Mapacho

Any medical stuff I'm interested!

No worries. I appreciate seeing people working with it from an open-minded approach, because it shows intrinsic goodness, humility and awareness. It is not easy to uncover the truth of what produces harm and harmlessness. Really, while there is a sense of self and other, how can there be harmlessness? Duality begets good and bad, and there's no getting around it. So I think that this discrimination is worth being conscious of to be sure, and that it is essential to practice its minimisation where clearly possible, but I spend very little time on it as an ideology. This is because I know when I cannot see clearly, I am liable to make mistaken conclusions and fall into the endless rumination game. To take non-discrimination in the context of food to its logical conclusions, we can either eat nothing and die, or embrace nihilism and kill whatever we see and eat it, human, animal, plant, anything. This shows me its unsatisfactoriness as a primary rational ethical framework. We either harm indiscriminately, or attempt to harm only ourselves, where it is unlikely that others wouldn't be harmed anyway. Personally I find the dharma to describe ethics in the most satisfactory way. The evolution of compassion and wisdom are what reduce harm and suffering for oneself and others. The path is one of continual purification where the end point is not something that can be seen from the current clarity, but where the progress is constantly in sight and provides invigoration to continue. A lot of relief comes from knowing that action is only necessary when we have the capacity to understand the answer, then it will come, but we can't jump ahead and have to work with what is clearly wholesome now. This generates humility, responsibility, gratitude, and a sense of goodness that reduces harm alot more than anything else I've come into contact with.

Lol those viciously voracious vegans and vegos with vindictively violent vendettas against veges! Its a great question and thanks for your gentle approach, but it is ok...why should any question be off limits?! I appreciate it actually. I won't get too into detail but I will give you a few insights into my perspective. I could go into the biology of it, but I am not familiar with plant biology, so this wouldn't be fair and thus is fairly limited in its worth, not to mention much of it is debatable. It is safe to say though that plants don't have a central nervous system, with a brain at the apex. So while there is evidence of nervous transmission, there is no core that receives pain the same way as the brain does in humans. They have complex behaviours, but not a nexus where that behaviour is decided independent of external stimuli. In the beginning I think humans are the same, relying on external stimuli to a large extent, but as we develop our "selves" this changes and becomes a web of "self" and an appearance and belief in "free will". A self forms, one that identifies with the body as self etc. I think animals are somewhere in between, noting that all vertebrates have a hindbrain and nervous structures similar to humans. (Edit: also fascinatingly, humans have the endocannabinoid system and endogenous opioids that clearly work to alleviate painful stimuli, similar to many animals. Perhaps the existence of this and forgive me if I'm wrong but the absence of this in plants indicates a different context for pain between the species?) This is enough for me to consciously doubt plants capacity to feel and suffer pain as a vertebrate does. I dont think plants sense themselves as separate from earth and animals and all phenomena like we do. I think that is the wisdom we touch on when working with teacher plants. I wont touch on factory farming or even general farming practices much, however, antibiotic resistance is a huge issue impacting humans and animals alike. The animals' physical suffering ranges alot too. Meat and dairy are huge contributors to global warming. According to recent scientific papers this is a much bigger issue than clearing land for farming. Again a complex issue. All of this pales in comparison to one thing though. My heart. I have killed plants for food, and I have killed animals for food. One made me feel deeply saddened and physically sick. One did not. In the end, I will not be dictated by rationality but the heartmind. Even if this perspective is wrong due to myopic sensory limitations of the human body and mind, it is the most reliable source of determining right and wrong. I am headed for awakening. The path has shown me that before I let go of all views, the existence of right and wrong, the existence of a separate persisting self, that first I must be as purely right or wholesome as is possible, with the heart and mind synchronously guiding me. It is my heart that tells me to eat less meat, not that meat itself is bad, but that if I can reduce the suffering of that which I know myself to suffer, even just a little, it is worthwhile. Would we feel bad about eating a lettuce or a carrot if we didn't know all this science? What about cutting a pig's throat? I see the difference, I feel the difference, and I trust this more than thinking that there is no difference. This is where I'm at. I don't expect or demand others to feel the same, but I would encourage them to sit with it. And I know its right for me, for where I am at now.

aho

Depends on your definition of spirituality ;) You're expressing a challenge that appears to be coming from a place self-superiority, whether you mean to or not. This speaks more a spiritual materialism than anything else, just a heads up. In saying that I respect the message you're trying to convey. Action is necessary where it is called for. For example, me loving meat yet going towards vego, trying to see the environmental impact of that and the impact on the suffering of beings. Moreso, it is most effectively transmitted through endearment, encouragement, inspiration and humility.

As far as telling him to can it, I think you did a really good thing. Such behaviour is seriously misguided and foolish with an intent clearly based on profit. That is not debatable, no matter what opinions are on what "should" be ok. I would go further to suggest that it is all our responsibility to let any sellers of such plants in a form implicating consumption in any such public space know that they are exposing all aussie collectors and healers to increased potential for backlash. Trading and selling these plants for their beauty is wisdom that all such plants would approve of, for now.

inb4 this thread gets the boot lol. I'll think on some memories.

I can second that as I degrafted several of mine of last winter's batch from peres with no leaves. Their growth was very slow ~20-30% and extra spiny compared to their tall leafy counterparts. If glochids are giving you trouble, gloves are a better option. An archers glove with nice thick leather on thumb, index and middle fingers would probably be a great solution. Otherwise a thorn-armour glove on one hand works well.

Thanks for the link! I am super keen to get into areole grafting! Here are some baby texana after a month. These were grafted at exactly 10 days post sowing. Looks like they all took! I just need some free time to do more. p.s. please excuse the 6-year-old smartphone quality. Also i just watched the vid...my "parafilm" is much tougher, in tape form, and not opaque like that. Do you have an ebay link or something to the stuff you're using? Cheers!

How old does my buddy have to be for trimming leaves?

Aw maybe, unfortunately I can't know for sure until a week or so beforehand. Fingers crossed.

Hey friendos, I'm just popping in to marvel at your sweet darlings and pop a few grafting whippersnapper questions of my own, cos I have some little lophlets about 10 days old. 1. Are there special tricks to grafting stuff less than 1 month old? I've never grafted stuff under 4 weeks. 2. I bought parafilm for the first time cos Inyan here said it's the business: Any hot tips for using it? A couple of questions I have for using parafilm on peres/trich stock; does it need to seal the scion to the stock airtight? (a) will this keep humidity? (b) therefore not require a dome? Is there a higher risk of infection being sealed into the joining area, therefore a need to use more aseptic/infection control measures? Also a general cacti question; I have a sharxx grafted to a 40cm PC stump that ballooned up over the summer. During its growth the stump tried to pup about 10 times and i meticulously admonished it, cutting off every attempt. Lately the sharxx and its stock look rather dehydrated below the top 20cm of tip growth and no matter how much water that has been thrown on it I have seen no change. I was hoping to leave it on another season but if it has stopped I'll cut it. Any ideas why it would do this? I will pop up some grafts soon!

I posted something up recently but Jordan Petersen covers addiction in a very helpful way on some of his youtube vids. The guy is a prodigy. Understanding the psychological/emotional shadow and the neurophysiology at work from his vids is really helpful to identify what is at work when the craving arises. Knowing is half the battle. He also has other points on how to approach getting through it. Ibogaine does help physiologically aswell as psychologically but isn't the be all and end all of treatment. Any short term plant medicine work will probably help but not get to the root of relapse which is the conditioned "circuits" of the reward pathway and the associated perceptual/emotional/psychological/social triggers because these can still activate for months after kicking the physical act of taking the substance. The antidote to these triggers is to identify each of them thoroughly and avoid exposure and/or routed around with conscious behaviour change until the new behaviour becomes the "normal" circuit and the old behaviour circuit weakens and the triggers fade. We know this can be enhanced by medicines. Not only do plant medicines show us the goals we need to set and find meaning which creates reward for new behaviour, plus it is shown that Aya and psilocybin do generate enhanced neuronal branching in the hippocampus, the area of the brain associated with memory and learning. So, anecdotally I have a mate who has used (good) LSD initially and then later on microdosing shrooms to be very helpful along with the occasional deeper journey. l have been shown that asking the plant to "teach me how to..." or "show me how to..." do something in a simple humble and grateful way is very effective method of directing towards the desired results. Also, find meaning in ending your addiction in what way calls to you, and then align your efforts and the specific steps needed to do so, which will create their own reward circuits due to that goal resting in what you give meaning to. Jay Shetty has a good vid or two on youtube about ikigai, a method of searching for personal meaning if you're stuck for what matters to you. All the best with your process.

Tea is probably the most gentle and I've heard it hits really, really fast if its strong. i've also heard its really as simple as making tea. i know a good guy in the US who holds ceremonies I could contact but thats for aya.

Great packaging and came within expected timeframe. Thanks for your help!