Jainarayan

This is great! Lots to work with and look for. Thanks.

Thanks. Now I just have to do it. Yes, it's true that people tend not to breathe properly (I know from experience). I think doing the āsanas as best I can... small steps... will be a beginning in stretching, becoming more flexible and fit... fit in a different way. Btw, how do you mean shaking? I may have missed something, being a little slow on the uptake at times.

Thanks. My altar is placed so that I face east when I'm there. If I got into the routine and habit, I'd like to do the Surya Namaskar too. I would chant the mantras while doing the āsanas, making it all part of the morning puja.

Speaking of zhan zhuang, this story may or may not be funny depending on how twisted your sense of humor is. I didn't think it was funny at the time, but now "meh, it is what it is... go with the flow". I was sitting in temple one night. Not only am I inflexible, as this thread points out, I am very sensitive to heat and humidity and can't tolerate it. Even in winter, as long as there is no wind, I can go out in shorts and a t shirt. I realized that when I sit on the floor, with my muscles tensed from the inflexibility, though I try to relax, it's like a hatha yoga session. When I've done hatha yoga, being inflexible, the muscles are really working against themselves (isometrics). What happens when muscles work hard? They generate heat. What happens when I heat up? I sweat like an ox plowing the lower 40. I was drenched, with it mostly running down my neck, forehead and the sides of my head (I'm shaved bald). This was during the 30 minute Sri Vishnu Sahasranama Parayanam (chanting 1,000 names of Vishnu). I know it was noticeable. HI was totally mortified at sweating so profusely. I had to get up and walk around, doing a circumambulation around the perimeter of the temple sanctums. I did three circumambulations; by the time I finished the first one, I was cooled down and stopped sweating. I am also kind of sore and stiff the day after attending temple, I suppose from these "isometrics". So if that experience is anything like what I'll get with zhan zhuang and/or baduanjin qigong... I am sooo there! I'm also trying to find a hatha yoga studio that has a schedule and fees I can work with.

Hi there. I just joined the other day too. Funny you mention tai chi because I just started a thread asking about qigong and got some great ideas for yin yoga, baduanjin, zhan zhuang and kinhin, which sound great for a beginner like me. The point is, this is proving to be a very nice, informative and helpful site.

I also found these, which I like, and can certainly do... http://taoism.about.com/od/meditation/ht/walking.htm yep, this is kinhin in Zen. I always wanted to try it. This would be a great practice doing circumambulations in temple, walking the perimeter of the temple around the sanctums and shrines of the deities. I'm not one for sitting meditation unless I'm at a park, the boardwalk or strangely, the mall. I can lose myself in thought in a crowd. I see there's a video for Yin Yoga www.youtube.com/watch?v=ew9KuRkTt_Y‎ but now streaming vids are blocked at work. Zhan Zhuang sounds right up my alley too because I hate traditional cardio, and I'm beginning to tire of weight training, but I want to stay conditioned. I was a powerlifter, but now I just want a more athletic and fit physique. Ironically (no pun intended) my back surgery and rotator cuff surgery had nothing to do with weight lifting. My back was from snow shoveling, and my shoulder was a very old condition.

Thanks... that's the kind of info I need... where and how to start researching and learning, what will work for me and what may not.

Yes, indeed. This is one of the reasons we chant nāma japa, a name of a deity because the name of the deity is non-different from the deity him/herself. Speaking of working in the fields, it reminds me of a cute (to me) story about the simplicity and effect of nāma japa... Narada (a celestial sage) and Lord Vishnu were talking one day. Narada was boasting that he was the greatest devotee of Vishnu. Vishnu begged to differ. The Lord said "No, I think that farmer working in the fields is a greater devotee than you". Narada said "Oh Lord, how can that be? The farmer says your name only three times a day, when I say it all the time". The Lord said, yes it's true he only calls my name thrice, but it is in the midst of his hard work". Narada was not convinced. So the Lord, with a mischievous smile, said "Here, take this pot of oil which you can see is filled to the brim. Walk around the countryside, up and down the hills, and do not spill a drop". Narada agreed, because he always did as the Lord asked. So after a time Narada returned to Lord Vishnu, with the pot of oil intact. Lord Vishnu asked (again with that mischievous smile He is famous for) "Now, Narada, how many times did you think of Me or chant My name while performing this task I gave you?" Narada said "Oh Lord, how could I do that when I had to concentrate on not spilling the oil?" The Lord said "You see Narada? You did not stop once to say My name, yet this poor farmer, in the midst of his hard toil, says My name three times a day!"

No, those can be recited by anyone, and should be. I said the Mahamrityunjaya Mantra over my Roman Catholic mother-in-law's casket. I say them once or twice a day with morning and/or evening prayers, and I recite (chant or sing) along with recordings I play on my iPod while driving. They can be recited with or without a mālā, actually any mantra can. They can be recited once as a prayer or as many times as you like. A mālā and the 108 repetitions are not required for the uninitiated. You can do it without harm or offense, but it's required only after initiation. Btw, it's said to be very auspicious to recite the Gayatri mantra at the junctions of the day... dawn, noon, dusk.

Yes, that's what I got from the article. It's funny how it came at just the right time. I thought it was only me... when I'm ironing or doing dishes or something mindless like that, I call it "therapeutic". Not to worry... I wouldn't wear plaid shorts on my worst day!

Good, I'm on the right track.

Hmm... maybe this partially or even completely answers my question: http://www.jadedragon.com/archives/june98/tao.html

Y'hello... I just joined yesterday. Looks like a cool and mellow group... very wu wei-ish.

I really should have seen that coming.

Truer words have rarely been spoken.

Thanks. Somehow I think that reference to the sword and flailing arms shouldn't be funny, but it is. Probably because one of the few things (very few) I know about Chinese is that it's a tonal language and that one word can have completely different meanings based on the tone.

Hello everyone. I discovered this site when searching for some Taoist prayers. I am Vaishnava Hindu, devotee of Vishnu (aka Krishna aka Rama aka Narasimha, my three favorite forms) but I incorporate elements of Mahāyana Buddhism (leaning towards Tibetan) and now learning about Taoism. I find there are elements of Hinduism, Buddhism and Taoism that are not incompatible, and in fact are just different, complementary, supplementary and augmentative. I find this to be the case in my own practice. Why? Because I'm the kind of person who takes a broad view and likes the color and richness each of them brings to me. I have my main shrine that is Hindu where I conduct my primary sādhanā, but I also have small Taoist and Buddhist altars where I also make offerings. Unfortunately I've been called "neo-Hindu", "universalist" and said to have a "dangerous touchy-feely salad bar mentality". I don't think so because as the verse in the Rig Veda goes, "One truth the wise know by many names". Anyway, I have read parts of the Tao Te Ching, but not all of it yet. I like what it says, in that it's not unlike many vedic concepts. I liken the Tao to nirguna Brahman, which is ineffable. Describing it is a waste of time, as it cannot be done. I believe there's been a lot of "cross-pollination" between Hinduism, Buddhism and Taoism. I recently learned that the Jade Emperor is the protector of the Buddha dharma. He’s called Lord Śakra or Indra in Hinduism, Indra being the king of the devas and the celestial realm in Hinduism. I recently found the Jade Emperor Heart Seal Sutra and the Eight Spiritual Mantras. I am wondering if it is all right to recite these, not because they conflict or contradict anything in Hinduism or Buddhism (I don't think they do), but because I need some sort of initiation or empowerment? Or are they open to anyone? I may or may not have a lot to say on the forums, but I know I'll learn a lot from reading.

Thanks. I noticed that as soon as I made the 5th post, things worked. I know about the 22 posts before signature allowed thing too.

Yes, I do believe in parallel/alternate universes. I also believe that they intersect; that may be more accurate as More_Pie_Guy said. There have been many times when it's been a "now you see it, now you don't". situation. For example, someone simply walks into you, and it can't be explained by them simply being oblivious. Or you are driving and a pedestrian, bicycle or another driver seemingly comes out of nowhere. Sound kooky? Maybe, but Dr. Michio Kaku also proposed it. The Vedas, and I believe even the Qur'an make mention of other universes, not just other worlds. I don't think Buddhism has a whole lot, if anything, to say on it. Buddhism isn't generally concerned with ontology.

I'm late to this post, having just joined the community, and broken the 5 postings barrier, but this caught my eye. Now, take this with a grain of salt and fwiw: I was told, and I can see the reasoning to a degree, that to chant om or aum (it really is more like aaoomm but the aaoo much more subtle, definitely not om as in home) is to meditate on nirguna brahman, the unmanifest brahman without attributes. It's a purely Advaita practice. I was further told that in dedicating oneself to this, it can "uproot" (his word) one's entire balance and thinking. Generally such an advanced technique, as well as using bīja mantras, are given by a guru after long study with the guru, and after dīksha, initiation. Personally I do nāma japa, chanting of a name of God, in my case... Om namo Nārāyanāya. I also tried other nama mantras: Om Sri Krishnāya namaha, Om namo Bhagavate Vāsudevāya, and others. But they didn't resonate with me as Om namo Nārāyanāya does. Yes, om is part of the mantra, but all mantras and vedic chants begin with it. It's the name of God, Nārāyana, that I'm focusing on, not om as the unmanifest brahman. But as with anything, one is free to do as one feels works, and doesn't cause anything negative. There's an exception to every rule.

I thought so, thanks. I know there's been a big change in bringing transliteration of Chinese into English more in line with pronunciation of Chinese.

I was going to make a thread about this myself. It pays to read through the threads. Yes, I believe I have experienced this. However, it was dismissed by a few people as just and endorphin rush. Let me preface by saying I've had fleeting moments of this feeling over the very recent past, but not to the degree I did that day. I was outdoors, beautiful sunny crisp day in New Jersey. I was in a position to have some "me time", even though there was a lot of traffic and distractions in the area. I was sitting, and my mind cleared. I knew where I was, I heard the sounds and movements around me, but they didn't distract me. I went into a "zone". In this zone, the fleeting feelings I've been experiencing came full force: I knew I was in my body, but I was more than my body. I felt "connected" to everything and everyone that was around me. I felt like I and they were part of a greater "whole". I knew others were in their bodies, but they were more than their bodies. One time someone gave the example of a jar... the jar contains air, yet the jar is in air. My body and the other bodies contained jivātman (the Hindu concept for the soul, but more than just "soul"), yet we were all within one. Like that jar containing air and being in air. For that brief time I seemed to understand, or at least feel, our oneness and how God/Brahman/Tao, whatever one's belief, pervades and resides in every one of us, no matter how pious or evil or brilliant or idiotic I or anyone else may be, to the human emotions. Those attributes are only this fleshy matter. When people say they hate someone, how can one hate oneself? When I said "brief", brief is relative... brief in this case was at least a half hour, not a few seconds. I saw that the shadow cast by the sun on a pole moved considerably. If not for that sundial effect, I also might have thought it just a momentary endorphin rush. I don't believe for a moment I achieved moksha or any kind of enlightenment, or am putting on airs about it; it's just a feeling I've never experienced before. It wasn't even a moment of "I now love everybody", it was more a realization of our connections, that we are not separate in the universe and that we are interwoven.

Btw, I know that you have to have 5 posts before accessing the entire site, but does that apply to updating my profile? It seems I can't add any info to it, add an avatar pic or a signature. I like to make my profiles "homey". Thanks.

Thanks. It's also nice to communicate with people of like mind. Even differences have their place and use.