Is there no place for creativity in this Way?

I'm curious: does anyone find the idea of a real kolinahru-style monastic, rationalist order appealing? Would you like to wear robes and study logic, mental mastery and emotional control on a mountain somewhere? I have posted a few thoughts about a real kolinahr practice here if anyone is interested.

While lots of people (myself among them) enjoy cooking - to the point where I'd cook even if it was more expensive than buying equivalent food, at least from time to time - RomeoStevens clearly isn't one of them.

The time it takes for a basic meal goes down the more you cook, though. Back in the day I could do a whole meal with about 20-30 minutes of actual work for certain meals, as little as 10 minutes for really easy things like pasta. The trick is to either get really, really good at making one meal, or do meals that need little prep. Salad with pre-cooked protein - cold cuts, for example - takes about 5 minutes to prepare even if you have to cut up vegetables, pasta takes about 15 minutes but only 3 of those involve you and not just the stove, fruit takes 30 seconds to wash. If you hate cooking but still have to cook, it might actually be worth taking time to learn to cook quicker.

Anyone have a good suggestion about what a lactose-intolerant person could potentially replace the milk with?

When someone says "I hate doing X", they can either a) stop doing X, or b) learn to like X. In this case, I suggest option b).

For me, learning how to cook a few simple, healthy, tasty meals has been one of the most useful skills I've acquired. I suppose it depends on your income, lifestyle and taste, but I prefer to know exactly what I'm putting in my body rather than taking my chances with restaurant food. At this point, I like my own cooking better than almost any restaurant, and it actually saves me time and trouble (and lots of money). Besides, there is an art and a Zen pleasure to cooking that I highly recommend. I see no downside to learning how to cook.

Would you still expect that if it turned out that being visibly non-mundane made it more difficult for the "masters" you talk about to achieve their goals?

This is a beautiful idea Eliezer has here, and a fascinating thread. If you'll permit a Star Trek reference, I am reminded of Vulcans and their Kolinahr discipline. Mr. Spock was clearly possessed of a mental mastery and mystique that set him apart from the rest of the Enterprise crew, due to his rigorous Vulcan training.

I am attracted to some kind of "monastic rationality" myself, with similarities to the Eastern schools where people undergo intense training in a non-profane environment. I would like to be among people who not only wish to think differently and chat about it on online forums, but are willing to live differently, in their manner of speaking, dress, “aura of formidability”, hierarchy, etc. For this to happen, rationalists may have to emulate certain martial arts groups, monastic orders and cults – i.e. be unafraid to be non-mundane “in the real.” I’m guessing that if I observed 97% of you in a Starbucks, I would be hard-pressed to distinguish you from the common run of geek-humanity. It seems to me that such should not be the case for real black belts of “logojitsu”, “rationality fu” or Kolinahr.