Harmonious Emptiness

I guess living in the technological world we are lead to believe that science and technology knows everything, but really it's like dust on the surface of the depth of things. Having this beginner mind, looking up and wondering "wow, the sky is so vast and amazing and works in such mysterious ways to draw up water and nourish the earth and plants." Realizing how little we actually know makes these things we once thought so mundane to be the most awesomely mysterious. Just taking a walk on the earth, the differences in the earth vs. the square and concrete worlds we have built up around ourselves, it reveals that the only reason we need new stimulus every two minutes is because we're missing the constant change that goes on if we pause to take notice..

I missed this post.. true, I did misquote it... The intention is to keep too much blood from going to the brain, with a number of other benefits.

Yes, he does mention the Plum Blossom oracle, along with many other texts written by Shao Yong. He explains his lineage with much detail throughout an entire chapter, and includes many names of Yijing books written by Zhou Dunyi, Liu Mu, and Shao Yong. Zhongxian Wu's (author) lineage (Youlong Pai, Hidden Immortal), a Southern school of Complete Reality, is also detailed here. The explanation of why Wind is wood element is as follows: "In the realm of Heaven, the presence of spirit expresses and manifests itself in the form of Wind. In the Earth, spirit expresses itself in the lushness and aliveness of "wood" (plants). The virtue of Wood is to gently push and advance the expansion of harmonious Qi." This system is very different to me, though I haven't ventured very far into various applications. Were you familiar with prenatal and postnatal application methods from other sources? Do you know of any other Shao Yung books that have been translated?

what a strange mind that contemplates all of this while absent itself

. Well, that might make sense as to why Wind also has an association with being hesitant? I was thinking before to suggest taking singing lessons. I think this would be great since it strengthens lung power, expresses emotions, and forces you to get over holding back expression. Further, you want to improve your wood element and strengthening your metal element will strengthen water element which will strengthen wood element. So singing will work on metal (lungs and communication) and positively affect water (kidneys, courage) by decreasing hesitancy through the courageous expressiveness of singing. This water will be positive and moving forward so it will nourish wood (energy, meridians) rather than decreasing metal-lung-expression-elements I've taken private singing lessons and it can be quite uncomfortable at first, but eventually by the end of the lesson you manage to get over it. For some people it may take longer, but the fear of communication that so many people have would incline them to give it up. In your case you can start just by focusing on strengthening your lung power and don't worry too much about the pitch and all that as it will work eventually when you've got the power and control to put behind it. Keep in mind, Wind has to do with momentum so you have to keep at it this time . There aren't many good singers around either, so it probably won't be too difficult to find people to jam with once you've got some pipes to work with. This might lead you to that sunny lake along the way ? Yes, any energy type exercises that you have been doing is probably what it means by things that you have been doing. The Yijing being a Taoist practice which recognizes the importance of energy channels, suggested remedies by doctors who use this Yijing method will usually prescribe energy work of various kinds. I think because you have been working with emotions that this relates somehow to communication as well and ties in to the rest of it. Well, I'm learning from all of this, so feel free to try some more. I only have one other question right now .

okay, right, I was mixing up my anatomy.. I meant to say the uro-genital diaphragm lifts with low and deep inhales, rather than psoas which to me is normally just "the diaphragm."

Okay, that makes some sense if I understand correctly.. Basically, the psoas diaphragm naturally lifts from the deep inhale. Seems the main difference then would be the intentional clenching, though that can require less force when using the natural lift created by the low and deep inhale. I can see how the belly naturally sinks back before the exhale when doing it this way too. That helps. Thanks!

How would people describe the difference between reverse breathing and the "3 locks" type breathing described by Daniel Reid? With the 3 locks, you inhale fully, clench the a-nooos and uro-gential diaphragm, push the abdominals back in using ab-muscles, then relax everything with the exhale. This creates sort of a belly roll effect. The third lock is holding the chin down to avoid too much oxygen being pushed into the head. The effect of this is mainly to massage the organs. I find it also can draw heat up up and away from yer nether regions. I guess the first difference is that the reverse breathing is less forced..?

Thanks for the reminder zerostao..

Just reading these and thinking that perhaps the most spiritual part of creating art is the requirement that the artist surrender themselves to another power whether it's the driving rhythm of a song, the cadence of emotion, words that push to be said, or just an inspiration that craves to be shared, all while maintaining a level head and not entirely falling off the deep end. I think practice with this helps with things like tai chi and qi gong which also require the practitioner to allow themselves to become a vessel, to clear the mind of chaos, breathe in spirit, and let beauty blossom within them until they can share their fruits... I feel guitar playing is very similar to cultivation, the same with any improvisation. You start with something and build on it until you get the reigns of the horse and then you ride it and ride it. By the end you feel like the spirit of the horse has lifted and expanded your own in some way.

Ah, okay, I see I wasn't really looking at it right before. This is good actually! question 1: trigram = Earth Earth corresponds to late summer. My first guess is that you will be coming from the north and moving southwest based on the prenatal and postnatal associations, which are literally north and southwest respectively. Pretty awesome considering LA is the southwest corner of the US!! Wind in the present&future may signify the cooler air of September which also falls in late Summer. Perhaps Wind and southwest in the future associations might also mean that moving there in September will bring you love and music. question 2: trigram = Fire This looks very good, since Fire corresponds to fame and reputation and L.A. is all about fame and reputation . Here you also have Thunder and east in the past-beginning and Heaven and south in the present or future. Thunder sort of shakes up the life energy, so maybe you were looking to shake things up in your life with new energy which was the root of wanting to move to LA. Perhaps you always wanted to move to LA since fire is in thunder as well. Heaven is largely about spirit rising upwards so the energy of LA might help with this if that's what you're looking for. The Heaven trigram signifies sort of "important people" like elders, government, wise man, and famous person, so perhaps you will happen upon a wise and experienced mentor in LA. South also appears with the Heaven trigram so this person may be more southwards in LA though LA is very southwards as it is. Also Heaven (in future) is metal element and Thunder (in past) is wood element so it seems that the future will control the past rather than the opposite. The fire burns wood and wood is controlled by metal. I think those numbers were bang!-on. edit: I should also mention that Heaven being the future trigram and signifying an important or famous person would largely signify LA as well. This could also be related to you wanting to go there and pursing our goals and living out our destiny is an important part of the spiritual process, imo.

Ha. Great! Where do I start? Keeping in a mind that an element of this system is intuitive, things that sort of jump out at you should be considered for association. The trigram is Wind, prenatal association is Earth, and postnatal association is Lake. Wind is associated with wood, qi, meridians, established momentum, and love. Earth is associated with stagnation and blockage. Lake is associated with metal and water elements, communication, lungs, and girl. There are a few sides to this it looks like. Metal-Lake in postnatal future reduces Earth blockage-stagnations in prenatal past . Water-Lake is mother of wood-Wind-meridians . So strengthening lungs-metal would reduce earth-blockages. This is something you may already be doing since Wind is associated to something that has already built up some momentum. Lungs are also associated to communication as is Lake to joyful expression, so expression would naturally be part of releasing the blockages, maybe in the arts (associated to Wind-Wood). Wood also controls earth and this controlling relationship is related to wife and finance. You might get involved in arts classes, as (if I remember correctly) I think education is related to metal as well (if it's not earth), so this might also add to your metal element. There is also the symbol of a girl or concubine in Lake who is joyful. In both Lake and Earth there is also association to the Trigram water and since these are associating to expression and blockage, the water may be related to releasing blockage in the kidneys, perhaps as excess water would take away from metal. As we know, a fun girl can help with that too. Water could help wood-meridians too, but it seems you need to work on the earth-blockage more than wood element. This must be beginners luck man, you're giving me some easy numbers to work with here! edit: Also I should add.. though I guess it seemed kind of obvious so maybe I skipped over it... The metal-lungs thing would point to doing qi-gong since this involves breath and also the qi and meridians associated with Wind. If you've been doing this for a while already then this association seems stronger too since there is an association of momentum and Wind, like you've been doing something right and it's going well. Further, it is said "water hides in Lake" meaning Lake is primarily metal but also water. So this appears to be very auspicious! Since the metal-lungs-qigong of Lake takes away the earth blockages, while the water of Lake nourishes the wood of Wind-meridians. The girl and open communication part seems to have a strong indications as well, again, imho. It looks like education is more earth-element, however, another earth asssociation is that it nourishes metal, so perhaps some more dynamic classes which involve participation and communication would be good earth-element in this case . Don't rule out theater-acting classes, btw.. edit II: Another thing to keep in mind, since there are a few things pointing to love and romance with a happy girl who can help with the meridian issue in your question (wind and lake connections), is that you should find a girl who is happy but not a crazy fire party girl, as fire will burn wood, add to earth, and control your metal elements. So a nice happy, open yet calm girl would be perfect for you right now. Any other info you want to share with me might lead to more insights on this too..

Hi Starhawk It would help me to know which direction the move will be for you. Can you PM me your current city and city of origin? It's difficult to know if I'm on the right track without this info.

- Taomeow and Jetsun, Though I think questions can be asked in terms of "should I do this" I agree that any divination is far more valuable as a means to show us some things that we should keep in mind while making our own decisions, but ultimately to make our own decisions perhaps based on some elements that were overlooked. That's one thing that I really like about I Ching commentaries is that they provide wisdom which is always correct and which can be applied to so many situations, though it will often seem to speak to specific details as well. This way of using the trigrams however can also help, for example, to find a lost dog as shown in one of the case studies in the book. To loosely paraphrase Ken Cohen, though there may be external influences, we are safe so long as our knowledge of self is firm. Okay, I'm going to try to work on some more questions here. They may take some time, hopefully it won't be too long a wait... H.E.

Hey I forgot to mention, pumpkin seeds are not complete proteins, but if you add some peanuts or any grains or legumes at the same time or during the day then the enzymes will be complete

Well I wouldn't want to answer the first question, especially with my limited experience, since it is a bit fatalistic and I could be wrong one way or the other. Maybe a better way to ask would be "What should I do to remedy -- "? I could try that with some new numbers maybe.. To the second question: The trigram is Mountain. There's a few possible ways to look at this. Mountain would signify Asian Buddhism to me as it is a common symbol and because many monks were "mountain men" which are part of the Mountain (Earth element) symbology. The prenatal (also past) association is Heaven and Metal, while the postnatal (present and future) association is Thunder and Wood. This could be read as Earth is the mother of metal, and metal controls wood, in the same way that The Fourth Way has been influenced largely by Buddhism. Given this relationship, it would be better to drop The Fourth Way pursuit as it draws energy away from the practice of Buddhism. Now, on the other hand... The prenatal trigram associations are northwest and Heaven, while the post-natal association is northeast and Thunder. Both Heaven and Thunder have much to do with new beginnings which perhaps could symbolize The Fourth Way being that it's a much newer path than Buddhism. At the same time, I'm seeing that Heaven and Thunder both have Fire associations and fire burns wood element (you postnatal Thunder energy is wood element) so I'm thinking that this "new thing" could burn up your energy in the future, as also shown by the controlling relationship between metal and wood saps a bit of juice too. Plus, metal (Heaven) and fire have a controlling relationship which pushes this even more away from the "new" one imho. So I think it's saying that Buddhism is your strong foundation, and the new stuff invigorated with some fresh energy, but it will eventually tax your other energy and burn out anyways, so best to stick with the big Buddha mountain since that has the most stability in the whole equation and even sort of creates and controls the later energies. Seems you could return to some of this rock solid foundation in the northwestern direction from your living space, possibly near a trail. I hope that made some sense..

by the way, I don't mean to direct the above statement at anyone in particular. It's more of just a general psychoanalysis. I'm sure I wouldn't score perfectly under it either.

I have to assume though that people would probably not take the liberties of behaviour that they do here if they were in a more formal environment. The spirit of playful competition is not completely alien to Buddhism nor Taoism, but as you said, the line gets crossed when people show an obvious air of snobbery. Like a "muso" musician who thinks they are better than everyone because they have superior skills, judging themselves and others on superficial grounds which also makes them easy targets -- "live by the sword, die by the sword" at some level. But yes, it does expose painful insecurities when people esteem themselves and others in this way, avoiding deeper feelings about themselves and maybe their jealousy which makes them want to crush other people.

I guess art, like meditation, is about appreciating the subtleties and making sure that they don't get swept out of existence. The most beautiful things don't often make themselves known like giant buildings blocking out the sky. Art helps people to stop and notice those tiny wildflowers hiding in the grass, so to speak.

Another thought on this great thread, is that the written radicals of Wu Wei, which is central to Tao Te Ching philosophy, refers to the ways of "Wu" Shamans .

Personally, I go through phases of leaning towards different traditions while each informs the other in large part. I've found that different traditions have clarified practices from others more than the original tradition clarified itself for me. There are many parts of Buddhism that have saved me from existential suffering, but there are other parts which at my stage of spiritual involvement I have had to ignore as something which I would do if I were to give up all ties and become a renunciate. I still do what I feel fits my situation, but there are some things which just do not help me. On the debating issue, it is interesting to a point and it's good that people try to preserve the complicated views, but it seems like "knowledge is power" and "power corrupts" so it can be a big turn-off when people start using this knowledge to belittle other people, keeping in mind that chat forums are often fueled by argument which is often sparked just to have a debate and, unfortunately, this often happens very ungraciously even when discussing something as uncorrupted as the Buddhadharma.

I'm just speculating, but maybe if you boil the needles in a tea that will break them down enough to eat them safely. May be worth checking out. I read that the acorn seeds have to be soaked to get the tannins out of them before eating them. Dandelions are super nutritious too, but not much in the way of carbs or protein.

Just wanted to correct myself on this -- I double checked my source but it was just one nutritionists report (Katie Pugh) mentioned in a book published 1967 by Carlson Wade. Also the amount taken was closer to 1 cup per day, and was accompanied by a lots of nutrition. Brewers yeast, wheat germ, carrots, dessicated liver, silicon, and good circulation were also recommended, though it looks like these others were not all part of the case study. aRab, Good move on the pumpkin seeds. They're great in stir fries too, or with millet and fruit for breakfast. I suppose the iodine extract is probably cheaper than the real thing, but you'll get far more from the spirulina and kelp capusules. Either way, if someone is already a high strung, high energy person then they should be really careful not to abuse the benefits of iodine or it's gonna be a long swim back!!

Well, what is the one constant in all existing things? Change. Change is a part of life. Up and down are a part of life. You might go up and down but they are merely peaks and valleys in the wave of the constantly moving stream. At best I could only speak as a masterless student, but masters dwell only in the present. Mistakes are only in the past and right now only the present changes the future and the future is more real than the past which no longer exists. So currently you are in the present going forward, and those actions are who you are.

I think you will get all you need from the Spirulina and Chlorella. Spirulina appears to be at least as high in iodine as kelp. To rid the body of radioactive pollution, it's recommended to take a variety of seaweeds. So it would be good to alternate between spirulina and kelp, but not to take them both at the same time since they are both quite high in iodine. Chlorella appears to have an insignificant amount of iodine, but a tad nonetheless. So between the two you are taking I would certainly not increase my iodine intake intentionally. The initial feeling after starting to take iodine will become normal with or without taking the supplements at which time it is best to only take them once in a while like maybe a couple of times a week. My approach to supplements is that they are basically food though they are very good for you. So if you eat beans every single day it can eventually be not so good. As Taoists say "not too much." We need to have variety in our diets. So once your body is brought up to a good function from the supplements I would taper the use down to a couple times a week and maybe more for particular occasions. Even when starting a new supplement, I don't think it's good to take them every day (prescriptions are a different story) in the same way eating the same fruit or vegetable every day is not so good. There may be exceptions to this where you should take it every day, like maybe for ginko, but in general I find this way better for the body to incorporate the nutrients with each other and help the body build the momentum to do all of this on its own.