doc benway

Inarizushi? Sushi rice in tofu pouch... Seasoned balls of joy!

I would highly recommend that you do your absolute best to find a teacher you can work with, even if it's only an occasional workshop. With your medical diagnosis, I think the choice of practice is much less important than expert guidance through this material (edit - actually I would say the same irrespective of medical diagnosis). Without a teacher, you are really groping around in the dark and a good teacher can help you navigate the subtleties. I can't emphasize this enough. These practices are powerful but are very sophisticated. I wouldn't trade an hour of good, personal instruction for a library of books and DVD's.

There certainly is a theme of escape in Buddhism - Escape from suffering Escape from the cycle of birth and rebirth So that aspect of escape is not a bad thing... And although the paths may different, all the great traditions head in the 'self same' direction. And our addictions and indulgences certainly are attempts at escape, but they're not as sophisticated as Buddhist methods and are transient in nature and generally accrue negative karma. Buddhists teach that the only way to avoid all of that, the great escape if you will, is by liberating all of that and resting in what remains when all of that is gone.

gotta fix the car... too many auto babies, my lungs need a break!

Forgive me if I am stating the obvious here and I apologize if I sound preachy, but I'd like to offer a word of caution. This is something my teacher taught me for years (and I didn't really follow his recommendation on this as much as he would have liked), and over time I learned the lesson for myself. Don't get yourself too concerned with the 'intellectual, metaphysical' aspects of Daoist cultivation. It is generally much more of a distortion and distraction than a help - plenty of folks will disagree, and that's fine. As my teacher likes to say, anyone writing books and studying theory can't possibly put enough time into real practice to become a master. Maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration, maybe not. If you are interested in cultivation, practice. When you feel like learning more about the practice, ..... practice! Books and metaphysics will fill your mind with images and concepts that will get in between your unique perspective and awareness and the nature of the reality your are looking to connect with. Experiential methods are the treasure of Asian spirituality. I'd highly recommend getting a very firm foundation in practice so that you have direct understanding, then read what words other folks tack on top of the reality. Anyway, that's just my bias and I acknowledge that some will strongly disagree. And I'm sorry if I offend anyone with this opinion.

Where's my TV set? Life is too complicated I would rather watch

What to do with the eyes is a very good question. I've gone through phases with that. My teacher has always advocated that the eyes should be open but soft and relaxed - for Taiji, standing, and sitting. Not focused on anything external in meditation. For many years I would close my eyes and it worked well for me. Over the past few years, however, I've taken to following my teacher's recommendation. Now I feel that the open eyes helps keep me more alert and engaged with awareness. At the same time, I am able to disengage from the visual input and it has a similar effect on the other senses, including thought.

Ordered á la carte Discriminating palettes Know from whom they choose

writing on the wall my spray can is running low life can be a bi...

new titles, new times even a moment for rhymes... but this is haiku

I really like your comments about skin tension. I know exactly what you mean. For me it is almost like an entropic process and yet there is a definite organization. I've never really thought much about it as such or put it into words but it's like the tension and sensation throughout the skin and cutaneous nervous system finds an equilibrium, just as the musculoskeletal system and fascial system do. And there are a LOT of kinks to work out. And you can follow that equilibrium through so many layers and levels, depending on your paradigm and custom (anatomical, physiological, energetic, emotional, psychological, etc...)

Papaji didn't criticize Krishnamurti's views. In fact, Papaji listed Krishnamurti as one of the handful of enlightened people he had encountered. What he said about Krishnamurti was that he was not a very good teacher - he couldn't transmit the view effectively. IMO, he was probably referring to the fact that Krishnamurti's approach to spiritual material was a bit on the intellectual side, certainly very different than Ramana Maharashi and Nisargadatta Maharaj (two folks that Papaji admired). However, for the right person with the right perspective, Krishnamurti's approach can be very effective. There are many different paths to truth (or none, if you resonate with Krishnamurti or the Dzogchen masters) and that is specifically because each of us is unique and each of us will respond to different perspectives. That doesn't make one right or one wrong - they are ALL wrong. They are all simply fingers pointing toward the moon.

Ting Jin comes first, it is the foundation. If you can't listen, you can't issue. And Ting Jin is not at all passive, it is very active.

The more I practice the circle, the more I think this is a very old technique that has profound benefits outside of the martial arena.

Yes, I can hear the Jeff Beck for sure. I saw Mahavishnu Orchestra in DC around '74. It was the second iteration with Gayle Moran and Jean Luc Ponty. Although my favorite recording will always be the live recording, Between Nothingness and Eternity.

Beautiful playing - very reminiscent of one of my guitar heroes, John McLaughlin. And I just noticed he's playing an 8 stringer no less! I once carried on an email conversation with John, he's a very cool guy. At the time he was very much into the Chan poets.

I think the foundation practice is awareness. In martial arts, we learn to cultivate 聽勁 (ting jin - listening or sensing skill or power) and in meditation, we cultivate 勁心 (tranquil mind - the awareness that is always there and can be appreciated once the mental chatter dissipates). These approaches emphasize quieting the self so one can apprehend what already lies underneath. It is about becoming aware of it's true nature, which is always what you already are. In this way, the Daoist and Buddhist methods are identical. All of the mental, energetic, and physical methods are primarily calisthenics that ultimately bring you to this same point of merging with your original nature. Nothing more powerful than that. Just my $.02, FWIW.

WIth due respect to other recommendations, my approach would be that if you don't already have a regular sitting meditation practice established, just focus on the standing for a while.Whether you're sitting or standing, the mind will be chattering away. Regardless of posture, you will necessarily begin to experience and explore meditation territory (that is, how do I deal with the thinker and all of those distracting thoughts). Standing is a bit easier because awareness has the posture to attend to. Once you take that away and substitute a stable sitting posture, there is nothing but the mind to deal with and that is much more challenging. Definitely something worth getting into, but I think standing is a good initiation, if you will.

The Chinese character is 鬆 and the pinyin is sōng. The word means relaxed or loose but be very careful, it does not mean flaccid. It implies flexibility but also structure. Maximum song does not mean total flaccidity. Song is about finding the right balance between exertion and relaxation that allows maintenance of proper posture with a minimal use of physical force. At the same time it is a very active and 'alive' feeling, it reacts to change to maintain that proper balance. When done properly, there is a feeling of continuity, of wholeness of the structure. If one part moves, the entire structure is aware and accurately adjusts. It sort of is like a flow but don't get distracted with concepts like energy and kunalini and so on. Just practice the method, feel what there is to feel, don't add anything to that conceptually. Don't name it. Just remain with it, observe it, and feel what it is like to be inside yourself in this manner. After beginning to feel it while stationary, it will then be brought into movement and then into martial practice, if you are a martial artist. It is a subtle and elusive skill that will ONLY reveal itself with proper practice over time. If your teacher has prescribed a method, I'd suggest that you avoid the temptation to look for short cuts from strangers on the web. Trust your teacher and his/her method. Wing Chun is one of the more efficient and rapid training methods among Chinese martial arts but skills like song and ting (listening) and fa (issuing) cannot be rushed. All that said, I'm happy to offer some support and advice. Yes, I've achieved this and I got there through a number of practices but the most important foundation practice, by far, is standing meditation. It will not happen quickly and if you have serious interest in practices like Chinese martial arts, qigong, and meditation, it is well worth the time spent. A few suggestions - 1. Most people exaggerate the posture in the beginning. All instructions and adjustments should be subtle. The basic instructions I often give are - a. Gently lift the crown of the head (as if by a fine thread pulling upward) b. This allows the neck to lengthen and the chin to tuck (very slightly) c. relax the shoulders, and chest, and allow the back to open and expand slightly - often called sink the chest and pluck up the back d. Allow the lower spine to elongate and relax, causing the pelvis to rotate under (tail bone curls under) very slightly. This will cause a potential feeling of contraction in the pelvic floor muscles (you referred to the anus), but make sure it is light and comfortable. e. Allow the knee to be very slightly and comfortably bent f. Feel the feet fully engaged with the ground g. Feel yourself extend both upward, through the crown of the head, and downward, through the feet h. Allow yourself to rest between heaven and earth, balanced, supported, floating, effortless i. Attend to the thoughts, watch as they come and go without identifying with them, fighting against them, or getting carried away j. Attend to the feel within the body and periodically adjust the posture k. ALlow the breath to breath itself naturally - for most folks this will be an abdominal breathing pattern 2. Be patient! Start with 5 minutes a day and gradually increase the time spent. With practice it is possible to stand for 30 - 60 minutes or more. It will be difficult at first. Over time you will begin to feel proper alignment. Then you can bring that into all of your practice, even moving. After standing meditation, pushing hands exercises in Taijiquan are a wonderful way to further clarify and develop skill with song. So are things like walking the circle in bagua and, in wing chun, sticking hands and feet practice. Enjoy!

Daoism is about finding and abiding in our true nature as humans. I doubt there has every been a time when humanity was without violence. The natural world is full of violence - everything alive eats something else that is alive. That said, Daoism emphasizes cultivation of 德, which Shanlung points up so succinctly. I think Taijiquan teaches very good lessons about the application of violence as it relates to Daoism - 沾黏連隨不丟頂 (how to yield and neutralize) and, when necessary - 一搖二晃三擊 (how to attack) edit - sorry, I didn't read deci belle's post before submitting mine so I sound sort of redundant

Stretching is enormously valuable, especially as we age. I used to live with chronic low back pain - nearly every day. I got into some of the stuff by John Sarno which showed me the emotional and psychological components of the problem. I still had issues, however, and then began stretching. I've always been limber due to martial arts training since childhood, but I never focused quite so much on stretching the back and legs, especially the hamstrings. Over a period of about 6 months I really focused on hamstring stretching. Once I got to the point where I could comfortably rest with my knees extended, flexed forward with my palms on the floor, I could feel the stretch begin to move from the hamstrings to the pelvis, low back, mid-, and upper back. At that point my back pain virtually disappeared. Now it's not much more than a memory and occasional annoyance. And I continue to stretch daily.

Long live Pussy Riot!

Stung by scorpions Quadriceps screams for mercy... Maintain the horse stance.

I'm glad this thread popped back up because I got a chance to read what I wrote and I have to say that I disagree with myself. Not sure what I was trying to say - maybe that there are more direct spiritual methods (Dzogchen, Dao meditation)... As I look back over the years, I see there's been spiritual progress (don't laugh please... ) and I've made the assumption that it has been related to this practice or that practice, but all of that is quite impossible to sort out really. So who knows what takes us to where we are? I've engaged in quite a few different practices over time, often overlapping. And yet, the most profound "spiritual" insight I ever had was while riding along in a car, totally spontaneous. On the other hand, if I hadn't started practicing Taiji, I probably never would have been exposed to Dao meditation. I may or may not have gotten stimulated to pursue a pretty intense spiritual path for several years. So maybe Taiji was a gateway practice, and maybe a lot more than that. Either way, it was very important for me! Regarding karma - I think what counts is the choices each of us makes in whatever endeavor/situation we find ourselves. In the martial arts arena, I've found that there's as much opportunity to generate wonderful karma as there is the opposite. If you take the codes of ethics that most schools teach seriously, it can be a very positive and powerful force. And those of us involved in martial training will hopefully erase some of the negative karmic debt that exists by taking the ethics to heart.

A few thoughts about 'as within so without' and vice versa... To truly 'understand' this, I would highly recommend a commitment to some form of meditative practice. There is a knowing that is not of words or thought that may happen naturally in a flash, but more often comes with a mature and stable meditative practice. And there is no substitute for this type of knowing. To play around with some words briefly (need to leave for work soon), here are a few ideas. 1. Your constituent building blocks are identical, both within and without your bag of skin - carbon compounds, water, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorous, calcium, etc... If you break down the human body, it's components are identical to its surroundings. 2. The feeling that you are an isolated and separate thing from everything around you is utterly fallacious. Living organisms are not separate from their environment. From an ecological point of you, there is no separation. The organism does not, in any possible mode of existence, exist independent of it's environment. The fact that you have a sensory apparatus, a surrounding bag of skin, live in a transparent immediate environment (air), and are blessed by mobility and the illusion of autonomy, all contribute to this delusion. But the ancients knew the truth, it's nothing new. So inside and outside are one continuous organism-environment and the distinction is simply a convention that we all (mostly) agree on that is not real. That's all the time I have now. Have a nice day!