buddabubba

In My Humble Opinion - You are your own best teacher, in the end. All a teacher can do is help you teach yourself. All reality will teach you if you let it. Books and the internet, with your own discernment, are good friends if you can't find another further along the path... Really listen to that small still voice inside, and be patient... peace, bodi

Greetings, all and sundry! What a great website. I look forward to many stimulating discussions and rants. We see with our mind, not with our eye So many crawl, so few fly Because they fail to See and so fail to see All that they are, and all they could be Understanding everything, realizing nothing Can you see past duality and reach for totality? Realizing Nothing, understanding Everything. - BB

Taomeow, Yes, that's me, almost twenty years ago, when I was just a pup. I have long since moved on from taekwondo. I have mainly studied various styles of kung fu (mostly wing chun), and some aikido. I didn't think that picture uploaded, by the way, as I can't find it anywhere. Thanks! bodi

I don't believe I did. I thought I was being pretty clear that it isn't... As to the rest of your post, it is beyond me...

ok, here's where they go... Very few beings really seek knowledge in this world. Few really ask. On the contrary, they try to wring from the unknown the answers they have already shaped in their own minds - justifications, confirmations, forms of consolation without which they cannot go on. To really ask is to open the door to the whirlwind. - Rice "Man is made or unmade by himself. In the armory of thought he forges the weapons by which he destroys himself. He also fashions the tools with which he builds for himself heavenly mansions of joy and strength and peace." ~William James Science is answers that must always be questioned. Philosophy is questions that may never be answered. Religion is answers that must never be questioned. Politics is answers that lobbyists pay for. - unknown Knowledge is knowing the candle flame is hot. Wisdom is knowing not to stick your finger in it... - Chief Wannadubie It is better to keep one's mouth shut and be thought a fool, than to open it and resolve all doubt. - Abe Lincoln It is a great misfortune to have neither the wit to speak well, nor the judgement to remain silent. - La Bruyere The empty vessel makes the greatest sound. - Shakespeare Men often make in wrath what they lack in reason. - Alger Strong and bitter words indicate a weak cause. - V. Hugo I am bound to furnish my antagonists with arguments, but not with comprehension. - Disraeli He who believes in nobody knows that he himself is not to be trusted. - Averbach I don't know the secret to success, but the key to failure is to try and please everyone. - Bill Cosby By your own thoughts you make or mar your life, your world your universe. - Allen For as a man thinks in his heart, so is he. - Proverbs 23:7 A man is tommorow what he thinks today. -Emerson You will find either your best friend or your worst enemy in yourself. - Unknown Most of us can, if we choose, make this world either a palace or a prison. - Lord Averbury When we have learned to control our thoughts, our sympathies and our emotions, it will be an easy matter to control our circumstances. - unknown Whether you think you can, or think you can't, you are right. - Henry Ford Sow a thought and you reap an act. Sow an act and you reap a habit. Sow a habit and you reap a character. Sow a character and you reap a destiny. - unknown We see with our mind not with our eye So many crawl so few fly Because they fail to See and so fail to see All that they are and all they could be Understanding everything realizing nothing Can you see past duality and reach for totality? Realizing Nothing understanding Everything. - buddabubba The wind at midnight Blowing faintly in the tree Echoes in my mind. -buddabubba Iron rusts from disuse. Stagnant water loses it purity. Even so does inaction sap the vigor of the mind. - Da Vinci Success or failure Triumph or defeat are not 'out there' They are right between you ears. - Zig Ziglar Absorb what is useful Reject what is useless Add what is essentially your own. - Bruce Lee To think you know something is a perfect barrier to learning. -unknown Believe those who are seeking the Truth. Doubt those who find it. - Andre Gide The master said: "In vain I have looked for a single person capable of seeing his own faults and bringing the charge home against himself" -unknown Who does evil and is afraid of letting it be known has still a seed of good in his evil. Who does good and is anxious for it to be known has still a seed of evil in his good. - unknown The more we study, the more we discover our ignorance. - Shelly Imagination is more important than knowledge. - Albert Einstein Let he that would move the World, first move himself. - Socrates Everyone thinks of changing humanity and no one thinks of changing himself. - Leo Tolstoy I beg you, do not be unchangable. Do not believe that you alone can be right. The man who thinks that, The man who maintains that only he has the power to reason correctly, the gift to speak, the soul, a man like that, when you know him, turns out empty. - Sophocles Success in life is a matter not so much of talent or opportunity as of perseverance. - C.W. Windle Nothing in the world can take the place of persistance. Talent will not, nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not. Unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not. The world is full of educated derilicts. Persistance and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan "press on' has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race. - Coolidge He who is firm in will molds the world to himself. - Goethe In the confrontation between the stream and the rock, the stream always wins. Not through strength, but perseverance. - unknown Theres a difference between interest and commitment. When you are interested in something, you do it only when circumstance permit. When you're committed to something, you accept no excuses, only results. - Art Turock It is only through labor and prayerful efforts, by grim energy and resolute courage, that we move on to better things. - Roosevelt Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall. - unknown There have always been hard times. There have always been wars and troubles - famine, disease and such, and some are born with money, some with none. In the end, it is up to the man what he becomes, and none of those other things matter. It is character that counts. - Louis L'amour If you stand up and are counted, you may get yourself knocked down. But remember this - a man flattened by an opponent can get up again. A man flattened by conformity stays down for good. - T.J. Watson I do the very best I know how, the very best I can, and I mean to keep doing so until the end. If the end brings me out all right, what is said against me won't amount to anything. - Lincoln The span of a mans life, that is nothing. But what a man makes of that span, that is something. A man must make his own meaning for life, meaning is not automatically given to life. - Chaim Potock As I grow older, I pay less attention to what people say. I just watch what they do... - Andrew Carnegie Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other one thing. - Lincoln I do not know anyone who has gotten to the top without hard work. That is thge recipe. -Margeret Thatcher The difference between a truly successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will. - Vince Lombardi Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. - Helen Keller Persistence overcomes resistance. - unknown A vast number of clergymen and laymen are perfectly satisfied. They have no doubts. They believe as their fathers and mothers did. The "scheme of salvation" suits them because they are satisfied that they are embraced within its terms. They give themselves no trouble. They believe because they do not understand. They have no doubts because they do not think. They regard doubt as a thorn in the pillow of orthodox slumber.Their souls are asleep, and they hate only those who disturb their dreams. - unknown I do not feel obliged to believe that same God who endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect had intended for us to forego their use. -Galileo I find every sect, as far as reason will help them, make use of it gladly; and where it fails them, they cry out, it is a matter of faith, and above reason. -John Locke Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. - Bertrand Russell I believe I found the missing link between animal and civilized man. It is us. - Konrad Lorenz The most formidable weapon against errors of every kind is reason. I have never used any other, and I trust I never shall. - Thomas Paine To surrender to ignorance and call it God has always been premature,and it remains premature today. - Isaac Asimov Once there was a time when all people believed in God and the church ruled. This time is called the Dark Ages. - Richard Lederer To recognize that nature has neither a preference for our species nor a bias against it takes only a little courage - James Randi In nature there are neither rewards nor punishments - there are consequences. - Robert G. Ingersoll Those who invalidate reason ought seriously to consider whether they argue with reason or withour reason. If they argue with reason, then they establish the very principle they are laboring to dethrone. But if they argue without reason (which, in order to be consistent with themselves they must do), then they are out of reach of rational conviction, nor do they deserve a rational argument. - Ethan Allen If a man is to be called as a streetsweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted or Beethoven composed music. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say "Here lived a great streetsweeper who did his job well". - Martin Luther King, Jr. Few things are impossible to diligence and skill. - S. Johnson Impossible is a word only to be found in the dictionary of fools. - Napolean With most people, doubt about one thing is simply blind belief in another. - G.C. Lichtenburg We should be careful to get out of an experience only the wisdom that is in it, and stop there, lest we be like the cat that sits down on a hot stove lid. She will never sit down on a hot stove lid again, and that is well; but also she will never sit down on a cold one anymore... - Mark Twain

zenbrook, nice post, well said, here's a hearty stomp on your foot.... he who wants non-effort without effort or non-duality without duality does not understand the nature of Heaven and Earth the way things hang together... i'm a buddha you're a buddha he's a buddha she's a buddha wouldn't ya like to be a buddha too? be a buddha think like a buddha...

paul, please accept the breaking of my stick over your head in the selfless manner in which it is intended...

林愛偉, Thank you, again. I'm totally with you on the body unity concept. I am a little confused on one point. I sense that you know what you are talking about, but all my wing chun sifu's and all the research I've done myself have led me to believe that the first section (the tans and fooks) should be performed very slowly in order to build/sense the qi, and that the other two sections are performed more quickly to learn how to release it. Is this just a common fallacy? Because I've seen videos of Yip Man performing it more or less so, too. Did I miss something? Can you go more in depth on the transition, please? (I have mostly followed the Augustine Fong lineage).

林愛偉, Thank you for the info on the internal movement. Would you elaborate on the timings of the jing release movements? Is the hip/knee/ankle movement always in time to the extension/contraction of the arm? Also, when performing for 45 min, or more, do you consider the first section to be getting slower, or all three?

Sorry for the double dip, but... "Before I began upon the Way, mountains were mountains and rivers were rivers. Once I had begun upon the Way, mountains were no longer mountains and rivers were no longer rivers. Now that I understand the Way, mountains are just mountains, rivers are just rivers." So the question is, why not just stop while you are ahead? Why bother walking any Path? If the beginner is already there? Things being just what they are and all? Are they? Can you just be? Effortlessly? No effort? What is effort? Are we both talking about the same thing here? hmmmm.

This is a good example of the 'just be' fallacy, put better than paul put it, but still... (Of course, all perspectives are true from a certain point of view, so in several senses you are not wrong, but...) OK, how do you just be? HOW do you... Do you not see the problem here? No? hmmmm.

Freeform, I would love to delve into this more deeply with you. Have you by any chance read the link I provided above? What's your take on it? It will perhaps help you to see where I am coming from... Here it is again - http://www.wisdom-books.com/ProductExtract.asp?PID=14414

I think exploring all the interrelationships between different schools of thought is neat. In regards to Standing and the martial arts, the neatest (and most personally relevent) is the use of Standing in Wing Chun kung fu. The first form of the system is know as Siu Lim Dao or Little Idea Way or sometimes the Way of Little Thought. It is a rarity among martial arts forms in that the entire form is practiced from a single stance (yee jee kim yung ma) without externally moving the body except for the arms, and ideally takes twenty minutes or longer to perform.

Sometimes, when I'm sitting at home, reading or whatever, I suddenly have this feeling that I'm about to be hit by a meteorite and have to stop and go run around in the yard for a while so it will miss me...

I learned a great deal from it. I still pick it back up from time to time, though my copy is about worn out. He is one of your teachers? Do you know him personally then? Wow, that would be awesome.

Yes, that's right. Thanks Cameron, had a brain cramp.

Cameron, Thank you. All epistomological tangles aside, I really see this as two different things. I feel that the stopping of thought is not the same as the realization that the ego/I is an illusion, but it is a practice that cultivates that awareness upon returning from samadhi. We sit, we do Nothing. We return to the World. The Veil parts... There is a lot of truth to that...

Yes. I first came across Standing in William Cohens excellent book, The Way of Qigong, years ago, and it has become one of the two most important training methods for me. The other being zazen or sitting. I also practice in the morning and evening, as well as randomly throughout the day, whenever I am in a situation that requires me to stand for any length of time, like waiting in line at the bank. The Four Virtues of being Human. Master Lying, Sitting, Standing, and Walking.

reference the concept of three nen (more Zen terminology) actions You do not think that seeing things the way they are takes effort? Yes, that's right. The eye cannot see itself, the hand cannot take hold of itself, the sword cannot cut itself. Furthermore, the 'you' that is thought is an illusion. The self centered ego that thinks it's an 'I' cannot stop itself, cannot stop what it is by being what it is. Thought cannot stop itself by thinking. That's my whole point. But it can be stopped, nevertheless... If you are making distinctions, then you are thinking. Certainly in a different modality than verbal, but thinking nevertheless. It doesn't matter what mode (verbal/auditory, kinesthetic/feeling, visual, whatever) you are thinking in, you are still thinking. Once again, I am not suggesting that the practice you are describing does not have merit or value, I know that it does. It is simply that it will not lead you to absolute samadhi. For the mind and body to "fall off" as it were, ALL thought, ALL modes, must go.

I really feel ya, Tao. I've been walking the Path for a long time, but it often seems that I spend more time wandering off course than making progress (if there is such a thing). There's a lot of good advice already laid down here, and I would suggest giving Freeforms and Yodas advice in particular very serious attention. If you do not choose to use the following method, at least do something, and do it every day, even if only for a few minutes, as Freeform said. Practicing in your mind is very effective to build new habits, and to increase your energy flow, both mental and physical. This is sometimes called practicing in the theatre of your imagination, or reflective rescripting. In fact, were I you (and I am ), I would make it a point to get up as early as possible every morning, go outside, preferably somewhere isolated and close to nature (preferable, but not absolutely neccessary). Right before bed is also a good time, but personally I think morning is better. You should choose a good time and a good place, and then try to stick to both every time. Get comfortable in whatever posture you can that will allow you to remain (more or less) without moving for ten to fifteen minutes, and then practice your routines (it matters less what they are than that you are consistent in your practice) entirely in your mind, as detailed as possible. Try to really feel what you would feel if you were physically performing. Be there in your mind. See yourself practicing, as vividly and in as much detail as you can. Breathe. There is much scientific evidence which suggests that the low mind, or subconscious, cannot distiguish between a real experience and one which is vividly imagined. (reference esp. the work of Maxwell Maltz and Psycho Cybernetics, Bobby Summer and Reflective Rescripting). By using this method, you are leading the mind and the body into a new habitual pattern. A good one. Away from desperation towards action. Your body will respond, as will your mind. It will probably take somewhere around three weeks or so to begin to see results. Don't give up. If you are even moderately steady in this practice, I would wager that you find both your body and mind moving to where you want them to be. You will find that the actual doing of the physical work becomes a follow through, and gets easier and easier. Also, strangely enough - don't try to do too much all at once, of anything. At this point, believe it or not, less is more for you. Whatever practice you use, I would not do more than twenty or thirty minutes a day, at the most. But do do it. Every day. Finally, as we both know, if you are on a downward spiral, you probably won't be very consistent. Whatever method you choose, make a committment to yourself that this is important, and that you will follow through and be consistent. When you aren't, don't blow it off!!! Do it whenever you get up, even if its the middle of the afternoon. Consistent is very important, but its more important to just do it, whenever it happens. Don't let the day pass. May you find your Way...

I simply mean that in my experience, the mind resists being quieted, quite powerfully. Getting the so called chatter to really stop for any length of time over a minute, if that, is a long and difficult process. To say that there is an easy way to truly quiet the mind (achieving samadhi) contradicts everything I have personally experienced as well as all the teachings of all the Ways, insofar as I understand them. If your method (of achieving samadhi) involves a practice of trying to think yourself into not thinking, or if it claims to be effortless or easy, then I would question your method (of achieving samadhi). I think that meditation is a serious business, and it must be trained with both seriousness and diligence. Meditation for emptying the mind is more of a physical than mental process (the technique, that is). Of course, both facets are ever present, but when I say tremendous effort, I primarily mean physical effort, especially in the beginning. I am not suggesting that there isn't value in meditation techniques such as simple visualization, or 'listening', etc. I practice those myself, as well. I am merely saying that their value does not lie in their effectiveness at emptying the mind and attaining samadhi. How long does it take to grow a tree? You can't grow a tree overnight, nor can you set a time frame on how long it takes to grow one. Of course, too, that tree never stops growing, does it? Neither do you. Maybe that's what I mean...

reference Zen and (Absolute) samadhi thinking (reflecting) DOES "stop" when one reaches a deep enough level of samadhi this is not something which comes easily - tremendous, long term, sustained effort is required (I highly recommend Zen Training by Katsuki Sekida - extract link below) http://www.wisdom-books.com/ProductExtract.asp?PID=14414

IMHO, theres only one question that really matters, and that is "What am I?" If you can look deeply enough into this question, all the others answer themselves. A student of philosophy walked into class after pulling an allnighter. Brain fried and weary, he asked his professor, "Sir, do I exist?" Replied the professor, "Who wants to know?" Science is answers that must always be questioned. Philosophy is questions that may never be answered. Religion is answers that must never be questioned. Politics is answers that lobbyists pay for.

I have kept a journal of my favorite quotes for many years now. Heres a chunk... Very few beings really seek knowledge in this world. Few really ask. On the contrary, they try to wring from the unknown the answers they have already shaped in their own minds - justifications, confirmations, forms of consolation without which they cannot go on. To really ask is to open the door to the whirlwind. - Rice "Man is made or unmade by himself. In the armory of thought he forges the weapons by which he destroys himself. He also fashions the tools with which he builds for himself heavenly mansions of joy and strength and peace." ~William James Science is answers that must always be questioned. Philosophy is questions that may never be answered. Religion is answers that must never be questioned. Politics is answers that lobbyists pay for. - unknown Knowledge is knowing the candle flame is hot. Wisdom is knowing not to stick your finger in it... - Chief Wannadubie It is better to keep one's mouth shut and be thought a fool, than to open it and resolve all doubt. - Abe Lincoln It is a great misfortune to have neither the wit to speak well, nor the judgement to remain silent. - La Bruyere The empty vessel makes the greatest sound. - Shakespeare Men often make in wrath what they lack in reason. - Alger Strong and bitter words indicate a weak cause. - V. Hugo I am bound to furnish my antagonists with arguments, but not with comprehension. - Disraeli He who believes in nobody knows that he himself is not to be trusted. - Averbach I don't know the secret to success, but the key to failure is to try and please everyone. - Bill Cosby By your own thoughts you make or mar your life, your world your universe. - Allen For as a man thinks in his heart, so is he. - Proverbs 23:7 A man is tommorow what he thinks today. -Emerson You will find either your best friend or your worst enemy in yourself. - Unknown Most of us can, if we choose, make this world either a palace or a prison. - Lord Averbury When we have learned to control our thoughts, our sympathies and our emotions, it will be an easy matter to control our circumstances. - unknown Whether you think you can, or think you can't, you are right. - Henry Ford Sow a thought and you reap an act. Sow an act and you reap a habit. Sow a habit and you reap a character. Sow a character and you reap a destiny. - unknown We see with our mind not with our eye So many crawl so few fly Because they fail to See and so fail to see All that they are and all they could be Understanding everything realizing nothing Can you see past duality and reach for totality? Realizing Nothing understanding Everything. - buddabubba The wind at midnight Blowing faintly in the tree Echoes in my mind. -buddabubba Iron rusts from disuse. Stagnant water loses it purity. Even so does inaction sap the vigor of the mind. - Da Vinci Success or failure Triumph or defeat are not 'out there' They are right between you ears. - Zig Ziglar Absorb what is useful Reject what is useless Add what is essentially your own. - Bruce Lee To think you know something is a perfect barrier to learning. -unknown Believe those who are seeking the Truth. Doubt those who find it. - Andre Gide The master said: "In vain I have looked for a single person capable of seeing his own faults and bringing the charge home against himself" -unknown Who does evil and is afraid of letting it be known has still a seed of good in his evil. Who does good and is anxious for it to be known has still a seed of evil in his good. - unknown The more we study, the more we discover our ignorance. - Shelly Imagination is more important than knowledge. - Albert Einstein Let he that would move the World, first move himself. - Socrates Everyone thinks of changing humanity and no one thinks of changing himself. - Leo Tolstoy I beg you, do not be unchangable. Do not believe that you alone can be right. The man who thinks that, The man who maintains that only he has the power to reason correctly, the gift to speak, the soul, a man like that, when you know him, turns out empty. - Sophocles Success in life is a matter not so much of talent or opportunity as of perseverance. - C.W. Windle Nothing in the world can take the place of persistance. Talent will not, nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not. Unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not. The world is full of educated derilicts. Persistance and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan "press on' has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race. - Coolidge He who is firm in will molds the world to himself. - Goethe In the confrontation between the stream and the rock, the stream always wins. Not through strength, but perseverance. - unknown Theres a difference between interest and commitment. When you are interested in something, you do it only when circumstance permit. When you're committed to something, you accept no excuses, only results. - Art Turock It is only through labor and prayerful efforts, by grim energy and resolute courage, that we move on to better things. - Roosevelt Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall. - unknown There have always been hard times. There have always been wars and troubles - famine, disease and such, and some are born with money, some with none. In the end, it is up to the man what he becomes, and none of those other things matter. It is character that counts. - Louis L'amour If you stand up and are counted, you may get yourself knocked down. But remember this - a man flattened by an opponent can get up again. A man flattened by conformity stays down for good. - T.J. Watson I do the very best I know how, the very best I can, and I mean to keep doing so until the end. If the end brings me out all right, what is said against me won't amount to anything. - Lincoln The span of a mans life, that is nothing. But what a man makes of that span, that is something. A man must make his own meaning for life, meaning is not automatically given to life. - Chaim Potock As I grow older, I pay less attention to what people say. I just watch what they do... - Andrew Carnegie Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other one thing. - Lincoln I do not know anyone who has gotten to the top without hard work. That is thge recipe. -Margeret Thatcher The difference between a truly successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will. - Vince Lombardi Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. - Helen Keller Persistence overcomes resistance. - unknown A vast number of clergymen and laymen are perfectly satisfied. They have no doubts. They believe as their fathers and mothers did. The "scheme of salvation" suits them because they are satisfied that they are embraced within its terms. They give themselves no trouble. They believe because they do not understand. They have no doubts because they do not think. They regard doubt as a thorn in the pillow of orthodox slumber.Their souls are asleep, and they hate only those who disturb their dreams. - unknown I do not feel obliged to believe that same God who endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect had intended for us to forego their use. -Galileo I find every sect, as far as reason will help them, make use of it gladly; and where it fails them, they cry out, it is a matter of faith, and above reason. -John Locke Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. - Bertrand Russell I believe I found the missing link between animal and civilized man. It is us. - Konrad Lorenz The most formidable weapon against errors of every kind is reason. I have never used any other, and I trust I never shall. - Thomas Paine To surrender to ignorance and call it God has always been premature,and it remains premature today. - Isaac Asimov Once there was a time when all people believed in God and the church ruled. This time is called the Dark Ages. - Richard Lederer To recognize that nature has neither a preference for our species nor a bias against it takes only a little courage - James Randi In nature there are neither rewards nor punishments - there are consequences. - Robert G. Ingersoll Those who invalidate reason ought seriously to consider whether they argue with reason or withour reason. If they argue with reason, then they establish the very principle they are laboring to dethrone. But if they argue without reason (which, in order to be consistent with themselves they must do), then they are out of reach of rational conviction, nor do they deserve a rational argument. - Ethan Allen If a man is to be called as a streetsweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted or Beethoven composed music. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say "Here lived a great streetsweeper who did his job well". - Martin Luther King, Jr. Few things are impossible to diligence and skill. - S. Johnson Impossible is a word only to be found in the dictionary of fools. - Napolean With most people, doubt about one thing is simply blind belief in another. - G.C. Lichtenburg We should be careful to get out of an experience only the wisdom that is in it, and stop there, lest we be like the cat that sits down on a hot stove lid. She will never sit down on a hot stove lid again, and that is well; but also she will never sit down on a cold one anymore... - Mark Twain

hmmm, i seem to have hit new topic instead of add reply (under the quotes thread). Can it be moved?