it is the process, not the end result Taint.

jesusluvspegging wrote:

The process means shit if the end result is heavy metal poisoning and a massive patchwork of third degree burns.

You need to read a bit deeper.

Oh, I am in total agreement with you about the shysters. 

May I give you a book suggestion?  "Green Hermeticism" alchemy & ecology.  A very good read. 

Toe and maybe Taint can probably vouch for my agreement with you.  I spent several years in Mt. Shasta as well, and my tolerance level is pretty low for sponges, and their victims.  OTOH... there are some real peeps out there, ya just gotta sift.

Dmtdust wrote:

it is the process, not the end result Taint.

The participants are all looking, utlimately, for the same things I am; I won't begrudge them that. What disturbs me about this sort of stuff is the quackery and spiritual promiscuity that runs rampant. It is no less silly or substance-less than fundamentalist Christianity, or hardcore science when bereft of humanity. My experiences with many of those who follow New Age thinking is that they're pursuing something that makes them feel good as opposed to something that actually changes their relationship with themselves or others. A religious man myself I know that people who are searching will have to stumble through a few different alternatives before they find the place that's right for them. But I have little patience for methods that detour from rational thought or logic (and I realize, too, that I am no paragon of logic) and rely solely upon emotion as a touchstone.

The temple of which I am a member is unique in that it is very likely the only place in North America to actually hold relics of the historic Buddha and two of his disciples. I like to go up to the stupa where they're housed and just remind myself of the significance of his teachings to my life. I also enjoy taking visitors to our temple up there. A few years ago, we were contacted by a man who wanted to bring a group by to see them. I was assigned the responsibility for taking them up to the stupa.

When they arrived, I had the chance to visit with them before the tour: turns out, they were relic chasers. They believed that relics - any relic will do, thank you - contained magic powers and that being in their presence would transfer some of that power to them. I refrained from calling bullshit and took them to the stupa - I was their host, after all.

Those relics, although important to me as a Buddhist and certainly as a part of my own ministerial work in the temple, are nothing more than bone fragments. While they're certified by various groups to be "authentic", I know, too, that there is a reasonable chance they're simply bits of calcium or some other mineral that someone, somewhere in the past 2500 years or so, decided would make a great relic that could attract visitors to their particular site. They are not magical, they contain no power in and of themselves. They are significant only because we have attached significance to them. Preferring to believe they are, indeed, bits of a man I try - mostly unsuccessfully - to emulate, they are valuable only in that they are a physical reminder to me of his teachings.

To spend that much time ascribing powers to crystals, bones, chants, and belief in spirits and gods, is ultimately an empty venture. I have little doubt that many of those involved in undertakings such as the alchemy conference are quite aware of that, too, and are preying on vulnerable people in search of answers.

I am just curious... is the reaction to the theme... i.e. Alchemy, or all the obvious charlatans?  This colours the discussion quite a bit.  Any takers?

So with that statement, have you actually read any works on alchemy?

fair enough.  You should of read deeper though... just sayin'

A bunch of doubters and haters.  I've seen gold made from nothing more than dirt, water, light, and a little seed.

Last edited by Fled (2009-10-23 05:39:32)

The whole of things is often way more than the sum of its parts.I certainly believe in alchemy between people...Dusty's right, I think.

Last edited by icangetyouatoe (2009-10-23 07:38:49)

Roger_That wrote:

I hear if you heat pepto bismol the right way, you can create gold. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glenn_T._S … California

and I have heard with the right mixture of cocaine and qualudes, anyone can have your puckstar, or so it has been said.