Tall Panda

Haha what a great idea. Raves with meditation interludes to re-energize.xD

I only recently noticed I've been unconsciously sowing and reaping good karma.

I had up until now been practicing a method of breathing into my front chest I had learned before much involvement with energy practice and some external martial arts. I am now practicing the breathing method described in "Opening the Energy Gates of Your Body" by Bruce Frantzis. However I've been noticing a few things despite being able to move my belly as described up to Lesson 3 "Move the sides of your belly" I have noticed that I sometimes will feel my front chest expanding and eventually be left with a pain like that of a muscle near my ribs above my lungs. It may be my lungs as it is below my ribs where I feel the pain but I'm unsure. I haven't even read past Lesson 3 as I stopped as soon as I noticed the pain. Is this a problem or should i just continue to practice at this point intil it becomes comfortable. Any tips or advice that anyone can offer would be much appreciated. Also on a side I would appreciate if anyone could share any knowledge of authentic master in Ireland as I am unable to travel due to college and finances.

Hehe it's seems I made a large oversight and that his site offers much more than I thought originally. The site lists that there are five instructors in Dublin so I have a good choice and a chance to progress without having to travel gor now. Many thanks for your help .

Ah that's a good idea actually I didn't think to see if there are any students in Ireland if not I may just tale your advice and put it on hold for the time being.

I've heard on this forum that it's very difficult if not impossible to learn the systems in the book. However I am interested in the system and wamt to practice it as much as possible from the book to develop a foundation to work with in future when when I can afford to travel to things such as workshops. Is this a correct way of approaching my problems or is there flaws in my planning? Again any advice is welcome and I give thanks in advance.

If you dont mind me asking I have some questions. What are you like before meditation? Have you noticed your emotions or mindset before meditation affect how you feel during and after meditation? What sort of environment or area do you meditate? Do you get a feeling from that area if it's a set place? How much time is available for meditation generally?

"At first, I saw mountains as mountains and rivers as rivers. Then, I saw mountains were not mountains and rivers were not rivers. Finally, I see mountains again as mountains, and rivers again as rivers." - 青原惟信禪師 OP wants a set of instructions in order to be selfless therefore, imo, explaining the that the dao is everything and you are the dao therefore selfless is the same as a Buddhist approaching the same problem with you are a bodhisattva therefore selfless. Very few people will truly gain an understanding from that. Most imo will become frustrated and think "you taught me nothing" because well, we haven't taught them anything it's part of their dao they just need to realise it. That or they will gain a false sense of understanding. In talking of semantics I was also referencing the individuals understanding and views on the singularity duality principles. I'm not sure if I'm making sence but what im referring to by understanding can be best seen in the difference between the advice given by Orion and by Marblehead where, again this is just my opinion and also very hard to word, Marblehead focuses more on the self and cultivating the means to do as you feel is needed but Orion's (is realy hard to explain with words because english wasn't made for this :'( ) is a sense of "it is" in the same meaning of the last line of the quote by 青原惟信禪師. Both have the same meaning but the difference is because they are their own personal understandings of the dao if that makes any sense. What I'm trying to say is that OP and any else who have this problem and aren't automatically(that sounds like the wrong word but I can't think of better) able to understand the truth upon having it explained need to come to an understanding themselves as each person is different so how selfless they are and how and when they express it is based off their experiences and how they interpret them. So my advice would be to explore other peoples understanding while always questioning yourself on how it interacts with you and use these changes to grow and understand your dao.

I suppose that depends on what you actually mean by being selfless as, in my opinion, everyone so far has spoken on a different meaning of the word selfless. If you can would elaborate on what you actually mean as what you have written seems clouded. However I would first suggest you research different views on the matter as I believe the cloudiness comes from you yourself not being sure what you mean but rather being fixated on a vague idea introduced by another. I apologize in advance if I have brought offense to anyone as I tend to be either too vague or too blunt and bring unintended offense through misunderstanding.

Well I'm never very good at these but I'll try. I'm Tall Panda and I chose this name because:I'm considered tall where i live, 6 foot 4 inches, and come on now pandas just look amazing despite how nonsensical their diet and such may be... but we dont mention that . Mostly I'm just skimming the different boards seeing which forms of practice would suit me best, both financially and well in liking it. I would much appreciate if anyone could give me info on qualified teachers in the Dublin area of Ireland.

I give thanks to the three seniors for their open welcomes.