seekingbuddha

Ya Mu, I just found this thread. Did not read all 29 pages, so perhaps my question is a repeat: For someone with only basic exposure to Qigong, what is the step by step incremental learning, in your system ? How much each step would cost ? I assume each step requires attending your workshop, since you have mentioned that it is the only proper way to learn your system. Since i live far away, if learning from your DVD is of use (as a beginner to your system), let me know what is the use in purchasing your DVD as opposed to coming to one of your workshops. Thank you.

I was saddened to hear about Tibetan monks who get into monasteries as children. This is simply wrong because Buddha himself did not admit any children into his order of monks (except for Rahula, his child). I have seen serious personality problems in people who got into boarding schools as children (because their parents were rich). A child needs to grow up with the mother for sometime for emotional formation, no matter how difficult the circumstances - otherwise, the child grows up into an adult with emotional issues to struggle with later in life. My limited understanding of these buddhist countries tells me that the main reason the children are put into monasteries at young age is because these countries have proper education & food only in monasteries. Hence due to economics and cultural pressure, parents put the children in monasteries. As far as the healing process goes, i do believe that any system needs to incorporate body as well as mind. Since these two are interconnected and inseparable, body movement combined with proper cultivation of mind will yield the best results for the victim. What works for each person maybe different in each of these two components, but i believe that one of the problems with modern theraputic systems is that many of them ignore the body component. Across the world, all tribes had some form of body movement or dance as part of their routine rituals, which is lost in the modern society that lives in stress to meet the basic human needs.

Currently I am in the process of helping someone who has gone through severe trauma. Due to the extent of the trauma, the person is in denial mode, though he is willing to tacitly acknowledge that some sort of treatment would be good. I took it as a sign that the person is reaching out for my help. I performed an intense meditative retreat in order to seek the right way to help this person. During this meditation retreat (which turned out to be one of the best in my life), it has been shown to me that the best way to help this person, is by showing this person that the PATH of dhamma provides the best protection against various sufferings this person has faced/will face/ in life. This person has some exposure to buddhism and meditation, but at a very basic level and is not practicing any spirituality in life right now. So, when i stumbled on this thread and read it, I saw that the book suggested in topic of thread is available in amazon and is popular. But there seems to be a more recent book, that has more excellent reviews. My question is three fold: Has anyone read this popular book titled The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma ? Though I have read extensively Buddha's discourses (to monks as well as householders), I am not sure how I can impart this knowledge to the trauma victim in a stepwise/progressive/faith-creating fashion. The victim is a young mind, and I do not want to overload such a mind with all the depth of knowledge at one single week of discussions. I welcome suggestions from those who are experienced in similar situation. Any other approches other than gifting the book & dhamma teaching to this victim ? Gifting a book of Buddha's discourses is unlikely to be read by this person (because the canons are lengthy and deep books that need patience to read).

I often listen to the youtube chanting of Om mani padme hum(x9 version) which i find soothing. I have also tried many hindu chantings on youtube, but none comes close to the above mantra version. I stick to youtube for listening, even though it does not have a "repeat" feature. Do you know of another chanting/song that is as powerful and soothing to listen to ?

The "listenonrepeat" works nicely for youtube videos that we want to play repeatedly. But, my original question is more focused on finding other soothing songs like Om mani padme hum. The video posted in a reply with Deva Premal is soothing too, but I find that Om-mani is much more powerful in a way that i can not describe. I do not want to get side tracked on this thread; but Elsewhere in this forum, you can find people discussing the reason for the power of this chanting.

I searched the net for a forum meant purely for buddhist scholars and meditators hang out. Google produces many different sites. Any comments on which forum is the best quality ? Following is a short list that i am interested in considering.... dhammawheel.com freesangha.com dharmanet.org dharmawheel.net www.theravadabuddhistcommunity.org I prefer to hang out with the 40+ crowd of people, and want to avoid pointless and ego driven discussions. That is the primary criteria in picking one out of these five that came up in search on Thereveda buddhism.

Thanks to all of you for the responses. I understand the importance of practice over theory, but it has been my experience that they both complement each other nicely. I am not actively searching to join another forum now, but can not deny that every now and then the thought has crossed my mind - it would be yet another time commitment, which makes me pause. I have come across many knowledgeable people in this forum, who have contributed to my growth. So, i can not deny that there are gems to be found among the trash that permeates the internet. Not only i seek to find these gems of inspiration, but also I seek to give. Because there are many here, who give their time, knowledge and guidance to others - as I have gained from them, i seek to pay forward. This is all for the welfare of our children, for generations to come.

I do not contemplate / fear / meditate / hold strong views about rebirth. I just keep an open mind towards it, (and have my own theories about it). I stumbled on Milerapa's songs, and it resonated and penetrated my heart in its wisdom. As i was reading, i came upon the following words from a song. Elsewhere, Milerapa has clearly defined what he calls as Shamatha - so i have no doubts about what level of meditation he is referring to. But, I can not fully understand why he says that the great meditators will be reborn as animals. Maybe someone here has studied the life and songs of Milerapa in detail, and could shed some light on the final two lines ? This is more of a curiosity question because I am drawn by his songs; this does not affect my practice in any way. ".............. The great meditators who meditate in shamatha Have powerful experiences, so brilliant and clear They think that it's vipashyana and rest their mind at ease But when vipashyana is needed at the point of death, Luminosity's mother and child they cannot bring together And so the shamatha they've practiced does not help at all. In fact, has it not made them take birth as an animal?............ "

Seeker, I have good understanding of dependent origination. But, the answer is unsatisfactory to me, for 2 reasons: if you use the flame/fire along the rope as metaphor, I would say that there is a ever-changing fire/flame, which is what moves along the rope. Often, Buddha has spoken of a person getting reborn as an animal or in hell or heaven. Which means that Buddha not only spoke of rebirth in the context of dependent origination, but also in the context of simple/straight-forward rebirth of a person during a discourse. Here, the context and meaning of rebirth is the simplistic views that we hold for rebirth. So, the question still remains open. I have my own hypothesis as answer to this question, but want to see alternate views from the wise or from a sutta that I have not yet read. In addition, I think this would be an interesting topic to discuss, for the benefit of many here. If you have a liberated-mind as your teacher, you can pose the question to your teacher and share your wisdom here...

That's perfectly ok. Buddha has said that when someone endures lot of suffering, it results in one of 2 things.....either the mind is baffled (i don't remember the exact words, but I interpret this to mean that the person goes mad) OR the mind starts searching for an end to the suffering. The second choice automatically leads you into the prescribed path of renunciation and dhamma. But, as i mentioned before, I think that renunciation has to be approached cautiously, with reverence, with the right frame of mind (Right View). Do not think that it is an easy way out (of the world and its problems).

Songstan, Don't be disheartened. There is truth in what you said originally. But those words you spoke need to approached cautiously, with reverance, with the right frame of mind (Right View). This Right View is to be combined with Right effort (practice), which is what all the indian yogis do in the forests/mountains. But i suspect you are not ready to give it all up and go into a forest. If you do, then you will know when you have reached Liberation to the extent your mind seeks. At that point, your heart will overflow with the wisdom of kindness, joy, equanimity and compassion. You will reach out to all beings with this liberated mind, which is not easy to attain. Since this is not easy to attain for ordinary humans like us, the only thing we can do is to take one day at a time - a single step, a simple practice in the right direction that has been given to us by the wisest of the wise to ever walk on this earth.....our great spiritual teachers, who have spoken of how to live an ordinary good life. They taught us that despair and worry are unwholesome states of mind that need to be abandoned. What have we got to lose by practicing their teachings, a little at a time ? You have already understood that the rat race ends sooner or later. Assuming that we know how to live our lives, living contrary to the teaching of the wisest, only shows ego/stupidity/ignorance/self-importance. The right-living will not only have good influence on yourself, but also will affect those around you (family, friends, children, etc). Of course, you understand much of these things, which is one reason why you hang out here with Sat-sung.

Young man, you are killing yourself with over-thinking. Trust my words, as I have lived with many different room mates in my young years. All you need is a easy-going, understanding/empathetic, clean (both inside and outside), same-sex person(s) to share the rent. Anything more or different would be unnecessary complication added to your spiritual path and development. At the same time, i should also mention that it is important to surround yourself with positive energy and avoid negative energy.

Lino, Do you care to elaborate on your theory and quote appropriate spiritual texts as support ? Milarepa lived about 900 years ago. So, if you are calling the words of such an enlightened being as "false", do it with very cautiously and with reverence and respect............for words carry a power that are beyond the understanding of current/modern/average humans.

Seeker, Thanks for these quotes. I understand from these quotes that Buddha is making it crystal clear that since there is nothing that can be called a SELF (with which we identify with), there is no point in any attempt (using words/language) to define SELF in any way (either cosmic/universal/transcending/all-encompasing SELF or an individualized/centered/micro/human/animal SELF). Thus, all concepts that define SELF would be considered wrong according to Buddha. (The following is addressed to all): The statements above are my current understanding, and you are welcome to correct it if it is wrong view. This brings up another interesting question. This is a deep question, and hence attempt an answer only if you can quote appropriate words from Buddha himself or one of his disciples..... If there is nothing that can be considered as a SELF, what is "it" that shows up in the next rebirth ? What part of a human gets reborn as an animal (or as a heavenly being) ?

It seems like there is a state-of-mind, where all of your 4 questions can be answered with a YES or NO or MAYBE. The purpose of spirituality is to show us how to live, while we are here on earth. Say, we take one step at a time on the path that has been shown to us by the wisest of the wise to ever live on earth. Then, there will come a step, where these kinds of questions and answers will cease to be important. For now, taking the one small step (however small) needed for TODAY, is what is important and relevant. Troubles (sufferings) arise because we do not realize the importance of this one small single step that needs to be taken TODAY (ie.. in present moment).

Many wise words have been spoken in this thread, as counterbalance reality check. Notice that many yogis live a long and healthy life, on bare minimum food, leave alone supplements. Meanwhile, the digestive system is getting overloaded, if these are consumed when not needed. The failure in GI shows up only in advanced decades of life because the life-force of youth is strong enough to withstand the onslaught from modern society.

There is going to be ton of teenagers now interested in this thread, because the idea of 35 minutes of sustained orgasm will bring tears to any teen. They usually have orgasms lasting in the order of seconds. This can be practiced now as a better alternative, instead of wasting energy on new girlfriends. Would you care to write an article explaining your "Path to Enlightenment" or "Path to Ecstasy" or something like that ? This will save the ton of emails that you will soon get from pleasure seeking teens on the Net.

Recently I came upon the topic of "crying", during some contemplation. I thought i should write down some of my thoughts in this forum. Crying is common phenomenon among those who are on a spiritual path. Why do these people, who are more spiritual than an average person, cry ? I think one reason could be the fact that spiritually inclined minds tend to be more sensitive than others; they feel their feelings more deeply than an average person. Gender does not matter - crying arises from the depth of the mind. It is to be treated as yet another phenomenon of mind and should be treated just like any other feeling that arises - with equanimity, overcome those emotional waves, and stabilize the mind, without rolling/dwelling in that emotion for long time. It is also possible that crying occurs as a reaction of empathy / loving-kindness, either directed towards oneself or directed towards some other person. Upon feeling the pain of one's own mind, or the pain of someone else's mind, crying could arise. This only means that your practice of spirituality is diving deeper. There is nothing to be ashamed about. Haven't you seen animals cry ? If not, check out some internet videos on this topic. This is an expression of nature.

Here is some thought that came, regarding this topic...... Sometimes crying comes about, when a piece of ignorance departs. Sometimes laughter comes about, when a piece of wisdom arises. Then times change, and equanimity trumps them all.

Never mind my question. Waking up this morning, my laziness disappeared. I was able to learn much from a simple google search and reading qigonginstitute website. It is more useful than the youtube videos, which got me started on Qigong. I get reminded of Milarepa's words......"knowledge is vast".

I am new to Qigong. Naturally, i don't know much other than the 8-movement that i do sometimes. But sometimes i feel like i am performing Qigong without even consciously thinking of it as Qigong. Isn't Qigong simply the practice of facilitating proper energy flow within the body ? If my assumption is correct, this can be practiced in any position (walking, sitting, lying etc), anywhere, anytime - just like meditation. I am too lazy now to read up all the basics on the net.

When i read what Spotless has mentioned as "matters of the right sided heart in the higher realms of universal being / resonance", I remember that Pamela Reynolds' husband talked about her crying out of empathy (see video i mentioned in previous post). The lower mind crying (as mentioned by Spotless) is the typical crying of a child or teen (suffering based crying). Anyways.... an uninteresting topic to many, but i wanted a thread to mention the recent video i saw. In my search, i could not find any previous threads talking about that video. I felt the empathy that is mentioned by Pamela's husband and wanted to share that in this forum. Also wanted to share the thought that higher minds create "crying", but from a different base.

Hmmm..... this is a surprise to me. Never saw a wild life video where cubs are being eaten by the mother. Which species does this ? I suddenly wonder if anyone evolves spiritually into higher mind states, without ever going through crying. I am sure, this is not something our spiritual gurus would like to talk about, given the negativity that gets associated with a crying person. Come to think of it, I have never seen a video of any spiritual guru, where he/she talks only about the bad things he/she did in his/her past. (I am talking graphic descriptions of how low they stooped in their life, before gaining fame/glory as a guru).

I agree with both of you. I realize that the feeling of empathy / compassion / love that arises from deep within (like in the case of a heart chakra getting touched by mind) can invoke crying as a physical response. It is also possible to cry without having any associated sadness that typically accompanies normal crying. I got reminded of the crying that arises from love & compassion, towards the end of the youtube video on Pam Renolds' near death experience. I think the BBC documentary on NDE (available on youtube) called The day i died, is something that is worth watching.

Topic is interesting one. Some of you maybe interested in these TV shows where they show people who are doing it. 1. Life Below Zero, 2. Live free or Die, 3. Legend of Mick Dodge