doc benway

I've worked with some trauma release methods and I think they have some real value. In terms of storing trauma, I agree with you. The thing to be aware of is that all tissues and organs in our body are intimately integrated and in constant communication with each other through mutliple mechanisms (hormonal, neurological, fascial, vascular, energetic, etc...). So I thinks it's a bit misleading to try too hard to isolate or localize problems too much. Certainly there is value there - if I break my tibia, it needs to be fixed. But that experience, moving forward will be captured and "remembered" in many other organ systems and aspects of my being, beyond just my tibia.

Why can you get away with a finite number of parameters for a gas cloud but an infinite number of compoonents are required for a continuous flow of fluid? Does it have to do with making more general predictions about the gas behavior vs trying to make more specific predictions with respect to the fluid or field behavior?

I've had some experience of pain myself, physical, psychological, and emotional. I also have 25 years of experience in working with others in pain. I think pain is our body's method of communicating with our consciousness, including both physical, psychological, and emotional pain. I do think there is a distinction between pain and suffering. Pain is the unpleasant feeling that tells us something is wrong or something needs attention. Suffering is the psychological and emotional response, the anxiety, the struggle against the pain. It is certainly possible to experience pain without suffering. I know many people with serious chronic pain who do not suffer at all. And the suffering may continue when the pain has diminished or completely resolved. Whether discussing pain or anything else, suffering relates to the struggle against what is. In the "normal" situation, something in the mind or body is amiss and needs attention. Zhuang Zi's parable "When the Shoe Fits" comes to mind. When the body and mind are healthy, there is little or no pain. When something doesn't fit or needs attention, it's important for us to acknowledge that and make sure we address it before there is more serious harm done. This is pain's function, to get our attention. If we are able to recognize and address the source of the pain, it generally goes away. If the source of the pain is not recognized or adequately addressed, the pain will continue and worsen as the body and mind desperately try to get the consciousness to take the necessary action to rectify the situation. And this is the tricky part because when pain lasts for more than a short duration and there is not a relatively quick improvement, it begins to become infused with all sorts of other stuff that has a tendency to cause it to linger and grow in the body and mind. This includes psychological, social, economic, emotional, spiritual, energetic factors, and so on. Pain is never isolated to the physical, neurological experience. It always includes these other, more subtle factors. It's when the pain lasts too long and begins to more deeply invade one's life that these other factors really come into play and take on a life of their own. And once this happens, even eliminating the original source of pain is often no longer enough to solve the problem. Now the other, secondary areas of a person's life that have been affected need to be addressed as well - loss of job, home, or car; loss of marriage; loss of sexual function; loss of self esteem; reactive depression, and on and on. And all of this is equally applicable to psychological, emotional, or physical pain. Having worked with folks with serious physical and psychiatric illness, I can't say that either is necessarily "worse" than the other. Both can be equally devastating. I agree with Aaron's point that pain is inevitable. In the Daoist view, pain and pleasure define each other. If one never knew pain, pleasure would have little meaning and vice versa. Just like light and dark and hot and cold. Pain is a part of the human experience. Pain in and of itself is not pathologic. Is pain necessary? Absolutely - no one has ever lived in the total absence of pain. It is a normal part of a healthy life. That is not to say that it must always be out of balance or always present, it cycles in a normal life. It is simply a part of life just like you cannot inhale without first exhaling. That also does not mean that it must be tolerated. I also agree that pain is one of the great teachers in life. But it is not always easy or obvious what the lesson is. And it can be extremely difficult to see it during the experience. It's usually only much later that the lesson is recognized and internalized, if ever. And I also agree with the importance of the psychological and emotional components of pain. Acute pain, such as what occurs when you break a bone, is mainly a physiological experience. Sure there is fear and anxiety, but if the bone is treated appropriately, the pain will begin to diminish after a few days and within a few weeks it's nearly gone and the fear and anxiety diminish accordingly. Chronic pain is a very different situation. When the pain shows no sign of improving, the anxiety and fear that it will never go away begin to grow. And as the anxiety increases, we become much more sensitized to the pain. The heightened awareness makes the pain feel more intense and also causes us to begin to pay very close attention to other things that don't seem right. Some people can become completely focused on this as the center of their lives. Not only do the other factors come into play that I mentioned above but there is a very strong component of repressed emotion, typically anger or rage. Why me?!?!? This isn't fair!!!! This becomes extremely apparent if you ever have an opportunity to see how people react to an injury when it's work related (in the USA) versus not work related. The results of treatment in workers' compensation cases have been shown to be dramatically inferior to the results of identical treatment in matched series of patients who are not comp patients. Why? Psychological, emotional, and economic factors. John Sarno is a physiatrist in New York who has done some really good work with chronic pain. His theory is that chronic pain is the brain's method for distracting itself from repressed anger and rage (and similar emotions). His work is mainly in chronic back pain but he extends it to other types of pain as well. As a result of my personal and clinical experience, there is no question in my mind that he is on to something real. That is not to say that anger and rage are the sole causes of chronic pain. But they are critically important in perpetuating the cycle of pain and must be acknowledged and dealt with to break the cycle. When I deal with someone who has this going on, the response is nearly always the same. If I'm able to help them to acknowledge the underlying emotional associations with their pain, they immediately begin to release and let go of it. They instantly begin to cry as they begin to truly feel the emotional content that's been hidden at the core of their pain. It is a transformation. And if they are open to the process, true healing begins. Unfortunately, many are not ready for this and hold onto the pain. Sadly, many of these folks end up in long term "pain management" (a kind term for medically supervised opiate addiction), or multiple failed surgeries, or years in a variety of unsuccessful treatments of all kinds (including massage, energy work, medical Qigong, acupuncture, and anything else you can think of). In fact, one of the points that Sarno emphasized that I agree with is that the chronic pain patient must let go of the label. They must reclaim their will to live and function. They must let go of the illness mindset. Sadly, any treatment for these people can have the effect of reinforcing the feeling of being sick and needing treatment. As far as whether pain is helpful or necessary in spiritual growth, it's been my experience that relatively serious trauma is often necessary as a stimulus for serious transformation. Essential? Who knows? But it certainly was a necessary stimulus in my own life. Anyway, enough from me right now. Sorry for the long post!

I would say one of the best things to start with is awareness. Start to pay attention to yourself - what you say, what you do, what choices you make, why you do this and not that. How your actions affect others. How your actions affect you. How do others view you and how that compares to how you view yourself. How do people and situations make you feel? Where do those reactions come from? Etcetera, etcetera...

A little off topic, but here is a cool link that shows the relative size of things. Scroll in and out slowly. I enjoyed it. Now back to our regular programming

That helps clear things up, thanks! Not to get too far afield but in thinking about curved surfaces, here is an interesting link. It probably touches on things you will discuss more in the future but if you have comments about it, I'd love to here them.

Is it more accurate to say that, it is the space of all the "velocity vectors" an ant can have at that point that are tangent to the sphere at that point? What about circles of lesser diameter? Are they not geodesics because the vector is changing in multiple planes? Thanks - I've never been good at geometry

Someone with no clue about the use of weapons made this up to look dangerous... And they were quite successful. I'd say these pose much more of a threat to the wielder than the opponent!

Great job Creation. Like they say, if you can't make something simple, you don't understand it. That was a simple and elegant description - much appreciated. I very much look forward to future contributions like that if you're willing. I think it's helpful for us to understand the precise terminology and conventions as defined by physics because so many scientific terms are inaccurately used in the discussion of metaphysics and spiritual matters (particularly terms related to quantum mechanics).

Great post. My perspective is that my perspective won't help you too much. That said, I'll share a few thoughts anyway. You've been given a gift of a complex vision. It is yours to work through. I don't think it's simple and superficial enough to fully understand now, maybe ever. But I would try and bring those insights into my daily life and stay open to what it has to teach. I don't think there's much value in wondering what if this or what if that. Your reaction and your experience are exactly what they had to be as you are. That is exactly what was being shown you. Thanks very much for sharing that and I hope (and have confidence) that it will gradually help you see more deeply into yourself. Be well

So there is a lot of talk of becoming one with Dao. What does this mean? In terms of free will, does it not imply that I merge my "will" with Dao, which transcends me? So perhaps one aspect of "merging" with Dao is an acknowledgemnt of the illusion of free will. I also liked Jetsun's post a lot. This is at the core of the work I've focused on for years. Lately, I spend a lot of time watching my thoughts. Seeing how they arise, capture my attention - so subtly that I am on the "thought train" before I know it. Once I am aware that I am aware of the thought, it generally fades. To watch how these thoughts come and then guide us in all that we do without really knowing where they come from or that they are even there, most of the time, is enlightening and fascinating. I have a different experience than Michael with respect to thought and emotion. Or at least I am looking at it from a different perspective. As I have gotten older and more deeply into personal investigation, I still do not have any control of what thought arises or when, unless I am in a state of meditation when the thoughts subside for the most part. It seems that something in the environment comes into my field of awareness and sparks a like, dislike, memory, familiarity - some sort of association. This is the kernel of the thought. Then the internal discussion ensues. Over time, I've been able to catch the internal discussion earlier and earlier in the process, even at the level of noticing the association before the thought. It's fascinating work. Similarly, emotions come up before I have any "control" of their content or timing, as a result of a similar process. The "control" comes after the fact which, for me, means that I have no control of the thoughts or emotions, only how I react to them and to what degree I allow them to guide my choices. As Jetsun describes, I think this is the work of becoming a "liberated" human being. Rather than behave based on associations and conditioning, I am aware of the associations and conditioning as I pass through life and can take a step back and make choices based on my values, rather than a conditioned pattern. This is the value of cultivating awareness from moment to moment in our everyday lives.

I've seen some well designed neurophysiological research that shows the following. When we decide to do something (reach for a glass), the neuromuscular system has already gone through changes to facilitate that activity. The suggestion is that we become aware of a "choice" to perform a given activity after the body has already prepared to do it. Interesting stuff.

Great post. There was a time when each individual was the master of all tasks - hunting, making clothes, religious ceremony, building their dwellling, and so on... One had to know it all to survive. Then came a sharing of responsibilities in a community so each of us could specialize and not try to do everything for ourselves. Barter was effective for a while but as life became more complex, money replaced it to allow much more freedom of exchange of services. If I don't need another hog, and that's all you have to trade for my services, what then? I like listening to Alan Watts speak about money. We've been conditioned to believe that money is more important than the wealth it represents. What we really need are the things that money can be exchanged for, not the pieces of paper themselves. But the pieces of paper give us the freedom to obtain what we need, when we need it. It's a very useful tool and, as with anything else, it is subject to exploitation.

I've practiced a variety of Qigong sets for about 10 years. The two I have utilized most are Shiba Luohan Qigong for the more martial benefits and Gu Chuan Ba Duan Jin Qigong, which is basically a version of the 8 Brocades that is a bit more complex and purportedly older (aren't they all?). I've recently started practicing a set that my close friend and training partner created. He has extensive experience in shamanism and Native medicine, in addition to Taijiquan, Qigong, and Neigong. I'm finding that the combination of Qigong with shamanic channeling is superb. The set I'm currently practicing is called Golden Eagle Awakens a Vision. He has also developed sets related to the deer, bear, and owl. I know that some of the earliest Qigong sets were derived from animal movements and, in particular, animals that are native to Asia or Asian culture and mythology. And it's also clear that Daoism has it's roots in shamanism so the combination seems very natural. On the other hand, I don't have experience with other animal sets other than swimming dragon and I've yet to meet any other Qigong teachers who emphasize shamanic roots. So my observation is that practicing a well designed Qigong set with shamanic intent may well touch upon something that the early creators of Qigong had in mind. Furthermore, I think there may be real benefit to channeling animals that are native to one's native culture and geography. Does anyone else have experience and observations, or historical knowledge about combining Qigong and shamanism? Thanks

I just heard from Jeremy this morning that he intends to offer a 7 week workshop on this. You can find more info here if you are interested.

Trees are marvelous. A tree taught me proper bagua standing posture.

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So true and so important - looking deeply into the whole process of thought and its content is critical for growth.

Good question - who has the insight and authority to protect adults from themselves? I've had a similar discussion regarding a woman's freedom to engage in pornography and prostitution.

I think that women should live their lives without concern for whether someone else would like it if they would be a certain way or look a certain way. What concern is it of mine as to how a woman dresses or presents herself? That's her choice to make. All I need to do is look into why it is that I would want a woman to act in a certain way for my benefit. Then decide if I want to act on that thought. It is not selfish for me to live my life as I see fit. Selfishness is expecting you to live your life as I see fit. Demello

Great question. I'll be happy to add some thoughts. The spiritual community is as full of scammers and BS artists as other communities. Quite possibly more so because the subject matter is, for the most part, completely subjective and gratuitous. And how many of us would agree on who is real and who is fake? And is anyone all real or all fake? I think that every "guru" or system is unique. Some all crap, some absolutely priceless. Most fall somewhere in between. It's a difficult area to navigate. And I doubt that many of us feel that we leave rationality out of it. Certain aspects of the process require rational decision making - Is this practice helping me in some way? Is the "guru" practicing what he preaches? Does this person act in a way that supports or misleads those around him/her? Is the cost reasonable? Do I know others who have benefited in some measurable way? Based on my own background and conditioning, does this make sense for me at this point in my life? And it's very tough to measure the benefits . Here are a few that I consider good indicators - - I feel less stressed - My health has improved - My feeling of well being and tranquility are enhanced - I feel more kindness and civility to those around me and to myself - I smile and laugh more - I feel OK with my life, I don't fight against the world as much, I appreciate and enjoy it more - I'm beginning to see that patterns of behavior in my life that normally go on without my conscious awareness - I'm beginning to question choices that I may have made in the past without even thinking about it Rationality is important in evaluating methods and progress just as it's important in most aspects of our lives. So the question is, what is the role of the rational mind in the actual practices themselves? Does "understanding" the physiological basis of Taiji, Qigong, and meditation actually enhance the practice itself? While I don't deny that subjecting these methods to rational scrutiny has value, the answer is basically no, IMO. You can have a complete and thorough understanding of how and why Qigong helps your body and if you are not practicing regularly, you will derive no benefit. And if you have absolutely no intellectual understanding of the practice and you do the practice correctly and regularly, the benefit is not diminished at all. And you can be the world's foremost authority and scholar on Taijiquan and a rank beginner could knock you on your ass if you do not put in the hours, months, years of training. Basically, I see the color red whether or not I understand the neurological and physiological processes that are involved in that process. Red is no more red today than it was in the 12th century simply because we "understand" the process. The rational mind is necessary to help us choose the "right" method or teacher and also to help us know when we've made the wrong choice or have out-grown the teacher or the method. But that is not to be confused with the fact that these experiential practices, especially the more meditative techniques, do not benefit from engaging the rational process of thought. In fact, their very purpose is to help us discover whether or not there is anything that is beyond the limited scope of our thought.

Yes you can. The question is 'may' you be happy?