Maddie

Hey Dawg It's been a while since I've seen you post on here, but I have a question. When you began doing the "buddho" meditation how much resistance did your mind throw up against doing it? Did the monkey mind arise in protest? Did you have times where things got very "loud"? If so what did you do? simply persist? Matthew

I was wondering if anyone had much experience with testicle breathing. I ask because I've noticed from personal experience that if I draw the energy up to my head and leave it there that my physical desire my lessen but my mental desire is strong. Is. This the result of having sexual energy in your brain?

I want to know more about the attributes associated with the lower dan tien other than simply energy storage. For instance they say the middle dan tien relates to emotions, and the upper dan tien to perception. So what about the lower dan tien, what are its attributes emotionally, mentally, ect.... ???

Hey Dawg Thanks so much for the feedback and advice. In regards to the woman issues. I had been taking a break from that whole arena for a while. Now that I have decided to explore that avenue again I've noticed that it seems like no matter how often or long I observe it in meditation (so far at least) that it does not subside like other things that I observe in meditation. My hunch is that its just a large issues so may take more time, but nevertheless the last time I actively was in the dating world I became rather obsessed wtih it, and don't want to do that again. If I observe other character traits in meditation the typically subisde after a little while of looking at it. This has been going on for almost a month and no matter how much I observe it, it remains. Any advice? Matthew

Hey Dawg Thanks for answering my questions. Now I have a few more haha. 1. About feeling "weird". I guess I should have explained what I meant by feeling "weird" better. I don't feel weird in relation to society (I live in Austin, its hard to feel weird here haha). What I meant was that sometimes after meditating for a while I'll feel weird to myself as in "different" .... its very difficult to put into words. I guess the best way to put it is that I'll just feel a little "off". 2. In regards to finding a woman, this is something that I have been confused about for a while now. I know the monks do not get involved with women since they are seeking enlightenment. If I wanted to reach enlightenment would a woman be a distraction from that? On the other hand I must admit I do have that desire, and its not just for the sex, but for the companionship aspect of it (which really isn't much of a shocker since most people want that type of thing). So I find myself in the quandary of trying to figure out if I should keep staying single and meditate enough to eliminate that desire or to meditate in order to better understand exactly what kind of woman I really would want. 3. Also I've been trying to implement your advice about meditation but I still find my mind wondering often. Thanks Matthew

Yes I've also been coming to a greater realization of the importance of taking the cultivation habits from meditation practice into every moment of daily life. Being aware of what you are thinking and feeling throughout the day as it unfolds.

This has to be with out a doubt the best post ever written on this forum! Though I do have a few questions and difficulties that I would like some help with. 1. Meditation. I've noticed that my meditation life seems to go through cycles. For a while meditating for a long period of time seems easier than at others. During the difficult times I seem to feel very distracted and no matter how long I sit there breathing saying "Buddho" to myself its very hard to get my mind to quiet down. Other times I'll meditate for a while and feel very peaceful and still afterwards, but then there were be times that I'll meditate and then for a while after I will feel a lot of intense unpleasant emotions. Sometimes I can sit for a long period of time no problem, and other times I will feel very tired or sore, or feel that I want to be doing anything else but sitting in meditation. On a positive note I can say that for the past year (after a nasty break up) I've been trying to meditate as often as I can with my free time and not try to find another relationship. What I have noticed from that is that the inclinations of my subconscious that in the past would lead me into trouble (bad relationships mostly) is still there, but if I'm sitting and observing it as opposed to acting on it then at least it can't get me in trouble anymore lol. AND I'm becoming more aware that these non-beneficial thought patterns are there in the first place (awareness). 2. A question I have about your second to last note about communicating with deceased loved ones (as this is something I've been confused about for a while). My question is, I can understand being able to speak to them while they are in the ghost world, but after they reincarnate would you be unable to communicate with them anymore? 3. "Side-effects". Are there side effects from meditation? What I mean is that I'll noticed that sometimes I'll meditate and for a certain span of time (a few days or a week usually) I'll feel one certain way after meditating. Lately its been feeling very tired. Other times I'll meditate and feel all sorts of latent emotions come up. Other times it feels like my perspective on everything changes and everything feels "weird". *So to finish I'll sum up with the one point that I most want help with and that is what to do when its hard to meditate? Either feeling ill will about doing it in the first place, or having a hard time quieting the mind even after meditating for a while, or feeling "off" after meditating?

I was just reading about this in Buddhist cosmology and have been confused about this topic for the past few days. What I'm confused about is why would a god after dying go to hell (because this is what the article about Buddhist cosmology said happens often as well)? I don't understand. Also I was reading about the great length of duration of time spent in hell, and I'm confused about that as well. Why would an incarnation in hell be soooooo very very long?

Took the day off yesterday, but did the Zhunti mantra again this morning and felt nausea afterwards.

That's good to hear, but why do I feel sick after I do it lately?

I've noticed that for the past few days an interesting phenomenon when I do the Zhunti mantra. I'll do it and as I'm doing it become aware of many of my negative character traits and how they have earned me bad karma. Then afterwards I'll feel very tired (often have to take a nap afterwards) and even feel kind of sick (as in nausea, that weird "sick sweat" and just "off"). If this had happened just once I would have not paid much attention, but since this seems to have become a pattern I'm wondering what's going on?

Right I have the same dilemma as to how or if you say anything to them lol.

For the past couple days I've noticed occasionally looking at people and seeing segments of their timeline, either past or future. There is one classmate and this just happened with her and I saw severe trauma in her past, it was very disturbing. Does this come with the territory in the training?

Soak it for 30 min. Then bring the water to a boil. After reaching a boil reduce heat to simmer for 30 min. Drain the water, then add more water and simmer again for 30 min, and then drain that as well. Mix together and drink a cup twice a day.

Nevertheless does anyone use any yin/yang balancing methods?

I've noticed that if I do hold the ball at the middle dan tien/heart level it seems to stir up emotions and feelings. I don't notice so much if I do wuji, and I tried hold the ball at the lower dan tien and didn't notice a lot of stirring either.

Just curious if anyone does walking meditation as part of their practice? There of course is a lot said about sitting and standing meditation on here, but I've not seen as much about walking meditation. I've noticed the if my legs are hurting from sitting too long, or if there is a lot of sloth and topor or restlessness that walking meditation seems to help a lot. I've just been mentally saying "Buh" on one foot and "Doh" on the other foot, same as I would with the breath if I were sitting or standing. Anyone have any input or thoughts?

I realize this isn't exactly the point of this thread, but I was wondering if anyone does or knows of a qigong practice to balance yin and yang. I've found the organ meditations to be effective for the five elements. What about yin and yang?

But standing meditation is a good way to build up qi right?

Yea string theory kind of supports OM theory that everything is just vibration. So everything is just vibrating "string" and this is (hopefully) the unified theory of everything in that it successfully unifies Einstein's theory of relativity which explain how things operate on a large scale, and quantum mechanics which explains how things operate on a very small scale. The problem so far is that Relativity breaks down at the small scale and quantum mechanics break down on the large scale. The hope is that string theory is the answer at unification. Part of the theory is that there are multiple dimensions wrapped up in themselves at a very small scale. So yes string theory does support multiple universes or planes.

Where can one read more about this from a Buddhist perspective? haha that made me laugh so hard!!

That is definitely happening and its blowing my mind lately lol.

http://defnesumanblogs.com/ Apparently for about a week now protesters trying to save a city park in Istanbul are being assaulted by the police, yet there is no media coverage of this. Just trying to get the word out.

So is what your saying in a nut shell is that to really penetrate into what "self" is can really only be understood through meditation? I've noticed that at first meditation made everything seem quite and serene. Then it started to seem that I began to become more aware of just how busy my mind (ego)/ clinging are.

So standing meditation is a good way to build qi right? At least that's what I've heard. Usually I have a difficult time waking up in the morning, but I did ZZ last night before bed and waking up this morning was much easier. The weird thing was is that after doing it last night my right lateral thigh was very sore as though I'd been kicked there. Also since as of today I'm at day 57 of celibacy I'm contemplating what connection there is there and how that extra jing relates to the extra and regular channles in the legs (as far as filling them up).