freeform
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Everything posted by freeform
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So I'm trying to work out which city to go for - so far it seems Oslo has the most TaoBums interested. So - to our Norwegian pals - is there anywhere good (and cheap) to stay near the venue? How far is the airport? what's public transport like? what's cool to do around the city? what's your tastiest food!? Where are all the Bums going? - the place in Swizerland/France sounds good (is it by the mountains?) Any other UK Bums considering travel?
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Thanks James. Sometimes we relate things to our current understanding (relating it to things that are around in our prison) and sometimes we relate with the infinite aspect of us. Of course I do both. But when I manage to relate from the infinite, it nourishes me and it nourishes the people around me. The thing about relating from the infinite is that you just don't know what you're gonna do or say next... relating from our finite to another's finite is like shouting from your prison cell to another's prison cell across the prison yard... only a little bit gets heard and whatever does get through is all about life in your prison cell. Even with this extreme limitation, sometimes what is heard is profound and nourishing, so can you imagine what it's like to communicate from our infinite to another's infinite!? And about the relative freedom - it's not so much freedom of choice, but freedom from choice. You know how children one day love carrots and the next day hate carrots!? That's ok - we don't have to be consistent. Adam chose to eat the apple!
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So do you never work on specific issues? I think that 'being present with the whole picture' is what I do in meditation - and of course things do, indeed, come up. Mostly it's mind-based diversions. The mind is scared of the lack of control, so it throws up all kinds of thoughts/ideas/conversations etc. However - sometimes something more fundamental gently calls for attention (of course it's not easy to differentiate what's mind-stuff and what's a genuine call for attention from a more fundamental part of you, but I find that there is a distinctly different feel to it - more emotional/energetic/fluid/kinasthetic - you cant put your finger on it or express it in words - in me, this usually means a suppressed aspect is calling for attention.) In this case I do something very different. I give it some attention. My intention is to become aware of it - not to change it, heal it, transform it or whatever. I often say 'hello' (usually not in words) and just sit with it without any intention - sometimes the issue welcomes this attention, sometimes it gets frightened off. Hard to explain, but it's like an invitation for that suppressed aspect to step into the light of awareness... each time it's different, but usually the 'light' opens up all the emotional/energetic/mental/physical connections and we go through a process of integration - when this is complete I normally pop straight into this thoughtless, expanded 'peripheral awareness' state.
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Just to clarify - I wasn't suggest not giving attention to it. I was talking more about the spread or focus of attention - so rather than focusing your entire attention on the one specific blockage, I was suggesting spreading the focus to encompass that blockage, any other blockage, any openness, any softness etc - basically everything all together but not anything specific or separate from 'everything all together'. Whatever tension you have in your body there is always an equivalent amount of softness - so I suggest not focusing on the softness and not focusing on the tension but on both together at the same time - this creates a space for alchemy/yuan chi or spontaneous transformation... (* rather I wasn't suggesting this but that's what I understood Ian to be suggesting, and just wanted to clarify.) To deal with specific issues I tend to focus my awareness in specific ways - similar to how you and others have described it on this thread, but just wanted to clarify Ian's perspective, as I've not seen it much anywhere else... This is all to do with very fundamental stuff... I'm hoping Karen might be able to shed some light here too...
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This is really interesting - especially the 'don't let it take your attention' bit. I'm guessing this is based on Sifu Yap's work? There is certainly wisdom in not concentrating on the tension... If you're asked to notice any tension or blockages in your body, your mind goes into a 'transderivational search' - whereby you look for (and tend to find) not what is actually there but what should be there (tension and blockages)... "Stay with the softness elsewhere" - this also sends you on a transderivational search, but you find softness instead... This is kind of what I do when meditating - more specifically I tend to notice both any tensions/uncomfortableness and softness/comfort - but I never go 'into' either of them... kind of like using your peripheral vision - you keep both the far left and the far right in your awareness, but you never focus on either one of them exclusively because this results in the loss of this expanded peripheral vision. Is that close? I find that what this 'peripheral awareness' does is balance. I go into a very receptive state - there is no transderivational search going on, but rather a passive observation of 'what is'. However, when I work on a specific issue, I do something quite different (and it often ends in this expanded 'peripheral awareness' naturally) I'll describe what I do in these cases if anyone's interested, but I first want to find out whether I'm understanding Ian correctly.
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I get both fire and water in Kunlun. Rising heat and descending coolness. This shouldn't be much of a concern - what Kunlun seems to do (and I'm just practising from the book) is something beyond a 'formula'. With a formula you have to think about it and follow it... Most westerners already 'think' far too much - thinking is guaranteed to stop the flow of energy. Thinking gets you focusing away from the present and on something that doesn't really exist (a thought). Formulas are designed for the thinking mind. It's like a roadmap, and it's the easiest way of 'recording' and passing on knowledge. What often happens is westerners pick up this road map and start to drive to their destination, but not once do they look at the actual road, so they end up going round in circles whilst their thinking mind creates the illusion that they're really achieving something. Kunlun is like being told your destination is 'that way' and then sending you on your journey with no maps or safety nets. This is often much faster since the maps and safety nets are the biggest hurdles for the western cultivator. Your body guides you to liberation - there is no need for a map as long as you can let go of your 'control' (a hint - you never really had control! your mind just makes you think you did).
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Hi Mewtwo For panic attacks I recommend you visit www.emofree.com - have a read through, download the free ebook and sincerely use the techniques. It takes a little while, but the technique has been very effective with everything from panic attacks and phobias to physical health issues. In terms of Taoism you're getting some great advice from the others... (actually the EFT technique is based on the meridian system and tapping acupuncture points - which is all based on traditional Taoist medicine) Let us know how you get on
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spirituality thumping: to thump or not to thump
freeform replied to de_paradise's topic in General Discussion
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spirituality thumping: to thump or not to thump
freeform replied to de_paradise's topic in General Discussion
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Hi WYG I agree Sonnon may not be bringing any new techniques to the table - flowfit, as far as I can tell is based on yoga and breakdancing What Sonnon does manage is to create a functional framework for collecting and then communicating complex principles in a way that you and your body can understand without having to rely on a highly experienced teacher for your every workout. I'd prefer the teacher, but time, money and availability are prohibitive for me. I also do Sonnon's IntuFlow - a joint mobility exercise - I've not found anything as thorough as this anywhere (yet). I understand that some treat Sonnon and as some kind of all powerful guru, and others see him in a bad light - this matters very little to me - I'm not concerned with politics... I dont do Tai Chi or martial arts...
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It's only recently that I've been doing FlowFit in any sustained way - maybe 2 - 3 months (although I've been doing it on and off for about 2 years). I often start with some dan tien pulsing before the workout - I stand, breathe slowly until I feel a rhythmic pulse and this often (but not always) leads into Winn's 'Ocean Breathing'. Eventually I transition into a deep bellows breathing style where my shifting posture breathes me - then straight into flowfit. This initial preparation makes a huge difference for me - the dan tien is warm, open, pulsing and leading the FF movements - the bellows breathing energises and makes it easier to 'be breathed' by the movements. I love not knowing what movement I will do next until I do it - without the preparatory practice I mentally pre-plan what movement I will do next - this stops the 'flow state'. Altogether the whole thing takes about 30 minutes - the actual FF part is maximum 20 minutes - or until I hit the 'second wind' as Sonnon calls it - usually takes 16 - 18 minutes. I dont see this as strength training - it certainly increases strength, but it's more about rehabilitating whole body movement and synchronising it with breath, structure and flow. For me it seems to incorporate strength, stretching, structure/coordination and an aerobic workout - but not focusing on any one in particular. It does tend to increase chi-flow and free up bound/frozen movement (accompanied by emotional releases!) - I'm really loving it, but I have a long way to go yet... I've also done 6 months of combat conditioning - very quick strength gains, but quite forceful and rather than opening the body up, it seemed add more tension to the system... Saying that, initially it feels great, the chi starts flowing, strength gains are very noticeable and it's quite fun - but doing it over a long period of time, it seemed to have a negative effect on me...
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FlowFit from Scott Sonnon Short, intense workouts. Involves structure, being breathed, flowing without thoughts, the movements cover the full range of motion and the complexity of the movements increases as you improve. I really enjoy it now - I was surprised to have some emotional cleansing reactions when I first started though - this created some initial resistance to doing the workout...
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agreed
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It's so sweet to watch this. Some people look at procurator and try to see the reason for his approach here. Why would a professor engage in debate with school children!? Indeed! The underlying structure to this is a presupposition that a professor is more important/intelligent/knowledgeable than school children - so for this to be 'true'/'real' the professor must percieve some schoolchildren to assert hir 'professorness'... To put it another way - if there is 'big', then there must also be 'small' so that 'big' can be meaningful and 'real'... Procurator needs us like the professor needs school children and big needs small... This is a mind game we all play - 'Pro' just seems to exemplify it very clearly for us... Of course he is so busy playing within the game that there is no chance of him seeing the tragic sweetness of it... How many such games do we play ourselves!? perhaps this could be an opportunity to see this 'importance' game within our own lives!?
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I'm in no way an authority on reverse breathing, and would be interested to read Drew's reply. I discovered reverse breathing internally before having read about it. It was during a period when I was doing a lot of breath development - 3 dimensional breathing, slowing down the breath etc. The dangers I suspect come about when full, relaxed, natural 3d breathing (belly, lower back, sides etc.) is not yet developed, and you end up adding more tension to the system. I discovered the reverse breath when doing extensive pauses after the exhale. Eventually I would get a very powerful, expanding pulse on the end of the out breath and a vacuum-like contraction at the top of the in breath. If you pay attention to only the physical aspect of breathing, you'll notice the opposite effect - the in breath brings in a surge of oxygen and you feel expansive - the out breath then contracts inwards. So the energetic were moving like an opposite harmonic wave (expanding when the physical contracts and visa versa) - breathing this way for a while and allowing the body to time it perfectly, I would get submerged in a very powerful energetic pulse. The power would build and I found myself having orgasmic-like reactions with my breath involuntarily reversing (belly contracts on the in breath and expands and the out breath) - the belly follows the energetic wave pattern rather than the normal physical one... Now when I do the reverse breathing from the start, I can activate that pulsing very quickly, without hours of preliminary breathwork. I'm guessing that this is what reverse breathing is actually meant to do (?)
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I agree with sheng zhen, Is your nurse really the authority on modern scientific research? There has been a lot of research on the benefits of carbon dioxide - the uptake of oxygen is regulated by the amount of carbon dioxide in the blood... Apparently there is an effect at a certain concentration of carbon dioxide that activates many more cells than 'normal' to take up more oxygen directly. Look up Buteyko and Frolov for related research...
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Firstly let me say I'm really enjoying the book, and this thread. I'm really glad you guys are here... I do admit, however, I had a little giggle to myself when I read this: "Ati, let's overcome verbalism by being concrete."
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My apologies, Steve, we do, indeed agree quite closely. Illusion can actually be broken down quite quickly - it starts with the senses. The mind uses internal sensory representations to create 'thought'. Think of a person you like (what do they look like?) - now think of a person you dislike (what do they look like?), if you do this with some awareness, you might notice that you mad mental pictures, and the pictures were located differently - the position of the picture affects whether you like someone or not! There is a lot of scope to playing with this, but you can stop this 'thinking' entirely by going 'external'. After reading this, you might want to give it a try (and I don't mean just Steve - but whoever might be interested)... pick a spot slightly above eye level and look at it. Notice yourself focusing in on it. Then begin to spread that focus - keep your eyes on the spot but notice what else is to the left of you, what's to the right, above and below - use the periphery of your vision. (you may notice yourself immediately relax when you do this) take a little bit of time to really expand your periphery, and see everything around you all at the same time. Once this stabilises you can begin to imagine that your entire body becomes a visual sense organ - notice how your entire body can perceive light - so whilst keeping your periphery open, also start seeing through your body... let this stabilise. There is a very expansive feeling that happens when you do this... This is just a taster, there is much more scope for exploration - for a start you have 4 other senses, and there is far more one can play with just the visual sense (as a hint - consider that not only your body is a sensory organ, but absolutely anything that can reflect light...) Doing this really gets you out of your head, thoughts stop, awareness expands... practising something like this makes it very obvious what making 'illusions' is like and what being aware is like. That form of expanded sensory awareness can be rather disorienting - (because orientation is a function of the ego mind) - the best I can describe it is it's like being a baby - unlimited curiosity. Todd mentioned something else in another post - he mentioned putting awareness on awareness itself... becoming limitlessly curious about attention creates a spiral of self-actualization (I don't agree with being self-actualized - this has nothing to do with a static state, but this spiral-like movement)...
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Steve (xuesheng), I strongly agree with a lot of what you say. People often see enlightenment as 'me but better' or as ultimate bliss, or happiness, or as some better, more advanced state. This certainly an ego game - the ego is always concerned with accumulating more 'good' than bad - it also has this clever way of tricking you into thinking you're being spiritual, whilst you're still playing its game... I do however find it disconcerting that you think that that's all there is to us. In my experience I certainly have this limited, conditioned part of me... but I also have a part of me that's infinite, unlimited, beyond conditioning, just containing everything... Being human involves this dance between your limited nature and your unlimited nature. Think of it as a quirky sit-com - One of the characters is literally everything, but never any one thing in particular, and the other character is just a small sampling of this everything, but can never be everything... so you get the spiritual experience of containing the entire universe in one go, and then you have an argument with your colleague about not getting an email in time for something... Those gurus that just sit and smile, they have managed to integrate their limited and their unlimited natures - so a limited experience becomes a metaphor for an unlimited one and an unlimited experience becomes a metaphor for a limited one. (if you lost me here - that's a good sign!) In Taoist terminology this is birthing the yin within the yang and the yang within the yin - and the mating of this new 'true yang' and 'true yin' becomes the expression of enlightenment... (notice how the mind goes "ahh, now that's what I want - that would make me better" - this is a good opportunity to laugh - because if you dont, you might just cry...)