thelerner

I'm in, still have the kids home. If I'm going to do it, might as well be this Monday. Could use more veggies in the house though. Michael

Interesting. Can the fish can be 'cooked' cerviche style in room temperature lime juice? Michael

The book Chi Walking has a simple exercise. Stand, on one leg for a few seconds, then the other one, then back again. Feel for how the pelvis (bone) moves from side to side as you shift your weight. Then tilt your pelvis forward a bit. Now as you shift from foot to foot you should feel less movement, more solidarity in your waist. I've been doing standing exercises to the guided meditation series called the Archeaous (free) from Clark Rawns BardonCompanion site. They are about 15 minutes long and having to listen to something makes the standing much easier. Its an interesting take non taoist take on 4 element theory. Michael

Cool link hope it works Michael

The early years of the Ultimate Fighting Contests put single styles to the test and found most of them wanting, at least in the venue of the ring. Even the style that started the ball rolling, Brazilian Ju Jitsu, found itself unable to be considered Ultimate without training in other arts. We certainly did punch, kick and choke in Aikido. But in choking those with experience in older style Judo, there choke, even a simple back choke was a world different then what we would do. We'd kick, but it a pleasure to work with good TaeKwondo people who could really pull off high hollywood kicks - and pay the price. Different arts excel in different areas. In Aikido we punched kicked choked threw pinned, learned healing, breathing, awareness techniques. I think the aim was to be a complete human being, not an ultimate fighter. The techniques were martial but the aim was do, a path. It could be used for fighting, but was excellent training in not fighting. Avoiding a fight, running away was always considered a very intelligent option. Hour for hour I don't think Aikido will neccessarily be the best use of someone who wants to learn to fight. But I think it will teach you how to fight plus many life lessons. Michael

I knew one Chi gung teacher who claimed and I believed him that he hadn't eaten food in ten years. it turned out he'd eat soups, lots of soups with long cooked veggies. So, take some claims with a bit of salt and broth. Michael

One line from the movie Pleasantville resonates with me. After learning important life lessons in from living in a real 'Father knows Best' TV dimension our hero comes back and has this advice; "Its not supposed to be any way". Our problems are we think life and people are suppose to be X, but they are Y, and it really bothers us. Its not supposed to be any way. It is the way it is. Roll with what is. Honesty, Love, Integrity, Self Interest - they're all balls we keep juggling. Sometimes we drop one and are too busy to realize its gone. Sometimes you have to let all the balls go, sit back, take a deep breath, pick'em up and start the juggling process again. Michael

I had a video of Seagal teaching a class in the late 90's. It impressed me much more then his movies. He was a very good teacher. Nice style, quick and hard. As a sensei he was traditional but very open in taking questions and physically showing and explaining moves. He dealt with quick jabs and even defenses for take down techniques. He had trained in Japan, married (and divorced) his senseis daughter. And had the audacity to teach Aikido in Japan, a very thing for a round eyed gaijin. I really enjoyed my years in Aikido. But if the goal is be a well rounded fighter you need to add some other arts. But learning a few quick and dirty moves is easy. The grace, timing and power of Aikido, that is hard, and rewarding. Here's another good video . Michael

I agree. I had a book that made a great argument that we do not want to live in the Void, (um ego absolution). We want to live in the All. The void is part of the all. To be full human beings we need it All. The love, the lust, empathy..the full range of human emotions. But we need to have enough space with these experiences and emotions so that we can act rightly. Feel them without becoming them. Michael

What should it be called? We can't even agree on how to spell it! I kinda like Energy Arts. A direct translation might be Life Force Skills. Michael

Actually I'm preaching to myself . I have a tendency to get way to intellectual about these things. Too head heavy. Thats why I found a martial art like Ki-Aikido, something hands on. I've been shunning books on philopshy lately. Unless it has a to do practice, I've been leaving it alone. Yours Michael

Undaoist to put emphasis on getting a good grade? Nonsense, "If you're goinna play the game boy, you got to learn to play it right". By taoist Kenny Rogers. Michael

Jnana yoga? With a name like jNahna, how serious can it be? Sounds like a yoga kid making fun of others Seems to me that intellect is like a map showing the way. But we spend our lives with our nose in the map, when we need to fold it up and get walking. Yours Michael and lets leave horses out of this please, why if I had the enlightenment of a horse, I'd ..

More info. What subject? HOw many pages? and a few examples of what A material looks like. Please Michael P.S Congrads

Pero, I'm getting old, the chant we did at winter misogi was indeed 'to ho ka mi e mi ta me (tohokami emitame'. I think John Stevens had a book on the founders system of sacred sounds. On old tapes, Sensei Ueshiba had high pitched bird like kiais as I recall. We did some healing work in Ki-Aikido, called Ki-atsu. I wish we did more. Balancing time and effort learning to fight with the techniques and mind set of healing probably makes for a more authentic person. Michael

Philosophy, Shlimosophy. I don't care about theoretical aspects of enlightenment. IMO half of enlightenment is keeping your mouth shut, eyes and heart open. Love is a shared smile, a longing, a passion. To over analyze is to douse a reality with the cold water of the intellect. Ofcourse if we're not here to chew the fat, then why are we bothering to type? Michael

Freeform, your mention of tapping reminds me of a quick routine from Golden Bell Chi Gung. You start by tapping on your breast bone, upper chest. Tap with one hand 9 times, move down a few inches, tap 9x, til you get to the solar plex. Then use both hands to tap along the lower ribs. Again 9x then move down a few inches. When you reach the sides of the ribs, you reverse it, tapping along the line til you get back to the breast bone. This invigorates the bodies various systems. Quick and easy. Tarzan yell optional. Michael

I often find the clearest descriptions of life and its problems in Buddhist philosophy. Michael

Hi Pero, I'm interested in different spiritual practices that use sounds. Could you post a little on the discussion site here about Kiai Jitsu? In Ki-Aikido we would have classes in Kiai ing. It was considered both a spiritual expression, as well as form of self defense all by itself. Unlike martial arts like Karate, it was used before an attack to shock and unsteady an opponent. Yours Michael

IMHO the dark side of Buddism is turning the Budda into a God or Godling. Doesn't that go against his essential teaching? Is that what he wanted? Is it accurrate? Should only those with well retracted genitals (#14) and blue eyes be considered Buddhas? Michael

Thanks Cam, that clicks with some thoughts and things I've been dealing w/ lately. Michael

Hey turtle, I love willow trees. In the breeze they're like living water falls. I also like meditating around them. I was surprised when I took some Kaishan Golden Bell Chi Kung that they specifically said not to meditate around willows!? I forget why, maybe its because they're too yin? More advice that I do not follow. Yours Michael

Just goes to show the perfection of not trying. When you try, and say ' HEY look at this', too often the magic goes away. Michael

You can't really group all of us into any uh, particular group. But many of us have gotten our Taoist cues from the Healing Tao, which is more alchemical taoism, then religious. So no altars, a nod to the 8 immortals, mostly as archetypes, and the meditations are energy related, ie they correspond to classical 4 element theories. For a primer on the Healing Tao system as interpreted by Michael Winn here is a long article/site http://www.healingtaousa.com/isa.html#faeb . The healingtaousa.com discussion site has many other nuggets and rocks in it. Yours Michael The HT systems starts w/ the inner smile (there's a free booklet), then works on the microcosmic orbit and healing sounds, getting a feeling for how the major organs correspond with emotions and seasons etc. On this site, the taobums they have expanded the discussion way beyond taoism into practically every thing.

Call me an unenlightened sleeping robot, but I don't buy the whole these things (everything) are manifested through the power of our thoughts. I think there are long, often complicated chains of causality at work, like lines of dominoes knocking down each other moving in multiple directions. Actions are making this mess. Actions due to too much greed, self interest and short sightedness. I don't even think greed and self interest of themselves are neccessarily bad. Only when they get out of whack and extreme. I don't even buy the We are enlightened and they(the masses) are sleeping robots. I find the average Joe to be pretty savvy once you have them cornered and talking one on one. I give my kudos to the man with the rolled up sleeves and shovel in his hand over the yogi sitting on a zafu any day. I guess the real answer is you do both. Michael