Bearded Dragon

I love meat and I'll continue to eat it unless I have some profound realisation. I don't think that realisation will come. I say that some animals can only eat meat. Then a vegetarian responds with some sort of logic whereby since we are intellectually smarter then that makes it immoral. Nope, that one doesn't stick with me. The point of cruelty IS a valid reason for not eating meat. It is not a valid reason for not eating any meat. The animal can lead a good life and at the end they die instantly and pain-free.

Well, yeah ok that kind of description works I guess. I don't think anyone could argue with that.

Considering awareness has no physical location I think you'd have a hard time doing that. Almost nobody here is qualified to comment on what enlightenment is. We can only comment on enlightening. Anyone who has demonstratable progress towards essence should be qualified to talk about their particular process. Anything more is a bit of a waste of time.

Yeah, what CT said. I haven't done much seated meditation but when I have tried to do it over long timespans the pain gets quite bad. It's a perfect example of what you're talking about. After you train your mind to deal with negative circumstances then the pain is there but you're able to carry on and have your concentration where it needs to be. The pain is valid, and it's still there, but your mind learns to break free from it somewhat. The biggest turning point for me what the realisation that negativity is ok. Your mind releases from it thereby not making it negative anymore but merely a sensation. It loses its reference point that makes it negative. I can do it with everyday things. The bigger the sensation the harder it is to pull off. This, I feel, is a product of your willpower to stand against adversity.

http://www.circlewalking.com/

There are a few views. Buddhism and Taoism would advocate that heaven/nirvana and hell exist within. The former being a state that is free from impurities and of open unadultered awareness. There is the topic of reincarnation whereby spiritual impurities carry over into the next life, so the idea of after death is not really applicable. Buddhism/Taoism traditionally do not care to mention a place called heaven or hell because the idea is not important. Any accomplished teacher that I've heard mention this seems to avoid commenting. I don't know why it would just pop up other than to introduce a term that controls unlike any other. Perhaps religious leaders presumed that fear would lead to moral refinement. I do not believe that it can help in that regard. On the surface level, yes, but deep down the roots are merely buried.

This has been mentioned numerous times here. The following pdf that I found goes at the issue numerous times with different wording. Perhaps it will make the idea a little clearer for someone. Enjoy. http://sczc.org/PDFs/DharmaStudy/TurningtheLightAroundandShiningBack.pdf

Nah like 170cm or so (5'6''). Quite thin also due to a fast metabolism.

I had when I fainted the other night. Had dinner and a few glasses of red, fell asleep on the couch, got up to go to bed, about to go to the toilet, then BAM out like a light. Wasn't drunk or anything but I'm sure it was something to do with a lack of oxygen (still investigating). The sensation was an instant change to some sort of hallucination, a spinning sensation, a falling sensation, and a feeling of complete loss of control. This lasted what felt like 5-10 seconds then I just remember waking up perhaps a minute or so later on the floor with a nasty bump on my head. Probably not the same thing but still a point to consider. I think you'll know intuitively if it's a bad thing or not.

There are certain things I want to achieve. If I don't achieve them then it doesn't bother me because the path will be pointing towards something else. I arrived at this merely by having the acceptance of all outcomes. Acceptance does not mean liking it. Now I find that I point myself in a direction and sort of just go with it, without worry of the path morphing or changing.

Thanks. That info is very helpful.

Like every case of potential you cannot form any reasonable rationale without a reference point. In the case of the examples given the reference point is yourself. Killing creates impurities in the body therefore it's negative. Peace and harmony does not. In terms of purification and self-refinement it would clearly be detrimental to form impurities. My guess is that once you HAVE liberation then the reference point can shift and the reference of "yourself" no longer exists and hence the negativity is not what it once was. Perhaps.

One time it felt like I was wearing rocket boots. Kinda like chi was shooting out through my feet into the ground. It was met with a rebounding force coming upwards which fixed my alignments and straightened me up. This, I believe, was a glimpse of higher level taiji. Haven't had anything like it happen again in years.

There is a matter which has been on my mind which is the issue of spontaneous action vs spontaneous reaction. I think it's just a matter of refinement in order to peel back the veil of ignorance that blurs the two. In any case it's not so clear cut for me at a subtle level right now.

Bruce Frantzis has mentioned something about a 5 Rings practice. I know nothing about it but perhaps talk to one of his senior instructors. People have been cured of this.

You were never going to do anything differently. You always act based on conditions and who you think you are at that moment in time. Therefore you should have no regrets. You accept that you acted accordingly to how you were at the time and that you would do things differently now only because conditions are different and/or your perceived self is different. It's not even about forgiving yourself because even if you forgive your perceived self it's not who you are now. It sounds like a license to do whatever you want guilt free. It is not.

If I wear headphones for too long the part that goes over my head makes my crown burn underneath it. Strange but perhaps a little relevant to this topic.

I seem to have better lucid dreams when I've spent time setting up my energy. So yeah I think it's related in a sense that proper workings of internal energy help with pretty much everything.

True power is really just adaptation from how I see it. I consider that change in my energetics is necessary in order to match the potential of change in life. Any energetic setup that allows for this is going to be of use.

I know someone who gets this. Her dantien shakes her entire body when she puts too much intention there. Her taiji teacher said just to not think about it so much. The slow and steady approach I guess. It was interesting. She could just turn on the shake at will.

Feminism as a term just serves to create more of a divide in my opinion. We should just award each person based on their merits and there would be no issues. It has swung the other way in some cases that I've seen though. I have seen government departments that HAVE to give a certain number of positions to women. This is highly unfair if all women applicants are less capable of doing the particular job than the male applicants.

Like this sort of thing but if you have no focus mit then any padding is ok. haha

I thought this was going to be sarcastic. That was a really good testimony for "just let go". I like it.

Mmm no usually I get the phone book out. It's always good for a laugh.

1. Gong means work, so qigong is working with qi and shengong is working with spirit etc. Yin and yang are like the binary codes of the universe. Some label them as something specific but you would be restricting yourself to do so. They form a difference of potential in the same manner as voltage. 2. Nei means internal. Wai means external. 3. Forget about all that. It's all meaningless. You just need to find a teacher. Knowing words is only going to make you think you know something when you really have no idea. Being able to do something is true knowledge. If you can't find a teacher then just get in a basic qigong posture, stand there, and just listen to your body. No words, no presumptions. What will happen 99% of the time is that people will not do that because they would rather read about a magical secret formula. You end up getting nowhere.