Encephalon

I had my first complete microcosmic orbit today, thanks to some very sound advice I got in here, for which I am so bloodly grateful, and have been on Cloud 90 ever since. I picked my kid up from school and this is the song that came on. How perfect is that? Thanks folks. You know who you are. Sometimes, I feel the fear of uncertainty stinging clear And I can't help but ask myself how much I let the fear Take the wheel and steer It's driven me before And it seems to have a vague, haunting mass appeal But lately I'm beginning to find that I Should be the one behind the wheel Whatever tomorrow brings, I'll be there With open arms and open eyes yeah Whatever tomorrow brings, I'll be there I'll be there So if I decide to waiver my chance to be one of the hive Will I choose water over wine and hold my own and drive? It's driven me before And it seems to be the way that everyone else gets around But lately I'm beginning to find that When I drive myself my light is found Whatever tomorrow brings, I'll be there With open arms and open eyes yeah Whatever tomorrow brings, I'll be there I'll be there Would you choose water over wine Hold the wheel and drive Whatever tomorrow brings, I'll be there With open arms and open eyes yeah Whatever tomorrow brings, I'll be there I'll be there

Focused attention. I have found Thomas Cleary's translation from "Vitality, Energy, Spirit" to be very helpful, comprehensible, clear. He uses the image of a small snake winding its way up your spine from the coccyx. Getting through GV12 to GV16 is the slowest going, but the CV descent is really smooth, once I was able to deal with some throat chakra blockages. No hallucinations yet, no bouts of (above normal) mental illness. I still can't get over how my post-workout soreness has not manifested. It is the screwiest thing; as a personal trainer, I can't explain it. Almost 3 months of gentle nei kung and chi kung, hardly even any yoga, a few sessions of Tibetan rites thrown in, and then BAMM! I started throwing kettlebells around with my clients just like in the old days, and I should be sore as hell. I am completely mystified by this; my only explanation is the tension-dissolving effects of MO circulation. Am I completely deluding myself?

"Look at and into yourself very patiently and deeply - all those around you who would show you "the way" will only show you that, ultimately, you need to study yourself." Absolutely. And if they are truly sincere and qualified to be of any service to you in this endeavor, their compassion will also be evident. "If they show you anything other than that, they are wasting your time and very likely exploiting your confidence." And any alleged compassion will be revealed for it's transparency.

Amazing. I have to agree completely. You must be enlightened to be in such agreement with me. No, seriously, I think you got it right on all counts. Nicely done.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=206...id=abCN9aBVJIkg ... don't we have endocrine systems that can handle this kind of attack on our immunity? I for one am not going to run out and get a shot. I haven't had one for decades and I' ve been fine. Is this an incoming test for TCM?

http://www.harmonicsystems.net/buddhabell.html You can download a very handy meditation timer for your computer from this website. Payment is on the honor system.

I check out "Iron Shirt Chi Kung" from the local library. I notice it has a little water damage, but I say nothing (my first mistake) and assume that times are tough and they don't throw away books that are in less than perfect condition. I return the book and they slap a $27 fine on me for damages. The guy argues with me and is clearly not hearing my argument - we are both sticking to our own rationale - and I leave after telling him that it's not over. I also ask for the book back. We both agree that if I can find a cheap copy on Amazon, there is possible resolution. My fiance argues that I should have made a scene at the local library in order to get him to defuse the situation and give in. My argument, the desire for equanimity aside, is that I'd like to add the book to my own library, and maybe Amazon is the answer. How would you handle it? WWBD, or WWTD?

Take of population of 100 non-drinking, non-smoking people and give them both products. 1 will become an alcoholic, 10 will become nicotine addicts. Nicotine is fiercely addictive, and because smoking is actually a habit on top of the addiction, it is notoriously difficult to stop. You may need bigger guns than chi kung. Or maybe not. But don't kid yourself over how easy it could be to quit. Running, or better yet, ferocious, consistent mountain biking will gradually train your bodymind to become disgusted with smoking. And then you can graduate into the "Sanctimonious Ex-smokers Club!" Good luck. Be sure you quit before you turn 30.

Get a copy of "The Complete Book of Chinese Health and Healing" by Daniel Reid (Shambhala Pub.) It's not an exhaustive work on the subject, but it will give a good sense of how chi kung relates to the overall goals of Taoist and philosophy and the whole purpose for practicing it. "Scholar/Warrior" by Deng Ming-Dao is really informative too, and probably cheaper on amazon.

I interpret it as a piece of satire charged with pointing out the superfluous role that insurance companies play in the whole equation. I don't know exactly what has really morphed into the "public option;" notice that the term "universal health care" has been discarded in the bin of toxic Marxist terms. I do know that it will be far less generous to the public and more generous to insurance companies than a universal plan, and that's not by accident. Could it be $$millions spent on campaign contributions to senators and congressmen? Compensation for the insurance companies does not match their creative contribution to delivering health care. Why is this tolerated when government largess is demonized? Because someone is cleaning up, in my estimation. The health insurance industry has clearly outlived it's usefulness. There are other realities that call for the imechanism of nsurance.

Oh, I dare not!

I would recommend that you really focus on your breathing and then send my all your money and earthly possessions. This will really help. This is it, right here. The experience of feeling alive. You know, in another post where I was waxing pedantic and professorial, I brought up Neitzche's "will to power" as the prime motivator of human action. Fifty years later, Viktor Frankl said it was about the need to find meaning in life. Forty years later Joseph Campbell said "it is the experience of being alive " that people want more than anything. Chi-flow... that's the key. With chi-flow, you can spend a month with your mother-in-law and still feel it coursing through the carcass. Go East, young man!

My first reaction to your question was unreflective, unkind, and sarcastically ungenerous. So, I am a perfect example of why humans need to meditate. Meditation allows our nervous system to become sensitive enough to recognize just how vulnerable we are to our instincts and our conditioning. My unreflective reactions, according to Buddhist psychology, fall within one or more of the three poisons - referred to as delusion, hatred, and greed. These are the basic states of mind that live in the basement of our mental universe. They are just barely beyond our reptilian mode. The following behaviors that appear to us as cognitive functions turn out to be sub-cortical, behviors we share with reptiles. Selection and preparation of a home site Establishment of territory (domain) Marking and patrolling the territory Preference for certain places Trail making Foraging Hunting Homing Hoarding Ritualistic display in defense of territory Formalized intra-specific fighting in defense of territory Triumphal display in successful defense Assumption of distinctive postures signaling surrender Use of defecation posts Formation of social groups Establishment of social hierarchy by ritualistic display and other means Greeting Grooming Courtship with displays using coloration and adornments Mating Breeding Flocking Migration It appears we have a lot more in common with lizards than we thought, and when people call me an animal, as they often do, I take it as a compliment (Wade, Jenny. Changes of Mind:A Holonomic Theory of the Evolution of Consciousness. Albany:State University of New York Press, 1996.) All that behavior is instinctual. That doesn't include the continuous bombardment of environmental conditioning we get from commercial advertising, especially in a consumer culture, where the real function is to keep our appetites and instincts perpetually tweaked. $300 billion a year spent on commercial bombing of America. Think you're immune? Meditation trains our mind detect the patterns of unreflective thought the instant they take form, giving us an opportunity to think and act reflectively instead of reflexively. The three poisons of delusion, greed, and anger are transformed into the three pillars - Wisdom, Generosity, and Compassion. As I understand it, this is the argument for meditation as a basic necessity of cognitive hygiene. The pursuit of more enlightened states of mind would depend on this basic achievement. I'm not here to embrace or reject any definitions and practices of meditation, but the critical function is to enable the mind to calm down enough to pay attention. So much for Buddhism. They are the intellectuals of Asian thought, in my humble opinion. The Taoists are not so top heavy with intellectualism, and in fact thay tend to hold it suspect if it becomes overdeveloped. "Learning proceeds from simplicity to complexity, and then from compexity to simplicity." The Taoists begin with the body and regard it as central to the goal of personal transformation, as opposed to the Buddhists, who perceive the task as a more cerebral one . I'll side with the Taoists on this one. Their data set is so vast compared to those of other cultures that I spend every day wondering why it hasn't exploded onto the national stage. But I remain optimistic. Taoist meditation goes way beyond the function of merely calming the mind; the goal is ultimate harmonization of body and mind with the promise of even higher states of consciousness that could be achieved through mind alone. As I understand it, proficiency in the Microcosmic Orbit meditation paves the way for these higher states, so that's where my attention's at. Starting with the "Little Orbit" first, as defined by Trunk's website at http://www.precisiondocs.com/~altaoism/ was the best advice I've acquired in here. Nei kung, internal chi kung, sure helps too. www.neikungla.com And don't forget to Kill Your Television Yes. Meditation, the kind that wakes you out of your stupor, is necessary for self-realization. It will also keep you from being an asshole, although I haven't been entirely successful in that arena either.

Will Ferrel and friends have a great twist on Health Insurance companies. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/22/p...i_n_294406.html

Here's yer chance to really shine, to wax poetic and throw caution to the wind. No critical thinking, no advanced medical experience. Just tell us what it feels like when you exchange energy with the Earth. What was your experience of rooting? How did the sensations evolve? And if you don't exchange energy with the Earth, then kindly cop to yer non-Earth energy exchange situation and abstain from passing yerself off as a zen master.

Wow. I thought my childhood was colorful. "Healing Trauma" by Peter Levine offers a simple system using a specific somatic method. Levine is the real pioneer, at least in west. That's for the body. "Healing the Shame that Binds You", by John Bradshaw gives you the mental tools to get your head around traumatic, shame-based events so that you can begin to disempower their caustic impact. This is the book I should've read back when I quit drinking in early 80s, but I continued to ignore this critical healing phase and the work involved and ended up suffering a great deal more than necessary. I never had a backslide, but I did end up worshipping at the Bart Simpson Tabernacle of Underachievers. Shame is toxic. But naming something gives you some leverage over it. Good luck.

Agreed. And yet, the Supreme Court is going to reverse a decision that prohibits unlimited campaign contributions by corporations to politicians, meaning, that their sophistry will be unleashed even further, their ownership of politicians will be more absolute, and the public won'thave any chance at all of lobbying on their own behalf. Campaign finance reform was a real option at one time. The only way to turn this around is through public financing of campaigns with a significantly shorter campaign season. There is no other way you can get money out of politics.

That is, until they become so big, through mergers and acquisitions, that they obliterate competition, spend millions on lobbying and campaign contributions, and begin to actually author public policy in favor of their own interests. You know, it's one thing to bring up Adam Smith and the happy bedtime story of "The Invisible Hand," but Smith was pre-capitalist, and had no idea about the influence of monopolization, subsidization, and advertising. In fact, he already had some nasty things to say about the greedy bastards of his day. What do you think he would have thought of our era? Clinton's great gift to the media conglomerates in 1996 was to allow them to consolidate into ever fewer hands. The rationale for this argument was that it would lead to "competition" and everyone's cable bill would go down precipitously. So much for public ownership of the airwaves. News flash: Capitalism hates competition. It always has. And no amount of Reagan-esque mantra recital is going to change that. Sorry Joe. We're still buddies, right?

As a self-described Buddhist who also practices Taoist energy arts (nei kung), I just want to point out that Buddhism is not a monolithic voice. monolithic- characterized by massiveness, total uniformity, rigidity, invulnerability, etc.: a monolithic society. We are represented by a mulitplicity of views, practices, lineages. I would suggest that we all keep this in mind when indulging in our beloved conversations. I would also suggest that we try to stick to Taoism in this forum. I have brought up Buddhism on more than one occasion, but hopefully, in a way that is pertinent to Taoism. The two cannot be completely separated; their connections are vastly greater than their differences. But whatya say we cool our Buddhist jets for a while?

Very cool stuff so far. Thanks. On a nuts and bolts level, I have found that performing the deadlift probably does more for your physical self than any other single (weight training) exercise. I've done them for years and have assigned them to just about every personal trainer client I've had. There are entire books and workshops devoted to this one technique. Proper form is essential, as it is with every exercise. Feet must remain perfectly parallel - the distance between the balls of the feet and the heels must be the same. I ask clients to imagine large, one inch bolts coming out of their heels and extending into the earth. Pressing the energy through the heels is critical. I started a deadlift renaissance at my gym a couple years ago. Everyone who started practicing them saw all their strength and size factors go up significantly. It was very encouraging to witness. The literature devoted the role of weightlifting and getting grounded is sparse, but this lift will definitely give you a sense of treading consciously on the earth with balance and stability. Perhaps this is due to the fact that it makes you so strong, especially in your spinal erectors. There is a time and a place for everything, including strength training. This might be appropriate at some point in your life, and other times not. But for a recharge of strenth, and a palpable sense of groundedness, give them a shot sometime. http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/drobson101.htm

well... tell me what you really feel...

To test who is the best at their job, they decide that the first one to convert a bear wins. So, they each go into the woods. A little while later, they all get back. The priest say, "I talked to him and told him about God's love. He's getting his first communion on Sunday." The minister says,"I walked with him by the river, and when he accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior, I baptized him." They turn to the rabbi and say, "how did you do?" The rabbi, whose clothes are all ripped and bloody, says,"I shouldn't have started with the circumcision." I subscribe to the opinion that all three Abrahamic traditions - Judaism, Christianity, and Islam - have intoduced more strife into the psyches of human beings than the natural, earth-bound conditions ever presented. The Dharmic traditions (Hinduism, Buddhism among others) have had a better go of things, although they certainly haven't attracted the numbers that Abraham did. As a geographer, I indulge in geographical determinism, which means that local conditions of land/human relations figure most prominently, but not exclusively. Compare a religion that springs from an arid desert with one that springs from the lush and humid Yellow River Valley and... you get the picture. Anyway, we're all going to burn in hell, so BFD. Cheers! PS - Let's all get serious for a change and settle this issue once and for all; How many angels can really dance on the head of a pin?