liminal_luke

You haven´t said -- so maybe you have this part all figured out -- but I´d first ask where it is you´d like to lead, what you´d like to inspire. I think the answers to those questions might provide the oomph necessary to get the job done.

If you could make it out to Springfield, Mississippi that´s where YaMu, the teacher of the stillness-movement system, is located. Amazing energetic development and spiritual understanding just 369 miles and thousands of practice hours away! Roadtrip anyone? Not that I have personal experience (see Brian´s posts for that, among others), but if I were just starting this is the direction I´d go in. There are dvd´s you could order now and practice from on your own while you check out if it´s your thing. Liminal

Not sure if it´s relevant to the passage, but I´ve noticed there are different ways of using my visual sense. Sometimes the sight goes out to meet the object; to me there´s a subtle aggression to this way of looking. But I´ve also practiced keeping my eyes very soft and allowing the image to come to me. In both cases I "see" but the experience is very different.

Hi Butterydime, I think "where to start" depends somewhat on how you´d like to go about your learning. You mentioned books. That´s one way, perhaps the most accesible right off the bat. Another possibility is videos. Of course the best learning happens in-person with a teacher. Depending on where you live there might be ongoing classes you could look into...tai chi, chi gung, meditation, etc. Then you´d have the advantage of the group environment and hopefully someone knowledgeable to guide you personally. Are you in a position to be able to jump on a plane and take a workshop? This is obviously a bigger commitment of time and money but would expand your options greatly. Possibilities include vipassana retreats, SunDo, learning the stillnesss-movement system, springforest, and many others. In many cases, there´s the possibility of learning first from a DVD, and then following up with a workshop or retreat if your interest is piqued. Liminal

Thanks for that Aaron -- words I needed to hear this morning.

I don´t believe it´s possible to make any kind of spiritual progress in a constant state of complete comfort. Most seekers experience their fair share of less-than-blissful experiences along the way, including less-than-blissful emotional states. People come to meditation from all different backgrounds. Some can skillfully navigate the more difficult terrain within their own psyches; others, not so much. When someone with preexisting psychological vulnerabilites pursues a powerful path in an overly gungho manner, especially without the watchful supervision of a teacher, problems ensue.

I hear ya. There are plenty of things the old either can´t do at all or can´t do as well as the young. Fortunately, us oldsters excel at making crotchety and argumentative posts on Daobums. The barriers to participation in internet forums are mercifully low; indeed, one need not have any relevant personal experience or knowledge whatsoever. An unending insistence that other people are wrong seems to be enough.

field of aesthetics the field beyond right and wrong enlightened design (apologies to Rumi)

Good point. It´s not that special meditations and practices at different times of the year don´t have value -- they do. But that kind of information can not be put to good use without a consistent everyday practice. My opinion.

I´ve never liked the "what to you do?" question. By "do" people really mean "how do you make money?" of course, and it´s often a way of sizing people up so they can be put in some sort of category. Successful or not successful. Smart and productive, or stupid and relatively useless. Although perhaps this is the viewpoint of someone whose never had a very satisfying answer to this question. Years ago I revisited my old elementary school and talked briefly with my old sixth grade teacher. She asked all the stock questions. What do you do? (massage therapist) Are you married? (nope) Any kids? (nope) It was not a very satisfying conversation, but things really took a dive when she inquired about my brother. What does your brother do? (He´s a doctor.) Is he married? (yes) Any kids? (yes, one boy and one girl) She was very enthused at how my brother had "turned out," but had nothing much to say about me. In retrospect, I wish she had asked different questions. What interests you? Where have you traveled? What qualities are you trying to develop in yourself as a person? What kind of books do you like to read? What do you do for meditation/spiritual development? Unfortunately for me, these are not the typical questions people ask when getting to know someone.

The berry I tried was dried. Dragon Herbs has a tincture of schizandra combined with goji berry that I´ve been curious to try for some time now. I bet it tastes wonderful. Not cheap though.

I tried a schizandra berry at a chinese herb shop once. Yes indeed, very strange. The acupuncturist said it´s not something you´d put on your breakfast cereal, but I disagree. I thought it was delicious.

As much as the internet allows some people to hide their identities, for others it´s a place where they can show themselves -- and be seen -- in a way that´s harder to do in "real" life. We are such a visual culture and often that is where we stop, with the visuals. Sometimes people can´t see past an image long enough to consider the person underneath. In general, I don´t give much thought to the age, gender, or race of posters here. And that, in my opinion, is a good thing. I don´t spend a lot of time considering whether or not bums are physically attractive. I just read what they have to say. There´s something very refreshing about that. Liminal

Photos can easily be faked. Posting personalities, not so much. Who we are tends to shine through our writing whether we want it to or not.

When I saw her name I got excited thinking she was posting again. A strong and experienced voice. She will be missed.

Very few men would have the inner strength to post about such insecurities, and yet many women value the endowment of an open heart over all else. What you lack in size you make up for in courage.

Some people love to sing or draw as children only to lose the creative impulse somewhere in adolescence. When I was a kid I couldn´t get enough of physics. I remember one time sitting in the back of my grandmother´s car happily reading Scientific American while we spent hours driving around lost looking for Sea World. Everybody was grumpy except for me. My grandmother, in particular, found my lack of irritation very irritating. Yeah, I know this kind of research is expensive. But if it helps even one nerdy boy or girl to distract themselves for a few hours from the swirl of family craziness buzzing around them, I say it´s worth it. Liminal

This.

3bob, To the contrary, this story strikes me as very practical and directly applicable to the question at hand. If, however, you think maybe I´m living a "protected type of lifestyle" and not "dealing with the [real] world," well, you wouldn´t be the first. Liminal

The following is from Pema Chodron´s book...Comfortable with Uncertainly: 108 Teachings on Cultivating Fearlessness and Compassion. .................................................................................................................................................................... ‘There’s a Zen story in which a man is enjoying himself on a river at dusk. He sees another boat coming down the river toward him. At first it seems so nice to him that someone else is also enjoying the river on a nice summer evening. Then he realizes that the boat is coming right toward him, faster and faster. He begins to yell, “Hey, hey, watch out! For Pete’s sake, turn aside!” But the boat just comes right at him faster and faster. By this time he’s standing up in his boat, screaming and shaking his fist, and then the boat smashes right into him. He sees that it’s an empty boat. This is the classic story on our whole life situation. There are a lot of empty boats out there. We’re always screaming and shaking our fists at them. Instead, we could let them stop our minds. Even if they only stop our mind for one point one seconds, we can rest in that little gap. [...]. In this way everything we meet has the potential to help us cultivate compassion and reconnect with the spacious, open quality of our minds.’* .........................................................................................................................................................................

Manitou, I find your non-dogmatic and refreshingly humble openness to your own unfolding experience a little touching.

For now, I´m working on having harmonious relationships with family and friends. Once I´ve got that down I´ll tackle higher level spirit beings.

Great idea. It´s wonderful to experience ourselves as loving, compassionate, genuine. All those warm and fuzzy feelings. But sometimes "how we feel" is not the most important thing. Sometimes those feelings can even get in the way. My brother is a family-care doc who often refers patients who need surgery to surgeons who lack, shall we say, the best bedside manner. He warns them ahead of time not to expect cuddly consultations. These surgeons are expert technicians with less than top-notch people skills. Doesn´t matter. When you´re on that operating table you want someone who knows surgery, period. Being of service means you do what needs doing. Your feelings as you do it matter less than that the job gets done. Say I´m an elderly shut-in waiting for someone to deliver lunch. I´m hungry. Mostly what I want is for some one to bring me a meal. Whether or not they are a phony or a trickster or a wanna-be messiah with quasi-sociopathic tendencies, I really don´t care. If they get me some food and go on their way, I´m good.

May I suggest a little playfulness? I don´t think anybody "is" any of the archetypes. You might recognize aspects of your personality in the trickster, but it´s certainly not some sort of rigid identity that is forever sealing your fate.

yet how sweet how sweet "it is to be loved by you feels so fine, oh yeah..." quoted from James Taylor