dwai

Why? Are you seeing more and more people downvoting your posts? If so, what does that tell you about your posts? Or, an egotistic person might think the problem is with the down-voters. That there might be an axe to grind. I wonder how many other members get their posts downvoted enough to warrant an anti-downvote post?

Moderator Comment: What is with this aggressive behavior? If you don’t understand the question, and genuinely want to know, you can articulate your question without the condescension. Let me be very clear with you @Taoist Texts - if I see even a hint of condescension/bullying from you again, it will result in a permanent ban.

This!

Consecration is needed for Hindu deities. Ideally by someone who knows what they’re doing - there are protocols and steps necessary for proper consecration. Of course, it also depends on the individual practitioner’s capabilities too, if worshiping at home. I’ve seen my grandfather do the consecration himself on special occasions (but he knew what he was doing), and had proper training, initiation, and a regular practice for many decades.

Is it some “thing” then? To me unimaginable means something the mind cannot even think of. But obviously a lot of thinking is happening about what this Ultimate Truth is. Could it be, that it is what it is because it is not a “thing”? Rather it is what makes thinking possible?

Does that really tell us anything? One phenomenological inference can be that there is nothing beyond space and time. So, is Truth (Ultimate or otherwise) nothing, then?

What is Truth?

CD doesn't seem to understand the difference between a hypothesis and a fact. He is positing another hypothesis with no data to back it up (his jump from the general studies he is quoting to the application thereof vis-a-vis Taichi). At least on the traditional side, ample anecdotal evidence (lived experience) exists. If he were truly scientific in his approach, he would set up experiments, take muscle biopsies, and process them in a lab to prove his hypothesis. Then, there would be undisputable data to prove his contention (FWIW, I think it would not be successful )

my teacher characterizes this difference as “monkey mind” and “spiritual mind”. For something like Taijiquan, we need to “hold” both. The monkey mind in the opposite direction (actively) of the power. The awareness in the direction of power. If we’re moving the power forward, the mind goes in the opposite direction along the ground. The awareness holds the space into which the power flows. People think standing is easy - anyone who’s practiced standing in posture for extended periods of time can attest to the sheer agony of it (until one learns to release).

When are we ever not grounded? Ground is a relative thing. You are grounded if you are on a stable surface and gravity is working on you. You are grounded, whether on top of a mountain or at the lowest point on earth, whether on a ship's deck in the middle of the ocean or an airplane 30,000 feet above the surface. Gravity (yin) is still acting upon you. But there is value to practicing outdoors—we can connect with external qi when we do so with our eyes open (without focusing on any one object).

Done

Seeking some feedback on the following. Please feel free to post your thoughts/comments (please be concise and to the point if possible. If you write a 1000+ word essay, it makes my eyes glaze over and avoid reading it. ) -- Xing is "Original nature or True Nature", and lies in the domain of consciousness. Its root is the spiritual heart/MDT. Ming is the" Life force or Qi", and lies in the domain of energy, and its root is the Lower Dan tien. Practices like Qigong work on Ming. Xing needs more intricate (and simpler) forms of meditation wherein emphasis is not on cultivation and "adding to" (jing, qi and Shen) and/or "transformation" (Jing to Qi, Qi to Shen), but rather of letting go and reduction/elimination (of artificial mental concepts, preconceptions and even subject-object interactions, aka Shen to Emptiness). Ming requires/implies "you wei" or doing, while Xing requires "wu wei" or not-doing. But the two are not mutually exclusive, but rather parts of a continuum. Without proper cultivation of Ming, Xing cannot be realized(?). We have to go from doing to not-doing, effort to effortlessness. All it takes is patience, sincerity and clarity of mind.

Mo Pai - YOU SHALL NOT PASS!!!!

I’ve enabled the ability to down-vote posts. I’m hoping we will be able to keep some noise out of the discussions on the board this way. The idea is that the mod team will observe the impact of this feature for a month and then decide if it is beneficial or not. If deemed not beneficial, we will discontinue it. If not, we will let it continue.

There is an old Indian saying, “if you use a knife to stitch your clothes, all you will end up with are tattered rags.”

It might be worthwhile to explore what categorical frameworks are. Modern science applies a specific categorical framework. Eastern traditions apply a different categorical framework. Neither is necessarily wrong or right. Just different perspectives of looking at phenomena. Usually they serve different purposes and were formulated for different objectives. Depending on where the focus is, one could be looking at the trees (reductionist approach of modern science) while the other could be looking at the forest (wholistic approach of eastern traditions). I learned a long time ago that we need to compartmentalize in order to enjoy life. When it’s necessary, and where applicable, use science. And then put it away and just live life.

If you know it firsthand, then belief is not necessary. Internal power doesn't come from muscle contraction. I know many such people who hold on to their theories and ideas. Cognitive dissonance is a difficult thing to deal with.

Guess the prompt I used to get AI to generate this image?

Apparently, it's a thing from the late 90s.

You're already a winner in my opinion!

What if you don't have taichi pajamas?

A steak has a hungry carnivorous person in its future

if you met a stranger in a public place and started a conversation. You start discussing all and sundry topics under the sun, and then there is one which both of you feel strongly about. You feel one way about it, and the other person feels strongly it in different way.

There’s a timer on the polls