exorcist_1699

I do not say Zen's way is wrong , what I say is : its success is something conditional;

Yes, there is a goal. In case of Taoism, it is to attain the Meta-Mind (元神) ; in case of Zen , it is to attain the Buddha Heart; For Taoist teenager practitioners, they can skip the stage of accumulating jing and qi; and by using a method similar to the Zen's, to directly attain the Meta-Mind. In fact, there is a Taoist school , called the Primordial (先天派 ) , follows this path..

In the past, even in modern times, Taoist sifu is the person whom most ordinary Chinese people likely think of when their houses are haunted by ghosts or evils; so, Taoist master is also asked to perform some kind of " exorcist" job ; Of course, in my case ,it is just a strange name I pick up for drawing people's attention , no special meaning :- ) After having accumulated and refined our qi to certain degree, a meta-Mind does pop up from us , which possess some strange power and is different from the ever-experiencing mind we get , so we can call It some kind of god.

Zen's method is for "professional" practitioners , boys who become monk and live in temples, most likely starting from their teenage or early 20's; Taoist method is for middle or old guys ( or women) , most likely married, who come to know Taoism late in their lifetime ; That is , Taoist way recognize the fact that most people experience their deficient state in jing and qi when they meet Tao , and , unlikely can succeed by following Zen's method. So, you can say that Taoism adopts a more realistic approach . In fact, it is unlikely that a yin-type, trivial mind can , without other help, become a great Mind; All yin-typed mind's methods: Visualization, focus your attention on something/ somewhere ,singing some kind of spells, praying , reasoning...etc, the most they can make you into is a witch or psychic, not a real god, I mean , a Taoist god..

It is reported that famous Buddhist scholar, Nan Huai Jin, just died on 29th Sep.,2012 in Suzhou,China , aged 95.

Thinking that there is a moment of now, with a duration ,say, one second or one minute, is similar to thinking that we get a static position somewhere in this universe , which is illusory; we are just on a planet moving relative to the moon, to the sun ,to the solar system, to the Milky Galaxy... We can't get any power from now, nor can we get power from the future or the past . The idea of now , past or future only reflects the illusion of this yin-typed of mind, which we claim proudly as having common sense or scientific sense . (The Sutra of Diamond say : " 過去心不可得，现在心不可得，未来心不可得"; ) To a greater extent, this mind also thinks that there is a moment at which time starts or ends. Similarly ,we can't get power from here, nor can we get power from there or overthere ... Other illusion of this mind also includes the bias of thinking that there is a boundary of this universe where space starts or ends. Modern physics helps us smashing those illusions into pieces, yet not complete enough because science still belongs to that kind of a yin-typed of mind, sticking to the ground of having an objective observer ,using some kind of apparatus to measure things , no matter they are called a force, a particle, an energy or a field, somewhere in this universe. A real Mind is beyond time and space. And, it is our capable of nourishing It out of no-time and nowhere ("應無所住生其心" ) that gives us the direct power of manipulating our qi, and our fate in this universe.

Visit China is good, but to find any real Taoist legacy or come across a real master through a short tour , seems impossible. The Qigong " movement" in China reached its climax before the so-called TianAn Men Incident in 1989, then it receded quickly, followed by the FLG's acticvities that only worsened it. Most of the contemporary "masters" , their gong and theoretical ability ,definitely are far below the ancient Taoists . Three factors restrict the development of qigong in China: 1) Political upheavals ; 2) Commercializing ( it has good and bad aspects , anyway) ; 3)The dominance of scientism ( ie, squeeze all things related to qigong into a scientific framework...) My advice is , spend more time in studying the Chinese language , and the Taoist classics.

Some ideas to share: 1) Shen comes up after our having accumulated certain amount of jing and qi, yet it is not anything proceed linearly , but discretely or abruptly. 2) Reading Buddhist writings, especially Zen Buddhist ones, does help. Reading books about modern physics, especially those about the theory of Relativity and Quantum mechanics is also helpful . 3) It is after our having got some taste of that Shen, do we start to know what the Buddhist Sutra really talk . Of course, after that, any argument about whether Taoist or Buddhist way is better becomes meaningless, they are just different ways enable us to reach the same place/ level. Don't argue about whether going to Hong Kong by plane is better than by ship , just see what conditions you possess.. ( I do not work for the HK Tourist Association.. ^^) 4)There will be another Mind, different from our acquainted daily mind , arising...but thinking that all spiritual things must come out from our brain or upper part of our body is just some kind of bias. 5) Please understand that a split of our spirit ( not necessarily in a state of lunatic ) : say, a much clearer, condensed Mind looking back at a trivial, yin-typed mind / reasoning is possible ; please understand that an occasional, abrupt push of detaching our spirit from this physical body is possible ( building up our jing and qi is , in fact, building up the momentum for a Mind capable of leaving this body , notwithstanding we are unconscious of it ...); please understand that having totally dream-less sleeping or sleeplessness in nights , yet without effect on our energetic daytime life , is possible.... Or, it happens that there arises an unstoppable , compelling urge to preach whatever we believe in by extraordinary eloquence ( this, likely turn out to be something negative). ; Or,an emergence of an extreme sharp Mind which unable us to understand whatever knowledge we are told ( Please note that Shen is a formless , content-less intelligence ,which can understand and accommodate whatever knowledge and ideas It is told, no matter where they come from , humans or aliens or other sources); Shen can understand our yin-typed mind , no matter you call it common sense or a scientific mind, easily ; conversely, hardly can we understand what Shen is even we are repeatedly told ... these are symptoms telling you the coming appearance of Shen; Just like physical proofs: needless to eat for a long time, rebirth of fallen teeth..etc, these are also proofs in Taoist practice of our spiritual achievement . ( Of course,the Evil will also come accordingly , just like yin always accompanies yang ). With past Taoist masters' experiences as its basis, with millions of TCM medical cases ( say near-death ones..) as basis, Taoist talks about this arena seems better than the Tibetan book of Death or those strange Zen's Ko'ans ( just my personal preference ^^)

In China's latest Space mission , her first Chinese female astronaut, Liu Yang, practiced Taiji in the being-built Space station " Tin-Gong" : What does this imply ?

I wonder what kind of qi we can initialize in Space, and , does it easier to initialize pre-heavenly qi ? Practicing qi gong in Space does save lot of oxygen and food in Space travel....

Differences between Buddhist and Taoist ways of cultivation, from Taoist standpoint are: 1) Buddhism talks a lot about things happen at final stage , while Taoism talks a lot about things at initial stage. 2) Taoist way is more suitable for middle and old-aged guys, while Buddhist is more suitable for young people ,especial teenagers, in terms of getting real achievement. 3) While Buddhist way only targets at spiritual immortality, Taoist targets at both physical and spiritual immortality . 4) Taoist ways talk about method, fortune , companion and place(法,財,侣,地 ),Buddhist seldom mention them. 5)Taoist recognizes that female and male's way of cultivations are different due to their physiological differences, at least at initial stage ; In Buddhist cultivation, there are no attention to such differences.

Three reasons make people die : accident, aging and diseases. Accidents occupy a small percentage , most people, in fact, die from diseases and aging. And, most diseases make people die because of their experiencing their old age, so whether we can get rid of aging is the main test of the possibility of physical immortality. Taoist standpoint is simple: if aging is an slow approach of death, gradual realization of death, then if we can stop its proceeding, even reverse its steps, we can claim , to a large extent, the success of attaining physical immortality. By accumulating qi and refining it , we can do this great experiment on ourselves .In fact, different from the Buddhist , Taoist enterprise lies not in rescuing people, which is only the by-product of Taoist practice, but in exploring and realizing the secret of this universe... Taoism emphasizes proof , but not in the sense of Western science because in Taoism there is no split of spirit and objects, no split of a cool observer and the things he is observing .Taoist proof is composed of both physical and spiritual aspects: An everlasting , disease-proof body and a superb mental ability of understanding everything happen around , every area of human knowledge , are the proof of the correctness of its practice, despite methodologically it has to repeatedly remind people of not sticking to them.

Differences between Buddhist and Taoist ways of cultivation, from Taoist standpoint are: ( Continued ) 6) Both systems need proof to justify their value; however, while Buddhist proof lies mainly in the spiritual aspects : See whether a Mind that knows all minds( 一切種種 心) , all wisdoms (一切種智 ) arise or not...Taoist proof , without the need of referring to those strange Ko'an or relying on a more competent master's confirmation , pays more attention to whether embryonic breathing appearing , blood and feces turning white or teeth rebirth... those physical features that hardly be illusory , hardly be explained by other factors , but Taoist practice .

Dear all, I have developed some software teaching you guys and gals some Chinese characters, the ways of writing them and their meanings, so that you will be , step by step, capable of reading the original Taoist books....; people who are interested in it , please leave your email under this topic or send me a private message on this forum .

Some introduction: This is a Flash animation software , in SWF and HTML format, that I recently developed. It randomly generates some Chinese characters and ask users to guess what they mean...although all the characters are 6 strokes or less,they are basic ones that Chinese learners should learn .In the process of playing it, users can learn the way of writing them ( shown as animation) , their meanings and pronunciations. See below for its interface. I am not any kind of professional programmer, but an amateur of Flash & AS3 who does this kind of things for fun, so the software is , of course , free ;

Recently I am lazy at writing something new here, so I would like to revive some old topic which I think not thoroughly discussed.

There are some issues , or predicaments that , by brooding on them , by solving them , our mind can be freed and be led to the so-called Enlightenment, ie, a Mind that can leave and return our body freely , a Mind that can detach from our daily consciousness and turn back to observe it freely ; as a master says: " Detachment is the Way". ("離即是道") Here they are: 1) The somewhere and nowhere issue : In the Diamond Sutra , one of the main Sutra that the Zen Buddhism relies on , you find the most famous saying : " Breed a great Mind by paying attention to nowhere " ; it sounds wonderful , but how ? I think the difficulty of it is whenever we try to do so , we already unconsciously put our mind at somewhere , let it entangled by something , making any trial doomed to failure . 2) The Non- dual issue: The Chinese Zen's Sixth Patriarch once asked : " When you neither think of good nor evil, past nor future, outside nor inside... what status of a mind you are in ? " Which , of course, is a question tries to bring us to some kind spiritual breakthrough.. However, even capable of so doing and lengthening that interval, that rupture , there is still no guarantee that we not fall into a lengthened , unproductive dullness ; a persistent placid mind is nothing close to the Buddha Heart. 3) The situation and heart issue: It is said that our heart is always entangled by our senses , anxiety and misfortunes in life that makes the emergence of a Buddha Heart impossible. In order to emancipate us from those obstables , people think of 3 possible ways: ~ We do our best to get rid of those external obstacles and problems so that they no longer exist to puzzle us. ~ We strengthen our spirit so that even objective difficulties and hardships uneradicable , they do not hurt and obsctruct us so much . ~ We eliminate that mind which we think of as real, that mind we are so assured as having the sufferings, being entangled : if there is no mind at all , how can anxieties and sufferings attaching to it? If that illusory mind is nullified, and something much real and great arises, what perceptions and emotions still leave behind to puzzle us ? Of course, the final one is the Zen's way; It is said that foolish people always try to eliminate those factors and situations that are thought as causing their sufferings , only do the sages recognize that what should be eliminated are their pseudo minds.

Hi, Wayfarer, thanks the ideas you added here.

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Most major Taoist writings view visualizating something as trivial sideways(旁門) that should not be advocated . The resaon is simple , its drawbacks outweigh its benefits. Slightly paying attention to our dantian can be the initial step, then follow the 3-step of forgetting formula : Forgetting the body so as to noursih the qi, forgetting qi so as to nourish shen, forgetting shen so as to nourish emptiness ("忘形以養氣, 忘氣以養神, 忘神以養虛 ")

Another important point is that the pre-heavenly qi, its emergence is always associated with the appearance of a much higher spiritual form , or , is just the result of it ; This is why there is common ground for both the Taoist and Buddhist ways , why Taoist masters are eager to borrow some terms from Buddhism. In Taoist alchemist writings , whenever you come across the terms "正念", "真意" or "正覺" , then they must be talking about this high spiritual form , and , therefore should not be translated/ interpreted literally and carelessly. Different from all other mental states we have been experiencing: 1) dreaming 2) reasoning 3) intuition ( for example , without any reasoning , you know that it is the solution to the problem , or believe that a person can't be trusted) 4) a state of subconsciousness ( for example, when you are driving, your brain is not only capable of dealing with the traffic light ,people and other cars around you,but at its lower level, doing some kind of problem-solving ) this much crystallized mental status can only be grasped in practices, and is always crucial to what kinds qi we can initialize.

There are many ways to initialize the post-heavenly qi inbetween the kidneys or from the lower abdomen : By focusing our attention to the lower dantian , by sticking plaster to certain area , by acupuncture, by massaging some acupuncture points , even by drinking some herbs ...etc , and most TCM doctors likely know some of them well , yet they are mainly used as methods of healing or helping people look younger . In a word, the "Ming-men" (命門 : "Gate of life" ) theory in TCM is never upgraded to any kind of system that can help us identify the concrete steps towards immortality despite the fact that doctors meet cases of death every day. However, to the Taoist alchemists, what all mentioned methods can't do is to initialize the pre-heavenly qi, the only force that can grant people the right of living forever in this earthly world, if they prefer. After reading the writings of those brilliant Ming-dynsaty TCM doctors ,say 張景岳, 趙献可, 李中梓 : Books : 張景岳 : 《景岳全書》 趙献可: 《醫貫》 and then compare them to Wu-Liu School's writings , likely you can find the differences.

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The "orthodox " Taoist alchemical view on it , for example, one that raised by the Wu-Liu School, is that genuine Microcosmic Circulation can only appear after our capable of initializing the pre-heavenly way of breathing ( in most cases , a long persistent empty mind plus a stop of our ordinary breathing will give rise to it ); And ,just capable of circulating the " post-heavenly " qi ( which is always initialized by our paying attention to the dantian for some while or by some ways of visualization) in the Du or Ren channels should not let us claim that we are doing the MC. It doesn't mean that the TCM-typed of MC , although not a real one, is meaningless for even capable of circulating post-heavenly qi helps us healing lot of diseases. Yet the TCM doctors' understanding of the so-called qi-inbetween-kdneys(" 腎間動氣"), is superficial when comparing to the Taoist alchemical idea , so two should not be mixed .

1) Pre-heavenly qi, in fact, exists everywhere in emptiness; that means, it also exists inside us , but in a degenerated, limited form; in its deteriorating way ...ie, the mentioned yang-typed of jing; By using our yin-typed of mind, no matter how hard we visualize , how much attention we pay on the post-heavenly qi, hardly can we recruit it because there is a huge gap between these two levels of heaven. 2)Besides the mentioned book , there are many other Taoist books talk about this issue as it is crucial. Please see the book list I presented in the Chinese sub- forum here .