thelerner

In the years I've been on it the direction and mood of the Bums cycle. There are times its deep and interesting, I've learned quite a bit here, others times argumentative and shallow. To some extent its our responsibility to keep it relevant and create a community that shares, argues, and respects. Don't like whats going on, start some new quality threads. Michael

I don't know..according to the PDF there are over a million Rishi's, they've been around a long time, they have unimaginable powers, and Earth is still so screwed up. Personally I think its time for a different set of Rishi's.

Good stuff, also what Steve wrote about allowing for pain. Pain can lead to growth (and to knowledge, even if the knowing is STOP doing that). Same with boredom, shielding ourselves & kids from boredom we hide from understanding ourselves, wasting time on the trivial, because it entertains and distracts us.

I agree with Adept. If powers become too important you may end up with a teacher who's a caricature of a cartoon. There may be a level where you gain Siddhi's, but seems to me the great ones push past it and become pretty regular people. The poor ones stay at that level and grow ego's til they burst. Chop wood, carry water, do the laundry. The most impressive teachers I've seen would be dismissed by someone looking for a story book master. I recently took a seminar with Ya Mu. He looks like he'd be at home at a Southern truck stop. Middle aged, excessive poundage, quite ordinary. But looking beyond that, bright eyes, excellent breath - deep, long, he moves strongly, excellent balance. He's studied with masters and put in countless hours on the mat, also Medical Qigong is results oriented. He doesn't doesn't fit the stereotype, a quick look would not reveal the mastery. Its good to be skeptical, but beware of setting standards based on false assumptions. Starting a relationship with a teacher by asking them to 'show you a miracle' is a quick way to get thrown out, whether they can perform one or not. Looks can be deceiving.

During periods when I'm good, I'll do the secret smile when I'm in the bathroom. This allows me to practice it a few times a day in a regular state of mind. Instead of thinking of it as a meditational technique, its a good emotional primer.

I'm pretty Yin. Yin is good. It's cool, literally . Still it was good to do martial arts to broaden myself. It can be very grounding. A good workout does wonders for the mind and body. Find a good club near you. Maybe one where you get a real work out. My 2 cents.

I think Seth Ananda nailed it correctly. About the video..Extremely impressive, top fraction of 1% to be sure, but I don't think the kid could do it so dramatically (if at all) on a regular gym floor. Looks to me like he was helped by several small trampolines under the long mat. I don't mean to denigrate it, but in the internet/youtube age, its good to understand (and be a little skeptical about) exactly what you're seeing. Is it Human? Yes, highly trained human and trampoline.

Here is my swing at it. Shi craved power. He went to great effort to get it. He ended up with too much energy (dripping water that needed to be controlled). His striving was for naught. His efforts to attain could have been found by staying at home. (ie Lions turned to stone, like the house he left). To me its a riddle is about staying where you are and cultivating, not looking for lions, they'll only turn to stone.

I think he'd do better then most. The story is before he got famous he, like a few other highly spiritual people had a near suicidal depression. He got over it, spent years sitting on a bench before a few people started listening to his wisdom. I don't think listening to him brings miracles, but it relaxes me and opens me up a bit. So to me... I consider him.....more enlightened then most .

Hmnn, maybe its no distinctions thus no distractions.

The first question answers the next 10. It is simple for those who don't pick and choose; simpler when we don't get pre-occupied by the extraneous. Keep things as simple as they need to be. Don't add layers and fill your mind with unnecessary thoughts. IMO better a taoist bum, then a taoist scholar.

zzz waking up. The point about improbable events is you have to take into account how often they have a chance of occurring. If the odds of rolling OO in roulette is 1 in 38 that means its rolled tens of thousands of times a day, cause there are lots of roulette tables. In a large universe odds that are one chance in 2.3 times ten billion vigintillion may happen quite often because while its low odds, the dice are rolled 100 billion times in 100 billion places or maybe 3 1/2 trillion every trillionth second, who knows. When dealing with enormous numbers quantification becomes murky ie, if its 2.2 instead of 2.3 ten billion vigintillion then it would happen all the time, you couldn't walk out the door without some new creature popping up . Ultimately its hard to say what started life, but my money is that scientists will figure it out (along with proofs and applicable models) before theologians. Thats not to downplay religion. I was taught and believe- (good) science tells us what things are, (good) religion tells us how to use them.

I haven't studied Chia's stuff in a while, but this seems to be a misunderstanding and over simplification of what he taught. I don't recall any masturbation in any of the chi gung, iron shirt, sitting or standing meditations. A small part of his teachings were sexual tantra, but even there as I remember he was anti ejaculation. IMO there are many chi gung systems that include pranayama. No trip to Nepal, India or Shangrila is needed, or recommended until you get some basics under your belt. A live teacher is best but you can go pretty far without a 'master'.

You know on top it says ' The Tao Bums> Tao Lounge> Taoist Discussion> Cobra Breath.. Click on 'The Tao Bums' that will take you to the bums 'Home' page. Scroll down, past the lobby, Taoist Discussion, Personal Discussion etc.. on the bottom is 'Contributed Articles' Because its hard to find, threads move slowly there. They are much easier to find and track. I'd love to have teachers on this site have 'articles' there that explain there methods and philosophies. Yours Michael

Great stuff. Its a shame to have it washed down the layers of posts. Perhaps you could get a section in the Personal section and it would be safe and easier to find there. Or combine the posts into one and put it in the article section.

I'm a great believer in initial conditions. How we start a thing determines how it will go. ie "The first hour of the morning is the rudder of the day." Henry Ward Beecher

I'm a great believer in initial conditions. How we start a thing determines how it will go. ie "The first hour of the morning is the rudder of the day." Henry Ward Beecher

Personally no. I was at Michael Lomax's seminar last week and charging water is one of the healing modalities used in the Healing Qigong he teaches. Its widely done in many systems, chinese, hermetic, even kabalic. Effectiveness is probably a combination of know how and personal juice. So I think the lay man (like myself) tries it the results are mostly psychological (and thats still good), but there is a difference when someone with real mastery (juice and know how) does it. In other hands there more to it then pointing and good wishes. Still if you have no live teacher, start w/ what you've got.

I think getting rid of the stories is near the end of the process. Begin with some skepticism, learn from all angles, fall in love with a story, even to the point of being obsessive, finally let it go.

I'll second Steve's comments. I did 13 years of KI-Aikido (nidan) and loved it. Its a worthwhile art that has much to teach. Learning the applications and mindset of 'Aiki' will greatly help you on and off the mat. Demos are window dressing. A good sensei will draw back the curtain and let you in on the physical and mental aspects of the art.

Infections can get pretty bad. I'd take the antibiotic (which makes me anti anti antibiotics ), but stay as mindful as possible. Take the extra C, and any other things that you think would lower your risks. Do any kind of mindful chi gung practice that might help. Take probiotics or full culture yogurt afterwards. Call the doctor if you have any bad signs. my 2 cents

Thank you, Miss Rainbow, Just what I needed. This is day 3. Not perfect, but each day better.