Michael Sternbach

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Everything posted by Michael Sternbach

  1. Unpopular Opinions

    Michael Sternbach replied to Apech's topic in General Discussion

    Speak for yourself! I live in a spaceship!

  2. With Guest Mark Foote--Cuke Audio Podcast

    Michael Sternbach replied to Mark Foote's topic in General Discussion

    That podcast was interesting. Thanks for sharing! It brought back the good old days when I was practising zazen together with a zen monk here in Switzerland, and later at the Sosenji temple in Kyoto. I would generally prefer the full lotus posture, and while sitting in it for 45 minutes wasn't such a big deal, during a double session -- or a sesshin with several sessions in one day -- I surely did have my difficult moments. For that matter, I remember how, on one occasion, sitting right next to the priest in the temple's meditation hall mysteriously made the two-hour session so much easier to endure. Your suggestion to bring the centre of gravity slightly forward immediately brought to mind what I had learnt from Taiji practice (even long before you mentioned the latter yourself). There, letting the pelvis roll forward is said to align the vertebrae and straighten the spine, which normally has kind of an 'S' shape. Since I recently started thinking of getting my zafu and my zabuton out of the closet again anyway, I suppose I will soon have an opportunity to mess with that concept! 😃 Regarding the question whether one's focus ought to constantly remain on the kikai tanden, I recall a passage in Kapleau's The Three Pillars of Zen, where a practitioner finding his attention wandering to the Third Eye was advised to go along with that kind of spontaneous 'deviation'. And finally, I definitely agree that it's a good idea to look at zazen practice (and other meditation techniques) from a modern scientific perspective.

  3. Body Focused Forms in Qigong

    Michael Sternbach replied to Nuralshamal's topic in Daoist Discussion

    Hi Nuralshamal, For physically oriented qigong exercises, I'd look especially into yijin jing and xi sui jing. The shaolin monks have been using them for many centuries to improve their skills, and a lot of other martial artists find them highly effective too. Not least, these two sets of exercises are well known for their immune strengthening and general healing effects. Cheers Michael

  4. Bliss and Enlightenment by James Swartz

    Michael Sternbach replied to dwai's topic in General Discussion

    Personally, I find it quite frustrating to come across an interesting thread in which half of the posts have been deleted. 😫

  5. DDJ 40

    Michael Sternbach replied to Daniel's topic in Daoist Textual Studies

    Hi Cobie, Here's my take on this chapter: Things constantly move and evolve through polarities -- a day is succeeded by a night; waves have their crests and troughs; also: thesis/anti-thesis/synthesis. A reference to the water-like nature of the Dao which Laotzu talks about every so often. From non-existence or Dao as wu-chi -- a condition of pure potential about which little can be said, since it encompasses nothing and yet everything -- sprang existence or Dao as tai-chi. In turn, in the field spanned by tai-chi's complementary forces, all things are being created

  6. simplify

    Michael Sternbach replied to zerostao's topic in Daoist Discussion

    be told
  7. Rather than following any rigid rules, I suggest simply watching how it affects you if you do this or that after one of these activities.
  8. I am familiar with the Kabbalah and therefore aware that the Hebrew letters represent objects and beings (as do the Egyptian hieroglyphs, the Chinese and Japanese characters, etc). At the same time, the Hebrew letters represent numbers and archetypes -- which actually illustrates my statement that transient things are expressions of archetypal 'ideas'. A nice example for words being derived from the things they are intended to designate -- rather than the reverse, as some Buddhists suggest. They do react to certain words that way, however, 'bone' isn't part of their vocabulary. But they have a clear concept of it regardless. Ultimately, seeing is believing... 😉 Whoever wrote " and the Lord said ; let there be light ? ( Oh look .... the quote breaker is working again ! ) Right, the Logos... Which also has to do with the ability to measure things, besides naming them. The question is how we are to interpret the ancient scriptures, though. If I had forgotten my name and found myself in a place where nobody knows me, would I cease to exist? Exactly, and at that moment, it won't matter a bit if you call it a cross, a gyaku-tsuki, or whatnot -- or if you even know what hit you (in fact, the worst hits are those that you didn't see coming). Nor will it help to tell yourself that you were hit by a mere convention, LOL.
  9. Yes, that's exactly the issue I have with the Buddhist mindset myself. It doesn't seem to recognize the glorious and eternally valid uniqueness of the individual as one in a myriad of foci the Universe creates to contemplate its own existence. BTW, back in the day, I was taught the illusionary nature of individual existence in a lecture in Kyoto's Sosenji temple (where I was occasionally practising zazen at the time) and attempted to further discuss the issue, however, the monk in charge decided to quickly move on to other attributes of Nothing, LOL.
  10. Words of wisdom, Luke! How we conceptualize our chosen path can, however, to some degree define the experiences that we are open to or attract. And the concepts we make can sometimes turn out to be restrictions getting in the way of the actual experience. But I can sit down and do zazen without agonizing over hammers and screwdrivers, nails and screws -- thanks Heavens.
  11. I don't have Hulu either, but I will look out for that movie. Thanks.
  12. Yes, that's the theory, and it's indeed a very commendable position. In practice, though, Buddhists tend to cling to their teacher/master's words as much as the followers of any other religion do. IME.
  14. So you are saying that we are labeling things based on convention, and thus attributing a 'reality' to them that they don't intrinsically have. However, I think what actually happened was that we -- as a species -- found distinct objects and beings in our environment and started giving them names for easy reference. My dogs understand very well what a bone is and what its specific attributes are without knowing what it's called. That said, I certainly don't deny that our convention based concepts tend to structure and limit our perception -- they do so to a large extent --, but to infer from this that the objects of our perception have no intrinsic reality seems to be quite a stretch. And I would still like to know who first expressly came up with this idea, and when. If anyone here knows, I would appreciate a hint. The melted metal of our hammer indeed has the potential to become a lot of different things, as long as it's in the formless state. But a potential hammer won't help you sticking actual nails into the wall -- trust me, you'll need an actual hammer for the job. The Platonist philosophy I referred to is well aware of the difference between potential and actuality, and looks at them as a polarity. Whereas the Buddhist view you represent seems to only acknowledge 'the sea of potential' as reality and claim that the hammer, the nails, and the wall don't actually exist. That's a non-sequitur. To any thougthful individual, it will be rather obvious that little in the manifest world is permanent -- perhaps not even the manifest world itself.
  15. Hi CT, That's a typical Buddhist position which I've always had an issue with -- despite my involvement with Zen. I wonder, when was it first brought up in the old texts? Can it be supposed to be one of Gautama's original teachings? It seems to be at odds with my Platonist views. According to Platonism, tangible things are the concrete manifestations of 'ideas' that exist in the divine mind. It is these 'ideas' that are endowing the ten-thousand things with their shape and form. I would argue that in its 'hammer-ness', it actually manifests the archetype of the hammer. But it would! You can't have a hammer without 'hammer-ness'. No more 'hammer-ness' = no more hammer. In the Platonist view, once it melted, it returned to the state of formless 'prime matter', and that's that. Of course, you could take this basic matter and form it into a screwdriver. But then the result would be a screwdriver, and no longer a hammer, I'm afraid. One's for nails, the other one for screws. Same matter, but different form.
  16. I agree with you -- a hammer will be a hammer no matter what. And yes, your forearm can become a hammer in conjunction with a rock, temporarily. (And if you are a martial artist, you may even be able to substitute your fist for the rock.) I am no longer sure about phones, though. Since I am using my so-called phone also for reading, writing, sending and receiving text messages, painting, searching the Internet, playing video games, as a torch, etc. Using it actually as a phone has become rather the exception than the rule. And yet I am calling it "my phone". This may indeed be a matter of convention. (Let's not go into Swiss pocket knives for now.)
  17. Fascinating! Good catch! On the one hand, I was alluding to an old polemic between Nungers and me regarding the existence of prehistoric civilisations (a theory that I support, BTW). But... This interpretation is valid as well! At any rate, you would be part of the underground. But then, so are all Aussies as seen from the Northern hemisphere. Nuff said now. I don't wish to spoil the fun of the future exegetists deciphering all the intricacies of my multi layered post.
  18. Talking about physics with its eternal quest for a TOE: History shows that every time "the last remaining questions" were about to be answered, a previously unknown new world opened up. Dark matter, anyone? How about dark energy? If the Divine is synonymous with the Infinite, it makes sense that we can forever approach it, but never reach it. And there's also no need to hurry. Phew...

  19. Unpopular Opinions

    Michael Sternbach replied to Apech's topic in General Discussion

    That's what I like about Zen -- it advertises nothing.

  20. From Fiction to Fact

    Michael Sternbach replied to Zoya's topic in Welcome

    I agree with you for the most part. However, even though guides and teachers are sometimes needed (and can come in many forms), I never cease to be astonished how very close 'the other reality' is to the one we are generally familiar with -- if we just look in the right direction. Do you know this nice little Zen story about Huineng? When Hungren saw his death approaching he told his monks to compose a verse showing an intuitive understanding of his own inner nature. He who could do this would be given the "transmission" and receive the robe and bowl of office as Sixth Ancestor. The favorite for the title was Shenxiu, who wrote: Our body is the Bodhi-tree And our mind a mirror bright. Carefully we clean them hour by hour And let no dust alight. Marveling at this, the other monks decided it could not be bettered. But Hongren responded to the verse by telling Shenxiu: "This verse does not demonstrate that you have yet achieved true understanding of your original nature. You have reached the front gate, but you have not yet entered into full understanding. Prepare your mind more fully and when you are ready, submit another gatha." Shenxiu departed, but try as he might, he could not produce the second gatha. As the story goes, Huineng, not knowing of Hongren's test, saw the verse on the wall, asked someone to it read out to him, and dictated his own poem to be written alongside it: There is no Bodhi-tree Nor stand of a mirror bright. Since all is void Where can the dust alight? 💡
  21. It could be something as simple as a shuffle, or as advanced as an excavator if you have the funds. Make sure you get out of it prior to that. Alternatively, you can let the archaeologists of the far future excavate and build some outrageous theory about 21st century humans on you. Always someone's gotta do the dirty work. 🤷🏻‍♂️
  22. "Whoever digs a pit needs a pit-digging unit." 😉

  23. From Fiction to Fact

    Michael Sternbach replied to Zoya's topic in Welcome

    It's a character from the sci-fi universe I created and started illustrating with the assistance of various image AIs. She's also artificial in the sense that she's one of the androids my story's protagonist invents in order to protect Earth from an impending alien invasion. And to look good while doing so! 😃

  24. From Fiction to Fact

    Michael Sternbach replied to Zoya's topic in Welcome

    Sure thing! I will be happy to keep you and any other interested parties posted. For that matter, please consider following my blog http://michaelsternbach.wordpress.com It has been dormant for quite a while, however, I will soon start notifying subscribers about any progresses made with my creative projects. I vaguely remember making some experiences of that kind already in early childhood. The first one I have a clear recollection of occurred in 1989, while I was a late adolescent studying Zen Buddhism and martial arts in Japan.

  25. From Fiction to Fact

    Michael Sternbach replied to Zoya's topic in Welcome

    Thank you so much for your kind words! I actually spent this whole year so far creating an entire universe based on my space dreams and spiritual experiences: The World of Spacepunk There are currently a collection of print images, an art book, and the first novel of a planned trilogy Spacepunk I -- Humanity at the Crossroads in the works. upload image More to come. 😉