forestofsouls

The reason I bring this up is because most of the manifesting I'm familiar with requires one to build up a certain emotional energy, focus clearly on the object, and then release. However, this method requires a certain amount of concentration. As such, it was not generally available to the public. "The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom"? I would add "Only if one is attentive."

I don't know much about this Secret, but I have a few questions for those who do. 1. Is it possible to manifest via the law of attraction without the power of concentration? a. If so, is it possible to concentrate when one has many desires? b. Does concentrating oneself on the fulfillment of material desire make one more prone to desire? c. If so, is desire empowering or limiting?

What are these Compass Center Directions?

I would echo Eric23 on this one. When I first started to sit, I could no no more than five minutes at a stretch. Yes, five minutes. But I made myself do it every day, every so often trying to push it up a minute or so. And I would sit no matter what, if I felt like it or not. I learned it was better to form the habit of sitting then to worry about high quality meditation in the beginning.

If that retired Liu He Ba Fa master is Way Lun Choi, I've only heard good things about him, that he's a top notch martial artist. Only does private lessons, I think he's going for $250/hr now.

I think any moral code is to some extent a taboo. As I undertsand it, the purpose of taboos is to limit or confine something to a particular space, quality, etc. Moral codes do this as well; by refraining from lying and so on, we purify ourselves.

Yes, you may feel sympathy, or sympathetic pain, but its not THEIR pain its MY pain. I may feel sorry for some one who has just lost their mother, for instance, but this doesn't mean I feel as they feel. Interesting point re: dan tiens. I'll have to experiment with that.

Which one? My teacher says that Wu Chi is the only form you really need. His teacher says you have all the eight postures in grasp sparrow's tail and single whip. From what I've heard, traditionally, you only learn one form over a period of time, say six months. There are also famous stories about Tai Chi masters knowing only one move, like grasp sparrow's tail (which in my book is 4 forms). Something sounds right about this but I don't know if I have the patience or the chutzpah to just do one form.

Do you [not just Sean here, just using this as a jumping point) really believe that there is no separation between yourself and the other? I've always had trouble with this. In my field of perception, I am at the center, you at at the periphery. My thoughts swirl about this center, but your thoughts are unknown to me. I have no face, but I see your face clearly. Some one hits you, I don't feel your physical pain. We may stand on the same ground and breath the same air, but are we REALLY the same?

Something I've been thinking about lately, whether Buddhism and Taoism are complementary, or incompatible. I should warn everyone that this post is somewhat devil's advocate, and written so. I am neither Buddhist or Taoist in the official sense, and take heavily from both. I am also painting with a very broad brush here. Some say that highest aspirations in Taoism is to achieve immortality, to become one the xians. To do so, one takes in energies from the world and refines them. Some say that the highest aspirations in Buddhism is to liberate oneself, and all sentient being. The aim of Buddhist practice is to lose oneself and let go, let go, let go. Taoists often hide their practices, in secret, and teach only the worthy. I know of a taoist monk who had a high level of energy, and could analyze and prescribe solutions to many ailments, moral and physical. When asked if he could perform readings in the West, he said that we didn't deserve it. Many Buddhist give their teachings freely, often with no or minimal charge, or on dana, as much as the student values the teaching. Many Buddhists are outwardly friendly and accepting. I wonder, if fundamentally, Buddhism and Taoism are fundamentally incompatible. Is Taoism about the becoming a god, and Buddhism about losing the self? Is Taoism selfish and Buddhism open? Do Taoists take more than they give, do Buddhists give more than they take? Just some ideas floating around.

rainbow, I can't speak for Taoism generally, but in my life, I've come to understand that synchronicities are one way something higher communictes with us. But one needs to have an open, attentive mind in order to pick up the messages, and the messages aren't always pleasing. The way I've seen it work is that a topic, or a saying, or something along those lines will be repeated through different people, books, media, etc. within a short period of time. A particular message will be repeated until you learn something from it. I think people are "spoken" to all the time but don't listen to the message. I've heard that people who don't pick up on subtle messages get bolder and bolder ones.

What I was referring to was the inner mental make-up of the mind, not necessarily its fundamental essence. Specifically, I've noticed that while people can make progress with developing the ability to harness and channel energy, they still suffer from anger, pride, etc. It is as though the "ego" is being enhanced instead of diminished. Personally, when you say emptiness is the nature of all minds, this makes sense to me verbally, and intellectually, but not experientially, not within in the depths of my being.

Hmmm... reading the David Verdesi article "Chinese Mind Vs Western Mind models of truth", with its discussion of Confucian ideals and the concept of "Li" gave me a different impression.

In addition to what others have said, in my Tai Chi school, once you learn to tune into and flow your chi, you're taught to condense your chi into jing which you can use physically. In martial arts, this is known as fah jing.

Why do you believe that? The manifest weight of the evidence, from my perspective, is against that. Everything is moving, flowing changing. My thoughts arise and pass away, my attitudes, moods, and emotional postured arise and pass away. My body ages and changes. The earth itself is constantly changing, each day, each season. I am told that civilizations arise and pass away. Stars and planets arise and pass away. Physicists and biologists report that all our cells arise and pass away, that even atoms and molecules shift away, degrade, change.

For many years, I was known as a fairly laid back guy. I rarely got angry, was easy going, taking things as they come. For a while, the spaces between strong inner angers were measured in months. Then come the kids. Yes, kid. Parents can be aggravating, but only in limited doses. Kids will test, frustrate, annoy, mouth off and generally do everything in their power to make you lose your cool all the time! Take an ordinary car ride. Sure, it has its stresses--- traffic, people who can't drive well, squirrels darting in front of your car. Then add kids. WHere are we going? Are we there? What is this farty noise I can make with my mouth? Is it annoying if I click this toy on my seatbelt 100 times? How about 1,000? 1,000,000? Have we been out of the house for five minutes, because I need something to drink and then I want to go to the bathroom. Calm down, sure: FOR SIX SECONDS then I'll be doing exactly the same thing you told me NOT to do 1,000 times before. You can see, this is no ordinary car ride. It is the surest test of equanimity ever devised by humankind. Ah yes. Of course, I don't blame them: they're pure in the sense that they express themselves fully, and they have all their childlike impulses. And they can be very sweet, and loving, and run to you when you come home at the end of the day. Living and dealing with kids is possibly the best lesson I've ever received in dealing with frustration, anger, and endurance. I might not be able to achieve the samadhi of a monk living in seclusion, but I would like to see any monk deal with poopy diapers, not enough sleep, and the battle to get a child to clean her room.

The question isn't whether Lao Tsu and Buddha would get along. Let me elaborate a little further, and perhaps more specifically. I believe that Buddhism and Taoism have similar roots: self-observation. In this sense, Buddhism and Taoism share a common source, i.e. the world. What I have found in Taoism and not Buddhism are techniques based on fulfilling desires: health, longevity, personal power (in internal martial arts). What I've found in Buddhism and not Taoism are techniques based on the notion that all desires are the roots of suffering. Adopting a Taoist worldview, my "self" is a smaller system of energy within a larger system of energy. When I practice Tai Chi, I aim at connecting with the larger system, increasing the energy in this smaller system, and refining it. The energy flow would be universe to me. Specifically, I do exercises that increase my energy flow in my body and then I try to store it all in my lower dan tien area. In Buddhism, it seems that this distinction between the two systems is false. Buddhism tells me, there is only the larger system. My Buddhist meditation is about letting go. It seems to me that it is about eradaticating the borders between the systems. The reason I do both is simple: I use Taoist practices for health and Buddhist practices to change the nature of my mind. Yet if one worldview is about maintaing and increasing the smaller system, and the other is about eradicating its distinction. Is this a tension?

Ian, Your practice is very near to my own. I believe it is effective based on my personal experience and the changes that it has brought for me. My question to you is whether you have any insight on why this sort of practice would work energetically speaking.

I agree that sexual activity is a form of emitting energy. But it is not simply a loss, it can be a gift. It is a deeply personal and intimate gift, the gift of one's very vital essence, which, in addition to being necessary to the human species, builds love and intimacy. I would suppose that one could be miserly with one's jing as easy as with one's money, but it seems to me that this will simply create the same craving/aversion - desire/suffering centered around sex and ejaculation. What I take issue with is the statement that meditation without controlling ejaculation is useless. Many of us can speak from personal experience the benefits of using bare attention, to watch and study oneself over long peroids of time. There was a time when I was exoterically restrained (i.e. in act) but esoterically inflamed (in inner state). However, with meditation over time, my inner flames have subsided and even though I'm married, I have much more vitality, energy, inner peace, etc. than before. One burns far, far more energy through stress, muscular tension, inner attitude, and immoral conduct than you do with sexual ejaculation. In this situation, sexual restraint will likely only increase stress, muscular tension, inner attitude, and immoral conduct.

Well, having recenly had a baby myself, I can see both sides of this issue. Usually, when my baby cries, he's hungry, his diaper needs to be changed, or he needs to be held. He loves to be held. It is apparant on the look of his face, his demeanor, the way he feels. On the other hand, sometimes he likes to be by himself, just looking around and flailing his little hands. On the other hand, I've read previously that babies do need to be held, to be touched, and can even die from not being touched. I imagine, as with all things, that there is a balance between soothing/letting be. Lucky for me, my wife has great maternal instincts. At first his cries were very distressing, but simply being present and listening to them has given me a different perspective on crying. Of course, this might be different had I not already done some work on my own emotional repression issues (using meditation). There is a tone to the cries ranging from "regular" crying, just making sound as it were, to "distressful crying." A cry is not a cry, and I imagine that as he ages, the cries will increase in variation. On a side note, I've found that my boy especially likes it when I chant "Om Namah Shivayah" to him.

When/where/how did the Buddha teach retention? Celibacy is one of the precepts for monks, but not for laypeople. Laypeople are told to avoid sexual misconduct. I was under the impression that the Buddhist approach to sexual desire was like its approach to desire generally: as a source of craving/attachment, it is something to be overcome with time and practice. However, it is an impression and could stand correcting if necessary.

This hypothetical person sounds very lucky to only encounter this on an internet forum. In my own life, I find that most everyone wishes to teach, to boss, the talk rather than listen. People will often take a breath to begin talking before the current speaker has even finished. The same goes for my own thoughts. My mind is constantly being jostled about by competing thoughts, impulses, etc. all jockeying for position. What do I do? I try to let them pass, don't get caught up in the game of it. One's words may mean nothing to the person one is speaking to, but remember this is an internet forum. There are many more people who read without directly posting or responding. Just because the person one is addressing doesn't seem to listen doesn't mean that no one is listening.

1. Improve concentration. 2. Find the origins of these thoughts. This comes from the first goal.

Bodri's material has an interesting take on this. He does write that the MCO will open on its own with proper meditation. He also distinguishes imaginary sensations, pre-chi grades of sensation, and actual chi sensations. This makes the most sense to me. In my experience, my "chi flow" sensations have gotten stronger (depending on my current health/mental state), but not nearly as strong as the induced chi I've experienced from a master. This is not to say that my lesser "chi flow" exercises have been useless. They perform real healing on my body, increase my general energy, calm my mind, etc. etc. But clearly, they aren't the "real deal" as I've experienced it. Chi sensations should be as vivid and clear as physical objects, based on my experience. I can recognize that despite my long labors, I am still at a preliminary stage of practice. I think Xeno has the right idea here. It takes years of hard work to achieve anything substantial in these arts. The reason I say this is because every reputable authority on this subject agrees. The minimum is generally ten years of hard, ongoing work.