doc benway

Saruman Q: Who controlled the Lord of Rohan?

freaky styley

Stank!

wash over your soul my beloved promises a life of pure bliss

Groucho

learning never ends so unlearning must begin it feels like cool rain

Should be done

Sure

The noise in our head and body is a good distraction from underlying mental issues. Meditation, standing, etc... do not cause harm but they certainly can unmask underlying issues and allow them to express themselves. The longer they've been repressed or suppressed and the more frightening, painful, and serious they are, the more damage they can cause us. I recently read about a young lady committing suicide after a Goencke style vipassana retreat - heart breaking. My Dao teacher taught us that meditation is important in part because it allows us to expose and address repressed toxicity under controlled and supported circumstances while we are young and healthy and prepared to deal with it all. Otherwise it all comes out towards the end of life or while we are in a compromised and vulnerable state when we are less able to deal. This may be one reason why there are so many suicides in the elderly.

In my opinion there are few practices that are safer than zhan zhuang, if practiced properly. In my Daoist tradition, standing is the foundation of most other practices, be they martial or spiritual. It is extremely simple and with a relatively small amount of guidance and support, one can easily become one's own teacher. The body and mind become the teacher and all we need to do is simply make adjustments to the posture of mind and body when they deviate. This is fairly easily recognized with a small amount of guidance. The concern here is "some issues I was having, and I was recommended to stop all internal work for some time to get things in order." Zhan zhuang does increase our sensitivity to and awareness of the experience of mind and body. The more still and quiet the mind and body become, the more we open ourselves to reactivity to the experiences of mind and body. Any underlying imbalance, suppressed or repressed mental and emotional content, physical sensitivities all can become magnified and in rare cases harmful. That said, properly practiced zhan zhuang can be a remedy for many of these very problems. One simply needs some support and guidance to make sure they deal with any problems properly as they come up. So the answer to your question, from my perspective is a qualified yes. Zhan zhuang is quite safe but it is important to be aware of whatever "issues" are present and one needs to be prepared to seek support from someone (be it a teacher, a therapist, a healer,...) if problems arise.

I often notice emotional shifts with no obvious source. Emotion is energy, energy is movement, it is natural for emotions to wax and wane. When we see a reason, that is fine and we can address it or not. When we do not see a reason, that is equally fine. It is enough to feel the emotion fully, knowing it is a transient life experience. No matter how bad I feel, I know that if I give it some time I will feel better. No matter how good I feel, I know that if I give it some time I will feel worse. Just the natural ebb and flow of feeling.

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Whatever we call it, sometimes adding more labels and analysis just solidifies our view and perspective. The mind can’t often solve its own riddles. My practice is to be aware of whatever it is you are experiencing. Don’t suppress, analyze, or engage. Leave it as it is. In time it releases, it cannot sustain itself. Deepen a relationship to what remains in the instant it dissolves. That is the true source of healing.

Borges!!! His Dark Materials - loved it Another favorite of mine - Naked Lunch William S Burroughs

My earliest were Verne - Journey to the Center of the Earth, From the Earth to the Moon, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea HG Wells - War of the Worlds and The Time Machine Mind blowing for a child

Hated: Foucault’s Pendulum and Radix

Pool

I personally feel that this is precisely the way toward that “bigger” truth, no other way really, IMO.

My approach is to look at whether there are rules that I personally must abide by to live a good life. An authentic life is one guided by one’s core values. We can not determine values for each other, only ourselves. Certainly there are guidelines for behavior that help promote a peaceful and stable community, the mods are focused on what those are to help this community flourish, but I don’t think these are absolute. Killing and stealing are usually “wrong“ but there are exceptions.

My take... In Buddhism and Bön, there is a teaching known as the Two Truths. It says that there is both a relative truth and absolute truth, both of which are valid. The relative truth relates to the validity of everything we see, feel, know, and think in our lives framed in the dualistic nature of our life experience. I am me, you are you, I see and feel things, I am separate from those things, I am separate from you, I have likes and dislikes, I am born and I will die, things are solid and tangible, all of that. The absolute truth refers to the perspective of the non-dual nature of being that may be accessed through our practices. The absolute truth is that while all of the dualistic experiences we have are real and valid to the subject, they do not tell the whole story. The way things are is different than they seem to our selective and limited sensorium and intellect; and this absolute nature of abiding precedes or transcends labels, conceptualization, and intellectual understanding. It can be grasped or understood, only glimpsed and realized through direct connection. While the two seem opposed and contradictory, they are both equally valid and critical to realize when we begin to dance between the two in our practice and in our lives.

When you say Kunlun, are you referring to Max Christensen's stuff? FWIW, my own feeling is that mixing too many practices and paradigms robs us of the opportunity to experience the deeper benefits of any of them. It's not just about water and fire which, in my experience, are not nearly as different or separate as some seem to perceive. The two are alway present and inseparable in my actual experience of practice. Internal practices, as a rule, only bear fruit when one really engages deeply and consistently over a long period of time. It's not about how much we know, it's more about how deep we go. These practices are not so important in and of themselves, they are simply a support to exploring ourselves and ultimately encountering a far more subtle and pervasive sense of self and its relationship to other. Just some ideas to think about from someone who has dabbled in a few different areas and has found that settling into one and sticking with it was the only meaningful way forward.... for me. At the end of the day, I can only really speak for myself.

Got ya covered...

My pleasure... I, my family, my loved ones, and my dogs in particular are humbled by your gratitude...