doc benway

I don't think that anything you do will accelerate your body's natural healing mechanism. Well balanced diet, hydration, adequate rest, avoidance of aggravating activity, gentle exercise like qigong or taijiquan only when it's comfortable to do so. It will heal at it's own pace - wu wei...

SPOCK NOT SO COOL ?!?!?! Surely you jest! Or you're under the age of 40...

Most of the spiritual "authorities" or entertainers as Alan Watts would say, tend to discuss a reconciliation between their newfound perspective and a continued desire to live and lead a meaningful life. UG seemed to have been unable to maintain any love for life after his "calamity." I think it's a reflection of his conditioning and nature and perhaps his neurophysiology. It appears that our human characteristics and basic nature remains even after a profound change in perspective. As the classics say - after enlightenment... the laundry.

I couldn't agree more Bailey - that's where the "lesser" life forms have an advantage. They're (presumably) less distracted by the endless thought machine. Language is a double edged sword, IMO.

Interesting comments! Alfa - this is NOT an easy process. It's a long and arduous method but can yield beautiful results. It's not one to try and 'understand.' It is meant to be lived, not thought about. Good luck!

Very nice post Magda. Your problem is intelligence. I haven't pontificated in a while so here goes... Most people stumble blindly through the world, believing what they're told by authorities and gurus of one sort or another. All religions distort the truth - that is unavoidable because truth can never be captured in words or thoughts or doctrines. The core principles contain truth and all of the details piled on top by successive generations of believers eventually turn to bullshit. Osho said it well - 'true religion is an individual's personal search for truth, spirituality, God, whatever you want to label it; everything else is politics.' Truth can be experienced. To put it more simply, truth is experience. What else can it possibly be? Sure, anyone can make a gratuitous assertion about the nature of reality that can never be proven or disproven, that's what has gone on since the beginning. Every tradition has a long winded and detailed explanation of that which can never be understood or explained... yawn... Open your eyes and mind and heart and experience life for what it is. Don't mistake words and images for reality. Words and concepts (like chakrah and dan tian) are not reality, they are a useful tool for approximating and communicating about reality but nothing more than that. People take all kinds of liberties with words and ideas. It gives them a sense of security, makes them feel comfortable because you feel that you can control what you understand. Reality on the other hand is reality. It simply is. That is the energy every one talks about as if it is something mysterious and magical. It is! And at the same time, it's all around us and we ignore it (and look for something more exotic and magical) because it is us. You are the very energy you seek. Feeling Qi is nothing magical, it is just tuning your awareness to another "wavelength," if you will, of your existence. We are basically antennae, tuned to receive certain wavelengths (of light and sound and touch) and ignore the rest. Some practices (yoga, prayer, meditation) can perhaps heighten your awareness and different traditions approximate those experiences with different words. It's really not a big deal. I'm not saying that there is no value in practices. I do it. Practices take you to a door but ultimately you have to pass through alone and naked, without your words and concepts. All of that has to be abandoned to approach truth. No one and no practice can show you the truth. You have to find that in yourself, alone. Sorry for rambling, perhaps the fire in my belly hasn't gone completely out yet after all... Good luck in your search.

Where do I end and nature begin?

If I don't create dan tian, who does?

Well said Stig. What is the dan tian before one starts to cultivate? What is it if one never cultivates? Is it a concept we apply to a feeling we discover/create in order to participate in a specific paradigm? BTW, TGA, there are three dan tians - Upper - in the middle of your head Middle - in the area of your heart Lower - in the pelvis When people refer to dan tian without specifying upper, middle, or lower, they are generally referring to the lower dan tian.

Please accept my fondest wishes for you, your father, and the rest of your family.

Actually, it's my fault. This place has definitely gone downhill since I joined. I'm really sorry guys - it happens to every forum I join... PS There was a time when I really had a fire in my belly that I had to share with everybody. Now I don't really know that I have all that much to say most of the time but I still stop by, read the stuff that interests me, and occasionally add a post when I think I can help somebody or have something worthwhile to add. I still like the place and there a few people on the forum that I think are very special.

More than those who "believe", IMO... One of my favorite authors but I don't think I'd want his life. Ironically, despite a life of complete indulgence in and addiction to drugs, alcohol, and sex, he lived to the ripe old age of 83. Naked Lunch remains one of the funniest and most politically scathing novels of the 20th century, IMO.

Slightly off-topic - I used to love fly fishing. I would always release the fish and use artificial flies. Nevertheless, a few months after starting Daoist meditation practice I stopped fishing. I could no longer derive pleasure from the act of torturing fish. To this day I still have no desire to do it... I personally do not believe that there is anything specific that one must do or say in your position, Trixie. If you feel genuine remorse and love for your victim, allow that to guide your future actions and that is all that can be expected of you.

Me too! Here's how my ShiYe taught me. Put enough Wu Long tea in Yi Xing pot to cover bottom with one layer (more or less) Boil the water and let cool briefly. Pour into pot then immediately pour out and discard (rinse the leaves to clean and get rid of some caffeine). First round: Fill again and steep for ~ 45 seconds - pour into serving vessel Share with friends Second round: Repeat, steeping for ~ 60 seconds Third: Repeat, steeping for ~ 90 seconds Fourth: ~120 seconds Times will vary with type of tea, temp of water, size of pot, and so forth. Yum!

The best time to practice is when you have time to practice. I made the mistake of trying too hard to standardize my meditation routine to early morning. I got attached to the idea of having to do it early so when I couldn't do it early it caused stress and it really had a negative impact on my practice. When I let go of that expectation, I found I was practicing with more regularity and in a more relaxed fashion and now, magically, it's easier to find time and motivation to do it early in the mornings...

7h2uL8lk2lM&feature=related And 25 years later... yrrBtAahALU&feature=related

John McLaughlin! I've loved his music since I was a kid. In addition to being one of the best musicians alive (IMNSHO) he's got an extensive background in Eastern spirituality and is currently into Chan poetry. In case you can't tell, I've been into playing the guitar a bit lately... O127hEVA9G0&feature=related

IMO there is no need to try and attach words or concepts to it. The experience is/was beyond words and thoughts and ideology. The mind's job is to try and reduce reality to verbal packets for the purposes of communication and meeting our physiological needs. With such an experience, I see no advantage in doing so.

Some thoughts: As the mind quiets, it is natural for repressed ideas, experiences, emotions, and so forth to surface. Ignoring them and detatching from them simply represses them yet again and they will continue to recur and plague you. There are lots of tricks and methods for making them "go away" but they are still there - they will always be there. They are a part of who you are - hard wired into your nervous system. The longer they are repressed, the stronger they become. My approach has been to embrace and accept them. Stay with the feelings and thoughts. Look deeply into them to see what they arise from and who it is that is experiencing them. It's a major undertaking but only through deep and very serious exploration/observation of yourself and all of these fragmented and buried components of yourself can you expect to find peace. It is not really important to analyze these things as there is only so much that the brain can "understand" about feelings but it is important (IMO) to acknowledge, observe, and accept it all. Approach it with love and endless patience as if for a stray dog or a suffering child. Once you clearly recognize this movement under the surface of who you think you are, then you may find liberation and the freedom to act based on conscious choices rather than subconscious conditioning. If it becomes difficult to face yourself - seek out help. Hallucinations, be they auditory or visual, are also pretty common with deep meditation. Whether they are repressed thoughts, demons, immortals, ghosts, spirits, inorganic beings, dead ancestors, or yesterday's lunch really is irrelevant. My teacher has always emphasized the importance of remaining focused on the practice and not letting hallucinations interfere. They can be scary as hell - one of the reasons a teacher is important. As far as the physical pain, it may well be a physical manifestation of repressed anger and rage and other strong emotions that are socially unacceptable to express. If so, they should lessen once that fact is recognized and accepted at a deep level. On the other hand, if the pain persists it may be prudent to discuss your symptoms with a physician you trust to reassure yourself that it's nothing potentially more harmful. I hope that makes some sense and is of some value. I recognize that some of these things are contradictory and paradoxical. I also think it's critical to practice under the direct guidance of an experienced teacher. This stuff can be very tricky to handle without that support.

Judaism - The Five Books of Moses and the Talmud Hindu - Bhagavad Gita

It's wonderful to me how closely this ties in to what I consider to be the fundamental teaching of Daoism - Wu Wei. Let go of the "I" who is doing, becoming something, wanting, planning, and so forth. When that is gone, everything that happens is just the happening - Dao - unsullied by the illusion of a separate being.

You need as many practices as it takes to convince you that you already have everything you need, surrounding you right here and right now. It's not the practices that count but what you do between the practices... Enjoy!

Something that might be of value, if not, please ignore - The rest of your life doesn't exist - only now exists. Rather than worry about what you're going to do in the future, why not take a walk? Smell the smells, enjoy a sunset, drink a cup of tea - only really be there with whatever it is you are doing. If you are able to do that, a moment of mindfullness is every bit as meaningful as a lifetime of cultivation. The rest of it will work out the way it is supposed to. The universe will provide exactly what you need. Good luck

I think you'd like Tai Ji for a while but I wonder if you can put "you" aside for long enough to really dig deep enough. And to be honest, it's not for everyone but you certainly don't loose the emotional connection. One of the most difficult things for me about becoming a teacher was navigating the relationships with the other instructors and the students - you get very connected. Pushing hands and working the two person drills can really be awkward as well due to the emphasis on sensitivity when interacting with other people. I genuinely appreciate your vote of confidence in my teaching ability based on nothing but my words - if we get a chance to meet I hope my response to your punch doesn't disappoint!

Skeptical attitudes about Tai Ji Quan's martial potential and training methods are widespread for good reason. It looks like there's a lot of hocus pocus to the beginner and intermediate student. In addition, lot's of Tai Ji Quan programs and teachers don't understand the true martial methods and basically pull postures out of the form and apply them as one would with kung fu or any other martial art - that's not Tai Ji Quan. Your questions are worth answering for me because, as I said above, teaching is what helps me to understand at a deeper level. So, like it or not, here are some of my ideas: I won't show you how to apply TJQ to all of your movements. I'll teach you a set of exercises and a method of practicing them and the principles to be mindful of during your practice. If you are diligent, over a period of a few years you will gradually develop skill in utilizing the principles of Tai Ji in your Quan. A critical part of the method that is used in all schools of TJQ is form practice. The form is a key component to the training method. Practicing the form with careful attention to certain principles (found in the Tai Ji Classics of the various schools) is how you develop the integration of awareness, intention, and physical movement. The specific postures don't matter at all but the way one moves into and out of them as well as attention to details like balance, posture, muscle tension, yi, and so on... are critical. The reason the specific martial postures are used in the form is because those postures do become useful later, after the Tai Ji principles become firmly seated in your body. The form is also good for conditioning the body but that is not the primary purpose from a martial perspective. The form is not martially useful as a form. It is a brilliant method for developing a quality of movement and awareness in the practitioner. To master the martial movements, there are many other training techniques - solo drills, two person drills, strengthening exercises, flexibility exercises, neigong, meditation, and so on. The form, however, is the foundation. If the student has martial interest I will often do a little martial demonstration to show it's potential but I don't dwell on that in the beginning because it's more distracting than useful. There is no way to teach real Tai Ji using a short cut. It's a long path (side bar - Tai Ji Quan used to be called long boxing. Since it's a short range fighting method there are conflicting explanations for that name. I think it was called long boxing because it was such a slow training method but I could be totally wrong about that). Tai Ji Quan is more experienced and discovered by the student than taught by the teacher. As a teacher, I can teach the form, drills, principles, and so forth. The only way the student will ever learn "real" Tai Ji Quan is by diligently training using methods that don't appear on the surface to be effective in the beginning. I could tell you exactly how to do "real" Tai Ji Quan in about 10 minutes and that knowledge would be of no value - you'll never figure out how to make it work without putting in the "10 years of time, money, and suffering." If you do the drills and practice the form while mindful of proper principles, you will eventually discover the physical feeling and method of Tai Ji Quan movement. If you want a quick method of fighting, try Muay Thai, BJJ, or Krav Maga - all very effective and you can get pretty good pretty quickly. It's a lot different than sneezing or boxing but a little bit like sweeping the floors, in fact. Tai Ji Quan is a method of fighting that empasizes the use of sensitivity, awareness, sticking, yielding, neutralizing, and hitting with short force (fa jin). You attach to your opponent, stick to them, follow their movement, and capitalize on their mistakes from very close range. It utilizes a lot of joint locks, sweeps, take downs, and strikes using the skills of proper posture and timing. It's a bit like Aikido. If you separate from your opponent you have no choice but to use hits and kicks as in other martial arts but that's no longer the Tai Ji method. One of the martial principles of Tai Ji Quan is: Zhan, Nian, Lian, Sui, Bu Diu Ding which translates something like: Stick, Adhere, Link, Follow, Do Not Go Against Or Separate I hate to be the one to break this to you but it's also possible that they were celebrating...