thelerner

In the KAP practice they do the Secret Smile practice. You fill yourself up with Confidence, circulate it.. then Humor, then Love, then Sexual energy.. The more I've done the practice the more I understand the value of Humor. Its so much for chuckles or laughter, the side of humor is it doesn't take the world too seriously. It allows us to laugh at ourselves and the craziness of the world and all the set backs that befall us. Once we've give up our humor we've lost an important tool for keeping happy and sane in the world. later add> For anyone interested here's a description and discussion of the Secret Smile http://thetaobums.com/topic/9719-dr-morriss-secret-smile-breathing-basic-kap-1-giri-for-the-tao-bumbs/?p=116420

I like what your saying, but I don't want to be completely without passion or be heartless as stone. Not yet anyway. Right now it'd be nice to water down my desires into preferences though. Nice link. I'll have to take a deeper look into that site.

No matter how old we are, we still can't escape the role of little child to authority figure that our parents hold. There criticisms and compliments rock us. We're conditional, Pavlovian. What happened to you also played out in thousands or millions of other homes at holiday dinners across the world. We got criticized/honest advice from our parents and it stung. Inevitably we'll do it to our kids. Its not meant to be mean spirited and its a continuation of the child improvement program they signed up for when you were born. So grin and bare it. See if there's anything in the criticism you can use. Try to understand they didn't mean to offend and your just hurting yourself by taking offense at it. Grin and bare it, as well as you can. Afterwards don't pick at it or discuss it. Leave it alone, nothing to see here, go on with your business. It'll probably happen again next year. Anticipate and practice nodding sagely into a mirror.

I love to hear street musicians and bands. We don't have enough of them in Chicago. In Europe it seems I saw more. Talented soloists, even full rock bands playing in the subway for tips. I wish we had more such music around.

Swami Pranabananda life was fascinating. Short lived, died at 45, he packed alot of life into those years. Starting as something of a priviliged spendthrift, thrown out of his family house at 22, finding and founding his own way. Very interesting. http://www.yoganiketan.net/swami-pranabananda-paramhansa/life-sketch-of-swami-pranabananda/home.html back to OP There is the question of aiming high or low. To be the simple desireless (possessionless?) or strive for godlike bliss and powers (manifest all conditions and things). Being relative novices we crave the high. Fantasize about it. Yet I have a suspicion as we cultivate higher we gravitate to the low. As we get more accomplished we drop the desire to manifest stuff, be it fine clothes, TV's, even bliss. Like the famous zen ox pictures we drop all pretenses and become simple travelers, ultimately not becoming gods as much as blending into all.

To what extent do you consider Eckhardt Tolle's work (power of now..etc.,) to be good source? Like many I consider it a new spin on old Buddhist awareness teaching.

Predictions for the future. The first rule of Prediction Club is there are no rules for prediction club, except these: Rule 1, Include sort of time table. When will the thing might happen or some sort of schedule. Rule 2, Try to make it some what exact. Too fuzzy and a prediction is worthless, ie I predict a war in the middle east; wow what are the odds, be more exact with who and a rough time table. Rule 3. Keep it civil. son of a bitch, I meant to put this in Off Topic.. moderator?? later edit> thank u.

The problem I see here is, in Western medicine a bad doctor who gives you an anti-biotic (or right medicine), will still cure you if thats what you need. The bad qigong healer who lacks experience, training and 'juice' is just waiving his hands and you're gonna be screwed. Hopefully good doctors on both sides can help you or direct you to someone who can but the bad doctors too often claim expertise in all areas, and are more interested in $$ then your health. Thus the test studies done in China are legitimate, but are they only as good as the healers who performed and/or taught the patients. So.. how do you distinguish a good Qigong doctor? Is researching their teachers and lineage the only way?

This is a bit dark, but for some reason on my mind. How have great masters died? (i forgot d in the title) Those of the modern age as well as historically. Are there any commonalities? I don't want this thread to turn negative towards any one or any practice, matter of fact I'd be interested in learning about the person's life and accomplishments. Yet I wonder what we can learn, if anything from the circumstances of there death.

Ditto, also.. what kind of bike?

Wait.. What are we talking about?? Who's got more yang or the bigger wang? if you wanna compare wangs then I guess we'll need pictures & to move to the pit.

I am yin and yan. I alternate, I embody, I express. Neither good or bad. Just terms to describe the phenomena around me.

I was at an ashram and during a question/answer period someone asked a swami if doing yoga allowed people to live longer. I expected a quick 'yes', but the swami took there time to answer the question. He said that Yoga improves assuredly improves the quality of life but no guarantee for longevity. Later in that visit the Yogi who founded Sivananda (or was it his successor?) was brought into a camp. A man of prodigious energy who'd written the books and coined sayings like 'Health is Wealth' he was there and he'd suffered a paralyzing stoke. He needed to be carried and looked pained. I don't know about fate but it seemed like a hell of a test of character. In my eyes not a punishment but a supreme test.

Many masters have died young. I don't think it should be a criticism. Some things are a matter of fate.

I can't say it made me younger, helped me play the piano or grew back my missing arm (at the moment I only have 2). But unless a drug or herb is illegal I don't expect immediate or dramatic results, even then I tend to be unaffected by most drugs or energy work. I have 270 capsules of the 40,000. I plan take 2 a day for 4 months with the hope it keeps my arteries clear and maybe improves them. Hoping it works as a circulatory adaptogen. Not a thing that's easily measurable. Some feedback reports from Amazon said it worked nicely, and several talked about visible improvements on tests. The scientific test results were less flamboyantly positive, but still showed evidence of being effective. For $5 a month, what the heck.

Me too. There is a danger with concepts like 'you create your reality' and LoA, that makes big promises, lots of wonderful anecdotes and then reality crushes it.. like a bug. It promises you the world and when that doesn't happen depression starts in. The same can be said of certain 'Prosperity gospels', ie believe and you'll be rewarded 100 fold. Go back a couple generations and the truth that- 'life is hard' was the paradigm of most people's reality. They worked hard and long. You did your duty, and there was less expectations of wealth, even happiness. To me, the answer lies in a certain stoicism. Take the good, take the bad. Live with hope, but take life's hiccups and fuck ups gracefully. Shit happens, but so does good things. Sometimes from shit good things can arise. I think it was Churchill who said 'When going through Hell, keep going.' Things change, the sun comes out, the air is fresh, we breathe deep and though little has changed, we manage a smile.

Seems to me that over the decades you've been working on a Unification Theory; connecting body (fascia,tendons, circulatory system), energy (points and circulation) and breath (physical and deeper aspects). How has your research and practice evolved? What connections have you made?

, I've got 13 minutes til Solstice. omigosh, what do i do?? now 12.. maybe a really long, good nights sleep is most appropriate.

While I don't see overwhelming evidence of Karmic rewards handed out by some cosmic Libra-an mechanism, I like the concept and try to apply it to my own life. The belief that doing good/positive will if not help me, then at least make the world a little better place to live. Sow good seeds (a smile, some change, a compliment, a hug, an honesty), hopefully someone somewhere reaps good harvest. I guess there are some things in life, that may not true, may not be real, but living by them improves our life.

Spring Forest Qigong at springforestqigong.com is giving out some free material. A 30 minute long chanting called A Prayer for all living Beings Chant by Master Lin and 5 Tibetan Monks. If its your kind of thing look for it on the site (you may have to give an email). Deep and guttural like they're chanting through an Australian didgeridoo, nicely layered with bells and various sonics. Worth a listen in my opinion, might be a nice change of pace to listen to during seated meditation and see where it takes you. from the site: Like all Tibetan chants the sounds in “A Prayer for All Living Beings” were specifically chosen for the power of their energy. Sounds are a very powerful form of energy and the sounds in this chant are very powerful indeed and so very beneficial. Master Lin recorded this chant with five Tibetan monks whose energy is just remarkable, which is why he was so honored when they agreed to record a series of chants with him. Master Lin specifically selected “A Prayer for All Living Being” as a perfect gift for you in this the season of peace and love. You can benefit from the energy of this chant in many ways. Complete Focus Listening to this chant as you would a guided meditation is the most beneficial way to experience its energy. You can sit or lie down and focus your full attention on the chant. We will give you more details on this below. And remember: you don't get 3 tibetan monks chanting like inferior brands. Not even 4, you get 5!! In my day we were lucky just to get even 1.

While on the face, its ridiculous. The meditate with cat group has some advantages. As long as they don't get overly hung up about it, you can learn much by a cats posture and awareness. The cat becomes a symbol and reminder of whats good about the group. Unless its taken too far, the metaphor taken too literally. When symbolism becomes a crutch instead of a pointer.

I'm a great believer in initial conditions. Start the day right, the rest will follow. The night before have a list of thing to do (write it down) the next morning- give them some energy, imagine doing them in a good state. Either get up on time or recruit your dad to get you up. Don't worry about the day, just the morning, get some productive things done. Cross'em off your list. Just the morning, just the first few hours. You may find, good follows good. Start strong and you can coast and have better days.

I haven't studied (not Hindu esoteric astrology) but I've hung out at Ashrams with people who do. They've seemed pretty learned and wise. So even though I have no conceptual or cultural frame for it, I trust them enough to be open and respectful of it.

What.. that's your example of China's benevolence is- "they even enjoy some special privileges, like no one child policy... "!? They don't destroy the lives of people in Tibet who choose to have more then one kid. You set a pretty low bar for how well China treats Tibet. I think if you lived in Tibet, you'd have much less .. cheerful spin over China's 'benevolent' control. And if I were living in the West Bank I'd be very angry and critical of Israel <as well as the 22 Arab countries that have done little to help me, especially neighbor Egypt which also built said wall>.

Gendai, you're not including the million plus Moslems living inside Israel now in your chart, or the 7 to 800,000 Jews forced out of Arab countries at about the same time your chart is talking about. Wait a second. You're arguing China is to Tibet as Israel is to Palestine? That the way you defend it? If so, you must think China sux. (Not a good comparison because 100,000's of Jews fled the Arab countries but you didn't have millions of Tibetan invading/going to China. Your sympathy for suicide bombers is telling. They mostly killed Moslems. They mostly blew up government offices and mosques; they did good business with shoppers and mourners at funerals too. When you look closely at the millions who died, look into those suicide bomber you feel sorry for. I think you'll find the answers to who killed who there. History is complicated. To understand you need more then a chart. Its rarely clear cut. Yet when we're on one subject and when challenged you throw out 4 or 5 other subjects it means your not interested in any depth on any subject. Just out for a rant. When challenged about your 92.8% statistic, you fall back on "I'm not sure the exiled Tibetan numbers are more accurate, either" but the numbers do matter. You can't get an exact number due to Chinese regulations, but looking at the evidence, its probably closer to 50% then 92.8 that you quote. That a huge difference, and thats the reason for the protests that you don't understand. That and the destruction of Tibetan culture, monasteries, schools, prison camps for disenters. You seem like an Chinese apologist because you change the subject instead of discussing the OP.