Michael Sternbach

The Dao Bums
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Everything posted by Michael Sternbach

  1. New bum checking in!

    Hello, ZevonWolf, and welcome to the forums, Your membership is approved and we're happy you found your way to us. You will find plenty of (no longer so) solitary Taoists here. Please take the time to read the two posts pinned at the top of this Welcome page and take a look at the forum terms and rules. This covers all you need to know when getting started. For the first week you will be restricted to ten posts per day but after that you can post as much as you like. Also, until you’ve posted fifteen times in the forums, you’ll be a “Junior Bum” with somewhat restricted access and will be allowed only two private messages per day. Good luck in your pursuits and best wishes to you, Michael Sternbach and the TDB team
  2. simplify

    Consonance
  3. simplify

    dadadee dadadee
  4. Buddhism and the subtle energy body

    Meditation can have such an effect, but it can also help an unbalanced mind to settle. Much depends on the kind of meditation, and other factors.
  5. simplify

    down under
  6. Greetings

    Hello, Bowen, and welcome to the forums, Thanks for sharing this great story! Your membership is approved and we're happy you found your way to us. You will find many like minded people here. Please take the time to read the two posts pinned at the top of this Welcome page and take a look at the forum terms and rules. This covers all you need to know when getting started. For the first week you will be restricted to ten posts per day but after that you can post as much as you like. Also, until you’ve posted fifteen times in the forums, you’ll be a “Junior Bum” with somewhat restricted access and will be allowed only two private messages per day. Good luck in your pursuits and best wishes to you, Michael Sternbach and the TDB team
  7. Happy to be here

    Hello, Murraya, Happy New Year and welcome to the forums, Your membership is approved and we're happy you found your way to us. You will meet many here that share your interests, and no worries - your English is fine. Please take the time to read the two posts pinned at the top of this Welcome page and take a look at the forum terms and rules. This covers all you need to know when getting started. For the first week you will be restricted to ten posts per day but after that you can post as much as you like. Also, until you’ve posted fifteen times in the forums, you’ll be a “Junior Bum” with somewhat restricted access and will be allowed only two private messages per day. Good luck in your pursuits and best wishes to you, Michael Sternbach and the TDB team
  8. Greetings

    Hello, inthetao, and welcome to the forums, Your membership is approved and we're happy you found your way to us. This is a good place to connect with others in the Tao. Please take the time to read the two posts pinned at the top of this Welcome page and take a look at the forum terms and rules. This covers all you need to know when getting started. For the first week you will be restricted to ten posts per day but after that you can post as much as you like. Also, until you’ve posted fifteen times in the forums, you’ll be a “Junior Bum” with somewhat restricted access and will be allowed only two private messages per day. Good luck in your pursuits and best wishes to you, Michael Sternbach and the TDB team
  9. The true effects of herbs?

    Certain foods can sometimes act as medicines helping to restore the balance, and it's not always a matter of quantity. Small amounts can have great effects. While this may well be of help, it's probably best that you reconsider and gradually make some changes to your daily diet overall. Go easy on yourself, but be persistent. Your therapist should be able to give you guidance in this.
  10. Hello Dao Bums

    Hello, Star Stern, and welcome to the forums, Your membership is approved and we're happy you found your way to us. We're confident that you will find this a great place to learn and exchange about nutrition and alternative health. Please take the time to read the two posts pinned at the top of this Welcome page and take a look at the forum terms and rules. This covers all you need to know when getting started. For the first week you will be restricted to ten posts per day but after that you can post as much as you like. Also, until you’ve posted fifteen times in the forums, you’ll be a “Junior Bum” with somewhat restricted access and will be allowed only two private messages per day. Good luck in your pursuits and best wishes to you, Michael Sternbach and the TDB team
  11. Buddhism and the subtle energy body

    It is my understanding that Tonglen absorbs a negative emotional state (found either in the practitioner themselves or in their environment) into the heart chakra and transforms it into a corresponding but higher form or, in a sense, "mirror image". The heart (in terms of subtle anatomy) seems to be a suitable place for this transformation due to its nature as a 'singularity' and mediator between the lower and the higher.
  12. How does one return from the final stages of morality?

    If they are able of all that insight in your OP, I would conclude that they are headed in the right direction. I would also emphasize that "right" living is a matter of finding the proper balance between the extremes - something taught by (sometimes painful) experience and introspection.
  13. Buddhism and the subtle energy body

    As TCM shows, spread all over the body, there are in fact hundreds of "chakras" or subtle level gateways. In my view, the seeming divergences between the systems mostly boil down to variations in emphasis. For instance, the Svaddisthana chakra (whose elemental attribution is water) coincides pretty much with the "lower dantian point" CV-5 (Shimen), although CV-6 (Qihai, "sea of life force") and CV-4 (Guanyuan) are certainly not far off regarding their location and function, so in this case, the chakra may be understood as an acupoint cluster. Further, Muladhara corresponds with CV-1 (Huiyin), Manipura with CV-14 (Juque) and CV-15 (Jiuwei), Anahata with CV-17 (Shanzhong), Visshudha with CV-22 (Tiantu) and CV-23 (Lianquan), Ajna with the extra point Yintang, and Sahasrara with GV-20 (Baihui). Some systems have various numbers of additional minor chakras that have their equivalents in the Chinese map of the subtle anatomy which is probably the most detailed one available.
  14. Buddhism and the subtle energy body

    On another note, I was once confused by different astrological texts referring to the Sun as symbolizing variously the ego or the transpersonal self in a natal chart. Until a fellow astrologer reminded me of the Buddhist teaching that this mind is the 'Buddha mind'! This ultimately holds true but omits the process that fills the mind with the light from the transcendental dimensions and thus transforms one into the other.
  15. Buddhism and the subtle energy body

    This transformation of vibrationally lower to corresponding higher states is exactly what Dr. Edward Bach explained in the 1930s, and what his method of using certain flower remedies to induce psychological healing and change (of which I am a practitioner) is based on. This principle is also known in Hermetic internal alchemy, see i.e. the Kybalion. Talking about Tibetan Buddhism again, it is further the foundation of the Tonglen meditation.
  16. Buddhism and the subtle energy body

    I agree that this in a very interesting topic, not least because enlightenment (and the way there) ties in intimately with processes happening in the subtle body. The very term 'enlightenment' refers to a kind of light, subtle in nature, although it in fact influences the way the physical eyes perceive the environment. Now, Buddhism can be said to be primarily a philosophy, and many of its schools are not really interested in esoteric considerations. Vajrayana is more esoteric than most other brands, however. But my first Buddhist interest was Zen, which (besides some references to the lower dantian/tanden as the 'store-house' of qi/ki) is very sober. Early in my zazen practice, I had some strong sensations of energy flow, which quite surprised me. To obtain answers, I turned to other spiritual systems. All systems of spiritual cultivation have one thing in common - they work with and on the human subtle anatomy and physiology. The latter are key in understanding the functioning of spiritual practices, be they of the Buddhist, Daoist (qigong/alchemy) or Kabbalistic variety etc, and their study illuminates how such diverse practices relate to each other. No doubt, many a devout follower of a particular tradition will abhor and warn of such a comparative approach, but I for one am of the conviction that the traditional ways should be supplemented by a science of spiritual awakening that is still in very much in its infancy.
  17. simplify

    Eat
  18. Whatever happened in Cologne never never happened

    Nowhere did I state that you hate all Muslims. Nor did I say that the masses of immigrants don't pose any problems. What I said is that posts suggesting maiming and (in effect) killing immigrants are not acceptable on TDB. Talking of torturing, it is generally renamed and considered legal by governments that make use of it. So do I. However, arguably, humans are animals too. Possibly. I think you have a wrong idea about the counselling work I mentioned. I did that kind of counselling during most of the 90s when I was collaborating with a psychiatrist. Some really tough cases, and although I liked helping them, "fun" doesn't describe it adequately. People from different cultural backgrounds found their way to our practice, including Muslims (not all of them refugees, btw), Swiss, and yes, a few Germans as well. You keep saying this. What are your sources? And please don't say'Bild' again...
  19. simplify

    proud beech is forever
  20. Whatever happened in Cologne never never happened

    You see, whenever the mods on this forum hide posts (actually, we don't "burn" or "delete" them), they are obliged to state their reasons for doing so. Now, considering your repeated demands to torture and kill refugees in minutely described, most inhumane ways indeed makes my summary "xenophobic content" rather look like an understatement. But hey, let's not struggle over semantics! If you insist, I can certainly find a bunch of other fitting adjectives... Wow... A glimmer of insight! Yours certainly are. I must admit, all that is very impressive and hard to beat. What have I got to offer? Let me see... Treating a number of very traumatized refugees from Islamic countries in my work as a counsellor. Oh, and my brother-in-law is a Muslim. Hope that counts. Hope you enjoy yourself!
  21. SQL error

    Got it once today.
  22. Metatron

    Which ties in nicely with Metatron's attribution to Kether.
  23. Metatron

    It is said that Metatron is one of the two most Godlike Archangels (the other one being Michael). On the Kabbalistic Tree of Life, he reigns over the Sephira Kether ("Crown"), Although his power and wisdom are quite unlimited, he is often symbolically represented by a young boy or youth. His presence and energy typically accompanies individuals during times of great inner change, at the verge of a transformation to a higher expression of themselves (or to a manifestation of their "Higher Self"). This is expressed in the myth of Enoch being turned from a man into one of the most highly evolved multidimensional beings.
  24. Life after Awakening

  25. What is Kung Fu?

    If you visit schools teaching external and internal arts, respectively, you will in fact notice great differences between them. However, if you stick around long enough, you will find more and more overlap. In fact, on the very advanced levels, their differences tend to blur. An accomplished master in any art will be expressing both 'hard' and 'soft' elements which have been in their art all along - but they are brought out in reversed order.