adept

Thank you. Some common sense at last. I'm glad people can have honest debate. That's also what the Qur'an claims. So did Islam borrow from the Vedic texts and distort them ?

Meaning you don't have to have all the religious trappings to believe in a Creator. Is that plain enough for you.

Without all these man made religions, a Creator is still a very valid opinion.

I find myself in tears at the magnitude and complexity of Creation, and of the Creator who produced it. Such complexity and magnitude can surely not be the result of rocks crashing into each other. Therefore I need no spiritual guide. God is enough.

Opinion. Which is all we're going to get on an internet forum, or anywhere else for that matter.

No. It's all just opinion. Which is fine of course.

And of course that makes them correct !! I prefer to undertake my own research, based on experience, science and reasoning.

http://www.darwinsdoubt.com/ http://www.amazon.com/Darwins-Doubt-Explosive-Origin-Intelligent/dp/0062071475 http://www.evolutionnews.org/2013/12/darwins_doubt_c079771.html http://www.intelligentdesign.org/ http://www.19.org/482/the-background-and-chronology-of-the-discovery/ Amazing stuff !

Because God is the cause. Don't skim the videos, watch them in full, then you'll understand my point of view.

I haven't. Not sure why you think that. Watch the first video please. This is not the realm of fundamentalist religion. It is backed up by science and reasoning.

God is beyond cause and effect. The laws of the universe came into being because of God. He is beyond compare and comprehension. We have Him to thank that we're here at all.

You haven't had time to watch any of the videos !

The universe is real my friend. 100%. The Creator is beyond time and space and the laws which govern it. He is beyond comprehension. Qur'an 59:24 'He is God: the Creator, the Originator, the Shaper. The best names belong to Him. Everything in the heavens and earth glorifies Him: He is Almighty, the Wise' http://thetaobums.com/topic/31512-a-sovereign-god-question/?p=501488

Thank you for your comment. If you get the chance to watch the videos I'm sure they will resonate with you.

I suppose I've always believed in a Creator ever since I was a child and never really got the evolution story at all. I was convinced that we were created. After some research into Intelligent Design and especially the work of Stephen C Meyer, it all started to make scientific sense, not just blind faith and belief. Then I watched this and it blew me away : http://youtu.be/ZS1x-6al2pE God is absolutely beyond comprehension. Qur'an 30:27 'He is the One who originates creation and will do it again-this is even easier for him. He is above all comparison in the heavens and the earth; He is the Almighty, the One who Governs'

If you were to say practice an internal martial art such as taiji, bagua or xingyi, or a moving qigong form for an extended period of time, qi would not stagnate. There would be no need for any mental moving of energy through meditation.

What arrogance ! Yes thank you I will have a nice day now that I've put you on ignore. Only the first time I've ever felt the need to use it in all the years I've been a member here.

Whatever. With statements like that, it's obvious you view yourself as better than others. This thread has now run it's course and I'll no longer take part in it.

Self inquiry. Maybe what I've been posting is more in line with Advaita Vedanta than with Neidan ?

There can be no other starting point ! One thing certain to us is that we are human, and as such, have certain contemplative qualities. It is human nature that drives us to look for answers to life's BIG QUESTIONS. Without human nature we become detached and emotionless. A shell without any substance. In the past I meditated every day and even took to attending Buddhist monasteries for what I thought was correct instruction. After a time I noticed I was becoming more and more detached from the world, something I never wanted to happen when I started my spiritual journey. I never found my true nature by meditating. I realized it didn't need to be found when I stopped meditating. I'm not implying in any way that there is no benefit from meditating. That would be a foolish thing to say. It works for a hell of a lot of folks. I just don't think it's compatible with modern living. I believe that meditation is for monks/hermits and not for laypeople.

It is not idiocy my friend. The sages of old have warned time and time again about these contrived practices. Sitting meditation is not part of human nature. Contemplation and thinking of life's BIG QUESTIONS are a massive part of human nature. PS. I have never questioned or quoted any of your posts so my posting is not directed at you personally. Best wishes

Neidan is a most natural 'non-practice' It is beautifully explained in the works of Liu I Ming, The Secret Of The Golden Flower (Thomas Cleary translation !), The Yijing, The Dao De Jing, The Zhuangzi, The Yin Convergence Classic, as well as in non-daoist works such as the teachings of Japanese Zen master Bankei. It has absolutely nothing to do with contrived practices such as sitting meditation. Anyone interested in such a 'non-practice' should also read the marvelous posts of deci belle. As I pointed out here: http://thetaobums.com/topic/32406-building-the-foundation-and-inner-alchemy/?p=495913 The alchemical language found in the classics should not be taken literally. They are mere poetic metaphors. Simple !

A Broken Pot, A Leaking Jar When a pot is broken, repair it and you can use it to cook as before. When a jar leaks, fix it and you can use it to hold water as before. What I realize as I observe this is the Tao of recreating what has been ruined. When people are born, their three treasures - vitality, energy, spirit - are a solid whole. Then when the cognitive consciousness opens up, these treasures leak out through the senses. They are infected by the germs of emotionalized action, playthings or parasites. Their sense experiences wear them down, their attraction to stimulation deludes their natures; greed, anger, folly, and attachment drain them of reality. Chipped away by day and by night, the three treasures dwindle away; the whole body is sick, inwardly and outwardly spoiled. The original complete treasure has been made into a rotten worthless object - just like a broken pot or a leaking jar, it is a useless vessel. If you are like this but become aware enough to take a serious look at yourself and change your attitude, disregard everything except the restoration of your birthright, the most important thing there is for anyone, the matter of essential life; act on this in a genuine real manner, one by one sweeping away everything acquired, withdrawing your aura, holding your thoughts fast, abandoning the false while keeping to the real, eliminating the abherrant and supporting the true, increasing daily in accomplishment while diminishing daily for the Way. Increase what is to be increased, diminish what is to be diminished, until you reach a point where there is nothing more to increase and nothing more to diminish. Then you will naturally not leak vitality, so your vitality will be whole. What you have lost, you will regain; what was ruined will be recreated. Then you will be what you were before; something whole and complete, just as a broken pot that has been repaired is again a fine pot, and a leaking jar that has been repaired is again a fine jar. Nevertheless, people who are broken and leaking themselves are not aware of their misery. They take the false to be real, chopping away at their very lives day and night, breaking themselves down until the day when the pillars rot and the walls crumble, and they have nowhere to rest. Awakening To The Tao - Liu I Ming

There is nothing to seek. It is this seeking that creates problems.

Artificial Exercises The Tao is natural. All forced manipulations and concoctions are in vain. Some people guard their minds and settle their ideas and thoughts, some people hold their breath and keep it in the abdomen, some people perform psychosomatic energy circulation exercises. When these people come to the end of their lives and find everything they did was useless, they will resent the gods, also uselessly. Awakening To The Tao - Liu I Ming