Cat Pillar

Hello Hagar, That's very sound advice. I'll have to give that a go at some point. Hello 9th, Thank you for your insight into overpowering worldviews. It's not just non-ordinary experiences I seek...or rather, that's not the end-all be-all of my pursuit. But it IS a milestone I'd like to reach, just so I have some sense of progress or being on the right path. What I'm mostly seeking out of spiritual practice is meaning for my life, because right now I have none. Life is meaningless to me, and I'd like that to change.

It's pretty good stuff, well worth the read.

Thanks everyone for your replies! I've gotten a lot out of this thread, so I'm very glad I made the post. Fire Dragon, That's very solid advice about staying at my level. Keeping perspective is something I haven't been doing very well, which the responses have helped me to see. Thanks for your reply, it has been helpful. ------------------------------------ Marblehead, I have not read Chuang Tzu, but I will check out the writings. Thanks for the suggestion! I appreciate your perspective, very level headed and resonates well. ------------------------------------ pennyofheaven, You bring up a very good point. I used to consider this at one point, but I seem to have forgotten it. It relates a lot to something goldisheavy talked about in his reply. I forget how useful skepticism can - and has been - for me. ------------------------------------ goldisheavy, I think you've struck gold with your response, it's had a heavy impact. Very perceptive. I have been treating my health like a trifle lately. I've been so focused on pursuing spirituality that I've neglected to take care of myself...seems I've been only paying lip service to the "mind-body-spirit" connection, as I have not been honoring the body portion of that combo lately. Something to add to my practice, then. This is a very interesting response, because of why I am conflicted about my skepticism. All this time, I've been afraid that there isn't anything true and that in order to experience anything I would have to be deceived in some way. Also, the reminder that it's not a sprint and that it does take time is a good one. I have been rather desperate lately. ------------------------------------ Moonbar, You're right, the only way to really know for sure is to jump in and try it. It sure is a tough slog. Good luck to all of us climbing that hill! ------------------------------------ rex, I'm not familiar with the Centering Prayer, could you tell me more about it? ------------------------------------ Sloppy Zhang, That's a great measuring stick right there. Thanks for putting that into perspective for me! ------------------------------------ joeblast, I judge everything by its consequences in relation to the well-being of everyone involved. I don't often measure up well to this standard, but it's the one I resonate the most with. ------------------------------------ Thanks again everyone, this thread did exactly what I hoped it would in giving me some new perspectives to view things by.

Great song from my favorite Clutch album.

Hello everyone! After being linked to this forum from two different sources (Half Past Human and Golden Flower Meditation) I decided to register and ask for some advice. I've been "seeking" for three years now, and consistently I seem to be drawn and prodded towards Taoism. I don't know a whole lot about the practice of Taoism, although I know a little bit of it's philosophy. I've read the Tao Te Ching and various articles scattered around the Internet - casually familiar, but by no means a scholar. I've read about and dabbled with many different kinds of meditation techniques, and I can never really seem to find one that I can stick with. I've been doing kind of a basic form of the GFM lately (whenever I decide I actually want to practice, that is), which consists of the deep diaphragm breathing, 5 slow counts in and 5 slow counts out, attempting to keep the breath from being loud enough to hear. The trick is in trying to stay disciplined with the practice, while having very little free time to do it in. Basically, I'm interested in learning more about Taoist Inner Alchemy...so if any of you can point me to or recommend good materials for study it'd be appreciated. I also have some questions concerning the martial arts, since there seem to be a lot of practitioners here. With my particular spiritual aspirations, it seems that Tai Chi would be the most fitting art to follow. However, I've already taken some Wing Chun training and I've really enjoyed it so far. From my limited experience, it's been implied that Tai Chi is not as effective for practical self-defense applications. I'm interested in hearing the opinions of the artists here, as I've also been taught that training in more than one style can limit your effectiveness by confusing muscle memory. I can't make up my mind whether I want to continue with Wing Chun or pursue Tai Chi, so I'm looking to expand my perspective.

Hello Mr. T, Thanks for your response! I'm curious what arts are dangerous when practiced together, so definitely let me know what your instructor says! Hopefully he'll give some kind of explanation of why along with it, too. Gauss, I'm reading through Zhuan Falun right now. It's an interesting read, that's for sure.

Hello Robert, I've been a member at your forums for several years now (under the name Ouroboros). I'm intrigued by your goal of building a huge spiritual family...I've been wondering when someone was going to try something like this. I've signed up for your video blog. Hopefully there will be opportunities for personal interactions in the future. Nice motorcycle, by the way.

Hello Pilot, Yeah, I meant "getting started" specifically with inner alchemy...I'm pretty sure that Taoism is the direction I want to go in, because it just "feels" more right than other paths I've looked into (Hermetics, Hinduism, Buddhism). Could you perhaps elaborate more on what you mean by the following? Hello Zerostao, nice to meet you! What I've read about qigong really interests me, so I would be very open to adding that to my practice. Especially if a few minutes a day is all you need to start. Can you recommend any good resources for getting started with this?

Hello Pilot! Thanks for the welcome I have not read Secret of the Golden Flower yet. I'll have to pick that one somewhere, maybe order it from Amazon. That should provide pretty much all I need to get started, then? Another thing that's occurred to me is, this all might be much easier with someone to help guide me along. How hard is it to find a teacher for this sort of thing? Or can I go "all the way" as it were on my own?