RiverSnake

You got a lot of good advice Jack, i'll just give my 2 cents. I agree with de_paradise. When we switch to different practices we tend to get immediately results from the new practice exactly as when we first started the previous practice. However, IME its never good to make decisions when we are emotional. Find a place of clarity and peace and make one's decision. Also my understanding is that there are "Fire Practices" and "Water Practices". Water practices flow into the deepest recesses of oneself and heal in subtle ways that we are not even aware of. Fire Practices can often be more forceful and burn through blockages at a rapid pace and as a result we will get more "fireworks" and "experiences". Both practices have a place and different people are drawn to different practices due to their different dispositions. IMO fire practices can be very helpful if we need to burn through a stubborn nugget or block that we are having trouble with and that water practices would take a lot longer to dissolve. Fire practices can be very beneficial in the short term but to really go deep and heal the deepest depths of ourselves water methods are best. Much of my thoughts and ideas on this topic come from reading Bruce Frantzis Water Method. Ideally we want a practice that is balanced. Hope this helps. -My 2 cents, Peace

Ants often gather in my sink and i'll need to wash my wands...i don't want to kill them so i'll either wait for them to leave or go to another part of the house to wash myself. I don't like killing anything either.

I think the personality is always flawed because it is something material. But we are not our personality even though we act through it. Just my opinion -My 2 cents, Peace

All my experiences with meditation has taught me that Emptiness is a good thing and brings greater clarity into ones life...thus emptiness meditation. Whether he is enlightened or not i think he is onto something. -My 2 cents, Peace

Ahh man you guys missed my favorite: Jack Black!

Good stuff. Bump.

I agree with CT: bowing for me has been a very powerful practice for purification. Whenever i see or feel limitations within or without myself or any attraction or aversion...i simply bow my head and say: "Thank you teacher." Next time the fear comes up try it. -My 2 cents, Peace

I am so tired of people de-railing threads. If you guys wanna bicker about philosophy could you just make another thread?

IME prayer coupled with sincerity and an open heart can be very powerful. Glad to see you got good results. -My 2 cents, Peace

Look up into the sky at night...in between the stars and planets all i see is infinite nothingness? -My 2 cent, Peace

We are attracted to others with a similar vibration...at least that has been my experience. You attract what you are. -My 2 cents, Peac

Toying with stuff like Astral Projection and Magic can be a real trap for the immature practitioner. Use your own best judgement...is it your ego or your heart that is guiding you with this stuff? I am not sure if there is much use in Astral Projection besides of entertainment value. Here is a free book on Astral Projection. Its methods are supposed to be very effective. http://obe4u.com/files/SOBT.pdf

I have had similar problems in the past. After trying to get over myself for awhile i eventually found Chi-Gung and Meditation. Through my practices I tossed out a majority of my negative conditioning and changed my life for the better. If i did it so can you. -My 2 cents, Peace

-This post is an excerpt from Bruce Frantzis Relaxing into your Being Vol 1. Rarely will you find any esoteric literature that is so straight forward and well written. I highly recommend it. The Way of Liu: Addiction to Psychic Power: The Traps "In Taoist Meditation, the initial object is to develop as much energy as possible but not for the purpose of obtaining power. A desire for psychic (or paranormal) power is what in early stages of meditation usually traps individuals--they become energy junkies. My teacher Liu put it very well. He said you would be better off with a vicious, self destructive heroin or opium habit because then you would only need the opium; as soon as one life is over, the drug addiction is finished. But if you get addicted to psychic energy, the desire for that energy will endure countless rebirths. Such addiction will not be something that you will be able to drop with the life that initiated the habit--it goes with you. In Taoist practices, a tremendous amount of energy has to be developed inside the body in order for that energy to be converted to spirit. As your spirit fills it is important that you start to realize the facts about the directions life can take, because when your spirit increases, you naturally gain what is known in the west as "personal power". Through Taoist meditation, you can gather tremendous power, which is often not obvious to others. If you stay focused in this power, then your spirit will never convert to emptiness. Being stuck on the power is considered "the big trap" As a matter of fact that "big trap" is to crave power. The character of the practitioner must be developed so he or she can willingly struggle with this problem and move beyond the trap. Even upon reaching the advanced stage of eighty, many human beings still live out the neuroses of their childhood. They still relive things that occurred to them when they were children or young adults. They never go beyond the basic programmed conditioning wired inside them from youth. During the first level of Taoist water method meditation, people spend a long time learning to become what Taoists call "mature human beings", meaning individuals who can assume responsibility for themselves, who do not avoid consequences by ascribing their own motivations to others. Possessing maturity is absolutely necessary before going further. If you lack maturity when you start moving into the world of spirit, you can become power mad and remain hooked on power. In order to become free, you must throw away whatever power and its benefits you have previously accumulated. The ego of people who acquire psychic power before they mature enough to handle it often inflates beyond belief. An immature person who accumulates large amounts of spiritual energy and a youth who suddenly becomes a fabulously rich rock star can experience negative ego tendencies. Such people frequently abuse their good fortune because they do not know how to productively channel the newly acquired energy, be it spiritual power or money. The rock star frivolously spends millions on drugs and childish whims, the spiritualist squanders psychic energy on simple-minded gratification or domination games. The youth could, but does not, invest the cash, the spiritualist could, but does not, heighten spiritual awareness to compassionately help fellow human beings. Both have the capacity to temporarily get what they want, without considering the effort that has brought them to this moment. They forget that they can fall just as far as they have risen. Adults have to pay the price for their actions, whereas children are often forgiven on grounds of immaturity. In the spiritual world, if you obtain power before you have worked out the dark side of your immature ego, trouble can come your way. You may temporarily get away with all sorts of nonsense, as many gurus do, but when you fall, you become less than what you were before all your years of practice. Maybe you "repent" or "wise up" and practice again, until you reacquire your spiritual power and clarity. But if the deepest underlying roots of your spiritual immaturity are not dissolved and cleared, you can easily find yourself in a continuous spiritual cycle of boom and bust that can be avoided. The guideline is this: Emotional maturity is the absolutely necessary foundation upon which spiritual power must be built." http://www.amazon.com/Relaxing-into-Your-Being-Meditation/dp/1556434073/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1303825768&sr=8-3

Yep, I bump my own posts. Thought this was a good one.

Awesome video.

I remember when i first jumped on the path this song really spoke to me. I wonder why?

Bump...perhaps Vmarco and Cameron you should make a thread to carry on your debate instead of derailing this one.

I have 3 Iron Rules that i follow when looking at teachers. 1. Logical Mind: Do my research, ask questions, ask other peoples experiences of the teacher. Never disbelieve and never believe anything...simply remain open to possibility...but at the same time contemplate deeply what the teacher is saying and its implications. 2. Intuition: Value and follow my own intuitive judgement. What kind of vibe do i get from the instructors picture. Ask myself questions as to whether i feel this is the right path and see what answer i get back. 3. Ego: If i sense that a teacher is full of his own ego and not living up to the standards he preaches then i immediately walk away. It doesn't matter to me if he or she is predicting the future, levitating or shooting fireballs out of his hands. If there still high on their own bull-shit and looking for an ego trip i am gone. In my view a Teacher should never talk shit about other Traditions or instructors if they do it is a big turn off for me. -My 2 cents, Peace

I only have 1 dvd and have stuck with these practices like white on rice...so i guess you could say it is my favorite. 1. Gift of the Tao -My 2 cents, Peace

It has been my experience that retaining jing and drinking protein dense shakes after working out helps speed up recovery time. Good Luck.

WOW

Cultivation requires intense focus. You must be one pointed. Most people are divided in their attentions and caught up and attached in the 10 thousand things and thus dilute there own power. -My 2 cents, Peace

Hmm.....all the names i could put here are probably of people whom are already well-known on the Taobums...i am sure there numerous (hundreds) great teachers in countries deeply rooted in spirituality like India and Tibet which we are not aware off. Jenny Lamb -My 2 cents, Peace

"The Tao that can be named is not the Tao" I love Lao Tzu it will be cool if we can chill once i permanently hit the hay. My 2 cents, Peace