Vajra Fist

I'd say mainly the cold exposure. Feels amazing afterward, but the dry cracked and blistered skin was a significant drawback, as well as a far greater propensity for colds and flu. I was sick almost every week. The breathing felt useful. I was one of the first people in the UK to get covid, much before vaccines or even testing was widespread. So it hit me like a truck. There was one point where I literally couldn't breathe if I lay down and was worried that I might suffocate in my sleep. I had already stopped practicing WHM by this point, but I got up and did five rounds of the breathing. It hurt like hell, but it opened up my lungs like nothing else. Might have saved my life. The breathing also feels like a jolt of adrenaline in the morning. A character in a Hunter Thompson book once said: 'Turn the music up, my heart feels like an alligator.' And this is how you feel after practice, fierce and full of vigour. But from what I gather this is where it is problematic. Some qigong teaches have warned it taps in to your innate jing, burning it off for a temporary energy boost. Could be just my imagination, but even after only practicing for a few years, I sometimes feel a lot older than those my own age (40), physically speaking. Back and joint pains etc.

I had a skin issue that I developed after a year of practice. Weird blistering and dry patches in between my fingers that was quite unsightly. This went away as soon as I stopped practicing. No idea what the cause might be, but have seen a small handful of others on the wim FB group having a similar issue.

Interesting video here, which raises doubts about the circumstances of the death of his first wife, in light of the allegations of abuse against his second wife. I practiced this method for several years, but I stopped around four years back after several qigong teachers warned that it worked by depleting jing. Also, this turned me off cold exposure in a big way. https://anncecilsterman.com/cold-plunge-cold-shower-hot-mess-by-ann-cecil-sterman/

I didn't! But I think about it from time to time. I emailed two other fragrant qigong teachers about this at the time and they said it was fine, as long as it didn't involve visualisation. I do wonder though about qigong practice in a distracted state and whether it could detract from meditation practice. But I have no experience to say one way or another. If I try it again, I'll let you know.

I recently restarted shotokan, which is probably the dumbest, most external karate style. But it's something I'm most familiar with from my youth. Unlike Okinawan styles, sanchin - which is normally fonsidered the internal engine of karate - isn't taught until much later. Once I get time though, I'm keen to learn it. I'd be interested if any other bums had experience with it and could speak to its non-martial benefits, if applicable. I know that Kyokushin folks also cross train sometimes in taikiken, which is the Japanese equivalent to yi quan. All very fascinating!

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Just gross.

While we're at it, might as well let every Buddhist monastery around the world crumble into the sea, since Giles has decreed that accepting donations is unbuddhist. No more funding that lavish monastic lifestyle. Stop trying to escape from reality you monks - there are vacancies at the local McDonald's. Real jobs in the real world!

Well, since you say you must practice meditation only under a teacher, and that your teacher be one who does not even allow students to generate merit through donations, then I wish you the best of luck in finding someone who meets your exacting criteria.

Unfortunately people need money to live. I'd much rather she accept donations from those who are able to give, and give her time fully to helping people. Than have a mundane career and have to dramatically scale back, or stop her dharma teaching. She literally spends all year long either leading retreats for months at a time, or providing consultations to help people in their path. When not teaching, she practices solitary retreat in a cave network in Spain. It might make you feel morally superior to find fault in someone like that. But I'd urge others to take with a pinch of salt the judgment of someone who can't even properly observe the fourth precept.

If only she could learn from you, a beacon of morality.

No, which is why she is dana-based and doesn't charge a fee. You donate to support the teacher if you wish to, or are able to. There are plenty of other meditation teachers that charge for their time.

Most of those documented cases you're describing occur in intensive retreats, normally Goenka lineage, which are invariably under the supervision of a teacher. In other words, having a teacher isn't really a safeguard. If you're practicing on your own an hour a day, I'd say it's a pretty safe practice. There are many teachers who offer dana-based online consultation - Beth Upton jumps to mind - for when you hit a wall in your practice.

For me personally, this doesn't mean 'don't need a teacher', although it can mean that too. But it means if a teacher gives a dharma talk, or even if you're reading the canon, you recognise the lesson within your own mind. If you don't reflect on the meaning of what is being taught, and how it applies to all your own hangups, then you're unlikely to gain any real insight from the teaching, whether its online or inperson. I do feel like spiritual friends, perhaps in the form of someone who has some sort of responsibility for you - I.e. a teacher - is very useful in some respects. Not only to inspire and encourage, but also to guide your insights when you're stuck and crying out for help. But I don't think it is necessary in the same way as some zen schools insist. Some people like to get a bit gatekeepery about meditation and say you can only practice under a qualified teacher. It's kind of a smug way of saying 'I have a good teacher, and I'm in a great position. My practice is better than most other people's.' Meditation is as serious a practice as you make it - and that applies even to those in monasteries. 'Right intention' makes the difference between a practice that is just sitting for relaxation and mental health and one that leads to liberation. Why you practice determines how well you practice.

Keep going! You'll figure out what works for you. Personally, I find myself getting spaced out quite easily with keeping the breath at one point (I.e. tip of the nose). So the body scan/breath method I recommended above works better for me, for when the mind is especially monkey-like. After a while, it's easier to settle down and keep it at one place. Some people however swear by breath at tip of the nose (I.e. the Pa Auk folk), and have gotten incredible results in terms of deep and profound concentration. Others like to practice a kind of 'just sitting' meditation. Ultimately, it's worth experimenting, at least between traditions (not saying you should make up something yourself). Look into tried and tested approaches, find what works for you and what brings you results. "Verify for yourself" the Buddha said.

Here's a highly recommended guided meditation on the breath, from Thanissaro Bhikku - possibly the most well-respected of Western monastics. If you don't have a sangha nearby, listen to his dharma talks daily. https://youtube.com/@dhammatalksorg?si=sGyGrEehEEzI9gp_ I'd probably recommend that as a solo practice that could take you all the way to stream entry.

I've done a few years of breath meditation. Once you've built a foundation in stabilising the mind, typically in zen you either dive into koan or switch to shikantaza, depending on the teacher or school. I've always found the idea of koan study slightly unappealing. In particular breaking your mind, pushing and sweating only to be constantly rebuffed by the teacher. Certainly it doesn't seem like a practice that could be feasible outside of sesshin. Generally, shikantaza - also called silent illumination in caodong chan - or 'just sitting', appeals a lot to my lazy arse. There's a few dojos near me with teachers in the Nishijima/Kodo Sawaki Soto lineage, and I'm curious to give it a go. But a lot of Rinzai practitioners are quite scathing of shikantaza. They say its really only a practice that can be safely employed after kensho. That is when it becomes a reflection of the enlightened mind. Prior to that threshold, they say that by sitting without any effort or attempt to cut through delusion, you're effectively just 'stewing in your own hindrances'. Soto teachers say this enlightened mind is already present, and by sitting in this way it naturally emerges. Soto teachers say that there is no enlightenment to seek. They say so because they see seeking after enlightenment as a desire, which itself becomes an impediment to enlightenment. Whereas Rinzai teachers say that this de-emphasis of the importance of kensho could be a reflection that few if any people attain kensho through this method. ----‐‐‐--‐---‐------------- So what I'm asking is, where do you sit on this? Is shikantaza only something that should be practiced when you're close to kensho, or have already experienced kensho. Or is it a viable path to enlightenment even for beginners?

@nyerstudent has practiced it long term

If I was currently able to be speaking to a counsellor, I definitely would be. Talking through the reasons why your mind gets hung up on particular stuff seems to me a fantastic spiritual tool. Not only are you learning to understand your own mind, but you're helping to rationalise things to another person. In so doing you're developing a kind of distance from the activity of the mind - you find you're less carried away by your own impulses and moods. That's very close to where genuine spiritual practice starts. I'd always recommend counselling to anyone. You shouldn't feel like there is any stigma.

I'm reading a book by Julian Daizan Skinner called Practical Zen. He was a former monastic student of Shinzan Roshi, and teaches a sort of hybrid Soto and Rinzai zen. After running through the basic methods, he starts describing stuff that sounds a lot like internal alchemy. Building the tanden (dantien), developing conditions for the turning of the wheel of law (microcosmic orbit). He also teaches a type of traditional 'yoga' they used to practice in the temple, that includes stretching as well as ki practices, as well as a sort of qigong meditation. All of this side of the practice dates back to Hakuin, who learned it from a hermit and revived the Rinzai sect in the 18th century. All this was fairly surprising to me in terms of its presence in Japanese Zen. I've only been exposed to Soto Zen, which is fairly straightforward in its approach.

Recently I've been reflecting on the increasing geopolitical tensions and the likelihood for a new global war in our lifetimes. In the Western world, we have perhaps some of the most favorable conditions in history for cultivation. Teachings are everywhere and previously sequestered lineages are accessible from your home. We have no disease, famine, extreme poverty or war. But that could all change. For some reason yesterday I got a Facebook update from a chap called the Khenchen Lama Rinpoche. He prophesied a global nuclear war by 2030, and recommended his followers certain practices to stave off that possibility. I don't know anything about him or if he is a reliable source, but it lit a fire under my arse. I feel like instead of spending the majority of my time on hobbies, entertainment, I should perhaps practice more. Practice as much as I physically can. After all, we don't know when this special period of peace might end.

Looked into Nathan Brine. I read his book with interest. Seems like a decent chap. Sadly his course fees amount to $2,750, which is a bit of a punt for an old miser like me.

Can I just please compliment Maddie on how level-headed she's been throughout this thread. How she has been able to explain from a position of patience and repose. I find it really difficult to discuss critically things I care about in the face of challenge. Least of all things that would be as personal to me as this. So while I learned a lot I didn't know about the transgender experience, it has been this display of emotional maturity that has been the most instructive part of this thread for me. Bravo.

This reminds me of a dharma talk by Mike Luetchford called 'wobbling through life'. He likened shikantaza to riding a bicycle, where at first you tend to 'wobble' between external and internal distraction, until a natural balance arises. My question I suppose is how do you correct yourself when you notice that an imbalance has occurred - I.e. distracted by thought. Do you note the content of your thought, relax and then let them pass? Or do you just sit and hope that your mind eventually shuts up? I've experimented with shikantaza this past week (three hours today), and I've tried both approaches. The first feels a bit more like a method, or something that involves 'doing'. The second approach seems to go either of two ways: sometimes the mind becomes like a shiny metallic ball, reflecting everything without any blemish to the surface. Or the mind can just become dull, you stop realising that you're distracted by thought and just go into a spaced out trance. I've started working through a course by (Dharma Drum inheritor) Guo Gu on silent illumination. His teacher Sheng Yen taught a staged approach to the meditation rather than just throwing students in the deep end with the vague instruction to 'just sit'. It starts with progressive relaxation and then awareness of the body as an initial 'tether' for the mind. Experienced hands - is this the wiser approach?

Nearly every evening before bed for the past year I've been practicing the Medicine Buddha mantra, which in its Tibetan form is Tayatha Om Bekhanze Bekhanze Maha Bekhanze Ranza Samudgate Soha. Also at least once a week I've been listening to or reading the Medicine Buddha sutra, which is incredibly deep. Like my practice of the Mani mantra which I wrote about here I've been mulling writing something about the Medicine Buddha for a while here but wanted to get some practice time under my belt first. As Garchen Rinpoche says here, Medicine Buddha may be particularly relevant now in the time of the coronavirus: Personally, Medicine Buddha practice has the feeling of helping me wipe the slate clean at the end of the day, returning my mind to a more righteous and moral state. According to Chan master Yong Hua that may be part of the way that the Medicine Buddha helps guard against illness, by leading you away from habits and thoughts that generate karma. According to the sutra itself, Medicine Buddha practice has the following benefits.