doc benway

Funny how people love to shit-talk about TDBs but continue to show up nonetheless... It reminds me of the Howard Stern movie. In it they talk about his ratings. The people who hated him tuned in more often and for longer than the people who loved him. When asked why they tune in both groups gave the same reply - I want to hear what he says next!

Ba Duan Jin is my favorite qigong set. I learned several others but this one has always been my go to for health and healing injury and illness. I learned a set my teacher called Gu Shi Ba Duan Jin (ancient teaching of the 8 brocades). I'm not familiar with the resources you mention. There seem to be many variations on the theme.

ape-man hominids driving cars, reading papers nearly civilized

To be clear, attaching the mind/body to any “thing” tangible or otherwise is not the method I currently practice. In fact, it is counter-productive at this point for me. That said, I appreciate the clarification. Having some experience with Daoist methods I agree there should be no interference. I think that would make the program more palatable for some. The monthly fee is likely to be more off-putting than a periodic seminar fee. Good luck with the program. FWIW, I think this is a great opportunity for those interested in Daoist cultivation.

You may also want to reach out to the people at https://www.originaldao.com/. Quite a few former members of DaoBums with interest in Daoist cultivation gather there now. I'm also a bit surprised. I think the membership here now is relatively small. I also think that the percentage of people who are interested in reading and sharing their opinions on spiritual cultivation far exceeds the number who choose to put their money, time, and years of effort into it. I have a question which may benefit others here. I personally have a committed meditation practice. It is composed of quiet sitting in openness, what we call resting in our natural state. To support that I practice some energetic methods that are designed to clear the central and side channels - tsa lung, trul khor, tummo, and 9 breathings of purification. I also spent about 12 years avidly practicing Daoist cultivation in a school of the 崑崙仙蹤派. My question is - would any of this create a potential problem if I were to work with your practices? To be clear, I have no interest in faqi or martial application, only in openness and clarity in my life. PS - I think your pricing is very reasonable

I have no interest in participating or the extra work of maintenance and moderating. I don’t think there is much support among mods and active admin currently. One can always pray, you never know what the changing winds may bring.

Nice to see you around again 小梦想. I hope some of our members take advantage of this opportunity.

An upside down iceberg ... https://mymodernmet.com/alex-cornell-antarctica-flipped-iceberg/?fbclid=IwAR1bEuG0Y9M-o-zwMPeYtrJQV3UqBH3gXedYtgGEa366WllpRinEtdxE39U

The developing discussion about Fragrant qigong has been moved to this thread for anyone interested - Please keep this thread on topic.

It begins with being conditioned to craving approval from our earliest times in childhood. Approval of parents, siblings, teachers, employers, lovers, the list is endless. It’s subtle and pervasive in our patterns of behavior. This is a central focus of many talks by Father Anthony Demello - one of my favorite teachers.

Stay strong brother! 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽 Something I encountered recently that I found inspiring: Please never give up. It is the difficult circumstances that can make a great practitioner. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche

@Apech Loved this interview and both participants! He reminds me of my teacher very much. I appreciate you helping me to discover some of his gifts. Looking forward to checking out his films.

your peace, not your piece that’s disgusting, put it down this is rated G!

rickshaw

ONE WITH THE SKY ~Longchenpa "In the absence of an objective field, everything equalized, No discernable point of reference, no object and no order, can exist; The ground collapses, the path collapses and the goal collapses, And thoughts of good or bad, deviation and error, are inconceivable; ... "Committed to equalization, bound in the now, the universe resolved, Samsara and nirvana have reverted to ubiquitous spaciousness. The questions, 'What is it?' 'How is it?' lie unanswered. 'What can I do?' 'Who am I?' likewise, unanswerable! What can we do when all our certainties have vanished? We can only laugh outright at the absurdity of it. ... "The entire galaxy of delusory constructs, inner and outer, collapses And linear time melts in the now, self-dissolving, fading into space; Days and dates fade away; months, years and eons dissolve; The one and the many vanished, sacred and profane both clarified; The delusive ground of samsara and nirvana clarified in its innate spaciousness. ... "Even 'spaciousness', as an intellectually contrived entity, dissolves. Whatever we have practiced, however we strive, is useless now, And intellectual gall exhausted, what a great marvel is the sky— The pathless vagrant is one with the sky!" ..... "Within the one sole sphere without edges or corners The deluded mind holds ideas of unity and differentiation; Within the self-sprung awareness in the now without causes or conditions, What holds to the samsaric process is a luminous obstructing spirit; Within unlimited, nonspatial, spontaneity, Attachment to a determinate view is the devil of conceit; Within noncrystallizing emptiness free of substance and attribute Perverse intellect infers presence or absence, appearance or emptiness: Abandon the cage of determinacy and bias And know the nonspatial spontaneity that is like the sky!" .. ~"Spaciousness: The Radical. Dzogchen of the Vajra-Heart. Longchenpa’s Precious Treasury of the Dharmadhatu." Translation by Keith Dowman.

Thank you @Apech I did enjoy it. Two points, among several, that were especially poignant for me were: ’the entire Buddhist path is a placebo’ and ‘awakening is just a very sophisticated illusion.’ I’d love to meet him and have an opportunity discuss Dharma, film, and politics! Yours in Dharma, “steve on the internet”

I do the short ones most of the time, adding full prostration when inspired.

Dancing faeries cry Their homes in forests and hearts Now decimated

tortuous

@azurite Please check your message inbox. I will try to help.

Solaris had a profound impact on me as well. I didn't like the remake. My favorite Tarkovsy film is probably Andrei Rublev but they're all powerful and unique. While Stalker was a great film, I feel like it was more of Tarkovsky's expression inspired by the book. I got a better sense of the Strugatskys' actual story and intent from Roadside Picnic. For me they were very different. I watched the first episode of Katla a few weeks ago but haven't gotten back to it yet.

The recent discussion brings to mind for me the koan attributed to Linji Yixuan: If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him! I won’t get into my own interpretation as I think this, one of my favorite koans, is rich and multi-layered but I think it gets to the heart of the discussion from a Buddhist perspective.

Let’s build something new A loving and supportive Cyber-family

Kumbaya