Rocky Lionmouth

*rubbing palms like a glutton at a buffé* Told you guys this was gonna be a good one

Ok, this post just wrote itself, i'm going to throw it out here and revisit it later, hope it's not too unclear. I'd say it's very important to preserve both body and mind for they are the prerequisite for our work, our chance to move on and help others, learn and develop, pass on ways to use and live so that our own liberation isnt at the expense of those that follow. If you focus on killing of the monkey mind all day, how can the true mind spring forth? Beware monkeys chasing monkeys. Be the tree (sorry about the fortune-cookieisms, i cant help myself lately) Exorcist makes a very valid point i think. For me a Taoist and Buddhist perspective give balance to each other. Develop the qi, quiet the mind, check and balance, release egoism and increase ones energy. Emptyness is an important achievement to further ones efficiency and economy of life. It's a means to express frugality and i think it's best employed caretaking of others. If emptyness is close attachments fight back less and less, which means ego isn't worrying so much about itself anymore. The goals give a sense of purpose, purpose keeps the ego distracted and under the illusion that it's being fed. All the while in a subtle way you're reinforcing the neural pathways of priorities and identification towards altruism and detachment. In the end, losing a leg or an arm doesnt matter because it's just a loaner anyway but the situation of cause and effect, virtue and way etc gets muddled up by putting oneself in an unprotected position. This tends to scare the ego into action and soon the loop of suffering is controlling everything again. Dont put yourself at risk like that, it's wasteful of one's effort and gong, and the risk of giving bitterness and hopelessness a stronger grip is a sure way to fall back out of the positive vectore one fought so hard to maintain in the first place.

Well, it is of course important to consider Ilyas point about stopping thoughts alltogether and what the goal is, but the goal of thought cessation is achieved by way of practice and each step needs to be taken with dedication to the practice, afaik at least. So carefully focusing on the task at hand is no. 1, the goals and signs will develop and are secondary. A teacher is recommended. If they've already been there it's easier for them to help you stay on your path and avoid the holes and shooting roots there. Which of course is not to say you wont trip and fall at regular intervals, thats also part of it. No loss, no win.

I'd say you have three good things to start with, develop them and see what you can learn from it? Emptyness practice is quite awesome and in my experience emptyness comes from studiyng something with awareness, nonjudgemental and that investigative attitude. Relaxation is important and emptyness gives relaxation as much as relaxation helps emptyness along. Clarity, alertness, relaxation, ignoring a priori judgements/biases and investigative attitude are all skills that can be easily cultivated over time. In time emptyness will come and you can keep developing the skill and investigate the experiences. Collect the data, good results, bad results, their causes, your reactions and dont take your first answer for granted. You need clay to make bricks, lots of it, you must understand how to cook the clay, how different qualities give bricks different properties and what their potential use can be. You can make mediatation out of brick making but never forget that bricks are just bricks, but they can teach you a lot about physics, materials, work and houses.

I believe the OP is referring Yi from Yijing/I king/i ching, which i think isn't the same Yi as the intent that is talked about in internal arts and medicine when they say "qi follows the yi" or the one from Xin Yi Chuan and Yi Quan, i believe the pictograms are different alltogether from Yijing.

Interesting! Hoping to see some yummy stuff pop up in here! EDIT: i told myself "Screw the paraphrasing you lazy dog, go git the quote boy! Go!" Came up in a binary reading discussion of trigrams, this book contains 81 tetragrams. Funny thing: those changes arent called Yi. She went on about bagua superimposed on the five phases more original contexts and at the end of the post she drops this gem on us: What is the traditional pictogram of Yi? Is there a symbolic meaning or interpretation that could help shed some light?

You mention swaying in zhan zhuang as qi-leaking to the environment, but it is still related to motion in the LDT? What about exercises that make use of gentle swaying? Do they have a place in this topic or am i mixing things up?

EDIT Am i getting this right: Some of the owners of those skulls had mutations never before encountered in any animal, or were perhaps not human as we know human aka homo sapiens? Like a sort of localized cancer-like mutation or a whole new branch of homo sapiens? Are there traces of european and western-asian heirtage or is the evidence pointing to geolocational markers (i've read you can trace a persons longtime geographical residence/origin by analyzing what went into building their bones) that these inhabitants came there around 0 WCE? I mean 2k years isn't so huge a time period, south american pyramids were contemporary to the egyptian ones right and those are like 5-3k BWCE? Vikings were in Newfoundland around 1k WCE (pretty high tech sailors) while the first Oceanian settlers came south on more rudimentary vessels even earlier. I'm no expert but i wouldn find it plausible if fenician seafarers went to the americas way before any reputable Europeans did, those guys seem to have been litterally everywhere to make trade and connections. There seems to have been rumors about terra firma far far over west from the old chunk. West African sailors must have had a pretty decen shot at crossing too right? My scientific cred and stake in this is zero btw, i'm just way excited about this thread ^^ I thought the geoglyphs were still pretty much a "yeah nobody really knows exactly who or what and evidence is inconclusive" since the plain didnt have any known or recognizable settlements. But hey, i read that fifteen years ago in art-history 101 so who am i to tell? I'm just baffled at the gap i just found in my knowledge here

Oh snap, sorry for the thinking Stosh

Thats what i thought too, there's room for improvement, goals and paths are still deliberate, intent and energy still needs direction. Gaining enlightened awareness makes one aware of potential and limits, at least thats what i read into it No, sorry, i didn't state my premise very well: i meant that it seems to me that awakening is sometimes talked about like crossing a threshold where perfection or blissfully only prioritizing certain positive things becomes an effortless automation. I've ruminated it for some time and it just doesnt make sense to me, it seems like a magical solution almost: become enlightened and suddenly you won't take offense or suffer anymore. I'm not saying this is true, i was just asking for opinions if this was a correct interpretation, partial or otherwise. I think caring for oneself is crucial, if i'm not taking care of me, how can i do anything to help others and ask them to help me? If we dont take care of ourselves according to our needs and whats available we'd be in serious trouble.

Even if you're fully aware and accepting of yourself, mechanisms of clinging, bias and projection, isnt there room for error and dynamic change in behaviour, response and so on? If it's skillful means and right thinking then shouldnt the focus be on dealing properly with as little disturbance as possible instead of magically only caring about and reacting to certain things? I dont get buddhism very well, i like the no-nonsense of zen, but if the goal for those who arent awake is to wake up and pierce the veil of their illusions, that sounds like accepting that the reins are in their hands just as much as simply being a lowly driver of a worn buggy somewhere in the middle of a pretty unimportant and filthy place? I'm not trying to be slick, i just dont understand how to tie the bag together really...

I didnt even click the link but what Stosh said makes a lot of sense in many situations.

TM, now i have a very good reason to go see him. I ought to pay him my respects anyway and getting some more jow is a perfect way. I could mail you a bottle, not sure if it'd clear customs here or over yonder, youre not regularly in europe anymore right? If i get a decent amount from him we could split it and you gimme back the postage on delivery. Lemme go see him first, i'll try to in the next few weeks. CT I had no idea there's thai jow, i'll check it out! Bummer about your grandfathers craft, you sure didnt leave a recipe for you guys? EDIT I'll ask Sifu if he does any jow also, he never mentioned it and the idea of passing it on should fall in fertile soil. Otherwise i should ask Dit Da Sifu here in town if he'd teach me how to make it. Long shot and not very likely i think...

I forgot caffeine, i take some of that too. I keep forgetting that stuff is good for ya

Nice thread! I get stuck in that loop sometimes. Authenticity to me is just another way of missing out on the moon because the pointing isn't being done with the right kind of finger. Concepts are tricky because of all the organizing and sorting, conceptualizing the concepts are Platos trapdoor/rabbit-hole and that stuff is a roundabout without exits. If the moon isnt available at the moment or my fingers are occupied holding on to a ledge i've probably got other business to tend to. Sit when the time suits and work when need be. The stars shine more visibly at night, they dont take a break at high noon. Thats my personal approach to it at least.

Once i felt like a silver needle in a (writhing!) stack of dung inside, creeped me out to no ends. Any improvement with the pudding-situation?

Yeah i'm a fall hit wino too I think it's his recipe and he got me the good stuff, not tailored to me especially but he had a few different batches and it's lasted me for ages. How well does this stuff keep btw? It smells and works the same to me even years later now. He wouldnt tell me the herbs (i only got the caput mortum mush so i cant reuse it or pick anything out) and the formula had been steeping for a year or something. He actually looked at me funny when i asked if he had some, he wanted me to get some shaolin herbal paste for my leg but i couldnt afford the treatment and the herbs, i asked if the wine would be of any use so he said yes, good but only less effective. All i know is he only used top shelf XO to make it. I havent visited his shop/clinic/storage in years but i think he'd still sell me some if i asked nicely. Do you have a custom formula or did you get a readymade mix? What kind of booze do you use? I've been pondering making some myself but i dont know where to start even.

I dont take much besides my daily meds. B1 vitamin supplements in times of mental stress and fatigue, plus its good for the hair and if you take a lot of it and it starts to come out with your sweat keeps mosquitos and similar nasties at bay Magnesium (low concentration) over a short period of time. The occasional drop of White Flower Oil (i think its called st least, it's a chinese ointment) under the nose against being tired, smelly environment, keeping the nose clear. Its pretty darn nice for massaging sore spots also, just keep it away from the eyes. I think camphor is part of the formula, from the smell of it at least I've got about three deciliters of Di Da Jow left also, it was well soaked in Remy Martin and i managed to convince the Dit Da and Acupuncture Sifu in town here make sure i got a nice portion of the herbage so it would keep better. I've used it for all sorts of stuff but mainly i got it when i broke my leg. Did wonders for the healing and rehabilitation process combined with his treatment.

Right on the nail Starjumper! in your last paragraph i was zapped by "the face of emotional stress". I know i'm veering off a littlebut the face plays a role in standing and horse especially. I've done snd seenit done: Contorsion of the face starts to appear when discomfort is near unbearable, especially in the opinion of the emotional stress. Making strained faces reinforces it. Thats my theory at least. Starting to use the face to express the overload leads to a tense chest and there goes the breathing bit. What you guys think?

Horse stance comes in varieties as do their use and benefit so i'll throw in some general advice from,y experience. There is Horse Rider where you stand reasonably high, feet about shoulder width apart. Immagine you're about to sit on a high barstool, your pelvis will tilt and the small of your back steaightens out a little. Goat Rider is when you squeeze your knees inward, as if you were sitting on a skinny billygoat, hanging on for your life Double Horse is lower, feet are wider apart than your shoulder but not much, and your knees should be bent just under 90 degrees. Never go full 90 degrees, that will put the stress on your weak part (joints, fascia etc) and not strengthen the bits that make the exercise easier with time. Feet must be parallel and knees should never be over and ahead of your toes, that will spell pain and trouble also. A good way to practice this is to stand your toes toward a wall and bend the knees. When they touch the wall you're maxed out. You wont get very low at first, increase the bend in knees ocer time as well as the time spent standing. This exercise doesnt have to be a neverending horror, when you figure it out and learn to relax it's quite nice to do it. The trick is to build enough strength to be able to find how your bones and tendons help you hold this stance if you relax and breathe. The important part with all horse stance isnt to straighten your back as much as: Don stick you ass out. If you look like you're about to start bootyshaking you're doing it wrong. This encompasses not leaning your head forward also. You should look like someone stole your chair and your stance is so awesome you didnt even notice.

Delicious! Now that i'll have embroidered and framed.

If i were to say that one bigram is part of a process revolving around the centering point of rest (say the null point at the top and bottom of a sine wave with center/earth as the baseline), for instance the cycle of seasons in a year or the sun and moon interplay during the day, would it be reasonable to assume that a third line adds a specifying demarcation, as an additional rising and falling within the process of rest-increase-peak/rest-decrease-bottom/rest? As there transition between winter and spring draws near there is a smaller transition between winter declining (lets call it winter-fall because fall is the preamble of the end) and spring taking shape (spring-winter, as winter is both the end and beginning of a new cycle). So a cycle of a year can be said to be Minor yang, yang, minor yang, minor yin, yin, minor yin. If i were to add a third multiplier to this a year has middle seasons and a resting phase (earth) and the breakdown looks - in the immortal words of Run DMC - "... a little something like thisssss" Yin minor yang, yang minor yang, yin yang, yang yang, yang minor yang etc etc. This is as far as i'm getting with a method of analysis based on a binary matrix, if i'm getting hot right now it's because i'm trying to understand it by power of yin and yang (which i believe i understand) and adding more lines is going to stop this description from being useful. I welcome if someone takes a hatchet to my theory, i'm just looking for a way to start digesting this, i'm guessing at least a few bums might find it helpful as well. PS - Speaking of hatchets: pardon my OP, it's a butchering of the english language and i feel a little shame, all the while i cant be arsed to fix it. I dont want to blame it on the fact that i was a little tipsy at the time but yeah, i was.

Dude! Thanks! But gah! I should've known this was going to increase exponentially in the "stuff to keep In mind"-department. Looking forward to hear more!

I'm down with them representing change and patterns within physical phenomena and the endless shifting and interplay of more or less dynamic interactions. I'm baffled that the Pythagorean formula coincides with the trigrams, pretty cool! Is it likely that it was divine those symbols? I always thought they sprung from the refining of the yin-yang dynamic, when lesser and great yin and yang (eyes and fish so to speak) came into the illustration the broken and whole lines were another way of portraying it. A third line gave more possibilities of interplay. I read an article (linked from here i immagine ) that describes the King Wen sequence as an accurate description of the horizon and the mountains visible from it from where King Wen or his relative (i'm lost on the "Who's Who in I-Ching" game-show) sat. In prison i think. Or something. Thing is the trigram for lake seems symbolic. I liked them described like a family relationship but that still doesnt quite paint a picture. I'd like to use the trigrams on a practical level, identify them in action so to speak. I dont even know if that is a reasonable way to treat them I understand hexagrams describe situations more accurately but the sheer amount of info, six lines, transitory and fixed, yada yada, it's a bit much to grip and relying on their commentaries is pretty dense as well as shot-in-the-dark-ish. I keep thinking that they could describe anything if one decides how to interpret them on a systematic application thing. Right now it feels like Rubiks cube before i learned there were algorithms and what they're supposed to do. Inscrutable in its simplicity.

Hummm, i hadn't seen the chart of the yearly cycle before, thanks! I wonder how the eyes fit in, the sparks of change within the bigger two. It still grows on me as symbol, it very interesting how many things it covers and reflects. But comprehensive descriptions no.