Tao of Pooh

So many smileys tells me you are an insecure person who calls him self a monk(i). From your post I would say you are a teenager and I understand your stance and have respect for it, I too was a teenager once :-) Another thing you have tought me about this water method is that it maybe develops mindfulness and relaxation but certainly not compassion which is what counts in the actual life. Practice which doesnt give birth to compassion is just another way to feed the ego monk(i) (or not? we can agree to disagree, or? ) I shall go away now and live you to it. Thanks for the lesson though, friend. All the best on your journey. Friendly TofP

You chose to see my reply that way and i can only ask you to re-read it again and avoid acting hurt where nothing atacked you my friend and try to answer my questions about this water method so i can understand it better. Remain mindful remain relaxed. Friendly

I wonder what is it you disolve with? And what is the motive behind wanting to disolve anything? If awareness is the tool to disolve than Shamatha and water method are the same as well as Shikantaza. Many have misunderstood Shamatha as a concentration method involving the breath but that is just another conditioned idea. Awareness of the whole without engagement without judging without disolving. Disolving is nothing more but clinging to a goal = to disolve This is just my view of course, you can feel free to pursue what ever of course. Just sharing. Any meditation is better than no meditation. Friendly

Isnt this disolving (fabricated visualisation) the same as simple noting of thoughts/emotions/sensations in Shamatha, unclinging from them by bringing the awareness back to the whole body breathing. Not the breath itself here is where most people make a huge mistake by clinging to the breath as the object of meditation or burning holes with concentration in their bellies and noses LoL Anger, worry, stress is the whole part of our body-mind, confined in the whole. To "disolve" it the whole body-mind is to be aproached, awareness set to awake yet calm, relaxed, over the whole body-mind without judging it without defining it. Egoself finds it hard to let things as they are. Egoself loves games like disolving or visualising etc rituals ideas goals and what not. The egoself needs attention (energy) at all times. Cutting off energy makes it wild, crazy. It fights its way back and here is where meditators fail to understand the true nature of the self and search for methods which suit the egoself, the actual trouble maker Friendly

I agree with Jetsun. Fabricate nothing, cling to nothing, let all be. Calm the body with each in and outbreath. Compose youself into the whole body breathing sensations, calm yet not doozing off. Goal orientated practice leads to restlessness. Without deep calm there is no insight there is no true non action. See my signature. Mindful Calm abiding is the way to go. Try it and see for your self. Fast results is an ego fabrication. Dont be a fool believing there are fast or long term fixes. There just Is. But with body calming the amygdala will calm itself too. Desire not the insight, it will come to be on its own accord." Wanting to" is a 100% ego tool to more suffering. Friendly

Hi friends :-) There is another way to do Shamatha meditation :-) There is a missconception out there that it is all about concentration and burning a whole in the object of observation LOL It is not about concentrating at all but about "composing oneself into the object" rather shamatha is an Awareness of the Whole Body Breathing, not scanning not focusing not ... not separating anything from the whole body but embracing the whole body breathing/sensation experience :-) While in this state one calms the body with each in and out breath, not by force but by simply being mindful of it. Mind usualy follows the relaxing body. Thoughts, emotions and sensations arise. Notice them without judging them, let go and go back to calming the body but not clinging to the idea of calming the body ;-) You see insight meditation is indeed a DIY project and one is to do it alone (not lonely but ALONE). The conditoned self is a tricksey beastyx and will throw all sorts of crap at the meditator. Be compasionate towards it as much as possible and carry on with the calm abiding practice what Shamatha actualy IS. Dont worry about Vipassana which is a naturaly acuring Insight and will arise from Shamatha on its own accord. One can not force Insight. Try and it will disapear. Try to achive calmness and restlessness takes place. No focus no concentration no mantra, no teachers ... all this creates only more conditioning of the already fragmented mind. Just to mention I practiced daily Shamatha for 10 month now. Stopped because some deep emotions started bubbling up and I just wasnt ready to let go of them. So taking a break and plunging back into the world of ignorance. Friendly

If you correct your mind, the rest of your life will fall into place. This is true because the mind is the governing aspect of a human life. If the river flows clearly and cleanly through the proper channel, all will be well along its banks. The Integral Way depends on decreasing, not increasing; To correct your mind, rely on not-doing. Stop thinking and clinging to complications; keep your mind detached and whole. Eliminate mental muddiness and obscurity; keep your mind crystal clear. Avoid daydreaming and allow your pure original insight to emerge. Quiet your emotions and abide in serenity. Don't go crazy with the worship of idols, images, and ideas; this is like putting a new head on top of the head you already have. Remember: if you can cease all restless activity, your integral nature will appear. Hua Hu Ching v.45

I would suggest Ki-breathing every night for 15 minutes just before going to bed. It is a very clensing technique which was born out of Misogi. link to; http://ki-aikido.net/KASHIWAYA/Excerpts.html#HowToKiBreathing Another technique is to use Usui Reiki hand positions while laying in bed. By the time you get to the belly you will be a sleep ;-) Always start with the head first and keep ur palms in each position for approx 3-5 minutes. http://healing.about.com/od/reiki/ss/selfreikihands.htm Good luck

I was very much up and down for the last year and did diferent aproaches to calm my mind but nothing happened until the day I started to practice Qigong at my local Tai Chi club. In my experiance it is very importnat one has a teacher as a guide, especialy in the beggining. Another practice which tremendously helped me to calm my mind is the Ki-Breathing (Koichi Tohei) which I do every day for 20 minutes. It is very effective mind-body unifier; http://ki-aikido.net/KASHIWAYA/Excerpts.html#HowToKiBreathing Every morning I practice Qi gong for about 20-25 minutes and Ki-breathing for 20 minutes. I feel very relaxed and energised afterwords and my mind seem to be calming down a lot.

Pain is usualy stuck/blocked energy or in a case of healing can also be part of the detox but should not take ages to disapear. I would suggest an easy to do Ki-breathing exhercise which will help you in cleansing stagnant energies and keeping the fresh Ki flow run through your whole being. For best results do it once a day for 15-20 minutes in the morning or just before bed time. I do it in the morning after my Qigong excercise. http://ki-aikido.net/KASHIWAYA/Excerpts.html#HowToKiBreathing Do you drink planty of water ? If not start drinking 2 litres per day, we humans easily forget to drink enough water.

Is there a proper way to read such books/verses? Do you simply go through it reading one after the other or do you read one and then contemplate on it for a while, or ...? Please bare with me, just a year ago I was into heavy metal, beer and being pissed off at my father, so kind of a very very spiritual begginer here Thank you!

Thank you both for fantastic links :-) Hua Hu Ching is resonating well with me so far :-) I start reading such books from the back , hence the 77; This will keep busy for a while. Thanks!

So besides Qigong is there any other Taoist practice one can do to stay in harmony. There is so much info out here and on the net in general about many diferent aspects of Taoism. Any recomandations? A book, meditations, etc ...

Hi Marblehead! The reason for me walking into Tao(ism) is my wish for being able to live with all what Is in harmony, no matter bad or good. At the moment I still see my self reacting very fast to negatinity and going into "fight-flight" state of mind ... yes at least I can see it now which is a positive change = becoming aware of me lil me . I am not good at blindly following the dogma of "be good to others otherwise you end up in hell" kind of teaching. I feel that the kind and compationate state of being lies not in mentaly creating such world, but in calming down the mind and body through letting go into relaxation of the whole being. One can not get to know Tao but do it. That is why I practice Qigong and Ki-breathing. Life is a circle so why rush, I am not getting anywhere.