Harmonious Emptiness

Nice, Taomeow. Especially in regards to changing things but by using the nature of that thing to change it; not pushing things to be something they are not, something unnatural. I would also add not pushing one's self to do things in an unnatural way; knowing when things are being done by program and pattern, and when they are in accord with one's inner harmony/soul/nature. This is not to discount discipline though, since somethings might be difficult because they are alien to us, but they can be adapted to without losing the center. Honesty has a lot to do with this. Another thing which is very Taoist is to learn from nature the way that children learn by emulating people. Maybe someone else has more to say about that..

That was very good. I can see how you get the idea that qi is essentially the sensation of focusing on a particular group of cells, since the feeling follows the attention. This is a useful way to approach it too, ime. I always felt like the qi was felt from the attention received from the palms, though one could say that this is just an amplified way of sending attention to the cells. I would say that moving the attention along probably attracts blood and ATP and things to the cells that are receiving the attention which nourishes them. The need to focus the energy away from the body begs some explanation, though, since purging is also part of qi gong. Maybe it is just the super power of the mind to enact it's own placebo response and rid the cells of stagnant vapours or something. I still find it hard to understand this without some sort of energy, however. I'm still wondering about the Jing side of it though, since I've learned a simple exercise which I later found out is to release blockages of Jing, and I can feel things running up through my body when I do it. Not certain if that is Jing or not, or maybe qi. The exercise is simply rotating the torso side to side and letting the back of your hands slap around your butt, hips, kidneys, liver, etc. and is best to do after "shaking the tree" which is to open blockages by bouncing up and down and letting your shoulders and arms flop around to loosen everything up, then shake the legs out too.

what isn't light? everything is not light what about light? what makes light what it is? it's a vibration of a different wave than everything else It is simpler; it is closer to being nothing people are a bunch of different waves, particle waves, in the Universe Light is one frequency when you take a piece of a light stream, how do you do it? you could take a piece of hair from yourself, or maybe a part of fire, but could light remove any part of itself without changing the entire frequency? light is a more basic type of wave. sound waves being another. complexities of waves being all beings. so light is a more basic wave and people, are more complex waves made up of many different waves all going back to no wave, then becoming yin, darkness, sleep, nurturance, stillness, but with harmony there is still some yang and

Actually the reason I self-appointed myself that name is partially due to one of my favourite Taoist quotes: "Calm spaciousness is the house of Spiritual Light." Also harmony is something I feel very connected to, since at some level of musicianship you need to feel the harmony within in order for it to manifest without. Within the spaciousness is a harmony which provides a vivid fullness..

Yeah, I sense there's something to all those pores in the Marble

This is a slippery slope. I don't want the Taoist stronghold to get compromised here, but in trying to reclaim objective reality, I'll say that any dismissal of objective reality also dismisses it's impossibility, since if nothing existed then there would be no such thing as non-existence. Lol, there can't be non-existence without something to not exist. End of story. Biff, pam, pow, kerplunk!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aNaqUm26hY

Start it all again So just begin from the end Is there not a trend?

If Buddhism was nothing but a bunch of empty sayings and uncomfortable rules for you I'd say it's probably not for you. For me, on occassion I go to a non-denominational church. What I get from it actually makes me better understand and experience what I read about in Buddhist texts. Buddhist texts also help me to appreciate the message Christ better. The experience you get from it is what counts. The church I go to is very different from most, but the source is the same. What I have to learn from you, I really don't know. Your writing style reminds me of Nietzsche who I never read for more than a few pages of because I found him contentiously pretentious and I don't think that someone on that level has reached anywhere I desire to go. Thus, you have your position, I know what it is, I know why it is, and I'm not interested. Cheers.

Like I said, it's been a political resource and few can tell the difference between the politics and the practice. Whatever these scholars decided, the message is there, and it is what it is rather than what most do with it.

This is a good point within this topic as well, since Christianity doesn't speak to levels of power, though it does believe in the power of prayer which is a form of power to change things, though not directly by the person's own actions. I suppose though, for this topic, the inquiry is more towards the heart-mind of the The Sage, The Enlightened, The Saint, as well as general practitioners who strive to embody this. I didn't really have a definite yes or no conclusion when I started the topic, but one difference I would point to is that Christian saints are not necessarily as emotionally detached as other sages. However, not all Enlightened masters are totally without the occasional outbursts. Also saints would tend to have a more equaniminous view of things than most people since they would attribute everything to God in the same way a Buddhist would attribute everything to Emptiness, maybe the difference there being that the Saint would seek to change things by asking for Gods help, where the Enlightened might be more likely to just accept it, and the Taoist Sage might also seek to change it by supernatural means. Really, I don't need to know or believe they either are or are not the same, but there have been some interesting discussions in the process.

Sorry to burst your bubble, but this definition of Spirit, being something that lies beyond all beliefs, codes, habits, etc., is not exclusive to you, nor Buddhism nor Taoism.

Hey all I compiled part of this book I picked up for $1 a number of years ago called: "Magic Minerals: Key to Better Health" by Carlson Wade, 1967. Minerals are very important for gland function, gland function is very important for hormone balance, and hormone balance is very important for spiritual, mental, and physical well being. Another cool thing about glands is they all line up with the Chakras. So, I thought this would be of interest to people here for various reasons The following are my rough notes on how to nourish the glands. The book does not mention anything about the Chakras but I noticed on my own that each one lined up to a different chakra. To keep things short and useful, I just put in the mineral rich food sources that supply the needed minerals, plus the vitamins that need to be activated by these minerals for each gland. Some important things to note here. Calcium is one of the hardest minerals to obtain and should be in balance with phosphorus at a *2 Calcium to 1 Phosphorus ratio.* The Cal:Phos balance is required for proper calcium absorption. The best way to ensure that you are balancing your Calcium intake against the extra phosphorus (mushrooms have a 1C:6Ph ratio, corn 1C:12Ph, bananas 1:3, brocolli 1:1.6) is by eating hearty leafy green vegetables such as Collard, Kale, and Cabbage, and to limit sugar intake. Vitamins need minerals to activate them. Microwaving and cooking foods and "washing down" meals during digestion reduces mineral content. Sugar and white flour destroys minerals. Caffeine should be moderate or less. Root vegetables, hearty leafy greens, and sunflower seeds are most important for a balance of minerals + many vitamins. Exercise, blood cirulation, etc. are also important for the circulation of minerals through the body to the glands and then for hormone functions. So here 'tis. 1st Chakra / Sex Glands Ovaries: Minerals from root and green vegetables + vitamin E (Millet) Male Sex Glands: Zinc, B complex, and C 2nd Chakra / Pancrease / Insulin Sunflower seeds, peanut, molasses, leafy greens B1, B2, B3(Niacin), B6, B5 3rd Chakras/ Adrenal Glands / Adreneline B5 activated by balanced minerals in root and leafy greens(kale, collard, cabbage) 4th Chakra / Thymus / white blood cells, regulates minerals balanced minerals with B complex + C + protein (mentions Ghandi ate mostly dates and goats milk which provide this well) 5th Chakra / Parathyroids / regulates calcium to long bones and takes calcium from them to meet important[stressful] mental or physical tasks Calcium, Phosphorus, A + D Iodine is important for the thyroid (different gland in the same place, regulates metabolism and other regulatory jobs) but too much can lead to hyper thyroid disorder The only things I've read that reduces thyroid function is that millet has something in it which mildly suppresses thyroid function. The thyroid is a very tricky gland so don't mess around with it without directions from a qualified Naturopathic Doctor (which I am not). edit: note that the Calcium needed for the parathyroids also strengthens the nerves and is taken from the bones during high stress situations when the adrenal glands might also be activated 6th Chakra / Pituitary: Potassium, Phosphorus, A & C The pituitary releases 12 different hormones which span regulating blood pressure to strengthening nerves, to feeling strong and ambitious in general. Where to find the vitamins: B1: green peas, sunflowers seeds, beans , whole grains, nuts B2: leafy greens, avocado, beans peas B5: Sunflower seeds, leafy greens, avocado, peanuts, whole grains B6: Avocado, banana, unpeeled potatoe, sunflower, whole grains, spinach, brocolli, carrots B3: Peanuts, whole grains, asparagus vitamin D: fortified soy milk, salmon + Tuna vitamin E: sunflower seeds, Almonds, peanut vitamin A: carrot juice, sweet potatoe, pumpkin, leafy greens, spinach Zinc: wheat bran, yeast, cacao powder, peanuts, cheese, eggs harder to find minerals: Potassium: sunflower seeds, soy, tomatoe, apricots Calcium: (in order) Turnip greens, mustard greens, Chines cabbage, Kale, broccoli leaves, oranges, broccoli stems, spinach

bump to add this chart which shows the Calcium:Phosphorus ratio of foods. The ratio should be 1Calcium:0.5Phosphorus corn is 1:12 Calcium doesn't absorb properly when this ratio is off http://www.parrottalk.com/calcium-phosphorus-content.htm

This is true, however, that is why I didn't put in many specific minerals but rather foods that contain all of the minerals needed plus more, in addition to the vitamins that are also mentioned for each.

Well, mind you I've never had a formal teacher on this stuff, but I've studied Cleary's notes of Secret of the Golden Flower and other Taoist writing which suggested that the orbit moves on it's own the correct posture and mind are maintained. That is how I do it during meditation. Injaculation is another story and more physical and intense. During mundane activities, I might do a qi gong movement, similar to what you'll see people do before breaking bricks, to awaken internal energy. I'm pretty sure you've been doing this for a lot longer and with a lot more personal training, however, so I wouldn't take me for any sort of expert on this.. edit: Also, my sources are more Northern school. Southern schools talked more about Jing and Chi, as do Kundalini yogis, so they might be more intense?

I don't have any info that speaks to this exactly, but your friend might be interested in the following thread since he recognized the importance of endocrine health to his condition: Chakra Nutrition: http://www.thetaobums.com/index.php?/topic/19683-chakra-nutrition/page__p__278116__fromsearch__1entry278116 It is from a hard to find book (pre amazon.com at least..) that talks about the specific minerals and vitamins that each gland needs to function properly, so he might find some dietary things in there that he could add to his personal health regimens. These vitamins and minerals don't necessarily stimulate the glands like herbs, but provide the basic nutrition that they need to function. H.E.

By Cleary's translation, I would say 'probably' not, given that "the hundred days" is shown to be not literally 100 days but a compression of time during the final phase of the meditation, as if 100 days passed within the length of one breath. I didn't get the impression that the exercise was prohibitively long and difficult, but someone might have some info to correct me there..

For future reference: http://www.sacred-texts.com/cfu/liki2/liki217.htm

Which translation are you using? I highly recommend Cleary's translation, since half of the book is the notes for every line of the text, explaining where different terms come from in Taoism and Buddhism and what they meant in other texts. For the most part, phenomena such as lights and visions were mistakenly viewed as goals to be achieved, but this lead to people getting distracted by the flowers along the path. there are also 3 Chapters in Cleary's translation which don't appear in the older translations, possibly because the terminology was too daunting for the translators who knew little to none about Taoism, Buddhism, and Alchemy.

You said that "Every enlightened person that I'm aware of,....Shakyamuni, Saraha, Tilopa, Nagarjuna, Vajrayogini, etc., understood that to dissolve pride one must simultaneously dissolve humility" I asked for a specifically relevant quote that proved this. Wei Wu Wei is a modern writer with his own theory that there are only degrees of pride, and really he might not even mean this literally without further context. Everything else you said is irrelevant to showing a specifically relevant quote to prove that "Shakyamuni, Saraha, Tilopa, Nagarjuna, Vajrayogini, etc., understood that to dissolve pride one must simultaneously dissolve humility" This type of response is why I stopped entering into debate with you.

Can you bring in a specifically relevant quote that states this?

Is doing MCO during a mundane activity not meant to bring you into a more Alpha or Theta state, bringing the practitioner into their unconditioned mind while tapping energy? So I guess even if you are in a Beta state it will diminish as you do the MCO, ime..