boB

you & i - a twig dropped into a stream flows with the stream just like the you & i thoughts when meditating; it is the you & i that is bad for meditiation.

Hello Sue, sorry that you are going through the physical and mental pain described. You have received good advice above and you know your inner self enough that intuition should assist you in working through the best approach. As with myself there are several others that responded to you that have found some level of relief. I had pain that radiated from the top of my spine/base of skull into feelings which are hard to describe; like piano strings/wires pulling between my head, shoulders and upper back (ugly feeling). Well, tried Cranial Sacral work with some temporary results [human touch], massage with good results [human touch], Alexander Technique was some help, physical therapy with therapist that perform body work and council on exercise program [human touch], etc. etc. Now I go to an Acupuncture practitioner that has a Chinese masseur associate [human touch] at least twice a month. In general I have joint problems and take supplements and lite exercise to keep my body together and meditation for myself. Find you way.

mariawrites, the good thing is that you have brought it up and caused it to leave my shelf. I was given this copy 22 years ago by some dear friends. This translation also speaks to me, I think because my coming of age was in the the Southern California 60's and it seems to impart some feelings of that time but in a timeless way.

opps! see below

sorry to ask and excuse my ignorance; Please, I would ask you the context of the word locus in your poem. (I am not referring to plagues or swarms) More like control, influence, etc. I only ask because the word is new to me.

by whose standards would I determine ones reputation when my own reputation is always in question ~ now spurious stuff that may invade this site hopefully can be filtered out through some means.

What is Tao 'Alan Watts' Tao Teh Ching 'Lao Tzu' (Stephen Mitchell, Ursula K. Le Guin, John C. H. Wu, etc)

daily I drink lots of tea, may be to much, generally green tea as I am caffine sensitive. I will get some boo's for this, but I mix Starbucks 'China Green Tip' with a White Tea. Also Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf (western USA) has some better teas, like lung ching dragon wheel, Jasmine Pearl, etc. I actually blend the lung ching with their genseng/peppermint. I always let my tea cool to luke warm which I think works with green teas. That is my day to day, morning to night, non ceremonial tea routine. I will have a sip and say good night.

"unguided and screwing my reality up" in many cases one beginning medition, as well as persons with medition experience, need to observe the screwing up reality that distracts. Monkey mind, observe it - don't hold on to it, be aware of it, but don't hold on to thoughts, they will hold on to you and try to trick you into not letting go. Passively observe this process all the time letting go. The breath is most important, don't force it, this was mentioned above, along with other good advice. Guided medition to me is a technique using an external person, recording, sounds, etc. to lead/assist/guide one in/thru a meditation. It is a means not an end. More than enough info on meditation exist, it is the "monkey mind" that MAY be "screwing things up" observe (don't judge) its antics while letting them go.

Greetings, I am boB. Here for the first time. Funny how we are brought to a place at the right time, I am not saying this is the right place, but from what I see here I feel drawn to find out more. Now I will have to figure out why I am here. Anyway not sure why I just wrote the above. Thank you for being here and I hope to learn and may be make a contribution to the group mind.