Michael Sternbach

I've heard that there isn't much crime happening in Alaska. (Just beware of feeding the bears.)

To me, Lao-tzu's statement boils down to: The more you focus on something - be it positive or negative -, the more you will call it forth.

You provided a good example for And for the record, I wasn't quite serious when I suggested walling off parts of America.

Hi Olga, With your blend of various Eastern and Western practices, you fight right into TDB. Welcome!

No, he just shed his skin.

Here's an easy solution: Build containment walls - not around the US, but inside the country! Okay, the idea isn't completely new. https://vimeo.com/19083078 (Go to 2:30, unless you like the opening music as much as I do.)

Dalai Lama

Y'all, sing along!

No, as my current main focus is Kenpo Karate. But I might well get to it in the future.

I am currently learning Taiji from Erle and Eli Montaigue's very detailed DVDs and books. The amount of information in those materials is very impressive. So if I were to work with an IMA teacher personally, it would be Eli.

This is awesome research. While some may think of this kind of study as demystification of spiritual traditions, by the same token it can be regarded as science being mystified. It is to be hoped that more and more such undertakings will be seen in the future, leading to a reconciliation of scientific and spiritual perspectives on a cultural level. This is tantamount to left and right cerebral hemispheres being united in individuals. In this, there is the potential for nothing less than taking human consciousness to the next level in its evolution.

Interesting post. In physics, it is generally assumed that an EM field (or gravity field) has an independent existence of its own, when in fact it will only be manifest in the presence of an object (a particle, or an accumulation of particles) with traits that make it susceptible to the field (that is, which enable the particles to perceive it). It would therefore indeed be apt to say that, in vacuo, only the potential for the field exists, which is just one form that the higher field you mention can take. This higher field as such exists outside of 4d space-time.

So are they all equally real - or unreal - in your book?

Mass is theorized to be an effect of the Higgs field, but matter is not (except by you). On another note, are you suggesting that matter isn't real, but mind is?

No way... The windows don't exist either. "Since all is void, where can dust alight?" Hui-Neng, sixth patriarch at the time when there was only one school of Zen Buddhism

Since neither floor nor toast exist, what do you smear your butter on? Koan by Michaerushi, 77th patriarch in the Starlight school of Zen Buddhism

There is an upside to that.

You need it for running the fridge.

Awesome! I will get Red Pine's edition. Thank you for this hint, Yueya.

My birth convinced me that reincarnation actually exists. Happened after nine months of intense preparation. It turned everything upside down for me.

Matter does exist. But our understanding of its nature is quite limited. Which influences how we interact with it.

I beg to differ, to a degree. There are excellent DVDs that explain every tiny detail; they have the advantage that you can watch them over and over again - something impossible with a live teacher's explanations. You can use a mirror or video camera for watching yourself. Some DVD instructors even offer that you can send them your videos for feedback and sometimes ranking. Compare this to an instructor having to cope with a class of thirty... It might take quite awhile before he sees that you are doing some little thing in a form wrong. When I was training Karate, it even sometimes happened that an instructor 'corrected' me for mistakes that I knew actually weren't any, as I had always been doing a lot of reading, thus gathering knowledge that some of my instructors didn't have. Studying a martial art is always self-study after all, IME. Instructors are only there to serve as an example and give you some guidance. To illustrate: When I was doing Aikido in schools in Japan, I felt that the only way to really get somewhere was taking notes after class and reviewing what I had been taught. That said, I would still recommend to supplement home study by in-person instruction, but in cases where this is not available to you in the art you would like to study, good DVDs, combined perhaps with a private training partner or two, are a viable option. I am currently learning the old Yang form on my own. It does take time to assimilate all the details, but I'm in no hurry. Simply doing the form over and over to the best of my current ability is its own reward.

Spiritual experiences are the origin of every religion - watered down, misread, etc as they may have later become.

I know well what Jung is talking about. I privately communicate mostly with those I share a common understanding with - not least folks on forums like this one.