Miroku

Man I will have to save some money for that because these cakes look amazing. Thanks for your tips. Especialy that gaiwan looks amazing. Is there some way how to recognize good yixing pots?

I thought it is bit too large for it. Well I always wanted to get one of those cute little gaiwans soo now I don't have to feel guilty when I go buy it.

Also another amazing thing from Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche! Translation of the Vimalakirti Sutra http://84000.co/doc/vimalakirti/Vimalakirti Book_E_screen-170607.pdf "Incidentally, the Vimalakīrti Sūtra isn’t a gradual teaching, it falls into the highest category of teachings on the definitive meaning – nītārtha in Sanskrit. But just because you are reading a high teaching that contains all manner of extraordinary statements, don’t now despise or look down on the gradual path, and don’t kid yourself that you are ready to let go of the basic teachings. Remember, you are not Śāriputra – not one of us is a practitioner of his calibre. At the same time, by reading this sūtra, we can eavesdrop on some uniquely insightful discussions that contain a great deal of information we need to hear. If we ignore these teachings, or don’t bother to read or listen to them, chances are that the Buddhism of the future will pale into insignificance. Practitioners will end up doing little more than sit on zafus, eat vegetarian food, and pursue personal happiness and non-violence – which is utterly pathetic! I have been told that ‘smile’ is currently a hashtag for Buddhism. It’s so embarrassing! Vimalakīrti would never have tolerated it. If he were alive today, he would ruthlessly rip apart and demolish the so-called ‘spiritual’ teachings that are currently being touted as the ‘truth’. What would he have to say about Buddhism’s ‘smile’ hashtag, and using ‘mindfulness’ as a therapy, I wonder? If Buddhism must have a hashtag, it should be ‘meditate and don’t meditate at the same time, otherwise you’re not doing it right!’ Which is what Vimalakīrti said to Śāriputra. He also said, you should meditate as if you were already a stainless, immaculate, sublime being, but without giving up your ordinariness. Be sublime but don’t give up the mundane – that’s how you are supposed to meditate. Of course, you must also concentrate and you mustn’t get distracted, but that shouldn’t stop you from using your senses." Sorry for the long quote but this book is worth a read.

Hi Gerard Oh, thank you for this information! Would be a shame if tea did anything harmful to my body, doesn't mean that I wouldn't drink it, but still. Oh thank you for this recommendation. That cake does look good, gonna have to try it when the weather gets cold again. Now I am in my green tea exploration part of the year. Well the capacity of my gaiwan is I'd say bit too large. It is 175ml, whic I'd say is bit too much for puerh, I think I will look around for smaller one, because puerh can be bit too strong for in huge amounts and 1.5 liter is bit too much I'd say. :-)

Hi, I would like to ask if some of you have any experience with lucid dreams. I am asking because I am quite interested in the topic of lucid dreaming and wonder if one can have more lucid dreams when practicing qigong and getting body into more balanced state.

Thank you Seatle! I almost forgot about TWR's FB teachings. By a weird coincidence I have time today to watch his live teaching as I burned my foot and therefore I can't get to my qigong practice. Life is a funny thing sometimes. Thank you Steven for your encouragment. I have already managed several lucid dreams, however the lucidity was fairly weak and only in one I have managed to do sth in the dream I wanted. Well guess now it is a good time to focus more on developing lucidity.

Gerard, You seem to be more experienced on the Puerh tea field, would you care to give me some advice? How do you prepare your puerh and in what? I personally go with really short steeping time in the beginning (like 10 seconds) and slowly increase the time (until even a few minutes) and use my gaiwan, although I think it might be a bit too large for such strong type of tea. Speaking of Cha Qi, does such strong and energizing tea as puerh deplete jing like coffee does or does it just stuff you with its own qi? Btw I am quite impressed by the amount of kinds of puerh you have tasted.

Welcome.

I think you could try for yourself and see what suits you the best. Maybe alternating between breath watching and mantra chanting could be a great way for you to develop your practice. At the very least chanting a mantra could help you integrate the meditation into your daily life as with mantra chanting you deal bit more with some sort of movement.

Child, if you are not hypocritical and out of control, that is conduct. ~ Padampa Sangye

Puerh is simply the best tea. The only shame is that one has to have hours of free time in oder to fully enjoy it as from good puerh you can get so many brews.

Welcome. :-)

Well I think that usually you can get a real thing for a penny or for free. I honestly don't trust people promising too much for too much. And although I understand that masters have to take care of themselves and etc. I also know it is possible to not want thousands or hundreds for teachings and live happily.

I don't know much about daoism, but my experience taught me that in general acting in such way that I don't have to lie is better than asking if lying is good. And if you have to lie I think it is always better to work with the truth carefully then to lie completely. Sometimes simply not telling more than what is needed can help a lot. However simply living in a way that you don't have to lie is the best. But yes lying to save others or not hurt them is not bad as long as it is done with intention to help them. My 2 non-dao cents.

Glad to hear that. I use it for inspiration whenever I have to write essays.

Welcome to the site. Love that article although I am bit surprised that they didn't mention The Dude but Iroh being on the list is enough for me. Wish you the best of luck in your taoist research and practice.

As an english major this made me laugh a lot.

Well I had a light look on it and can't help but say wow.

Hi, my nick is Miroku and I am 22 year old guy from Czechia. I have been practicing Eagle in the Nest qigong for about a year now and also have been studying and practicing buddhism for 6 years. I am looking forward to learning from you as I find discussions here interesting although bit puzzling as I am really quite new into chinese medicine and internal arts. :-)