RyanO

The one and only

Haha, I feel like I'm back in grammar school too! Seriously, pure E Prime seems sooo difficult. I substituted "is" with "seems" in that last sentence, and I see how E Prime helps one to not speak in absolutes.

This E Prime stuff intrigues me. It seems rather difficult but I will try my best! The spiritual implications of what something "is" become very apparent. It reminds me of an Osho talk I heard where he spoke about how many 'relationships' fail because nouns stagnate, whereas a verb like 'relating' keeps things fresh. After much difficulty writing this post, I fear I will have to bow down from this experiment for the moment but support the spirit of it.

Oh yeah, duh. Slip on my part. So yes, I have the ebook and the Bingsong video and recommend them.

Edit: Sllllllip!

I'm not sure how many of you are familiar with the book Getting Things Done (GTD), but it's an amazing, complex system for the 'art of stress-free productivity'. It's been pretty popular on the internet. The problem is it can be too complex. I stumbled upon a great site a while ago called Zen Habits. Some of you might be familiar with it. The author has a book called Zen To Done which presents a simpler version of GTD. It's really cool and has helped me a ton with creating a smooth productivity system and overcoming procrastination. You can actually gather most of the info from the blog, but the book puts it together neatly. I'm not trying to sound like an advertisement and I'm in no way affiliated with this person/site. I'm just sharing something that has been extremely helpful for me. If one person benefits from this post it'll be worth it. Let us know if you check it out and what you think. Also if you have your own system feel free to share. If you're interested I'll be glad to explain my modifications/system. Here's a link: http://zenhabits.net/2007/04/zen-to-done-ztd-the-ultimate-simple-productivity-system/ Peace, -Ryan

Cool Mal thanks for the link. What Pietro is talking about is definitely a benefit that I've noticed, and also why I chose to create this thread. Having an efficient productivity system has been extremely helpful for my meditation practice. It gets all those nagging, energy wasting thought loops from the mind and onto paper. As I said, the problem with GTD is that can be too complex and hard to implement fully. ZTD is easier and more practical IMO, especially for your average person. Also, ZTD is the bare bones behind GTD. The GTD book is long and has a lot of fluff. Put all that together with the inherent spiritual intent behind ZTD and you have a recipe for a winner.

If the practice is done faster then it would be completed in a shorter period of time, since it is a specific set of moves. I have the Cheng Bingsong video and noticed this as well. Now I understand how they are able to practice multiple times a day!

I don't know any of you personally, but I just felt the impulse to express that I think this group and all who visit it are awesome. Topics such as spirituality touch deep emotional chords which makes it hard to not be offended/offensive, and while this board might slip into that sometimes , I think for the most part it does a wonderful job of remaining mature while having the freedom to discuss such controversial topics. I honor the divinity of all of you and wish you the best on your journey in this crazy thing we call existence.

Well like I said I read Rubbo's book so I can at least make that comparison. I respect your opinion and I guess we'll just have to differ. Personally, I feel that the Inner Smile is not a technique limited to one lineage. Perhaps just calling it the 'Inner Smile' is. It is basically a non-dual embrace of the perfection of things. Having an Inner Smile blossoms naturally from having an Empty Mind, which is a fairly universal concept.

lino: Curious what you mean by "transmuting myth".

Michael Winn's courses, it is true, lack production quality. He does use marketing tactics to sell more videos and he interprets things from his HT context. His teachings do have their shortcomings. He also has some pretty wacky ideas like about the Immortals, but is light-hearted about these things and doesn't emphasize them. What his teaching does have is Heart. Your point about him not teaching the internal side is incorrect. I'm not sure about the audio--I don't have it. But he went in depth about the internal aspects at his workshop. The most important aspect of the alchemical process is something that he does emphasize: the Inner Smile. It is the foundation of his teachings. This one practice alone can fuel the entire process. I have Rubbo's ebook and recommend it as well for the theory. I will also look into that video link you mentioned. But you're treating Winn unfairly here.

16 hours?!!! And I thought I was bad

squib and Enishi, I respect your opinions and think I see what you're saying. The problem with this book, as well as the problem with atheists like Dawkins, is that they tear down these exalted figures with a certain amount of glee, but then don't have much meaningful to add. It's easy to criticize, but much harder to create.

I think this is great advice. It is basically what the Inner Smile tries to accomplish. Softening and opening using heart energy. I think many people who fail with sexual cultivation don't grasp the power of the Inner Smile. It's a prerequisite in Healing Tao that many people gloss over...

Nice post. As an aside, I agree that the current Western psychiatric model has a ton of limitations. I think the advice to seek help is sort of a disclaimer that advice from a forum can only go so far. In person counsel is far better. Perhaps the first step would be not to see a psychiatrist, but a spiritually understanding licensed counselor.

That Tupac video is very interesting.

Hey balance, just wanted to say that I didn't mean that you thought of the emptiness state like that. In fact, your posting proves just the opposite. By 'common conception' I meant the average person who doesn't know much about this stuff. It's easy to misunderstand these terms. Peace, Ryan

Hi Art, I took the workshop last year and posted this thread about it: http://www.thetaobums.com/index.php?/topic/11946-primordial-qigong It was a great time and I had some very powerful experiences. It can get pretty advanced, but it is also good for beginners because it lays a good foundation. I agree with markern, practicing and developing some skill with the Inner Smile will definitely enhance your experience. As you can tell from my link, I didn't have any experience with the form before going to the workshop and learned it just fine. I don't have the audio courses, so I can't comment on those. I do know that the super package contains mostly Feldenkrais stuff, and an extra $80 for that seems kinda steep. It's my understanding that he will give you half off the audio course but only if you buy them at the workshop. Hope this helps! -Ryan

I like how you refer to the I Ching as a "her" and personalize the relationship. While I'm still in the skeptical camp regarding divination, I think your organic approach has a beautiful quality about it . It reminds me of my own relationship with the universe in general.

I think the issue is less about sexuality and more about hypocrisy.

To clarify. Are we fundamentally guilty? Abrahamic traditions: yes. Other religions: no. Big ramifications.

Hi Edward, very interesting topic! As you can see, you will probably not find many who agree with your perspective here But it's good to bring up nonetheless This is because I think the doctrine of original sin is what separates the Abrahamic traditions from most of the other world's religions. I think most people don't understand the significance of this topic, particularly liberal Christians. If the doctrine is true, this has HUGE ramifications for the way we should think and behave. Original sin is basically a solution to the problem of pain. It is clear that if God is all-powerful and all-loving, as we define them, then something is amiss. For Christians, it's that we disobeyed God. According to Christianity, evil and pain are our fault. I am not a Christian and I think this doctrine is too easy and false. Religions have various answers/solutions for the problem of evil. For the Eastern traditions, the problem is more complex. Many schools of Hinduism and Buddhism have Maya, that the material world is an illusion and clinging to that illusion is what brings pain. My own view is that there is no such thing as good or evil, only imbalance. Pleasure and pain are two sides of the same coin. We are children of Nature (the Tao) and are created to seek pleasure. But from Nature's perspective, pain is just as necessary and holy as pleasure. It is simply our dislike for Nature's rules that we create fabricate dogmas like original sin.

http://www.strippingthegurus.com/ Let's not limit this to Sai Baba, shall we? No one is safe!!!