surfingbudda

This is an interesting article showing how science is finally starting to catch up with something the ancients always knew about being in the flow, or Wu Wei - effortless doing. You are skiing down a mountain trail in Aspen, Colo. -- one of the expert diamond slopes, with the awe-inspiring snow-capped Rockies in your view. Though you have skied down this slope before, you have never been able to "dominate" it -- until now. You begin to hit your stride, striking every mogul perfectly, effortlessly. Your actions seem frozen in time and every little sound becomes more intense -- the crisp slap of your skis against the powder, the scrunch of your knees, and your rhythmic breathing. You are flowing down the slope, and later you might even describe yourself as having become "one with the mountain." All those years of training and struggling, taking ski lessons and tumbling into the woods, are now finally justified. You have had, quite literally, a peak experience. If it is not skiing, you may have had similar experiences in other activities -- some other challenging exercise, working on a difficult project, or even in simpler exercises like reading or an intense conversation with a friend. These are moments in which your mind becomes so entirely absorbed in the activity that you "forget yourself" and begin to act effortlessly, with a heightened sense of awareness of the here and now (athletes often describe this as "being in the zone"). This type of experience has become the focus of much research in recent years by positive psychologists. Indeed, the Hungarian psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi has even given it a name for an objective condition: "Flow." In order for a flow state to occur, you must see the activity as voluntary, enjoyable (intrinsically motivating), and it must require skill and be challenging (but not too challenging) with clear goals towards success. You should feel as though you have control and receive immediate feedback with room for growth. Interestingly, a flow state is characterized by the absence of emotion -- a complete loss of self-consciousness. However, in retrospect, the flow activity may be described as enjoyable and even exhilarating! A growing body of scientific evidence indicates that flow is highly correlated with happiness, both subjective and psychological well-being (Cziksentmihalyi, M. 1997, p. 31; Csikszentmihalyi, M. and J. Hunter, 2003, pp. 185-199). Furthermore, it has been found that people who experience a lot of flow in their daily lives also develop other positive traits, such as high concentration, high self-esteem, and even greater health (Hektner, 1996, recounted in Cziksentmihalyi, 1997, pp. 116-125). One of the fascinating parallels between science and philosophy concerns how this concept has been anticipated by the Chinese philosopher and provocateur Zhuangzi. According to Zhuangzi, the "ultimate happiness" (zhi le) is gained when we have learned to "let go," engaging in activities for their own sakes without any ulterior motives. In such a state all human actions become spontaneous and fresh, childlike in their intensity. On the highest level we transcend our egos and merge with the Dao, or the way, the underlying unity that embraces all things in the Universe. Zhuangzi's typical examples of people who have achieved this state are artisans, butchers and craftsmen -- you might call them "blue collar sages." One of the most celebrated examples recounts the virtuosity of butcher Ting. Ting is cutting up an ox for his Master Wen-Hui, and his activity is described in the following way: At every touch of his hand, every heave of his shoulder, every move of his feet, every thrust of his knee -- zip! zoop! He slithered the knife along with a zing, and all was in perfect rhythm, as though he were performing the dance of the Mulberry Grove or keeping time to the Ching-shou music (The Collected Works of Chuang Tsu, trans. Burton Watson 1986, p.50) When Ting is asked by his Master how he could achieve such skill, Ting responds: What I care about is the Way, which goes beyond skill. When I first began cutting up oxen, all I could see was the ox itself. After three years I no longer saw the whole ox. And now -- now I go at it by spirit and don't look with my eyes. Perception and understanding have come to a stop and spirit moves where it wants. Ting goes on to explain how this state of mastery is achieved: However, whenever I come to a complicated place, I size up the difficulties, tell myself to watch out and be careful, keep my eyes on what I'm doing, work very slowly, and move the knife with the greatest subtlety, until -- flop! the whole thing comes apart like a cloud of earth crumbling to the ground. I stand there holding the knife and look all around me, completely satisfied and reluctant to move on, and then I wipe off the knife and put it away. Here we see all the elements of the flow described quite succinctly. Ting has a clearly defined goal in mind: to chop the ox carcass with minimum effort and least wear and tear on his cleaver. He is completely immersed in the activity of butchering with no space in mind for any other thought or feeling. Ting describes the stages he went through in order to achieve mastery of his skill. The attitude that binds these stages as a thread is single-minded focus and intention. The allusions to rhythmic movement and dance clearly indicate that he is going through an ecstatic experience. And at the end of the activity he describes himself as "completely satisfied." Ting's reference to "a complicated place" indicates that the flow state is achieved only after facing increasing challenge and the development of new skills. Zhuangzi intimates that the flow-like experience can extend beyond the specific act of butchering to become a continuous state (this is similar to Csikszentmihalyi's concept of the "autotelic personality"). After Master Wen-Hui hears Ting's explanation, he proclaims, "I have heard the words of Butcher Ting and have learned how to care for life." It is obvious to Wen-Hui that Ting is not just giving us a recipe for how to butcher an ox: he is giving us a recipe for life itself. This idea of flow as a kind of "caring for life" is a major theme in Robert Pirsig's popular work "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance," for example when he writes, "When you're not dominated by feelings of separateness from what you're working on, then you can be said to 'care' about what you're doing. That is what caring really is: a feeling of identification with what one's doing." Zhuangzi uses the metaphor of the "mirror" to explain this: by removing the interference of the self, your mind becomes a perfect reflection of the concrete situation you are in. It shouldn't be surprising that there are such strong links between contemporary psychology and Asian philosophy. While much of western science has been devoted to technologies that manipulate the external world, eastern thinkers have mainly focused on inner technologies, cataloging the different states of mind and how the most optimal state can be achieved. Zhuangzi's ultimate happiness, however, does not involve a distinction between the inner and the outer. In the state of flow with the Dao there is no "me" and there is no "it." There is only the reality of lived experience, the concrete activity itself. And so we see in Zhuangzi one of the great paradoxes of happiness: the more one seeks it, the more elusive it is. Seeking happiness obviously puts it at a distance from us, and thus makes it harder to achieve. But when we give up our chase after happiness and focus rather on specific activities and purposes, happiness is achieved as a result. While Zhuangzi can legitimately be taken to be a precursor of the modern concept of flow, it is equally important to note some of the differences. Csikszentmihalyi prefers to use the language of "control:" the ego learns to master the external world in the conquest of a challenging skill. Zhuangzi on the other hand uses the language of "letting be" (wu wei): one learns not to interfere with the way of things. I believe, however, that these two different perspectives are complementary aspects of the flow experience. While Csikszentmihalyi draws attention to the strength and control that is achieved within flow, or its Yang aspect, Zhuangzi points to the effortlessness of the state, its Yin aspect. To take our ski example once again, the experience of flowing down the mountain can be described as "being in total control" and "dominating the mountain" or as "effortless" and "being one with the mountain." The equal validity of these perspectives is what makes the flow experience so unique: at the same time that one is in complete control, one doesn't feel that one is "doing" anything at all. While the self is becoming "stronger" as a result, there is no experience of a "separate self." And while a lot of effort is initially invested to reach such a state, it will not be achieved unless one eventually learns to "let go" and trust one's natural ability. Just as one quality naturally leads to its opposite, as Winter leads to Spring and Summer, the quality of flow involves the mutual interplay of focus and release, effort and effortlessness. In this sense, then, flow can truly be seen as an experience of the Dao which is the harmony of these opposing qualities. -Lance P. Hickey, Ph.D.

Hello Cat Pillar, For me, I almost know without a shadow of a doubt that experience doesn't end with death, I look at death as another beginning, not an end. Does that mean I look forward to it or worry about, certainly not, I look at death with a neutral viewpoint in that I accept that it will happen when it happens and so be it. I would appreciate spending and enjoying as much time in this life experience as I can and hope to live to a ripe old age, as most people probably wish as well. I recently saw a video online which I could find for you if you wanted, it was a documentary about great Yogis in Tibet. One thing about the video I found interesting was that the especially achieved Yogis were known for choosing their time of death. For example a student of a great Yogi described the event of his master passing. He said that his master, although old, was in great health showed no reason he would be passing anytime soon, however he gathered all his students around and said, "Today is a good day for me to die", so he prepared his final meal with his students and gave each of his students prayers for good fortune and when he was done he simply closed his eyes and tilted his head into a restful state and he passed away. Another instance in the video was when they showed the last great elder Yogi of Tibet who apparently had already done a ceremony of cutting his hair which meant he was preparing to die, but it said that the Dalai Lama asked him to live a little longer to help his people so the great Yogi agreed to live a another year or so to continue helping his people. Also in the video it was noted that when these greatly achieved spiritual masters die it is a common occurrence that their bodies resist decay for weeks or even longer and stay perfectly the same with their bodies still showing life as if they were sleeping. This is just some interesting things I found relevant to your question. To me, even just the simple ability to feel qi proves to me that there is much more to this world than meets the eye. To answer your second question, does it matter to worry about death. No I do not think one should worry about death any more than worry about the future or regret about the past. Simply focus on the NOW which is the only time that were in

I probably should have said science is, "beginning" to catch up with what the ancients always knew about . Obviously mainstream science has a LONG way to go before they get there, but every journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, so its nice to at least see some progress made in the right direction. Science may never fully understand spirituality as it is an inward journey and not something which can really be analyzed or proven by scientific means, at least as of now. I like this quote by Albert Einstein, "All religions, arts and sciences are branches of the same tree." I think one day science may eventually catch up with spirituality, but for now spirituality is way ahead of the game, and may always be?

Which is why the point is to transcend beyond your body/brain to your "true self" which is an immortal being of pure energy or light. Once you connect with who you really are, then death becomes just another thing part of the cycle and is as normal as birth. death is a beginning, not an end. This is my belief which I believe is shared by many, however do not take my word for it, this is something which must be experienced and not told about. I feel in my heart that this physical body is not truly who I am. Heres a good quote, "We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience."

Exactly!

Is it just me or has anyone noticed the moon being unusually bright tonight? I mean its seriously LUMINOUS tonight, staring at it I'm almost worried that its going to blind me like the sun , but seriously its not much less bright right now then the sun. Maybe its just from where I am, idk? Perhaps its because I practiced Ya Mu's Gift of the Tao DVD today and it really did put me into a higher state of awareness with heightened senses seeing things more vividly, I guess if no on else notices this then the qigong is obviously the answer lol. I would take a picture of it but I doubt it would come out very good

ya I've seen a good many moons and have never seen the moon glow as brightly as it has in the past couple of days.

Thanks - almost looks like the sun doesn't it

Thanks Apech lets see if this works My link there it go, thanks for the help Apech

Actually I think this school is great and how education should be, with that being said though I do think this school and others like it could never give you the same kind of wisdom and spiritual development and a true teacher or personal master could give, just my opinion though. However this school is definitely a great start to finding one's true self and could lead you to higher and better things, its also a matter of perception and hwo you make of it as said in the post above. Whatever you decide to do, find whats true to your heart and go with that. Best of Luck, Ben

guess I can't show you guys, can't figure out how to get photo from iphoto to taobums, oh well

Heres my best attempt to capture the moon, doesn't do it justice at all, but gives a taste of how bright it actually was My link i hope this link works

I'm probably going to major in East Asian studies at my school, I would learn about Asian culture, history and spirituality and get to learn either chinese or japanese. Naropa sounds great though! Almost wish I could transfer there . Do you know yet what you would like do after graduating? Right now I'm 100% that my true path is healing and wish to dedicate my life to helping people

I saw the moon-bow also, very cool! I've never heard of planting onions at the new moon, whatever works I guess Has anyone ever done moon qigong, is it possible?

My camera does have a fireworks setting so I will try that tonight, actually tonight is the full moon so it should be TRULY SPECTACULAR! How does one go about slowing the exposure time?

:lol:

Hey RainbowVein, Heres the video of my old teacher which you may be referring to My link. Ya I actually signed up for the first introduction 5 classes, I only made it to doing 3 . He actually gave me a baby transmission to awaken energy and after three days of doing his qigong was when I began experiencing qi for the first time, and have been experiencing it ever since . I practiced his qigong for only about a month and then do to school and other things in life popping up I unfortunately just stopped practicing. He actually did do some healings for my dad which really helped him. I have nothing against him at all, he was very nice. I think the BIGGEST factor of why I stopped the practice was because Master Zhou didn't speak any english, instead his secretary would translate for him the movments and such, so I always felt a little lost and it always seemed like too much trouble to ask questions, I like I learn better under a more interactive teacher whom I can ask away and really pick at the teachings so I really get it. Oh ok I knew it was some kind of stage four cancer.

I think even people who are completely ingrained with believing only what they can see can still "awaken" and become open to the unknown. Especially people who have terminal or very serious diseases which western medicine tells them a time limit till death, at this point people become desperate is usually when they seek alternative healing options and if they become miraculously healed then they would have to be pretty ignorant not to broaden they're scope of what is possible in this universe. My old qigong teacher who was also a healer treated this Police Officer who was diagnosed with stage 4 Breast cancer who was given only a few months to live by western science, well she went to this the qigong healer for extensive healings everyday for three weeks and she ended up completely cured with no trace of cancer, it was actually in the Newspaper and heres the article if anyone is interested My link

Excellent poem, very encouraging to read

That was a Great Movie!

Hello SirYuri, If you are in search for an energy healer I would strongly recommend looking up Michael lomax, he has an extensive 30 years clininal background of Medical Qigong energy healing and has some of the most amazing recover results rate I have ever seen. He is on this forum and goes by the user name Ya Mu, you could message him and ask what ever is bothering you as he is always willing to help out. Here is a thread where he goes into what exactly he does as a healer My link Toward the bottom of this link he provides some amazing recover results from his clinic My link Heres his website if your interested My link He also does distant healings if your unable to reach his clinic in Missouri Best of Luck, Ben