doc benway

I'm in! It looks good.

No, but they will trample sometimes...

I think he is talking about attachment...

I would suggest that one of the five excellencies be compassion.

I'm still not in complete agreement on this and I think it's important enough to continue to discuss. It's probably a semantic issue more than anything but worth clarification, IMO. I recently had a long discussion with some of my students about exactly this point. What is the waist? How does that differ from the hips? Anatomically, there is no waist joint. The waist is the junction of the spine and pelvis. When we say that we move from the waist, what we really mean is movement of the lumbosacral spine which includes flexion, extension, lateral bending, and rotation. If the hip joints do not move, the pelvis does not move and motion of the waist without the hips will all be focused on the spine. The Chinese refer to the 'kua' which is not a discreet anatomical structure. It can be translated as hips or waist and when discussing the kua, the crease in the groin is often indicated. When the Chinese talk about moving the kua, it's my belief that this motion is a composite of movements in the hips joints and lumbosacral spine. The idea of keeping the hip joints immobile and moving from the lumbosacral spine (waist) is not something I teach or practice. Sure, there are times when I forcefully turn my waist to generate force such as in da lu. For the most part, however, the primary kua movements that we use for yielding and neutralization is motion of the hip joints moreso than the spine. I would agree with Stig's point that all joints must be song and fluid and coordinated with one another.

I have to disagree with this statement. Any power generated by the waist must be rooted first in the hips and legs. That is directly out of the Classics: "It is rooted in the legs, controlled by the waist, and issued through the hands..." The waist can never act independently of the legs, the waist is simply the articulation between the legs and the torso...

I believe you're both talking about the same reality - developing the yi to coordinate and connect (or string together as it's often translated) the joints and the entire body. This is the fundamental source of developing sensitivity, learning to yield, developing fajin power, and so forth. This is why all families of Taijiquan have in common the mindful and slow practice of form. You can only develop the yi and link it to the qi through very slow and diligent practice. This is also why Daoist meditation techniques are so valuable to the Taijiquan student.

Sounds like we're ready to tackle the next one! 34. It is due to illusion born of ignorance that men fail to recognise That which is always and for everybody the inherent Reality dwelling in its natural Heart-centre and to abide in it, and that instead they argue that it exists or does not exist, that it has form or has not form, or is non-dual or dual. I really like how he separates reality from the mind and thoughts here. He seems to point his finger at us and say 'stop thinking and debating and just be!' but we are always too busy with our important lives to just live...

Beautiful video.

I read a pretty convincing theory about him dying from the effects of a berry he was collecting that is edible during a part of it's life cycle but mildly toxic at other times. I think it was in Outside magazine (where the original story was published) and based on some forensic evidence collected and re-examined later. The effect led to him being unable to absorb nutrition from the food he was eating, or something like that. The book really didn't get into much of the spiritual/psychological side of things any more than the movie did. I guess that Krakauer didn't want to try and guess at his thought process, whether idealistic or pathologic.

BJJ and Taiji contain similar elements and principles - yielding, neutralizing, balance, leverage, joint locking. I think the two compliment each other very nicely. In addition, the softness of Taiji form practice is a nice balance to the intensity of grappling drills just like it compliments the martial and competetive components of Taiji training. To really round out a fighter, however, I think a striking art like Muay Thai or something similar is valuable.

32. Although the scriptures proclaim 'Thou art That', it is only a sign of weakness of mind to meditate 'I am That, not this', because you are eternally That. What has to be done is to investigate what one really is and remain That. I am constantly mystified at how he manages to capture things in words. The more I read this, the more it makes sense but how to say it any better or clearer than it's stated right there?

I can.... JK was, without question, one of the most profound thinkers of the age. I love his books. The cool thing is that once you get a sense of his approach and way of looking at things, you can develop it and explore it for yourself. It's a completely consistent "method." Ironically, he didn't believe in methods. Bruce Lee was a big fan of his - I wonder if that's where Bruce got his idea of style of no style.

I just finished reading Bones of the Master by George Crane. What a beautiful book! It's a factual story about an American poet who befriends a Ch'an Buddhist monk living in upstate New York and their adventures in translating poetry and traveling to Inner Mongolia. Highly recommended. If anyone has read it and wishes to comment or discuss, please feel free.

Look on the bright side guys and gals - TaoBums now has it's very own master of FU-LING-YU with all this joking around, I'm afraid Mak might be FU-ming right about now... (Sorry Mak - nothing personal, just having some fun)

I get a kick out of the FU humor around here. In fact, for my purposes the humor is more valuable than the FUs themselves (that's just me - I don't mean to demean FUs or thost that value them). That said - I find this forum (and others) a marvelous venue to cultivate myself. Whenever I react emotionally to a post or a poster, I find it a great opportunity to learn something about myself and to hone my skills and get closer to understanding myself. My reaction to Mak Ti Sin, Max Christensen, and so forth, teaches me much more about me than about them. I would challenge my fellow Bums to take the opportunity to use the posts and posters that bug you as a mirror of yourself. What is it about them that bugs you? What does that tell you about YOU? That is much more valuable than what it tells you about THEM... On the other hand, I could be completely full of shit - that's cool too! Just my $.02...

Daoist meditation uses a series of tasks or exercises which enhance the development of the "mind of intent" as my teacher calls it. It's quite a bit different than Zen sitting. It is a curriculum of progressively more challenging stages of development of this skill. This skill can then be used in a number of different ways. It's very useful in martial arts. It is associated with creativity. It is used to cultivate spiritual development. It also results in a connection with reality that is similar to that experienced in Zen sitting. In fact, some of the practice is just about identical to Zen sitting but that is only a small part of the curriculum that I study.

I'm glad you liked the book. Alan has a way of making the most ineffable concepts seem natural. He was a gem! I think what Ramana is saying is that there comes a time when the self falls away through constant inquiry into what it is, then the Self is all that remains. When that happens, you are still there and yet the you that is there is You rather than you... Does that make any sense? Once experienced, it is obvious. It's really nothing but a matter of perspective but intellectual knowledge is not the same as direct experience and from Ramana's perspective, the direct experience required the inquiry into the nature of the self.

One of my favorites of 2008 is: Ramana's 40 Verses on Reality Topic starter: Lozen

OK - there are two people with skin cancer. One is a farmer who works outside his whole life and devleops it from excessive sun exposure (melanoma). He has no choice but to do the work to survive. The other is someone who loves to suntan and goes to a tanning booth all year round, developing cancer due to something they did to themselves. Is their response to the Daoist cure going to be the same or different? Similarly, let's say I smoke a lot and get lung cancer and my wife gets it too from living with me. Will one of us respond to the treatment and the other not?

I know some good folks in the Baltimore area if that's not too far south for you.

I'll add a few more parlour tricks popular with the Taiji crowd: Withstand the push of 20 people. Knock people over without touching them. Bounce people far up and away into the air.

So that this big beautiful 'whatever it is' can be aware of itself and revel in it's wonders... We're supposed to dance while the music is playing, not wait until it's over and hope for an encore.

I think this is a good post and a good question that many of us come to. I don't consider myself an "-ist" of any particular flavor. Nevertheless, I would like to throw out some words about how one might reconcile "philosophical Daoism" with the need to believe in a higher power or God in the Abrahamic sense. First, I think it's important not to fight the deeply ingrained "belief" (I'd prefer to call it knowledge) that there is a higher power of some sort. You have that feeling because it is true. There is so much out there that is greater and more magnificent than us and what we can understand with our puny brains. All you need to do is look at the sky on a clear dark night or look at hummingbird or a mountain. And who knows what exists outside the realm of our very limited spectrum of sensory perception? A central theme of "philosophical Daoism" is the doctrine of wu wei. Go with, not against. The reason that wu wei is such an important concept is that it teaches and is a reflection of the "truth" that can be found at the core of all religious traditions. Namely, that God and man are one, nature and man are one, the universe and man are one, Dao and man are one. Man is an aperture through which the universe is aware of itself, just as is a fly and a dog and a tree. Creation is self aware through life of all kinds. The feeling of being separate is a consequence of our elegant thought process and sensory apparatus. A fundamental difference, however, is how God is taught to children. In the Abrahamic tradition, God is personified. "He" is a king, a lord, a judge, and so forth. "He" experiences and demonstrates human emotions like anger, love, kindness, compassion, wrath, and so on. Fascinating how God is portrayed as infinite and one but is male and has lots of human emotions... This is an intentional and useful technique to control children and those who choose to follow rather than investigate but it's a cheap trick and is seen through by anyone willing to dig into the mystical traditions of any of the major religions. It's my belief that Daoism (like Buddha) avoided talking or teaching specifically about the nature of God and reality because you can't say anything meaningful about everything. Where is everything located? What does it include? What does it exclude? What came before and after it? What color is it? It is what it is. It's like trying to tell someone how you beat your heart or digest your food. You do it every day, every second, and you can't say anything meaningful about it. Anything that can be said or taught about the nature of God is doomed to become an image for the people to try to cling to and become attached to so isn't it better just to drop it altogether? So the Buddhists maintain the noble silence and focus on the mind and experience. The Daoists focus, similarly, on self-cultivation and also put a strong emphasis on the connection between man and nature. Both of these methods de-emphasize the tendency to separate oneself from God which leads to worship and rather emphasize the living experience, a direct experience of God. Prayer does this as well but it's important to first get past all of the political BS that gets in the way. Anyway, I have no problem at all reconciling philosophical Daoism with the fulfillment that there is some magnificent, glorious power that encompasses all and is all. The only thing is, I'm such a puny little piece of it that it's true nature is not something I can ever capture or put into a concept or thought or book, no matter how complex. All I can do is open my eyes and ears and heart and revel in it every moment I choose.