thelerner

2b involves compression doesn't it? Word on Q street is keep compression on the gentle side, unless you have an experienced teacher watching your progression and telling you different.

short wave

Slight tangent, a voice in my head told me to buy the Ostrich pillow mini. <no birds hurt in its making>. It's a small bead filled pillow that goes over your hand, like a very thick glove. For side sleepers who keep the lower hand under the head, it keeps the hand from getting numb, being pinned for hours by the heavy head. It also props the head up a little higher. I used it last night. So far so good. https://ostrichpillow.com/products/ostrichpillow-mini?gclid=CjwKCAiApOvwBRBUEiwAcZGdGNyOcRkbWwm6SLM06ithy_lJ1MDooPsuAHFqowqRTV5P9gsNwU_raBoCbAgQAvD_BwE Also sold on Amazon.

You're confronting something most of us have. Once you start quieting the mind, the stuff underneath seems louder. The garbage thoughts, wants and aversions, fantasies, that were always going on are brought to the surface. Its frightening until one habituates to quiet them down, ie deal with'em or ignore them. Psychedelics can make the phenomena even worse. Perhaps the answer is grounding. Walking, just sitting, working out.. getting out of your head. <<addon>> long Vispassana mindfulness retreats are kinda like the marathon of the meditation world. If people have trained they do a whole lotta good, but for some its too much. It create breakdowns. I wonder if Vispassana has answers and good advice on handling it afterwards. Google it, see if they have advice for when mindfulness takes the wrong turn.

Its great that there are members of your group here. Hopefully they're writing and discussing the 1,000 things we chew the fat about here.. giving there opinions on cultivation etc., Maybe you should see what they're doing and for a month or two act like them. Give up the joys of this thread and blend in a bit. Let this thread die.. if you stop giving it air, thats what'll happen. It'll float down the 1st page and then several pages, til its gone. Its been getting more and more ridiculous in its attacks and defenses. It peaked at page 4 and going down hill ever since. Consider leaving it alone for a week or 2, my guess is, without your daily input, it'll die. Megamind, Its continuation is in your hands. Read over it, see if its worth another 52 pages of your time. Sooner or later, real life will demand you spend time on something better.

If its there grandkid, then yes.. inevitably they will find it cute.

Yes.. maybe WW two and a third.

I'd say no. There are so many factors and actors that she was calculating and strategizing in her decisions. It just happened that waiting..doing nothing was what she perceived as her best option. Appreciating and choosing yin/the feminine. Seeing patience as an option more then Wu Wei.

I'll throw in Favorite Podcasts, cause I'm often too lazy to read. InfiniteSmile, zen inspired talks Zencast

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgij9irxfKY

For an informative entertaining travel book with lots of Buddhism and a side of marijuana pizza, I like 'The Gods Drink Whiskey' (https://www.amazon.com/Gods-Drink-Whiskey-Stumbling-Enlightenment/dp/0060834501) by Stephen Asma. Good travel adventure by an American Buddhist professor teaching in Cambodia. He also wrote Buddha for Beginners, I find you pick up more deep thoughts about life, travel, drugs, death, monks as well as deep philosophy in it then in a drier intro guide. <ps he's mostly into Theravada Buddhism

the best living Taoists might not be authors or giving seminars. they're probably just doing there thing quietly.

It feels nice when you breathe low and hit the spot you were after. It doesn't always happen. P.S. a Tibetan Bon society is having- Don't know anything about them or how much 'Tummo' will be presented. Since its religious/enlightenment emphasis there's a chance the Tummo has other meanings then generating physical heat.

I've done Wim Hof method, which really isn't Tummo though its a cousin. I was exposed to 2 Tummo system, but can't say how authentic the stuff I learned was. Not compared to tibetan monks. Both systems used a 7in7hold7out breathing system (which could grow to 10-10-10. Breathed in, felt open, then light compression and heat, visualization of warm bones and inner heat, on out you'd let the fire out. One was done sitting the other from horse stance and had a sanskrit mantra. Always seemed like the secret ingredient was chi/juice. if trying such things, be careful. If things get too hot slow down or stop.. find a real teacher. On the other hand I think tummo is a forgotten birthright of mankind. Something all our ancestors did at some point. Like swimming its a practice that might save your life someday or at least make you look good by letting you offer your jacket to damsel in distress.

You can't change direction without a little rockin. <one of my resolutions for 2020 is not putting g's at the end of words. how you like them apples, Mr. Webster.

Power of Will wrote this-. The board probably tackles it every few years. How do you define Chi energy? & How does it inform your practice? Thoughtful, serious answers hoped for.

Yes. I'm reminded that my fraternity, APO, a service fraternity, picked a person to be The Dissenter. The individual to vote against and sometimes speak against any resolution that all or almost everyone voted yes on. An important job because we were nice people, and it was easy to fall into group think. Everybody agreeing for convenience or they didn't want to think about the issue, or to be nice. Bad decisions are made when no one dissents. We need the skeptic to slow things down, keep us honest.. and thinking.

Lets keep it on subject. At the moment, Trump proves- its better to be lucky, then smart. If the 15 ballistic missiles fired had killed 2 or 3 people, would he then be honor?bound to devastate 52 Iranian sites, cultural or not? It was luck the missiles caused so little damage thus he, and the world were let off the hook. One day, tomorrow or next week, we may not be so lucky. For now though, it kinda worked out well. Which is dangerous, because Trump's supporters/advisers are crowing about his genius understanding, instead of realizing if one of 15 ballistic missiles moved 30 feet to the left, he might have a pressed a button that'd kill 1,000's or 10'000s and set in motion a very destructive war.

great minds think alike

Maybe this encapsulates the whole of human despair. We want to have unconditional love and companionship but don't want the shit that comes with it. The pet owners I know, the dog ones, no longer see the shit as so bad. No emotion or judgement, they just clean it up when it comes along.

Freethinkers generally don't do as much copying and pasting. They're able to talk freely. Relate there personal experiences.

Look at how much the US has frickin lost if one of Trumps brags is true, ie 'We just spent 2 Trillion dollars on military hardware'.. I'm not against having a strong military, but do we need to be #1 through #6 7** in the world (as far as spending?). That trillion or two could have been used for infrastructure, schools, science, health care, job training.. Instead it'll be used to blowup $6 trillion dollars worth of stuff. Can't help thinkin we'd be stronger with a weaker military, spending that extra trillion or two on things that increase the general welfare, and relying on only having the #1 military, instead of #1-7. Relying on allies, coalitions, diplomacy and a good reputation if war is ever needed. **https://www.pgpf.org/chart-archive/0053_defense-comparison

Right now, for me, everything is just fine. when past & future creep in then maybe not so much. aw shit, news saying Irans just launched multiple missiles sonof f(k}{PK+_()**^! Oahumnnnn.. life is also change.

I like your explanation. It gets across what my original sensei taught, ie Ki is a big concept that rolls across many areas, common and meta-physical. As such its easy to misunderstand when others talk about it. Different arts have different definitions and cultivation systems differ widely. From simple to complex. Breaking down chi dozens of ways as well as positive and negative. Personally I like my chi simple as a sunny day. <I'm hoping the conversation continues positively, with no denigration of any art>

Good question. My early cultivation comes from a Japanese origins. My Aikido sensei would give long lectures on Ki. He'd start with the definition Ki in a Japanese dictionary runs several pages. Commonly, people would ask 'How's your Ki' meaning, how you doing. Thus Ki evolved in general well being in popular vernacular. But in the energy arts its tied to energy, life energy. Japanese would tend to keep it simpler then Chinese chi gung and Hindu systems. Often Ki/Chi was energy but had a sense of intention to it. I studied Shin Shin Toitsu Ki Aikido for 13 years and was tied up with intention, expansion, life. There were physical, mental and spiritual ways to work with it. Relaxed extension, bright awareness were some the essences we worked with. Later I studied Healing Tao. Chi was more complicated. There was storage, flow, compression, hot and cold. In Aikido they acknowledged other centers but concentrated on the hara. Healing tao and I suppose Taoist energy/esoteric energy arts had energy centers, meridians. Ebbs and flows. The binary language of yin and yan, fire and water, expanding into elemental system for both internal organs, external seasons and strategy. Personally, for decades I ran hot. When meditating my hara/ lower dan tien was hot, I warmed. Last couple years, doing more upper, middle, lower w/ a little circulation I run cooler. I still have enough Japanese in me that when asked about Chi, I have to say for what activity? In cultivation its a flowing life energy.. juice..vitality..bright awareness. Glen Morris said his judgement of enlightenment was purely bio-energetic.. enlightenment meant you had juice.