mouse

Not true! Samadhi in real sense is Laya or complete dissolution. What is there to concentrate on afer dissolution?

Well, ha ha! Even the word nibbana is a corrupted form of its Sanskrit predecessor Nirvana, which comes mainly from the Yogic tradition. Ok! Jesus is the only way to salvation ...

Which Samadhi are you talking of? Sabija, Nirbija, Salamba, Niralamba, Savikalpa, Nirvikalpa, Kevala, Shakta, Unmani....? There are differences among these states and there is a varying level of duality in some, but the purpose of none of these is really attainment of Siddhi. Buddha did teach Vippasana but was that not simply a re-packaging of the Hamsa Upasana or Sakshi Bhava Dhyana discussed and practiced for hundreds of years [as supplementary techniques] before the origin of Buddhism by adherents of Monism, Yoga and Tantra? The same can be seen extensively with Mantras, Mandalas, iconography, names of deities etc.

 

It is better to appreciate the uniqueness of various techniques without getting into comparison or competition, especially in cases such as these ...

SiliconValley,

I am not familiar with the terms you used here. I am studying under the Terevada tradition and not versed in other traditions.

You may wish to visit http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors...a/wheel351.html for clarification on the exact meaning of the terms I used in relation to the context (Terevada background).

As for samadhi, the context I expressed can be referenced to the quote below.

Hope this clarifies.

Enjoy your practice.

mouse

Sadhu! Sadhu! Sadhu!

Zen meditation is like awarness meditation (vipasanna). Yogis do concentration meditation (samadhi).

entering high levels of concentration/jhanic states makes you withdraw inwards until your external senses are not observed.

There is a lot more that can be discussed but this is the gist of why the results are different.

Only vipassana leads to nibbana. The 8th jhanic state can lead to a momentary nibbanic experience but is not permanant.

Awarness concentration can lead to a level of jhana called insight concentration but is different from the concentration achieved by concentration meditation.

Depending on lineage, you will practice both or one. Samadhi leads to siddhi development and always has a touch of ego involved. However, jhana when used in vipasanna allow for deep piercing insight.

Hope this clarifies.

Enjoy your practice.

mouse

Lately I've been deeply affected by the teachings of Anthony de Mello.

I'm fortunate enough to have a friend who burned a set of his CDs for me (Wake Up to Life).

I love him through his teachings and he has taught me a great deal about love.

To your question cat, "Do they inspire your heart and soul and mobilise your spiritual juice?" is a resounding YES!

xuesheng,

Anthony De Mello was influenced much by Ajahn Chah from the Thai Forest Tradition. His book, "Awareness", was a good read. You may enjoy it.

Enjoy your practice.

mouse

Very nice thread, interesting, thankyou.

 

With regard to 'protection' from unwanted visitors..... if we are in the right alignment, they cannot adhere to us and are not even going to attempt to get anywhere near us.

 

If your heart is soft and loving, you are safe.

mouse, hello. I am interested about 'the true nature of void'. I also see black. Did not know why, and thought maybe I would 'progress' to purple! Could you say any more about the true nature of void? We had a question here not so long ago from Sunshine, who asked "how to you know the void is really the void?" ( I hope I have that right.) And it is a good question, no?

 

Although we feel we know it is the void.

 

Are there 'levels' of entering the void?!

 

Please share if you know more! many thanks for your input, mouse, and everyone.

 

I have just ordered "Chronicles of Tao", which looks a good read.

cat,

Soft and loving doesn't do much in terms of granting protection. My teacher knows many good clairvoyants and are able to perceive other planes of existance even better than him but still visit my teacher for help with exorcising spirits.

In respect to Om mani pedme hung, it freezes entities. They just stay on the spot when the chant is used. I do not know the mechanics of it but this is what happens. Which might not be the best method when they are already attached to you.

Danger free protection works better especially before sleep for protection in dreams. It is from the terevada tradition and if you can't find it let me know. I can point you in the right direction. The first two chants to be used prior to "danger free protection" is "homage to Buddha" then "refuge in the triple gem".

I would not be able to point you in the direction to the void. It essentially is nothing yet in everything. My understanding of it from my teacher is the nature of space.

The space in one room is the same as the space in the next room. The furniture might be different, the gaseous composition may be different but the nature of space is essentially the same. Likewise the mind (citta) and the void are similar. Over the eons of rebirth and attachment, we add more and more furniture or defilments to the citta. However, do note that pure mind has the quality of cognisance so it is similar to void/space but different.

Can't comment further from here as my experience is limited and subject to delusion as well. Best is to not conceptualise things as they create more "furniture".

Hope this helps.

Enjoy your practice.

mouse

If I may ask, how would you be sure that the enhanced vision obtained as a result of practice/meditation is not some personal construction (imaginary vision) but an objective reality existing regardless the persons with abilities? The question is: do we have any check points to verify that we are not in an imaginary state of mind but rather percieve the deeper layers of reality?

idquest,

One method used in Hermatics training as well as in some Terevadan traditions is to have a 2nd person confirm the incident without giving prior warning.

Example: 'A' sees black dragon. Without saying out what he saw asks fellow disciple 'B' what did he see. 'B' replies, "a black dragon". Thus both have perceived the same object.

Both schools are very aware of the possibility of delusion hence the need to confirm with other parties. However, most times, visions are taken at face value "as it is" and just noted but not investigated.

Do note that in the formless realms, perceiving the same thing will look different to two different people. Someone with a tibetean background will perceive maybe wrathful and colourful devas whereas someone from a christian background will likely see angels etc even though it is the same entity. The reason for this is because of the dualistic mind. Beings of a dualistic nature cannot perceive 'void' or 'no form' due to the nature of their minds hence the mind views the formless being with 'something'.

Another example is when I personally perceive void, I see black. Some people see dark purple. It is normal as those who are not fully enlightened are not able to perceive the true nature of 'void' and still require a reference.

Enjoy your practice.

mouse

Henry Sue brother of Malcolm Sue yes?

 

Good for you, my brother in-law trained under Malcolm in Brisbane. Hard, fast and effective. I've heard much development take place with their introduction of Tai Chi into their training.

You guys should go ask your sifu what Malcolm did to Erle once then get the inside word on what nonsense Erle is. Seriously.

mouse

Dragon Stance

 

But Sifu Fong says the perfect way to do it is with your torso sitting on the knee and thigh, and in a completely straight line with your back leg.

That is correct. 100% loading on the rear foot makes your other foot free to step. It is essential for no double weightedness.

You never want to reach 100% loading in push but it trains you for the times where you get caught out and you are able to be comfortable in it and still issue.

Enjoy your practice

mouse

ShenZheng,

There are indeed many methods of healing as I've mentioned before.

From what I recall there are 6 levels of healing each one closer to karma the higher you go.

1) Massage

2) Herbs/Medicines

3) Accupuncture/meridian

4) Energy/chi work

5) Elements (Earth, Wind, Water, Fire + Space + Spirit)

6) Void/emptiness

The higher you go with healing, the more direct the healing is and the the closer you are to the karmic source of the injury/imbalance.

Depending at which level the illness is based in, for example level, 4, the lower levels (1,2 and 3) are not sufficient to fully solve the problem. They can delay or lessen the full impact of the karmic fruit but only take you so far.

Healing at the void links you directly to the karma and repuccusions are immediate. There are methods of protection but I did not learn them.

Regarding feelings of energy as being warmth in hands or feeling spiritual energy only, that would not be accurate. There are those who are able to see the energy and also have the wisdom through jhanic states to discern the true nature of the energy as it is. Not everyone only relies on 'feeling'.

With regards to weekend courses. I would say most are delusion. However, there are energetic transmissions within some lineages that can 'download' the information into your astral body. Tis true. Once you got it, you got it. However, speaking about it can cause you to lose them as well just as quickly.

My teacher has said often, "Silence grants power".

He has healed a disciple's father from leukemia before if that gives some weight to the things I have written about here.

Again, has anyone got any clarification to add about the source of Reiki's healing energy it would be great.

Enjoy your practice

mouse

Hundun,

Interesting to hear of your experiences and development on your path as a healer. Thanks for sharing.

On my end, I have had some experience with healing that mirrors some of the things you shared.

The method I was taught was to connect to the triple gem that consists of the Buddha. Dhamma and Sangha after entering jhana and request for access to Buddha Light.

I've found that the energy is pure and have used it with some success although for relatively minor ailments for family members. I've stopped the practice since as it was one of many methods available to alleviate suffering.

I would like to ask of reiki practitioners here to share some of their thoughts on the actual energy channeled during their healing. What are they connecting to? The reason why I ask is due to a chance encounter with a source of healing on the internet. It was labelled as Reiki and the moment I played it, I could feel the energy. It was not pure and the best description I can use is "unclean" yet not to the point of "dirty". My teacher confirms it as well.

The thing I would like to clarify is where does the source originate from for Reiki's energy? From that experience, I personally would not connect to it as I do not find it clean.

Would anyone care to clarify?

Enjoy your practice.

mouse

I was asked to start a topic on Pencak Silat

 

Here are some clips of some principles and application.

 

I will post more soon.

 

Santi

 

 

Santiago,

Very efficient combat. Brutal groundwork.

Enjoy your practice.

mouse

Depends on the translations you use. Kwan is the same as Guan. Kwan Yin is the guy. Quan Yin is the lady .

Actually, Kwan Gong and Guan Yin are different entities.

However, Guan Yin is the Goddess of Mercy and depending on your tradition can be either man or woman. In sanskrit it is Avalokiteśvara.

I've seen many statues of Avalokiteśvara in male form and many in female. From my background, it is predominantly in female form.

General Kwan or Guan Gong (title) or Guan Yu (name) is a deity often tattooed on the bodies of triad members in oriental cultures as he is fiercely loyal and a symbol of brotherhood. Members of the police also tattoo his image on their bodies for protection as well as worship him for protection. Wonder who will actually get protected in this scenario.

Hope that clarifies.

mouse

I'm a sucker for biodiversity. I think simplifying 10,000 things to 3, then 2 and so on is what our civilization is doing anyway. And a horrible thing to do to life it is too. On this continent, not 10,000 but 15,000 languages were spoken by its native inhabitants before this "simplifying" Indo-European civilization's advent. Not one but hundreds of cultural traditions, rich and diverse, thrived without invalidating each other. Not one but millions of creatures great and small, as different and distinct as tao would have them, roamed free. And all of this owed its existence to the fact that people held a certain "attachment." Attachment to the land. Attachment to their history. Attachment to life. And life was real, not artificial, while they held this attachment.

 

If "attachment" is a bad word, consider me a bad girl. Oh, and there's nothing but a "view" anyone can share online -- not me, not you... it's the nature of the medium. In real life, I could, e.g., make my point instead by serving you a labor-of-love meal whose lineage could be traced to my ancestry and yours, because I had both transmitted to me! If you told me that you prefer just one thing though, and simplified at that --

then you would have to turn it down and munch on uncooked rice instead in order to prove your point. Everything else would be a "view."

Attachment to views are what causes so much suffering in the world at the moment. Your tribe, my tribe. Sunnis, Shiites, Muslims, Hindus, etc.

Releasing the heart from such bounds is the path to liberation.

Perhaps the word used was not appropriate. Instead of "simplifying" it could be better represented by "return".

Return to the 3, 2 and the ONE.

Whether or not life back then is considered real or artificial, they're all still trapped in samsara.

There is a story shared by this monk (Bikkhu Buddha Dhatu) who has the divine eye and can see past lives and the karmic links in people. It was the hungry ghost festival and he noticed a small girl offering incense at her ancestral altar as taught by her parents.

He laughed when he saw the karmic links and said that the girl was offering incense to herself as she was her grandmother reborn as her daughter's child. The irony of such attachment to lineages is apparant.

mouse

China was literate and bureaucratic for thousands of years. Records were kept. Family was the center of Chinese civilization's system of values, and all things pertaining to family life were of the greatest importance. Last names were not numerous -- only about a hundred, all of which are traceable to the primary seven even today. Anyone knowing their family name could trace their family history waaaay back. Something only royalty and aristocracy could boast of in Europe -- in China, peasants had access to that, a scholar could do it for the illiterate person via an official route, but even the illiterate learned their family history through oral transmissions for many generations. This used to be universally human rather than specifically Chinese, by the way. Even today, I know a physician who used to be a farmer's son in Nigeria, who can recite his family history as far back as you have the patience to endure -- he learned it all by heart by age six.

 

Things without roots, without history, without "conception, growth, maturation, fruition" (tao's proprietary style of manifestation) -- whether MA or anything else -- are like hydroponics vegetables, flavorless... or like GM crops, healthless... like that poor lab mouse they crossed with a glowing jellyfish -- so it glows in the dark... very pretty... but what's the quality-of-life value, for the mouse, of having developed a non-lineage based, arbitrarily superimposed new trait which, for all practical purposes, translates into "nowhere to run, nowhere to hide?.."

Taomeow,

You're correct in being able to trace back roots and record keeping. My family can trace back our roots all the way to Fujian, Jin Men where my great great grand father was a Qing naval court official. Once in Jin Men, we can trace it further through the Huang family archives but I'm not sure how far that actually goes.

However to say that things without roots, history, are like hydroponic vegetables would not be correct. That would be attaching to views of who you think you should be.

Views are dangerous things and would one of the 10,000 things in the 'world'. Why not simplify to the 3, then to the 2 and then back to the one?

mouse

Simon1983,

In my opinion lineages don't mean much. Many masters are not great teachers. It is often you see someone from a reputable lineage have no real skills and have a huge following due to the name. I can name a few but best not to.

My teacher often says his lineage is from Buddha.

Enjoy your practice.

mouse

i5vRPKIS5UM&feature

Wow...I do the exact same things with my dog!

mouse

Has anybody Trained with the Sydney Master Bing Zhao "Originally from Brisbane"? Its said He is Capable of & Teaches a very real form of Empty Power (Attacking One From A Distance). According to Him its the Original thing from China-centuries old ?

 

Just recently I met a 7 year student of Bings who has studied the 2 Key movements everyday for over 7 years. However He cannot do much. From the Method shown I cannot see how this is possible ? Im certain what this Teacher has is kept soley to Himself.

 

Tere is also in Bisbane Master Liao who studied with master Yan Xin & the same teacher as the Famous Zhang Hongbao who died in 2006.

r.w. smith,

Zhao Bing and Dong Yang are one and the same. Dong Yang is his ordination name under the Taoist lineage.

I've trained in maybe 10 sessions before and he is very competent with his ability but doesn't teach anything which is why students get no where. You can see from his Taiji form, that he's got all principles right. Even in his sword form has principles down pat.

However, he does not teach an ounce on it in classes which is why I ask clearclouds to share his views as he is a long term student.

Enjoy your practice,

mouse

I am in Australia as well.

Clearclouds, I've been to a few of Master Dong Yang's classes before and although he is competent in his mastery of the martial arts he teaches, I have seen no students even close to what he is capable of. Although some have been training with him for over 8 years.

In the classes, he shares nothing on technique and is apparant in the skill level of his students.

Can you comment on this if you're still on the forum?

How was the visit to China that he was planning? Would be interesting to hear your views on it.

Enjoy your practice.

mouse

Thanks guys for your input.

Looks like Grandmothers are full of mysterious practices that only make sense after they're gone. We've got a saying in our culture that translates directly to English as follows:

It has a better ring to it in Mandarin though.

There are a few others on the forum who have shared their alchemic knowledge in the past on the forum. Would be interesting to hear their views as well.

Enjoy your practice.

mouse

Nibbana points out not up.

Enjoy your practice.

mouse

Well said Lin.

And not all religions point in one direction. Buddha's path transcends samsara. Others keep you wandering.

Pure Dhamma is very grounded and all mind.

A sign of a practitioner is in his/her conduct through the 8fold path. If you can't show good conduct in speech/action/mindfulness on an internet forum where you have all the time in the world to gather your thoughts before posting, self investigation is recommended.

Enjoy your practice.

mouse

Hi all,

I've just remembered an old "recipe" from the older generations on leaving a bowl of water out on a full moon to harness the yin energy of the moon. (I'm of chinese ethnicity)

I can't remember the details on the benefits of the water but I did try making a batch last night on the 16th based on the lunar calander. I've no idea why but the moon seems to be fuller on the 16th than 15th.

On a personal note, I tried the water this morning and it was pretty empowering. It was a yin backed by a strong yang almost as if it was driving the yin properties. Was definately more "wet" and very cooling. I also only collected the water indoors around 9am so it had around 3 hours of morning sun. May have affected the properties with some ascending yang? Just my feedback of my own on batch I made.

There are some of you here who seem knowledgable on alchemic matters so I thought I'd bring this up on the forum and see what each one of you from your various backgrounds can contribute. Maybe we'll find some similarities in wiccan, taoist, pagan etc practices.

I personally do not do external nor internal alchemy as everything can be manifested from emptiness if required but this would make for some interesting discussion if we can focus on

1) Method of making

2) Uses/effects of water

3) Proposed alchemic transmutation process theories of your own

4) Experiences to share of personal uses of such water

Enjoy your practice.

mouse

I trained in Erle Montaigues three circle standing chi kung and opened my small circle orbit in 2004. Now it is closed though, but thats another story.

 

Erles stuff is ok(although I only learned 1 chi kung from him, and some martial stuff) like (moving forward when attacked, pulling back ears and "smile" to get access to brainstem "reptile brain" etc.

One exercise in particular was good, it will make you attack forward when someone suddenly scares you in the dark etc and you will hit them.

 

stand in a one leg forward knees slightly bent and arms in a tree hug pose relaxed. Now Imagine a huge weight dropping on top of you and squeezing you flat, like a tube of toothpaste. At the same time hit a double palmstrike forward, open your eyes wide and breathe suddenly out with a shout.

 

after that do the same but hit your palms inward(not touching each other).

 

This is how I remember it and it worked. It probably is on Erles site still.

The key to all chi kung ability in my opinion is found in the leg/hip/heel/k-1 connection and how to get earth chi flowing. Are there any books etc. that address this?

salaam123,

Shouldn't all your energetic problems you were seeking help from the internet give you some idea that your practices from Erle are wrong?

You seek help but choose to continue your old ways. If they did you good, you'll have had 4 years (you mentioned 2004) to work up to great health.

We have a student in the lineage who had a car accident where he had collision on his head with massive injuries to his brain. You can see him on some of the videos on yourtube doing push hands. When they were first approached by his parents to help, he couldn't talk, walk, move properly and was shaking uncontrollably all the time. He had to relearn EVERYTHING as his psychomotor skills were all gone.

When I last saw him, he was chatting up a girl on the bus and got her number. haha. Always brings a smile to my face when I think of him.

Anyway, I am just writing because you were seeking help for your problems and yet at the same time dispensing advice. Something is wrong here don't you think? I'm sure you mean well but don't let the blind lead the blind.

Hope you don't mind me airing my thoughts in such public domain.

Enjoy your practice.

mouse

This is a great quote by Ajahn Chah relevant to this discussion. You guys may enjoy.

Someone commented, "I can observe desire and aversion in my mind, but it's hard to observe delusion." "You're riding on a horse and asking where the horse is !" was Ajahn Chah's reply.

Enjoy your practice.

mouse

http://www.thetaobums.com/heel-or-k-1-poin...-chi-t6351.html

You missed the discussion from a few days back.