dwai

Not all Indian traditions are contemplative. Some are purely devotional (dualistic traditions). Some are heavily method-oriented (Tantra, yoga). But maybe this thread needs to be moved out of the “daoist” sub-forum, as it seems we’re discussing non-daoist systems here.

We can all be mothers in different ways I guess. Sometimes for my child, I am both father and mother. To those who I nurse to health in sickness, I am a mother. To those in whom I imbue the quest for spiritual insight and inquiry, I am a mother. The Immortal, Eternal Mother is all-powerful, and she works through all of us

And Golden

I think the three categories apply for almost anything we do in life For example - swimming/cooking/dancing/music (ADHD alert! hey let’s play a game, try to fit anything into the following blank space and see if it applies to the criteria below. _____________). - theory (read about the method, techniques etc) - practice (do it in a controlled environment) - in real life (get into an uncontrolled situation with the skill) I can already see some pretty ghastly outcomes (for self, others or both) with things like cooking/music 😜 @steve I am willing to share the IP for this system with you 😬🤔😂

Yes that’s what I meant. You cannot recognize one style from another in a real fight.

Lol! Was checking my YouTube feed and looks like big brother wanted me to see a “useless ‘martial art” win in the cage

There is a book titled "Beyond Biofeedback" by Elmer and Alyce Green, who were the founders and scientists at the Menninger Institute. They did some pioneering work in biofeedback in the 1960s and one of their main subjects was Swami Rama (who later set up the Himalayan Institute). Swami Rama showed in laboratory settings, various things ranging from internal control -- controlling the so-called involuntary functions such as stopping the heart for minutes at a time to making tumors appear and disappear on his body. He also made a needle rotate on a compass from several feet away, with the needle in a completely isolated environment (air-tight, etc). Read the book, it's available in its entirety in pdf format -- it has some really amazing stuff in it. https://elmergreenfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Beyond-Biofeedback-Green-Green-Searchable.pdf

I love the response And don't go by the 'laughicon" to your comment from me -- it is from the joy of seeing some issues that some people find with the plot.

Oh yeah?

I guess the point I was trying to make is, that none of these martial arts, even these "so-called effective martial arts" look like how they do when performed stylistically (form). Everything happens fast, with practically no visible form. Taijiquan doesn't look like "taijiquan", Karate doesn't look like "Karate", Muay Thai doesn't look like "Muay Thai" and so on... Maybe except for the grappling part, but I'd be very careful about grappling in a street fight (not that I'm ever planning to get into one ) ...

But, on the street, will these techniques really look like they do in the ring?

Now that the noisy element has been disabled, I am curious about the phenomenon of always reducing everything down to cage fighting -- why is that so? Is it simply a case of lack of exposure to real violence? I suspect most of these MMA-enthusiasts(TMA vs MMA) have never really seen violence, and view the world from the prism of their limited (or negligible) youtube black-belts. Anyone who's ever been in a real fight will know that none of the so-called "effective" cage-ready martial arts are really very useful in the real world, where there is an assailant (usually there are more than one) who is hell-bent on causing grievous injury (with weapons etc). Movements have to be minimalistic, direct, non-telegraphed, and effective. Which is sort of the anti-thesis of cage-fighting, which involves massively telegraphed punches, kicks, takedowns, etc, etc. Self-defense and sport-fighting have very dramatic and significant differences. Self-defense calls for situational-awareness, being able to use improvised weapons and minimize effort while doing so. Avoid confrontation if you can, and finish the fight fast if you absolutely have to. I remember another tale from my childhood, one of the guys who worked for my dad (they built industrial heavy machinery, etc) used to be a militant from the days of what is called the Naxalite movement in India (basically Maoist rebels) in the 1970s -- was a very nice guy, but misguided as a youth. He literally spent his teenage engaged in pitched battles on the streets, shooting, stabbing, slashing, lobbing bombs at political rivals. He was in his mid-twenties when he moved to the south, where we were. He was a diminutive figure -- 5'4" tall, hardly weighing 110 lbs, if you saw him, he'd look like a waif. But he was tough as nails. One night, he caught a burglar in one of our neighbor's home -- just by sheer misfortune (of that burglar, who it turns out had quite a reputation for being a tough guy, violent, etc). The burglar was perhaps closer to 6 feet tall, weighted at least 40-50 lbs more than our friend. Using a Khukri and his bare hands, he made Mr. Burglar literally cake his pants. Held him down until the police arrived to take him away.

As I get closer to publishing my second novel, I'm giving away 10 copies of Vol 1 (The Mahasiddha Field) right now for free. Feel free to snag a copy. If you feel moved to post a review on goodreads.com etc, please help me out and do so. https://BookHip.com/SSGQMG

That is the prārabdha karma, what had been set into motion with the formation of the physical body and it will need to play itself out. The description typically given in the Hindu texts is, like an arrow that is already in flight -- it will continue to be in flight until it comes to rest.

Poignant, powerful and sublime at the same time! 🙏🏾

Yes -- something is a "system" because it has a certain methodology and epistemology. If it did not, then it would not be a system per se. Also, the system would provide an ontology and maybe even soteriology (depending on what the objective of said system is). Tai chi (aka Taijiquan) is a daoist internal art, and therefore, uses the Daoist epistemology (whether it is taught that way or not is, of course, subject to variation depending on the teacher/lineage). The family styles eschew the Daoist cultivation aspect and focus on either the martial (historically) or health aspects thereof. But Taijiquan is a complete system of Daoist cultivation in and of itself - it has very profound neigong practices if one finds a teacher/school that teaches in that way. The way I learned Taijiquan is in the Temple style lineage (Master Waysun Liao's system) and it has a very clearly defined system of knowledge based on the Dao De Jing. But different people have different proclivities, and therefore what might work via the framework of "Tai Chi" for someone, might not work for another. But in general, the progress of practice as I know it (IMHO, caveat emptor) is -- Work with the Body/Energetic system to develop them, reduce noise, and consequently the mind becomes clear, still and radiant. Then, such a mind needs to be applied towards the deeper teachings provided in the "knowledge" part of the tradition to realize the Truth that is being pointed towards (Dao/Brahman/God/Buddha Nature and so on). One may or may not require the body/energetic if the mind already has clarity/radiance. Such a mind can dive straight into the wisdom/knowledge aspect of the teaching. Usually, contemplative systems like Advaita Vedanta will outline one or more ways to prepare the mind - Service, devotion, yogic meditation, until the student is prepared to embark on the wisdom path.

Darin is a very interesting guy -- he used to post here, not sure whether he's still around on this board. Sadhguru's foundation teaches some very powerful courses.

The future will see a big role of blockchain technology. With blockchain, internet platforms will become greatly democratized, decentralized, and lead to a decommodification of users. https://www.leewayhertz.com/blockchain-social-media-platforms/

Stuck feeling in the throat can signify unexpressed creativity. If you are into any creative process, it might be a good place to start for release.

The thing about giving a long rope is, one could use it to climb out of a deep hole they've dug themselves into... or...

Sit on a cushion or meditation chair with your hips raised above your knees. My cushion raises my hips 3” above the knees. But I don’t use lotus/half-lotus throughout. I just sit cross-legged. Another thing to try is opening your joints gently as you sit, and allow the energy to flow through. This will help you sit longer without the pins and needles. Also, there are some yogic postures you can use to open up your hips and prepare for prolonged sitting. rocking the child pose Butterfly pose Doing these will help open up your joints and allow for much more relaxed sitting.

Why is that? Was the statue consecrated? If it’s just a statue, you can most certainly keep it at home.

Excellent. If the contemplative tradition is what you find resonance with, I would recommend listening to some of these teachings by Swami Sarvapriyananda. https://www.youtube.com/vedantany This is a great place to start. Swami Sarvapriyananda balances the modern with traditional Vedanta, not "New Age" at all, but more "Eternal Age" --

That's a perfectly good place to start, imho.

Okay, then that's clarity in itself. You want to understand the process, nuances, etc. If you notice yourself having an affinity towards yogic practices, you might want to explore some authentic yoga lineages like the Kriya Yoga system. Depending on where you are, you can either get initiation in person (maybe after COVID-19 is done and over with), or online/correspondence. I'd recommend a teacher who can guide you. https://www.onlinewithananda.org/path-of-kriya-yoga/ Sri M is also a very good exponent of Kriya Yoga, but I'm not sure if he teaches online -- https://satsang-foundation.org/ One of our friends here, @Pilgrim himself is a treasure-trove of Kriya Yoga knowledge, and if he's around, can help you. If Kriya Yoga is not that readily available, I'd recommend you explore the Isha Foundation -- https://www.innerengineering.com/online My wife has had tremendous help/spiritual transformation with this system. I know several others who have had great success. The nice thing about this course is that there are volunteers who will check on you even after you've completed the course. Sadhguru is a veritable fount of Yogic knowledge and wisdom and an immensely powerful teacher.