Birch
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Everything posted by Birch
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Well, I'll go back to the example of panic attacks. One of the ways to cure one mid-panic is to reduce the amount of oxygen taken in (hence the old breathing into a paper bag or one's hands "technique") I speculate that the ratio of oxygen/CO2 in the body at any given time influences the overall state (includes emotions) which might be why people looking to experience a state of calm will do whatever breathing goes with it. I think there are a lot of different breathing techniques out there that all have their effects that are pretty consistent. I only know and use 1 (belly breathing) when I do it consciously. The other thing I do is MCO which is not breath driven. It's awareness/attention driven.
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"Dont assume the journey is going to be all cosy..." I'll second this. IME there are, however, things that help smooth the ride. Many people on TTB's are helpful in this area IME. I don't have personal experience with an open pineal or whatever so I can't begin to imagine what you must be going through but I did have a hellish time of it and also wandered off into K-syndrome territory for a short period. IME solutions came from having an open mind about the form they might take. I also had a few "stock" remedies that I could count on (and still do) that were passed on by my first teacher. Yes, ultimately you do it yourself but IMO/IME it's more helpful to have folks around that have also done it themselves and can share useful things with each other. I think that's what a proper "guru" does. Unfortunately IMO people who aren't far enough in seem to invest some people with authority that they don't deserve and give up their discernment at crucial points. This is why IMO a "guru" should be above reproach and why I so often suggest staying away from the ones that aren't.
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Thanks Well, I've already 'hurt' myself doing it already I guess. Since then I've backed off quite some but I'm still interested in pretty much any material on this stuff (and related). Let's say its a serious hobby
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Apparently. Although I'm not interested in making poisons or bombs. What's your point?
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Well weirdly I would because with practice I now have the muscle/breath control to really start learning proper technique. This is not to take away from the less tangible aspects of qi-gong. If you look at yoga (like iyengar for example) there's a lot of technical explanation that goes into teaching the alignments. I think even self-taught cooks like reading recipes. Well I do:-) And especially from students of great chefs:-)
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The problem with people is that they fear death and loss
Birch replied to tulku's topic in General Discussion
The problem with people is they don't bother asking themselves how they got to be afraid of death and loss in the first place. -
What's the relationship between the brain and the mind?
Birch replied to goldisheavy's topic in General Discussion
Right. It's a bit like the difference between me watching "so you think you can dance" and Otis. (actually, I CAN dance, but you get my drift?) -
What's the relationship between the brain and the mind?
Birch replied to goldisheavy's topic in General Discussion
Could take a while and also displease folks. It's all tied up like a bunch of crossed wires:-) Many things to consider:-) I think a better idea is to look at the various religions from a practice standpoint. I've found if I do that then they all seem to say quite similar things. But without practice IMO they're dangerous. But maybe I'm outdated when it comes to such things. I think the theologians have a good handle on it (it is after all their "science"). I should go talk to some. There was a guy here called Prince who did both I think. -
I'd like to get my paws on those slides:-)
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I agree! Try firing up K without compassion practice
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What's the relationship between the brain and the mind?
Birch replied to goldisheavy's topic in General Discussion
"...considerations of our human nature. The common way that spiritual and religious traditions have approached this is to ignore it." Sorry to cherrypick Todd but I believe the opposite. What I believe is that many religions and traditions have a grasp (in many cases a pretty firm one at that) of "human nature" that they use to leverage whatever needs/wants leveraging. Ever notice the messages vehicled alongside all the "love"? And why the dualism all over the teachings? Why the requirement to worship as a group/community/sangha? Sounds weird huh? But why on earth would the first thing a child hears at church be that he/she is a sinner/born of sin or that the ego needs killing, or any variant of the latter? I'm pondering it and haven't concluded yet but I saw your sentence as an opportunity. -
What he said:-)
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Oh, it occurred to me that the thumb stuff in the picture is a "mudra" of some kind. Also that you could get in touch with Tao Semko who seems to know his way around this stuff. If you want a TCM model of it, I'm sure the TCM folks will weigh in at some point:-)
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Well there's a drawing of the caduceus in the diagram. I didn't understand what the thumb was about (maybe the acupuncture people will come up with something). My own 'feeling' about ida and pingala is that they're the parasympathetic and sympathetic response/systems and a bit more reading and meditation practice lead to me to consider that they're never both entirely 'off' or 'on' but function together. In 'normal' people in 'normal' situations (hahahahaha, if there is such a thing;-)) I figure the degree to which they're active at any given time reflects the overall situation the person is in and this includes their own perception of the situation as well as their response to it and their response to that response (talk to people about panic attacks and they will tell you they know there's no reason but they still feel like they're going mad/going to die). It's a feedback loop. However, I also wonder if there are 'overall' situations in which either or possibly even both of them are full bore. This sort of thing has been referred to in some kundalini writing (but I digress). Given that homeostasis is the desired destination for the body, I could take a leap and suggest that this 'hemisphere switching' stuff, hell, even the schizophrenia could be a 'natural' attempt at regaining balance. So by 'going mad' your friend is actually trying to 'get sane'. Edited to add: Wikipedia Check out the red and blue diagram :-)
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Aw sweet ZT :-) I have quite a number of them and they all have character :-) I liked TaoMeow's post about things. I had a spontaneous experience that went down similarly in a supermarket while mid-K-weirdness. It ought to be said that whatever's left of any original food in the artificial stuff is very upset. I guess I hadn't realized I could just go and do this type of thing on purpose (well, I mean there was a purpose when I did, but I guess I just went along with it). Anyway, short of sounding like a nutter, I tend to follow my spontaneous desires in such matters and then I get to explain it as weirdness (K is a good bucket for all of that stuff:-))
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What's the relationship between the brain and the mind?
Birch replied to goldisheavy's topic in General Discussion
Mr Marblehead, i don't think it counts as a "school of thought" if there's just you in it:-) Like you can't have a "school" of one fish;-) And I think "school" implies that it gets taught.. Things that get taught might be useful but it doesn't mean they're...oh rats, no word for it:-) There's a bit too much of the r-word in here. Why use it anyway if nothing can be r-worded? And how do we get to make up words for things that aren't possible? But I digress -
What's the relationship between the brain and the mind?
Birch replied to goldisheavy's topic in General Discussion
What 'school of thought' proclaims that 'objective' reality exists and is ultimately real? I was under the impression that there was an acceptance of the role of 'the observer' in pretty much everything, including scientific method - which is why 'we' try to invent models that kick the observer out (as an aside that's kind of weird because then 'we' end up with a dead/fake observer). Anyway, what I mean is if we didn't recognize subjectivity then 'we' wouldn't have to make things like this up, would 'we'? We could just rely on whatever anyone came up with because the 'reality out there' would be the same whatever or whoever perceived it. So we have a bunch of subjective perceivers but some of them decide they'd rather give over their subjectivity to a dead/fake person (or model) ?? Or, to be softer, they were convinced/coerced into it when they didn't know better? This is the part I don't get yet. Anyway, I like to look at whatever model is on offer and then somehow find a way of relating to it. Generally to my benefit, but what seems to 'work' better is when it is also to others' benefit. Otherwise 'we' end up with insane 'authorities' insisting on 'one way'. I wonder how many people are just going 'oh whatever, I'll pretend to buy it but I actually don't'? -
Is Pineal Gland Activation more important than Heart Mind Activation?
Birch replied to tulku's topic in General Discussion
Um, no, don't think so and I don't think there's a neat n tidy order to any of it either. Although I do think that if you focus more on certain centres then that "does stuff" but the stuff may or may not be beneficial in the short or long term. I think people forget the long term. -
What's the relationship between the brain and the mind?
Birch replied to goldisheavy's topic in General Discussion
"We cannot escape our subjective biases of our existence," Why would we want to? And don't we know that already? -
I had a spontaneous desire to thank a bunch of them (trees) the other day. It turned out to be a bit much. I felt so much gratitude for them that I welled up and cried for a while out of sorrow for what "we" are doing to them. Anyway, I did it because I figured taking from them was being done enough. I'm not sure I would do it again. Yes, many of them are pissed but they seemed to tolerate my antics. I felt very small and young and stupid.
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What's the relationship between the brain and the mind?
Birch replied to goldisheavy's topic in General Discussion
What did people think it was like before computers? Oh yeah, the little guy "driving" :-)? Other stuff? There has to be a "closer to reality" model out there somewhere. -
What's the relationship between the brain and the mind?
Birch replied to goldisheavy's topic in General Discussion
Depends on which part:-) I believe most understanding in neuroscience originated from the observation of pathologies. The idea being if you understand pathology then you understand "normal" functioning and you can stretch that understanding further to include "performance". But I wonder (as usual:-)) whether begining from pathology is a good idea... -
I was thinking that the other day. I wonder if a bunch of qi-gong folks took over a bhuddist forum...oh wait, not going to happen. Then I was thinking "dang this stuff is all much of a muchness" - i'm sure the taoists don't much care but I'm kind of fed up with it. I have been wondering about the similarities between daoist and bhuddist practices, premises and outcomes lately.
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"As for light being consciousness,...that is something everyone should strive to be intimate with." I've had some moments where I've found this to 'be the case' but I don't want to agree with you too readily just because it was a pretty weird experience and it's far too tempting to grab on to a description that sounds like something I experienced but might not be it either. Right now for example, I'm extremely aware that there is some kind of light (more of a plasma deal, but whatever) 'running' through my entire system. I'll blame that sensation on the heightened awareness that comes with spinning all kinds of qi-gong around one's meridians. It doesn't mean it's the truth, just that it feels that way. So go figure.
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Hey Aaron, not OT (yet) is a POV ever 'purely' psychological? Or is it only ever that? Somewhere in the middle? As far as GIH's dream goes (to get back on track) and as far as I can remember, the emotions around the rat and maybe the setting are also highly important if you're going to interpret. I'm not even sure that 'subjectivity' functions the same way in dreams as it does when awake. And especially not if you've been fiddling with your sense of subjectivity through practices IMO. I can't say IME because subjectivity feels the same whether I'm dreaming or not but I can't say for sure that it is the same. So GIH, the rat might be you! And you're trying to nix yourself with a gun but you can't. Try buddhism instead
