Aetherous

Well, that would be pretty gross. I don't think that happens. To me it seems most helpful to think of nibbana as freedom from attachment, aversion, and ignorance. What happens when you're not angry? Nothing scary...actually it's quite nice.

Also, what's enlightenment defined as here?

I saw your description of how you meditate in the other thread...I think it's good for what you just described.

For what?

I wonder what version of the HDNJ? Or if other texts just say that the HDNJ says it? Can't find it when I search the common version of the text for the term here: https://ctext.org/chinese-medicine?searchu=天谷

Whoops, I thought you were talking about 仙 xiān, which some translate as "transcendents"...this topic popped up on the main page and I didn't see it was from the Hindu subforum.

Whatever they want.

Out of anyone else, I was most impressed with what I saw of his teachings. Also impressed with his movement, which is clearly a result of what he teaches. If I wanted to spend time practicing internal martial arts, it'd be with him.

This seems like a bad idea for a few reasons... 1) Dantian contains the word "field". It's in the area of the earth element in our bodies, which just like soil in a garden, has the tendency to grow what you put into it. Put anger into it, and you'll get more anger out of it...if one is even capable of knowing how to store an emotion they're experiencing. 2) Anger causes a rising of qi, which drains the jing. It's like having a fire and throwing a candle into it, versus having a candle with a little flame lit on top...throwing a candle into a fire will cause the wax to melt down within a minute. Just having a lit candle means it'll last the normal amount of time, probably hours or days. So, anger shortens life. 3) Dantian work, such as when we feel heat in the belly, turns jing into qi. Combining anger, which already drains the jing, with a method that further depletes the jing, might amplify that negative effect and further shorten your life. It's just not a spiritual technique. The right way to transmute anger is to choose an actual spiritual quality, like mercy, or kindness, and focus on cultivating that. When you're angry, find ways to consciously choose the a quality that counteracts the anger. Some Buddhists have this technique where they imagine the person they're angry with is in the hell realms...they imagine for instance that one of these hell realms is so hot that the person's skin is constantly burnt and peeling off, that there's no water in sight and they're constantly dying of thirst, their eyes burn from the heat, they're walking across the desert barefoot and the sand is searing the skin of their feet, but if they stay in one place it burns their feet even more, etc...and in this realm time goes slow, so one day on earth lasts 10,000 years in the hell realm. The Buddhists imagine their enemy being there, as best and as realistic as they can, imagining what the enemy feels...and then (if they're not a sociopath), a natural compassion starts to spring up for that person they're angry at. That's one method. To be clear - its purpose is to cause compassion to spring up for the enemy through imagination, and is not to try and manifest it into reality with your mind or get some pleasure out of torturing the person you're angry at. The imagining has no real world effect, except for softening your heart toward that person due to the fact that we don't want anyone to suffer that much. It also helps to focus on at least one redeeming quality the person has, who you're angry at. Let's say if you're aware that they helped someone else at one time. Just that one instance of them being a help to another person is enough to concentrate on...and the more you think of how they were a good person in that moment, the more likely you'll see them being good in all moments, similar to how you see your own best friend or even yourself. Another similar method is that you can imagine in the previous life, they were your mother, and they helped you just in that same way, except their every waking moment was devoted to thinking of how to benefit you. Now in this present life, they're confused and don't know how to act right, but in the previous one they were the one person looking out for you. So this is another mind training of how to turn someone you're angry at into someone you can have positivity toward. So those are Buddhist methods. But really, spiritual techniques aren't about empowering oneself with anger. Anger is a using up of power, it's not power itself. It's kind of similar to if someone takes cocaine...gives them quite the rush, but it also speeds up their life and ends it quicker. If someone is very yin, cocaine or anger might seem like they have a normalizing effect, and give them the boost they need to get out of the slump...but I'd suggest that the yin person simply exercise more, and that will increase their energy. With normal energy, we don't need things to empower our spirituality. Legitimate spiritual practices, as are taught by real teachers and traditions, are the way to go.

The world is bad? Become the "lotus in the swamp". Be a spark of goodness in the world, and from that place, act...rather than be acted upon. For more understanding of this, read the prayer of St Francis. Practical steps...first, start with making sure your house is spotless...literally. Clean your house. Don't stop until it really does look clean, without any flaws. This is not a step for you to skip. Then take a bath in lukewarm water with Aveeno body wash (the kind made with oatmeal). When that's done, get into freshly washed clothes...then meditate on your breath, letting thoughts go as they arise, and go back to being aware of the breath. When these ideas arise about the world, people, negativity (even when you're not meditating)...look at them directly until they vanish. Don't get lost in thinking about those topics...look at the thoughts as thoughts, and realize that they're just thoughts that evaporate the more you look at them. Smile at the thoughts and they vaporize even quicker. After a meditation session, watch some comedy show or movie that actually makes you laugh. Or watch a movie where you get lost in the story. Or read a book that has the same effect. Or go to sleep. One of those things. Then treat yourself to something you really enjoy. Keep this up for a week. After 7 full days, then force yourself to go back to thinking like you are in the original post. Really try to make it happen, and be negative, for that day. After the 8th day of negativity, I think something will have happened. Just ideas I had for changing oneself away from negativity. I know it sounds weird.

Now that's the spirit.

The opposite is true...your connection to the spiritual is shut down entirely when you choose anger. It might feel like power, but it's not. Observe what it does to your rationality and wisdom in the moment, and observe what it does to you over time...just bad effects. It certainly has its place in a well balanced life.

I like McKenzie method for low back pain. There are cheap books on how to perform it yourself. Good to do multiple times per day: first upon waking, before meals, before work, after work, before bed. For hip flexors, others have mentioned good stretches. You definitely want to lengthen the tissue by stretching...but at the same time, you don't want the muscles to be too weak. Hip flexors need to be long and very functional in order to be healthy. So light strengthening of them is good (not trying to tear muscle fibers with intense strength training of them). For instance, having your hands interlaced behind your head, lifting your knee and touching it to the opposite elbow, and repeating, is one example of an exercise that activates the muscle. When stretching the hip flexors (or any muscle), it's good to hold a static stretch for at least 35 seconds, and repeat 3 times; that is one session. Have three sessions per day minimum in order to see results. It does seem like the long driving is what's causing it, but hopefully some self rehab will help. I would plan on continuing the rehab for as long as you have this job.

I dig the quote, but what's the solution?

I guess my thought is: do I want an actual war to break out? Things aren't so bad that it's fully justified. I joined the military back in 2005 to preserve the peace I knew in my country, growing up. Really, the opposite of wanting a war in the streets. But perhaps my reticence is just weakness? Judging by some of the quotes of the US founding fathers, that might be the case. In Paris, I saw the protesters destroying monuments. I really value the preservation of the history of civilizations, so that we can look back and retain the wisdom they had, instead of losing it. Dumb things happen when people amass in large numbers. What we're seeing is the ugly side of populism. I like making the distinction between populism (the people rising up to secure more power from the elites) and the notion of a republic (not having elites, but having rule of law).

Yes, I think I do. Let's say if you were an alcoholic...you couldn't look down upon someone for drinking too much, thinking they're lower than you in regard to the subject of drinking. You're in the same boat and might even be worse off than they are. So an honest person would be humble in that situation rather than judgmental. But if you don't drink, or not that much, you're much more easily able to criticize others who do it too much. It's easy to point the finger. Sometimes judgment carries with it this form of "I wouldn't do that", as if the judge is holier than thou.

Nothing. We're talking about whether being judgmental is beneficial or harmful, in the context of spiritual cultivation.

It's postmodernism to claim right and wrong are relative and basically meaningless opinions; it's also untrue. I'll quote what I said again, which is very clear, and is a genuine difference in meaning rather than a play on words: "Just think of the meanings of the two words: to discern means to understand the truth. To judge means that someone is on trial, and you (and the jury) make the decision of what happens to them in the form of a punishment. Understanding the truth, versus deciding someone deserves punishment, are miles apart." Sounds like you're saying penalizing others becomes important if a lot is at stake...I agree, and will respond to that later... We're on a site about cultivation, which definitely includes the cultivation of virtue/morality/character. Discussing these things is not empty "moralizing", but is a means of helping one another self-transform. We're talking about how to walk the spiritual path...not criticizing or condemning. Also, this idea, "leaving others free to do as they please" is similar to what Luke said...give others some breathing room. It's a fact of life that people don't like to be told they are wrong, and perhaps it's more beneficial to take it easy on oneself and others rather than impose exacting laws of morality. After all, as humans we can barely control our impulses...how could we ever be perfect in how we behave? Still, "tiny drops of poison eventually fill the bucket". Justifying doing little wrongs is not the way to cultivate. Making mistakes is fine, but knowing something is slightly wrong and pretending it's not bad enough to warrant changing doesn't help our development of virtue. Yes, if a person in a society goes against its laws (such as becoming violent) it makes sense to contain them. That is basically a penalty (although if the legal system is just, it will be a fair one)...but it's done to defend others in the society. In regard to the forum...that would be similar to someone breaking forum rules.

They have discernment, which is good. Unless it crosses the line into judgment. If that's the case, then they likely have hypocrisy, which is bad. Just think of the meanings of the two words: to discern means to understand the truth. To judge means that someone is on trial, and you (and the jury) make the decision of what happens to them in the form of a punishment. Understanding the truth, versus deciding someone deserves punishment, are miles apart. Yet in real life, it's sometimes a real challenge to understand which is which. It's a discernment, so no. It's okay to understand that certain things are right and other things are wrong; that being judgmental is wrong, and people who do it are in the wrong. Spirituality is not about pretending to not a have a problem with anything or anyone, and being incapable of understanding right from wrong. Quite the opposite. On the other hand, if the discernment carries a form of penalty with it, then it's a judgment rather than discernment. For instance, when I first said to you in the other thread that it's not good to be judgmental...that carried zero penalty (although you did take offense and felt slightly attacked). It was said in an illustrative spirit, to help you understand yourself, and the brief discussion you and I were having about spirituality. So, not having any real penalty, it was a mention of something discerned...a helpful tip, if you could take it as such. If I were to have condemned you somehow, it would've been a judgment. For instance, if I said it just in order to stick a thorn in your side; to influence others to turn against you; or to cause something to happen against your wishes.

If there's some form of penalty for the others, yes. For instance, to be direct in regard to why this thread was started: if you think that people having political discussions are being too unspiritual, so you try numerous times to stifle their discussion against their stated wishes. That's a form of penalty, and so it was judgmental of you. And also in total agreement with how Lost in Translation responded to the question.

The first part, about leaving the forum to create another one? Really not understanding what you're reading in my post, which was meant to be helpful to all parties here, to make a reply like that. I don't think bad of this forum or its staff in any way. But oh well, I don't really care, and it's all good between us.

I was addressing the type of judgment which condemns others silently. I think that does have the effect described.

It's important to have rationality take precedence over feelings: if you can admit there's a factually correct aspect to it, then you should know it wasn't something to be upset over. The feeling of being pushed down, if you were constructively criticized where zero actual harm came to you, is just the false notion of oneself...it isn't really you. That false notion of self is what Tibetan Buddhist practice seek to liberate people from.

All negativity we have is our own responsibility when we're on the spiritual path. When we're feeling negativity, like when someone did something to piss us off...it's not coming from others, but is coming from ourselves... ' "He abused me, he struck me, he overpowered me, he robbed me." Those who harbor such thoughts do not still their hatred. "He abused me, he struck me, he overpowered me, he robbed me." Those who do not harbor such thoughts still their hatred. ' - The Dhammapada, 1 There's the common saying, "When you point your finger at someone, there are three pointing back at you". With increasing wisdom, we naturally realize how true this is. With increasing hatred, we have no access to wisdom, and can never realize our own hypocrisy. What we were accusing others of were really the issues that were most dominant in our minds. They were our issues, not the accused's. Those issue were clouding our lens of perception, and they caused us to see others as having those faults. If we didn't have those issues, we wouldn't see others as having them. So a good rule of thumb is that when we're accusing someone of something, we should really stop and think of how we're guilty of that very thing. Even if someone doesn't believe in the truth of these ideas, this is still incredibly helpful to constantly think about for spiritual cultivation.

That second form completely shuts us down from wisdom...from the spiritual path. A person can have the first form, of telling people how it is and not holding back in the truth...but not have the second form. Their heart can be open and their mind clear. In which case, that's just discernment being mistaken for judgment. One has to ask if they're feeling judged: have I actually been penalized in any way, or did they intend to show me something?