I miss oldman. He truly inspired me and having had the priveledge to spend the weekend with him training once I can say he is exactly the way he was here.
I'd like to reflect on some things he wrote in the past that inspired me,feel free to follow suit.

oldman wrote

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Grace by definition is "unmerited favor". It is either extended or recieved. We can offer it to others or recieve it ourselves. It can be difficult to do either. Suffering can be gracious. Punishment can be gracious in that it can cause suffering yet also be instructive if the individual can recieve it as such. Some will not be able to see it as grace, some will only see it as suffering.

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I miss Oldman so much that I feel like quitting this forum. I think about it everyday. I'm mad at him for leaving. I'm mad at myself for caring for someone I have never met. I'm tired of saying 'goodbye'.

A good lesson for a Buddhist...to look at my attachments. I understand your feelings, but forgive me if I don't participate as I am trying to get over it.

People continue to pass through our lives, and when some of them touch us it makes it more difficult with there passing.

On losing one of my instructors I was able to turn that into something positive by spending months acccumulating the material he shared to keep him close forever, both by my actions and by the result.

I would hope we can all find a way to rejoice in his decision, for if its making him happy, what could be better, and in turn find a way to make our loss a positive experience in our lives.

Of course that takes work.

why is everyone speaking in past-tense ? oldman is still with us.

http://www.fightingarts.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/15761580/page/0/fpart/1/vc/1

oldman wrote

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I also think a person can be very productive with little ambition. Lack of ambition for many people equates with laziness rather than a possible triumph over avarice. It can be difficult to determine when we go out in service to the world wheither we are serving others, or our ambition. One other concern is what do you do when you encounter those that stand between you and your goal.

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I miss the guy as well.

I know it was not an easy thing for him to do.

And I hope he will be coming back.

Hope there are still some of the "old timers" here to greet him when/if he does!

I plan on being here when oldman returns. He was definately one of the reasons I signed up here.