Michael Sternbach

Dao Bunnies

I think the best analogy for dying in our personal experience is falling asleep. Does our consciousness continue to exist while we sleep? Of course it does, even though the waking mind (which is the part mostly focussed on the external physical world) is on a break. Now many can keep a state of self-awareness similar to that of the waking mind while asleep. We call that lucid dreaming. I think, it's fair to say that this is experienced more commonly by spiritually more evolved people. In my view, experiencing death is analogous to this: The inner self continues its existence anyhow, but how far can the outer self (which is what many people identify themselves with almost exclusively) follow it into the inner world and stay awake or aware? The ability to do this to the highest degree defines spiritual immortality for me. And yes, there are meditative practices both of Eastern and Western origin conducive to this. Now when I say that the inner self continues its existence anyhow, I am not talking about something really separate from the self we are familiar with. The latter is more of a specific focus of the former in the first place. (There is a common misconception here. We don't have a soul. We are a soul.) Many feel that they are not quite "themselves" in daily life. "They" are swayed by and "lose themselves" in external circumstances. In contrast, the inner self is our true self. Call it our original face or the part that chose to incarnate in this specific form. Connecting to it feels like we become more ourselves. It feels like coming home. Meditative practices generally aim at that state. "Physical immortality" is a conception that takes this up a notch. It refers to the transference of the immortality of the spiritual inner self to the physical body. In principle, the body's existence can indeed be greatly (even indefinitely) extended. But for that to happen, it needs to be sufficiently permeated by spirit. It will then be continuously regenerated from the very source that created it in the first place. Again, there are practices that are conducive to that. There are also certain remedies imbued with spirit which, by resonance, help the body and mind to more fully connect to spirit, thusly extending their existence. Manufacturing such is the aim of external alchemy, in contrast to internal alchemy, which is pursuing this by way of meditative practices alone.

This series of pictures was published in 1991 by Adam McLean as The Rosicrucian Emblems of Daniel Cramer in the series Magnum Opus Hermetic Sourceworks. Indeed a remarkable little book, rather reminiscent of illustrated alchemical texts.

It's obviously a lymphocite. Unless it's not.

No offense, but I find that to be a somewhat narrow definition of the meaning of enlightenment. There are uphill and downhill roads, and there are sometimes platforms you can rest on for awhile. I am afraid, once you have as much as caught a fleeting glimpse of what is outside the cave, it is too late for you to turn back. Our mental facilities are full of hapless individuals who tried to suppress their perceptions and inner knowledge because they tried to be "normal." Not to mention what happened to the traitor guy (what was his name again?) in the first Matrix movie... Remember the look on his face when he was unexpectedly electrocuted? That's when he got his true enlightenment. Oh well, the desire for happiness on some level is the driving force behind most human activities, including meditation and spiritual practices. Maybe it would be helpful if you could define what "happiness" means to you. Maybe because the question would have needed to be clarified first. (Nope, I won't post that pic of Deep Thought from the Hitchhiker's Guide this time.) In my understanding, personal happiness is basically a guide meant to lead you towards goals beneficial to both yourself and the greater whole that you are part of (what Seth calls "value fulfillment.) This kind of forum is actually great for talking about questions like this. Sorry if I did not really give you much in the way of answers though, but rather more questions - questions to yourself!

Do you know why it's called enlightenment? Because it is the process of the self being literally filled with light, and seeing it everywhere in its environment, as the inner Sun awakens.

This should be no more than the first stage of the process which leads to enlightenment, when you are facing internal darkness and seeing also the world around you in that non-light. A stage of disillusionment often stands at beginning of a spiritual way, where grumpy old Saturn is the Guardian of the threshold. However, this should lead you to a reevaluation and revision of your perception of the world and the conditioned beliefs it rests on. It will culminate in higher insights into the Universe and yourself. If, however, you get stuck in the illusions of the dark stage, even though you are no longer fully part of the Matrix, you are still trapped in a subway station. : D

Jeff, When you quote such ancient and symbolic texts, don't you think you should also provide their translation into terms of modern language and metaphysics?

There is some evidence that ancient China HAD pyramids. http://www.philipcoppens.com/china_pyr.html

I would be interested in hearing more about the parallels you have found.

Fooled again

Twilight zone

The sky

It's what I am. Can't help it.

Do you understand the term fa-jing?

Even Bigger Bang

Big Bang

This kind of surveillance exists not only in China, but in Western countries as well. Yes, information overload makes it more difficult to retrieve anything useful, however, increasing computer power fascilitates this. It is too bad that the people in charge don't understand that what is revealed should be well balanced by what remains in the dark. Not even in the motherland of Daoism.

Tired

I would say that depends on the definition of "exalted knowledge" - and you do understand chaos, you old Anarchist.

This is a similar video like the one above: Demonstrating that the Bubishi actually works in application. Regarding your further questions, I will see what I can do.

Is anyone familiar with what? There are a number of different versions of this kata, some of them apparently not going back to the lineage Bushi Matsumura - Nabe Matsumura - Hohan Sokan. For one thing, Shuri's Hakutsuru is different from Naha's Hakutsuru. There is a Goju-ryu version, which is no longer part of the style's syllabus though and only shown in some schools to a select few students. Whereas the Shorin school that are teaching a variation of it don't regard it as a secret form today. Kakuyoku, a modern form by famous Shotokan instructor Asai Tetsuhiko, was probably also derived from the Hakutsuru form. There is also a version of Hakutsuru that was brought from Fujian to Okinawa by the Chinese Go Kenki. It is being practised as Hakucho in Shito-ryu today. It contains no kicks. However, it teaches pokes with straight fingers and sweeping strikes by the arms, which resemble a crane's flaps. Hope this helps.

We can never swim in the same river twice. Though in this case, it may be us who have changed, rather than the river.