forestofclarity

It seems to me that illness and negative emotions are symptoms of imbalance, whereas physical and mental health are a sign of greater imbalance. I wouldn't say that negative emotions cause illness--- that is likely due to a number of causes, such as poor nutrition, air quality, lack of sleep, the presence of viruses, brain chemistry etc. But certainly negative emotions will make one more susceptible to these things. The problem is, you cannot just alter your emotions like you can your diet. It takes a lot of disciplined work over a long period of time in connection with a proper source of teachings.

I watched the Foundations video. Thanks. I knew almost nothing about the Yijing, and what little I knew is evidently wrong (or influenced by those damn Confucians!) Thanks, I'll check it out.

The whole medical thing is an ongoing issue for me. Personally, I don't trust modern medicine-- and not because of the science behind it, but rather the rushed aspect and over-reliance in my mind on drugs and surgery. I also don't think most doctors take the time to properly assist us with resolving issues. Of course, it is difficult given the complexity of the human body. Finally, it is so body centered. TCM, from what I can tell, is actually fairly new having largely been modernized by the Party in the 1950's/1960's to provide cheap health care to a large population. I wonder how much efficacy got lost in the process. It is one thing for a practicing qigong/neigong person with first hand experience of the internals to use it in medicine, but I'm not so sure about the modern sterilized version. In addition, I hear that some aspects, such as pulse reading, are too hard for many people to learn and apply properly. In addition, it is very holistic, so I doubt the quick treatment model is the way to go. Of course, there is the modern medicine version of acupuncture, which cuts out even more and essentially reduces the whole thing to poking pins in bodies. There are certainly a lot of TCM schools/doctors/practitioners in my neck of the woods, but if I had to guess, I'd bet like qigong most of what is out there is fairly worthless.

Are there any good online Yijing courses? I'd like to learn more about it, but don't want to read a bunch of books.

If you’re exercising discretion and acting from a place of compassion, both for oneself and others, then of course not. And I would suspect such a one would take other actions to minimize the spread, i.e., to do one’s part.

The issue is that our actions affect other people. In an interdependent world, there's no such thing as an independent action. If some one has a valid, society-centered set of arguments why we should not be vaccinated, that is one thing. But if we're thinking that our self-interest trumps the communal interest, that is another thing all together.

I'm not saying this to be argumentative, but why would people question the narrative if there is no rational alternative offered? And if offered, shouldn't we also subject the counter-narrative to the same questioning?

I think everything is kind of like that. The trouble with English is that it is very thing based. Evidently, in classical Chinese (according to scholar/practitioner David Hinton), any noun can also be a verb, and vice versa. So even a table can be a tabling, which makes sense as everything is in a constant state of flux. And perhaps from a Taoist point of view, the attempt to solidify the world interferes with the underlying energetic flow of all things, and leads to stagnation. The more nouny the ego, perhaps the less efficiently it can function. Just riffing here.

COVID death is only one COVID related metric. Others are ongoing medical issues, i.e. "long haul COVID." Plus, collapsing the entire medical system has vast second order effects. How many are suffering and dying because the hospitals are overwhelmed, the medical staff is exhausted, etc. I don't really see a lot of death images in the West. I feel we do everything in our power to deny its very existence.

There's a koan for that: Some one asked Layman Pang if the practice of the Way was difficult or easy. "Difficult, difficult," he said, "like trying to cover a tree in sesame seeds." "Easy, easy," said his wife, "just touching your feet to the ground when you get out of bed." "Not difficult, not easy," said their daughter, "On the hundred grass tips, the ancestor's meaning."

I’m not an expert, but it doesn’t look connected and smooth like qigong usually does. The body looks disconnected. It looks kind of made up actually. Just my opinion though.

How did it work for you?

I thought it was VERY on point. I respect the decision not to keep it up, though.

Usually, one of two things happen when people teach themselves energy work: nothing or they often mess themselves up. This stuff is pretty serious.

My basic impression is that Tibetan internal practice is very square and fiery. It involves holds, locks, strong intention, etc. It also tends to generate a lot of heat, which is helpful if you live in Tibet. Qigong (as I've learned it) is largely the opposite: no holds, no strong intention, no stops. It is more fluid, flowing, and circular. Personally, I like Buddhism for the mind, and Taoism for the body.

To be fair, people don’t often react with prejudice and violence to my mere bodily existence, so it’s a little easier to be forgiving. No doubt we mean very different things by the term “enlightenment.” But of course, many people subscribe to #2.

Unless it involves guns and pickups? Or being anti-abortion?

I looked through the book briefly, but it seems that the first part is to "charge up" so to speak, and the subsequent parts are directing or using the energy. Not sure if this means you have to go through this every time--- the book wasn't that detailed.

Did you try it out? No sex?!?!?!

this happened to me just this morning. I was doing a practice, and "remembering" how it was easier doing it in the old days out of a cave. Nice to hear this happens to others. But this is a good point--- we often assume the Western perspective: one life, one body, one set of memories. But if there is a whole karmic mass of past habits, then even in Western form we might be more Eastern. Taking one life is a very, very narrow view.

From a spiritual perspective, I think there are some major "foolish" stages some of us often pass through: 1. Not having a teacher. Most of us start out here in the West/modern world. We can be very "do-it-yourself." 2. Having a bad teacher. Having bad teachers is a source of wisdom, and having bad teachers help you to realize what to look for in a good teacher. 3. Having a good teacher but not following the directions. Like dying of thirst next to a pure lake. 4. Having a good teacher, following the directions, but not trusting that the fruition will come.

The evidence of post-death states (thukdam) in spiritual masters really helps in inspiring my practice. Interestingly, this happens in all religious traditions.

Damn, sorry to hear that. But glad you obviously have developed the skills to cope with it (or so it seems from here).

Interestingly, one can look at this from a Buddhist POV through the three interpretations of the Pureland: 1. The Pureland is where you go after death. In this view, one would focus one's efforts (or non-efforts) on attaining this Pureland. 2. The Pureland is the mind. In this view, the Pureland appears when the mind is no longer clinging and grasping. One's efforts (or non-efforts) are focused there. 3. The Pureland can arise on earth. From this view, we need not wait until death nor until enlightenment to at least create a semblance of the Pureland here and now on earth. So if one is more inclined to #1-2, then one would expect one's teacher to stay clear of politics. But if one is inclined to #3, then I would certainly expect the teacher to have and even express political opinions. Personally, I don't mind a teacher's political leanings (left, right, center, non-) unless they support populist authoritarians. But usually, if a teacher is over-involved in politics, I am suspicious. Politics has a very "othering" tendency that I feel is incompatible with the spiritual path. But I agree with LL--- I usually go to a teacher for their particular expertise.

"One who teaches oneself has a fool for a student." --- Lincoln Tzu