thelerner
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Everything posted by thelerner
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What's Your Favorite Verse -- and Why?
thelerner replied to stan herman's topic in General Discussion
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nice. literally..I think I'd give him the milk, though I might give him my wife's since she drinks skim and I use 2% . Still sometimes life makes me rush and if so I might give him nothing. If he came back several times I might also give nothing and say buy your own or just drink water under your bridge (kidding).
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Rats, you beat me to it. So I'll add
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Quick thought
I find your writings invaluable. Spiritual writings informed by experience and maturity.
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How do long, slow breaths affect your physical and mental makeup?
thelerner replied to tulku's topic in General Discussion
How slow is slow? How many breaths a minute? To some 6 breaths a minute is slow, others look at a one breath cycle a minute as still being kindergarten level. In Ki-Aikido we'd do very slow breath cycle of about a minute. I think breathing slows down naturally for anyone who meditates for a while. If you 'work' it, 3 or 4 breaths a minute is relatively easy. Slow breathing relaxes the body, clears the mind. I bought some meditation cd's from Silent Grounds. I thought one was a rip off at first. It consisted entirely of tones. Starting with 12 (6in 6 out) seconds, then 16 seconds going up to 4 minutes. The secret of the CD was to set the player on repeat. It was an excellent way to control the breath cycle, as you felt comfortable one, you'd adjust it higher. The series had in/out breath cycles as well as progressively long in/hold/out breath cycles, again allowing you to build up to it. Doing a 3 step breath (in,hold,out) never felt natural to me, but I do enjoy very slow breathing. These days I keep it mostly natural though, and I end up w/ a 3 or 4 minute breath cycle. -
I was under the impression this whole site was about distraction . Also I suspect everyone who disagrees with me might be an 'agent' of disinformation . seriously The board goes through cycles, sometimes it's filled w/ brilliant insights, other times, fluff & ego. The best we can do is create and keep alive (and on target) the best posts. Its that simple- If you want to improve the board create and answer the quality topics. Page down, find them bump them up, or create thoughtful, non preachy, ones.
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I find the Article section is being filled up with nonArticles
thelerner posted a topic in Forum and Tech Support
The Article section is no longer a repository for articles. Bliss Music is using it to publish poems from his favorite author. DeciBelle is putting short comments in it also a new topics. Actual articles are being shoved down pages. I wish they could be cleaned up. Certainly not erased, but put into a place where they belong. Maybe the poems could be put into a single thread. The point is make Articles; indepth writing on a subject, available for people read, consider and comment on. If they're quickly moved to page 2, 3 and beyond, because someone has a list of poems they're putting in as separate topics then the board is poorer for it. my 2 cents -Michael 'Get off my lawn' thelerner -
Fascinating bump
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To rule in hell, or serve in heaven?
thelerner replied to InfinityTruth's topic in General Discussion
When times are hellish serve because it helps and inspires, there are already assholes lining up to rule When in heaven neither serve or rule go with the flow and enjoy. -
IMO this nails it.
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I'm reminded of the Marathon Monks of Mount Hiei (sp)(John Stevens wrote a book on them) go on so called death fast at the end of there years long training. I think its 6 or 7 days without food, water & sleep. Ofcourse they've already performed the extraordinary feat of running two marathons a day on a sub caloric diet for years. Deadly unless you've put in some hyper serious training.
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What is your 8 direction meditation practice? In Aikido we had some 8 direction 'katas' both sword and empty hand.
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I was reading a interview with a cousin of Morihei Ueshiba, who seemingly in his own right was a very high level albeit unknown martial arts practitioner. The interviewer was trying to find out what made Ueshiba so extraordinary. He asked "Is it because he abides in nothingness?" The cousin emphatically said "NO, it is because he abides in Everything" and added "That within Everything there is the emptiness" Likewise after years of having us concentrate on tan tien (center) my aikido sensei told us a 'secret'. Being aware of everything around you is the same as concentrating on your center, but its much harder.
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Last week you started a Graham Hancock thread. Why not put this new thread in there? Or better yet in the Off Topic section. We all know you're very interested in him, but this is a taoist philosophy site. If everyone made a dozen threads (u have a few dozen) on there pet issues it would be a very unfocused & relatively unvisited site. I know you want to educate people but please keep the nature of this site in mind. There may be other web sites which could use 3 or 4 new threads a week on Hancock, Intelligent Design, etc., my dos psetas
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is Kunlun considered to be a Yin Microcosmic Kundalini style?
thelerner replied to tulku's topic in General Discussion
Thats my recollection too. Kunlun 1 is pretty simple. Relax the body, hold the position, do the cool down/sit quietly afterwards. Thats about it, no philosophy needed. Though I thinks its more a 'water' method then most. -
Too late- Falun Dafa beat him to it. End of World Prophecies Reincarnated Super masters Its been done On a slightly more serious note I downloaded the version DDT on OTP's site. Its not out of the ordinary, but its pretty good.
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.. my comment wasn't worth the usual 2 cents
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I don't know about perfect presence, but I find the quieter the mind, the better I function. Even when I need the 'mind' to plan, figure, or remember; if its quiet while doing the command I get better results.
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Central American style step-pyramids found on the Canary Islands
thelerner replied to Immortal4life's topic in General Discussion
You've posted up a couple dozen of these sorts of threads. This is a Taoist philosophy site. You might want to get your own personal discussion page here to use for these posts. Or have a single thread on Archaeological Discoveries, another on Intelligent Design and fill those up with your revelations. Nothing wrong with a few of these on the main page, but if you're putting down a few a week, they may belong in Off Topic or in your personal page. Or you might want to look for science forum or a religious one for your findings. my 2 cents -
In the real old days you had to be 26 years old and have letters that guaranteed good character in order to study Aikido. There was a 25 year old who tried to join, he had a letter from a high ranking official. He was accepted but could only do be an uke 'attacker' for a year. <book- PreWorld War II Aikido Masters> In the old days there were no belts, only hard won instructor certificates. Belts are about good to encourage kids and making money. I'm very glad my Shotokan Karate teacher and later my Ki-Aikido Sensei didn't have a belt mentality. The Taekwondo I took in College did, and I think it made for better business sense but took away from the spirit of the art. Black belts are worthless, $10 in a store. Training, discipline, skill, mind body coordination thats the stuff. 2 cents
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For a dark moment eyes and attention are focused on single sad demented human being. The real Norway emerges quickly in the those who help others, sacrifice, show compassion and charity to others. My thoughts and prayers Michael
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Often the opposite of a great truth is Another great truth. Strange, but I've found it to be true. my 2 cents
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Wait, I was under the impression that the Earth is flat, and because space time is curved we only THINK its round. In lay mans terms, the Earth is like a pizza... in a blender... in an Italian restaurant. Every item.. the pizza, the pasta, the bread is made up of the same ingredients and ultimately goes to the same place In General this is true. And true is simple.
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It'd be easier to read your comments if you broke them up into paragraphs with space between them. I think most of the people here understand the best teachers aren't stereotypes, and those that are might well be frauds. Some of the top teachers here like Ya Mu and Santiago certainly don't 'look' the part, but they're jewels. I understand it saves him time and stress to put on a video and sit or leave the room, but it strikes me as poor teaching. There is a quality to live teaching thats goes beyond whats said. There's a constant feedback. The greatest teachers are sensitive and read there audience and go into depth or back track by the signals they get back. Plainly students do better with a live teacher, I'm glad he taught live for most of it and only 3 1/2 hours was video. Maybe we're being too hard on Clyman, he's not my choice of teacher but maybe perfect for someone else. Here on the bums we get starry eyed stories of new wonder teachers about every other month. Portrayed in almost messianic terms. Each new student exclaims if only everyone studied w/ this man the world would be wonderland. I get the feeling some teachers encourage it more then others. I find the Greats point less at themselves and more at their system, their teachers (lineage) and commitment to practice. I'm more interested in long time practitioners viewpoints and experiences then new students. Thats how you really learn about the worth of a system. I'd love to hear from them and get there insights.
