The Dao Bums

The Dao Bums

The Dao Bums (formerly named The Tao Bums) has long been a source of peace for me, as well as frustration. I first joined The Tao Bums in mid to late 2010, and have had many ups and downs in my search for enlightenment and inner peace (ironically none to be found externally!).
My introduction to TTB was through a friend and member, Leonid Basin, in his acknowledgement and concern for my pursuit of peace and enlightenment.  His direction has proven to be of the most benefit in all my life.
Thank You, Leon!

The Tao Bums has since renamed their site (appropriately) this year, in commemoration of the changing from the year of the Yang Wood Horse to the year of the Yin Wood Goat, to the Dao Bums (as that is the appropriate pronunciation!) and I couldn't be happier with it.

While I have never been the model member (banned at least 3 times, and twice were said to be permanent! I'm on thin ice now, but still behaving!), the community has been impossibly helpful and incredibly supporting of my needs to find solace in this world.  I have been incredibly lucky to have the friends, nay, family to fall back on thanks to the Bums! 


I have to admit firstly that I've never acknowledged "the rules" or anything of the sort - just gotten by with my best attempts at politeness and respect.  if that wasnt enough, then the rules werent worth my time.

Wait, i got banned...   okay. crap.

Well screw them, if they cant help me, i dont need them.

Oh, wait, they have a lot of great info, i need that...  okay, suck it up and apologize.

NO, i wont kill myself or anyone else, i just have a lot of difficulty tolerating other people. Thanks for understanding.


WOW, they were pretty cool about that, i dont want to disrespect- whoops, lost my temper again, banned.  yeah, i deserved that :D  haha...  

okay, bide my time.

Hi, im back! sorry for the shitfit!  won't happen agai-  oh, whoops that happened again...  uhhh...  wait, hold on, let's talk about this.

Okay, serve my time again.  last chance, gotcha.

Alright, so I'm back again and i wont be bitching about the corrupt evil wretched world we live in and would do better to kill everyone in it instead of tolerating each other, and just letting nature sort us out - wait, what? banned?  ugh!

But wait, i still need to sort this stuff out, if you could just give me a chance to get all my issues sorted out?
Really?
You'll forgive me again?

Seriously, i never meant to be such a pain in the ass, i simply know i need help that i can't find in a shrink who's payed to deliver pat answers and solve nothing, while convincing me that i need to change to fit the dysfunctional society I live in.
I promise to do my best at avoiding the violence-centric and 'threatening' posts that detail my stress and frustration....  but i cannot refrain from posting it all together, i need help, i know i do, and i dont see anything in this world anywhere else having the impact The Dao Bums not only has potential for, but has already had!

... and so the moral of the story is you're not allowed to be angry or violent or take vengeance upon the wicked, but must tolerate them and let them run the world into the pits of hell.

......
... Or something like that; it totally fucks up my inner peace, but there it is, i'm still a member and they've been nothing short of miraculously helpful to me.

Still on thin ice, but we're working on it.


So never mind how I GOT there, never mind that i keep getting myself banned, the most important thing is that The Dao Bums is a majestic wealth of information pertaining to the various Oriental cultures, practices, and lifeways!

Never mind the wicked awesome bad-ass Gong Fu (Kung Fu) and potential secrets of immortality!
Never mind the wonderful banter and friendly atmosphere, with all kinds of practitioners of various arts and styles.

Most importantly, The Dao Bums is an awesome opportunity to get ahold of healthy living methods!
Seriously the most important thing i can attribute to The Bums is the wealth of physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual healing information available!

You can be a new age crystal healer and find something of functionally relevant (and applicable) value.
You can be a physician and learn something of significant value to your practice.
Or you can be me, a regular Joe Blow dabbler with an interest in martial arts and concern for [our] physical fitness and health.

My TL;DR story here is that i spend all my life on the video games an slouching over till one day, at 18 years old, i found i couldnt touch my toes. and my OCD kicked in and has been kicking me in the ass ever since.
The Bums has very likely saved my life, because it is thanks to The Dao Bums' library of (mostly) Chinese medicine, and practices, that i have been able to find the info and apply the practices (no matter how poorly) that have not only repaired my shoddy health, but vastly improved it!

The long version is secreted away in my Personal Practice Discussion sub forum...  the one place i can post whatever i like and not get in (too much) trouble for it.

Nah, nothing like porn or outright death threats. 
but it's a personal forum for me. there are many others for other members, but there's no mistaking mine:
Flooded with whiny bitching about things i have no control over, and how those things directly or indirectly affect my life, and gripe and whine, and moan, and piss, and bitch, and so on and so forth, and on and on and on...

Next on the list is something truly miraculous.
Beyond belief.

Had I not joined The Dao Bums, I never would have had the opportunity to meet my Teachers in Bagua Zhang.

I am a lucky SoB, to say the very least. and that's downplaying it - im being modest for the sake of keeping this entry shorter.

I have had a long run of bad luck and shitty decisions (that i could never identify, and still cant, i merely acknowledge that there is no responsibility to my life but my own) that have had me encounter homelessness first hand several times.
It was in 2009 the first time, and it was in 2014 that i spent the whole year on the streets.
I wound up wandering aimlessly from Salem, OR, to Vancouver, WA, and sleeping in the parks and streets for a few weeks.  i had an encounter with many people who have been helpful in getting me into a more stable position in my life. I've had lots of experience working in the shelter kitchen, and so on and so forth.
But the really amazing part is when several Bums collaborated, sort of, to pave the meeting that would change my life forever.

Great Bum friend of mine, "Bagua Kicks Ass", has long been a member i held in respect. She is way awesome and dont dare think any less! 
She gets a message from a mutual Bum pal, Flolfolil, saying i was in her part of the world, mistaking Vancouver WA with her Vancouver in British Columbia (im actually jealous to be honest!).
So we chat on to clear that up, but she has a friend here in this "Couv", and the truly beneficial point in my life.

I can't deny that my mind is pretty much fucked - that's what lead to all of these events!
I owe so much to BKA for her assistance in introducing me to her friend and training companion, or "Bagua Brother", who has since provided me with much needed guidance and mentoring.

AKSIJAHA, my Teacher, The Nightmare Daoist.

BKA convinces Aksijaha to make a meeting with me and size me up. if he didnt like what he saw, he could just turn around and never acknowledge me again.

That Christmas, He and BKA introduce me, more or less formally-informally, to Bagua Zhang.
Starting me off with opulent amounts of Horse Stance, and "Roots While Walking", which i forget what it is called (Zhan Zuang i think?).
Merry Bagua Christmas to all and to all a good fight!

BKA went back home to BC, and i continued training with Aksijaha.

I am blessed to have two teachers.


After several months of standing in a deep squat (hell, i loved it and still do, nothing better to keep warm during he winter!), and walking very deliberately, slowly, and... well... awkwardly, he introduces me to some of the palms and palm changes, and the most important of all, footwork!


...

...


Okay, i think i can spare you the play-by-play details of one year's worth of training, but BKA did swing down for St. Paddy's day and tells me i have improved pretty dramatically (yay, total ego boost, and training harder now!), but throughout it all, it's been ups and downs, and inconsistent, at best.


But all in all, I could never have gotten my life on track (wait, wtf, it's still not on track!  must train harder!!), much less met my WONDERFUL Teachers, had it not been for the influences found on The Dao Bums webforum.

If you're in search for enlightenment, if you're looking for esoteric practices, if you have an interest in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), or if you just want to expand your awareness of other cultures and people, I would strongly suggest taking a peek at The Dao Bums:

http://thedaobums.com

No www even, just type in "thedaobums.com" and press enter!

You'll find plenty to keep your Qi occupied there! I guarantee it.