thelerner

Mbanu, this leads to the questions. Do we think immortal exist (physically)? Any evidence of them these days? Why not? Its been a while since we've batted this around. Its fundamental to Taoism though. Religious Taoism prays to a pantheon of immortals. In shamanistic meditations some taoist connect and learn from the immortals. I think its an old mistranslation or superstition. I don't think we have living immortals around. I've paged through books about Chinese taoists hermits. Some who've been assumed by village folk to be immortals. They weren't. Live long enough as a hermit and rumours spread. I do think there may be documented evidence of taoists going into month long (years) meditation. Which is something of a superhuman mystical feat. I'd like to get more info on that phenomena though. Michael

You've got a point Thad. Should have said minor bummer . My wife smiles and leaves to my madness. Michael

In Western terms the common man who says 'I am God' is considered a kook and either sent off to an insane asylum or stayed away from. In Eastern terms (say from India) he is considered on track, with a deep correct understanding. (He must be alert cause the Car God is big fast & doesn't always look where its going). I have no problem, matter of fact admiration, for the person who displays deep calm and peace, saying they am enlightened. It may not be your idea of enlightenment and it maybe just arguing semantics. But its certainly light-ening from the heavy state most of us are in. A caveat is that the person isn't full of themselves. I'm not going to fly or shoot sparks out of my butt, but I think I can achieve, and have tasted (a little) of what that persons enlightenment is. Its pretty good. Its very good. Simply the 'mildly enlightened' person who isn't full of themselves is worth much more then the acknowledged 'unenlightened' who is stuffed, IMHO Michael

I have to agree with Yen Hui. The highest level masters are probably unknown to the masses and would probably be walked past. We feed on TV images and stereotypes, Value things through Western materialistic eyes. In China anyone w/ any reputation was sent to re-education camps or worse during the cultural revolution. The quiet ones survive. Michael

Is (a methods) complexity good? Better then a simpler system? I don't question hard work or time on the mat, but is complexity neccessary? Are degrees of complexities artifices put there by people who would codify a religion? Learning and change are inherently uphill. But isn't there a time when we forget the system and move intuitively? Shouldn't all philosophies and training evolve simpler? Maybe its ones taste or predisposition. Michael

In between boiling water and doing laundry I'll be at Live Chat. If people are on but not responding, make a noise. 2:45 Chicago time Michael

grok

The person we sponsor should be the best at reporting to us. The person who'd give us the best taste of actually experiencing it. To that point I'd say Yoda, who is our most prolific writer. Then I'd consider Spyrelix who wants the job and says he'd do a great job recording it for us. To that extent Trunk would be a good choice too. If people are really serious, we should make it into a real vote, with Sean O, to get the final decision with regards to honest and fair counting. If we're serious someone should put it into a poll. Michael

I can't draw worth a damn, but I get the image (black & white) of a sword slicing the Tai Chi image in half. Its not to show disrespect to the symbol, but to illustrate the work needed to cut through imagary into the real. If done well it should have some eye catching drama to it. Michael

I really admire your book, '100 days'. Glad to have you here. You know what they say, Old Taoists never die, they just transform and reform Michael

This site is a a gold mine of global dialogue. Spend some time hunting down the best threads, bam you have 20 or 30 pages of very interesting philosophical dialogue. With permision there are some interesting personal logs here and on the HT site that could make interesting fodder. Michael

In my day we only had one tantien and that was the hara located in the belly. Now you whipper snappers have lots of them. Middle ones in the heart or sometimes the solar plex, high ones in the brain somewhere. This tantien inflation has to stop. Pretty soon you'll be calling them chakras, giving them colors and then where will we be? India thats where. Like Cam, I started off in Aikido where there is a tradition to concentrating and centering on the lower tan tien(hara). In alchemical taoism I do find using 3 tantiens useful, belly, heart and head. Michael Pole star is usually another name for the North star, Polaris. The light purple star that keeps its position at night and has the other stars (hence the universe) circle around it

Your always poetic often cryptic messages will be missed. Don't stay away too long, even forever takes coffee breaks Michael

I bought David Deida's "Enlightened Sex" book last week. I'm a sucker for books that also contain audio CD's. I like the book a lot. You can clearly see Chia influences in it, such as MCO and Big Draw type control. There is very little technique but much emphasis on relaxation, body awareness and opening your heart and connecting it to your lover. Its written from a man's point of view and much of it is answering the questions of how to relate to woman. The line between staying sensitive while being masculine. Its probably not as 'enlightening?' for woman as for men. One book I have that is simply called Tantra by Val Sampson is very good. Its an easy introduction with many good pointers. Sampson is a journalist who did an article on Tantra and got sucked into it as a serious hobby. Its conversational and not very technique oriented. Again Chia's name pops up every now and then as someone who influenced one of her teachers. I probably pick up some sort of trantric book every year or two. Sex is too important a part of our lives to let get stale. Michael

I'm in category of joining here to find the non-ordinary reality. Despite some deep experiences and years of meditation I'm still a rational mind in a Newtonian Universe- which is too bad. Hopefully I'll follow Tonytao experience and be dragged out of it. Michael

Welcome Glad to have you aboard. Don't hesitate to post questions or great thoughts or telling us about the style of chi gung you practice. Is the Giles you mention the Giles at Chei Nei Tsang? Michael

You've trained longer and harder then most of us. Seems to me you're sitting pretty high up and wondering what next? From my point of view, you are very accomlished. You've spent long ernest time 'on the mat'. There are fruits of your practice that you take for granted that many of us may never know. The only thing I might suggest is- Sometimes when you work hard for something and it seems its eluding you, take a break, surrender your desire and let the universe decide. Michael

I call it being a regular American. (apologies to neighbors north and south ) Michael

My very favorite is Michael McAllistair for his zen inspired talks, his website is Infinitesmile.com or better yet search for free podcasts at the Itunes store. You can use Itunes (a free program) to convert it into mp3 for any non ipod player. His half hour talks give me the same feeling I get from say, Eckhardt Tolle, only he is easier to connect to because he's a regular guy. I highly recommend his talks to everyone. Deep, accessible and resonant. Michael

Lately I think the 'work' - meditation and contemplation has mellowed me out some. There were times when meditating quieted some of my mind, and made me much more aware of the crap I was thinking. I'd be amazed and regretful at the anger and anxiety that circled through my head. Maybe thats better then not being aware of it, but it was dark and stressful. I think it moves in cycles. I don't think meditation alone solves psychological problems. A quiet mind can make you aware of an issue, even amplify them. The worst is when you assume that 'it' is not a problem, 'it' is a benefit of your higher mastery and others can't fathom it. Eventually you have to see where the emotions start and make peace with them. Michael

the true meaning of karma is causeless action, a complete action with no reaction. I've been trying to wrap my mind around this. I believe the opposite of a great truth is another great truth. Still, karma as causeless action... One aspect where I might see this is in children. Same family, same conditions, totally different personalities and traits. We look for why's and causality..but it just is. Accept initial conditions and move on. Thats where I'm at w/ it now. Looking for causalities is just another mind game. Karma accepted is karma denied Michael

What can we come up with? I'll dig up the address on a Manual on Consciousness, which is a book/course on lucid dreaming. Michael

No its different. I could have sworn I put in the address. Here it is again http://www.geocities.com/lucidmetro/coursetable.htm A good lengthy course on advanced dream work. Michael

Dream work has been on my to do list for a long time. Unfortunately when I get serious about it, I end up with insomnia. Its also a mountain I'll have to climb one day. Ultimately it can become a portal to another world. Whether that world is 'just' internal or external I don't know. What are you guys doing and how advanced? Michael

Here's a 'Course on Consciousness' a week by week course on indepth dream work. Seems like a good method, well thought out, well done, but personally it didn't help me. If your interested in dream practice its worth a look and maybe a print out. Michael