Martial Development

I haven't tried to say anything. I said it, you've snipped it out of your quote and ignored it. Which is OK, but I am not going to repeat it. It's still right there for you. Neither am I going to list the forum members whose claimed experiences exceed your claimed experiences. Their posts are all right here on this board too. Neither am I interested in debating the validity of your personal experience. I have not, and I will not. The question is whether your data supports your conclusions; it does not.

April/JJ, Next time you decide to post on a public discussion board, please let the rest of us know which kinds of discussions will be allowed, and which are forbidden. I find it quite absurd to claim, on one hand, that one's chosen topic transcends definition, and then, when questioned, to imply that nobody else is qualified to speak about it. I would be willing to accept, however, that your own ideas and experiences may transcend your own ability to express them in English (or willingness to defend them as something more than grandstanding sophistry). And that instead of accepting responsibility for any resulting confusion, you would first be tempted to point fingers in other directions. Yes, I would be willing to accept that, and to forgive and forget it. Because I am full of... <-- (transcendent) Anyway, as long as we are funning around, here's some topical humor for all the occult-powerless and -powerful to enjoy. --- A rabbi, to show his humility before God, cries out in the middle of a service, "Oh, Lord, I am nobody!" The cantor, not to be bested, also cries out, "Oh, Lord, I am nobody!" The temple's janitor, deeply moved, follows suit and cries, "Oh, Lord, I am nobody!" So the rabbi turns to the cantor and says, "Look who thinks he's nobody!"

http://redwing.hutman.net/~mreed/warriorshtm/kungfumaster.htm Which flame warrior are you?

Forgive me for skipping ahead towards the real issue...last time I did it, someone accused me of playing games and taking pot-shots... Why didn't you subordinate yourself to the judgment of the professionals? They did not give you permission to heal, nor presumably permission to make the attempt. Yet you apparently did it anyway. You believe your healing is real, whereas your previously claimed superpowers were only cases of self-delusion. I don't doubt that. But one has to wonder, then, whose opinions we should accept at face value, whose we should consider carefully, and whose we should disregard. Would you have us trust those professionals whose relative ignorance you have already demonstrated, via your unauthorized healing? Should we trust you, SFJane? Surely there are a few on this board, whose own relevant accomplishments place you in the position of relative ignorance. Surely you realize that? By your own admission, you don't know what you are talking about in regards to "powers". You tried and mostly failed, except in temporarily flattering yourself, and in gathering a few followers who were even more deluded than you were. (Please don't take this as a criticism--I wish more people here would make such gracious admissions, especially when the facts are obvious to everyone else.) Recently we've heard from a few people who don't claim to have them, but are definitely "against" them (sometimes for reasons they don't care to examine in depth). And we've heard from people who claim to have them, or know others who do, and contend that they aren't so troublesome and dangerous after all. What should we make of that?

Thank you for sharing your personal story. Are you for, against, or indifferent to the Summer Olympics? There must be thousands of people who trained countless hours for them, only to be disqualified on their first event. On the subject of "powers", Wikipedia says: For many years, the scientific and athletic communities thought that it was impossible to run a four-minute mile. It was first achieved in 1954 by Roger Bannister in 3'59.4". The 'four minute barrier' has since been broken by many male athletes, and is now the standard of all professional middle distance runners. In the last 50 years the mile record has been lowered by almost 17 seconds.

I wasn't looking for a definition, I was looking for your definition. The one that inspired you to quote a story from Ramakrishna in furtherance of your stated and implied points, summed up nicely by: "Don't let Bruce Almighty fantasies distract you." To which the natural question is: from what, and why not? Unavoidably a question with moral dimensions. Even if I wanted to consult the Murphy book, someone broke into my car to steal my copy. I guess it looked expensive. To be honest, I haven't really missed it since. Maybe Murphy was too hung up on "Ramakrishna fantasies" to write a book of actual practice instructions? P.S. If anyone has a good story about the use of "occult powers" for practical joking, please feel free to share it here.

Saw it mentioned here years ago, may not be continuing. http://www.zyqigong.org/retreats.htm I still think it is a mistake to start out by committing to a 3-6 month retreat. For a graphic illustration why, you should first watch The Real Shaolin, shaolin.

I remember that as a difficult book, and heard from others that his second one is much better.

Just to be clear, I am not offering to treat anyone for anything. But if we are going to have a discussion of spiritual ethics, then let's really go for it. Is it acceptable to use "occult powers"--however you choose to define that--to heal yourself and others? Actually, forget about acceptable, is it good? If not, why not? And on whose authority shall such actions be denied?

That may be, but when one repeats a story out of context, one is changing its meaning. In the age of The Secret, warning people not to halt a powerful storm with their awesome mind power is, perhaps, putting the cart just a wee bit in front of the horse? If one trains and studies for years without seeing any new signs of their progress, but continues to run in circles "because signs are just food for the ego"--now that is what I call misguided! Let's look at a concrete example. If a student seeks to heal their inoperable cancer, is that misguided? Why or why not?

Short term, like 2-4 weeks? I knew of one, may or may not still be operating, but absolute beginners were discouraged from attending. It's practice all day, every day, not fun, and people who aren't ready for that are a burden on everyone else involved.

I always feel compelled to ask, were these stories written by someone who had occult powers, either by pursuit or by accident? Or were they written by someone who had none, and wished that nobody else did either? You don't need superpowers to act like a cad. Regular powers are more than adequate for that. And while we might wish that bad intentions or behavior should prevent someone from learning [whatever], there are countless examples to the contrary.

If you like Nietzsche, don't miss his comic strip: http://www.losanjealous.com/nfc/

First, a note from our sponsor... DojoScore.com is a new online directory for students and teachers of qigong, yoga, and martial arts. Instructors can list and promote their schools for free. Students can search for schools in their area, and publish reviews of their favorite instructors, also for free. So try it now--did we mention it's free? On to the discussion... What are your favorite methods and criteria for researching local teachers? What steps, if any, did you take before signing up with your current teacher?

Too bad this forum doesn't allow polls. I wonder how many people here are actually studying, with or without a teacher, and how many are just...uh, not.

Well, that would explain why he fought with a sword in each hand...and why he always won.

Better to be a student of reality, than a master of illusion.

His reputation at the time, was probably a little closer than Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell than most would like to admit today.

It strikes me that one cannot be both a Taoist and an idealist. Tao is not an idea. This is the very first sentence on the first page of the book! Creation and destruction are not two sides of the same coin; they are the same side. Lao Tzu is the first word, not the last word on Taoism. Finally, Lao Tzu is not indifferent to warfare and destruction. Variations on this theme can be found throughout: be a leader, not a butcher.

It is surprising how different some of the translations are. I get the impression that some didn't even attempt to reflect Musashi's intent, but only their own. This time next century, we may be debating whether Musashi smoked Camels and secretly practiced Taekwondo?

Posture is movement, and movement is significant. Would you dare to walk into a yoga class, and tell them their entire practice is "inapplicable"? Of course not. How about Tai Chi, is any posture just as good as another? No again. So you tell me, how does standing meditation resemble sitting meditation? Is it like a raven resembles a writing desk?

Have you ever tried pooping from the standing position? It is totally possible. But some things are just better performed while sitting down. It is simpler and cleaner that way.

* As determined by a comprehensive survey of themselves.