mike

    I have always noticed that people get into situations that are "fitting
    justice" to their personalities, both good and bad.  Someone who 
    constantly rolls "00" to get out of a situation in a FRP game, or
    someone who stumbles from one increadible relationship into another, or
    leaves one job for good/bad reasons to find themselves in an even
    better/worse job than before.  You know they didn't do anything on his
    own to get it.  Is this Tao at work?

    
    	re.-1
    
    	I believe it has to do with not tipping the scales.  The idea
    is to not make waves, and therefor not leaning to one side or the
    other (neither + nor - )...   You realize that every action you
    make DOES make some sort of a wave, so you try not to make waves
    carelessly, and you sort of learn to use it to your advantage. 
    Does this make sense?  Tao was just the philosopher that realized
    this, and taught about it...
    
    	(as far as I'm concerned, that is)
    
    
    	Mike

    The word "Tao" is a Chinese word meaning roughly "way" or "path"
    (martial arts buffs will recognize it as cognate with Japenese "Do"
    as in juDO -- way of yielding, buDO -- way of the warior, aikiDO
    -- way of strong spirit, karate-DO -- way of the chinese hand).
    It is a central concept in all of chinese thought.
    
    In Confusionism it represents "correct action", and basically
    represented quite specific rules of conduct, not necessarily
    particularly "natural" or "easy".
    
    The strongest association is with Taoism, which is frequently classed
    as a religion.  Like many Eastern "religions", this labeling is
    distinctly "fuzzy", and one can be both a Taoist and, for example,
    a Moslem.  Modern Taoism was essentially invented by Lao Tzu.
    
    Although "going with the flow" is the central "message" in Taoism
    its quite a bit more complex than that.  (Or perhaps its so simple
    it *seems* complex to those of us who have accreted a shell of
    complexity).  In particular, if it "seems" to you to have worked
    out "right" at the last minute, then you were clearly *not* following
    the Tao (as I understand it).
    
    There is quite a bit of evidence that psi effects work best when
    there is a state of relaxed, effortless will.  This would seem to
    be about half-way to the Tao (now just get rid of the will).  Perhaps
    this is a classic case of any effort for paranoramal effects preventing
    progress (since if you learned to be truely effortless, you would
    be part way to the goal (or lack of goal), but to produce effects
    of being "lucky" you have to maintain the "will" part).
    
    Oh yes -- pronounciation.  You'll be much closer to the correct
    pronounciation if you say "Dow", to rhyme with "Bough" as in Dow
    Jones or Chemical.  If you now mix in about 1/4 of how you might
    think "Tao" should be pronounced, and let the pitch drop a bit from
    the middle vowel (a or o) to the final vowel (o or w) then you'll
    probably be as close as any English speaker without knowledge of
    Chinese (such as myself) can hear.
    
    				Topher
    

    
    	Oops!!  Thanks for the correction on the name!  Believe it or
    not I DID know it, I just typed faster than I thought...
    
    	Well, I can see I still have a lot to learn about it.  What
    I saids before was just what I got out of it.  Can you (Topher)
    recommend any good books on Taoism? 
    
    	Thanks,
    		Mike

RE: .9
    
    It depends on what you want from the book.  If you are interested
    in a book about Taoism -- history, development of the ideas, whether
    or not Lao Tzu actually existed, his deification by some sects,
    his relation to the Tang Dynasty, etc, I have no particular book
    to recommend.  Go to the library and read the sections on Taoism
    (generally relatively short) in the encyclopedia, in books of
    comparative religion and on Chinese philosophy/religion.  The I
    Ching is considered by Taoists to be related to their beliefs (as
    it also is by the almost polarly opposite Confusians; most
    interpretations and translations emphasize the latter) so many of
    the introductions of the I Ching talk some about it.
    
    There is really only *one* book about Taoism, all others are really
    commentaries on it.  That is the Tao-te Ching generally attributed
    to Lao Tzu (although non-Taoist scholars seem to believe it was
    collectivly written, possibly from an oral tradition).  The closest
    translation to the name (i.e., the translation which makes the most
    sense to me as someone completely ignorant of Chinese) is "The
    Classical Book on the Way and its Power" (but watch out for the
    last word -- it has completely inappropriate connotations in English).
    
    I highly recommend this work.  Find a translation which reads easy
    to you and read it.  Its quite short.  You can read it again and
    again and find some completely new -- even startling -- perspective
    in it each time.  Even if you disagree with its teachings entirely,
    its worth reading.
    
    					Topher

    	See "Tao, The Watercourse Way", by Alan Watts.   It has
    some interesting material on the difficulty in translating
    the Tao Te Ching, and is very humorous.
    	It is also one of my all time favorite books.

    Alan.    

    See the _Tao of Pooh_, a humorous, but good book.
    
    Elizabeth