thelerner

Very impressive web site. Nice design, beautiful pictures and the music is round and deep. Glad to have you here. Michael

Thank you for the experienced insight. I doubt the plant and experience will ever come my way and without your description if it did I wouldn't know enough to go for it. You remind us we have to meet the experience within its sacred context, not as a Westerner experimenting with a drug du jour. Michael

I've had the thought that until your feet are firmly set on the path you need firm discipline. Not that I have any. Speaking of being healthy, I'm toying with the idea of health through blended shakes. A red, green and blue shake each day. You gave me the idea for the Green shake, ripe bananas and spinach. Blue berries are naturals for the blue shake (frozen, wild ones aren't too expensive) and frozen dark cherries for the red ones. I'll have to figure out easy add ins. Milk(?) Soy Milk(?) more bananas? Unfortunately I haven't made your green shake yet, keep eating the spinach. Any ideas for add ins and order. My veggie friend always said, vegetables give strength, fruit gives energy. Yours Michael

A book I have somewhere called 'Masters of the Way" has an interview with Lilly Sou a tai chi master & herbalist. She talks about naturally going without food for several days in a row. Not out of discipline, but because she's not hungry. We're aping advanced practioners by fasting, but is outer discpline the same as listening to inner wisdom? Michael

Does watching TV count? just kidding. Long walks are more problematic, eyes open, muscles coordination, awareness spread into surroundings, but done slowly with a quiet mind, I'd consider it within the realm of stillness. I do formal sittings a few times a week at night, counting breaths for a while then letting it go into stillness. The hemi-sync CD's I'm working with have long bouts of quietude. The latest are nearly empty of any instruction. There are little pieces each day. I'll wait for the kids to get out of school 3:00 ish. I'll look at the sun briefly, close my eyes and quietly connect with it. Same at night, with the stars. A short period of looking, trying to conceive the distances, then relaxing into it. Michael

Tsa, since you're interested in advanced abilities, have you read any of Glenn Morris's work? He worked with the esoteric side of meditation and the martial arts. If not page through "Pathnotes of A Ninja Grandmaster" (bad tittle good book). Michael

I'd have more respect for the article if it was in a scientific journal or even a politically neutral (if that exists) paper. The article was in a very Right leaning Canadian newspaper. That doesn't make it wrong, but it an example of what the article claims to be against, politicizing science. Michael

Here in Chicago and the U.S. Midwest, there is the weirdness of survival mode kicking in. The temperature is a high of 6 and a low of -7 Fahrenheit with windchills below -30. Because we had an exceptionally warm early winter people haven't adapted to it. Maybe its melodramatic but when you step outside you realize maybe unconsciously that you could die out here. Not if you stay bundled and keep walking, but we are faced with an elemental force that is dangerous. The cold make us think slower. Many more accidents on the road, some due to ice, some due to people not keeping there hands firmly on the wheel because its too cold. Michael

Just saw Pans Labyrinth. Good. Very dark, but good. It'll haunt me for a while. Michael

Hi Ipal, glad you're on board and contributing. Michael

There is a level of 'trickery' that skilled professionals, masters if you will, sort of use. For example at my Aikido Dojo the instructor had been doing Aikido for 30 years plus, was a 5th level black belt. Going around the U.S. and Japan to keep his skills up and learn more. His skills were remarkable. Yet one of the pictures used in the advertisement was a fake. They shot 30 pictures that were so so, blurry, off center, bad timing etc. Finally the uke took a flying roll, the sensei posed behind him, and wallah finally an excellent photo. Phoney, yeah a little, but Aikido is hard to catch statically. Worse there was a sword taigi where one person is unarmed the other has a boken and there are three passes before the nage disarms and throws. Great learning tool, very dramatic, but its a two person kata, choreographed, though if you move too slow you are hit (wooden sword). During some demos I think it was passed off as truly live. My sensei could in fact disarm random sword attacks. But the kata had spectacular flare to it. In the book 'What Really Matters' the writer talks about a Yoga master who could move a compass needle under highly controlled circumstances. It would take great concentration, he would utter (internally) his mantra thousand of times. But moving a tiny needle 3/4 of an inch is not that impressive. Maybe the person who can move a feather, needs (and feels justified cheating) to move a brick when the cameras are on to impress the out of towners. Michael

I want to send someone in Europe a big file. Maybe 60 or 70 meg. My AOL account only allows 10 meg files. Whats an upload server and how can I use it to send a big file? Any other good options? Get another email account etc. Thanks Michael

Its been ... 20 years. I've done it twice. I'd like to try again. Nothing too mystical from either time. The second time was in a higher tech tank where they'd pipe in music and could hear you. Unfortunately I spent most of the hour having them change from CD to CD in order to find a perfect song. Thus my desires thwarted any chance for deep mystical relaxation. The place had a crystaline water bed, that acted as huge speaker. That was nice. It had a bed used for paralysis victims that spun on its axis which was strangely relaxing. These days I'll put half a box of baking soda into the bath with me, light a candle and mellow out. I'll often listen to my guided meditation tapes with a sand eye mask on, a sobakawa pillow on my stomach and 2nd pillow under my knees. Its not as good as my mispent time in the float tank, but it gets close Michael Whats not relaxing it putting in a half box of baking soda, a bottle of almond oil and a floating candle into the bath. Don't do it. One wave and the oil catches fire. All you can do is take a deep breath and go under. Don't even think about pulling out the water stopper, it will only bring the flames down closer to you. Ah, but that is a story for another time.

I wouldn't want to try this particular style of weightlifting without instructor supervision and feed back. I also would want to have had a few kids before hand, just in case. There's always the story of the young practioner who tried it once, looked down and said 'Wow, great practice, My penis has grown 3 feet!" Unfortunately he was staring at his intestine. Thus, be careful. Michael

What does the Ampersand thing under some names mean? And why do some of the circles by comments swirl? Some people are saying they're hypnoswirls to turn us docile. I don't believe it. Michael

I admire the McNeil site for listing the lineage so completely. One thing that struck me about the site is that the Masters he lists aren't particularly long lived. I think one or two older men 89 and 80, one was 75, the others were 50 and 40 something. Its not to denegrate the art but its always nice to have old wizened men in your lineage. Ofcourse for all I know a truck got the 40 year old, and jealous husbands did away with the 50 and 89 year old. And who knows how short there lives might have been without the training? Michael

I think this site is more Jungian then Freudian; and if Jung was commenting on the thread he'd say "Rock on TaoBums, rock on" Michael

Hmnn, I always thought that was what women were for. Michael

1> The real learning goes on after class. Take the time to get to know your teachers after class. The after class bull sessions can give you unique glimpses into the heart and history of the art. Even in seminars with amazing Masters don't be afraid to get involved in casual conversation or to ask them out for dinner, drinks or tea. This is best done after class when you and they are in skivvies (out of uniform). I learned this from my Aikido sensei. Don't be afraid to wine and dine with higher ranks. Often they would like nothing better. At a Tao Mountain retreat, I bought wine, marshmallows, chocolate and graham crackers, and invited everyone to a camp fire. It was wonderful to have everyone, including Winn talk casually for hours. When I took Fusion with Masahiro I invited him back to my room and to chat and it was worth getting to classes very early to watch him do tai chi. When I saw Dirk O heading for the pool, I joined him to get in some conversation. Its the perfect chance to break out of student teacher mode, and share a common love of the art. There are traditionalist where this will not work. Though in the case of some Japanese traditionalist heavy drinking will break down barriers. 2> There is no substitute for time on the mat. Head learning is at best just a pointing finger. Those who practice the most, get the most. 3>Practice on the mat is not enough. If your practice is not influencing the way you live your life then you should reexamine the practice, perhaps you are not taking it serious enough. Those are some of my 'secrets' what are yours? Michael

Speaking of ghosts I credit Ron Jeremy for this statement. How is your practice going to help you once you're dead? I think dream practice is invaluable for the 'practice of death'. Being conscious of who and what we are at all times. I consider hell a made up idea, brought on to scare us into a faithfulness. A hungry ghost after life is possible I guess. I've got the locations of a few nice water fall picked out. I figure I'll hang out there, bathe in the waters, soak up the sun, feel the living earth and continue to practice. Maybe fear of death, is more the enemy then death itself. I think its so important not to die scared, lonely or in terror. Or clinging to your possessions, body, past or present, or hardest of all you're loved ones. Michael

Strangely it gets down to a belief in ghosts. The tibetan book of the dead and orthodox Judiasm have some convergence on this point. Both see the spirits of the dead as hanging around, often in a state of confusion. Still tied to there physical body. The mourners job is to soothe and calm them. Show them love and let them go. Michael

For me the question involves nature, personal and external. Personally I know I'm a a chemical/electrical being as is most life on this earth. Dead or alive, prick me a volt and I'll move. To build a robot me would require some major amperage. Its not far fetched that we could learn to focus and concentrate it. I believe the pictures of chi gung masters giving others electrical shocks. I've seen people like Dirk Oiledahardt at work. Likewise I've had temperatures of 105+. The untrained body, in fact the sick body, can generate huge amounts of heat. Its a protective mechanism. I know it can harnessed as in Tumo to dry and warm the body. I've heard people hypothesize OBE's were natures way of keeping our very early ancestors alive at night in a world where they were prey. There's a logic to that. There's even compelling examples of pets who have near psychic abilities to find there way home and rescuing people. In engineering there is the term, nature has done it better. Look somewhere in the natural kingdom from bacteria to whales and you will find an elegant solution to most engineering problems. Animals are masters of Tumo. There can be proofs found of telepathy in the animal kingdom. Other psychic powers, I don't know. For telekinesis I don't have a natural prototype. No animals(that I know of) do it. There are physics involved that make it unlikely. No impossible, but less possible. Seeing films is a good beginning proof. But it would be better if tables weren't covered with cloth. It brings in questions which is too bad. Ultimately its nice to see 5 or 6 people wafting pencils in the air, writing with them, and handing them too you. Michael

Cool weapon. I like how it forces its user to create spirals. I used to collect bokken(wooden katana swords). I have light weight, exotic woods, heavier longer shapes, solid wood and composites. Its interesting how the weight and subtleties of each piece influences how it is used, even within the same kata form. We'd work out with a long piece of bamboo, then do the same kata out with a long iron pipe. They both have lessons to teach. You needed to respect the heavier weight more. Its balance points were crucial and it could not be rushed. A lighter weapon is so much easier to rush, and if it moves faster then your mind does, its just a pretty whirling thing with no power. Michael

Here are some I found: Michael

Its a short part of his book, but Glenn Morris's 'Pathnotes of a Ninja Grandmaster' (hoky tittle, great book) is well worth buying for its descriptions and techniques for MCO. I prefer his 'secret smile' technique over the HT's inner smile, though they can work together. If you're in a martial art its a great introduction to the esoteric side of it. Michael