ShenLung

qq, b-but, Turtle .. I like a good dopplebock in the evening! Can't go too wrong with proverbs, though. I like the one that says "What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun" - which is ecclesiastes 1:9, not proverbs, but it does the trick. Oh, the suffering and misery that could be avoided if we were only to listen to the wisdom of old men and proverbs!

Ok, one last little bit, partially to provide some levity with regards to such a serious topic, and partially to provide some insight when I tell folks that a large portion of how we experience our realities is based upon how we choose to percieve them ... I offer this clip. The reality selection bit comes in at about 44.25 minutes ... enjoy! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdWl0jvDXgk

Slide!

The advice to be wary of forming emotional attachments does little for a person who is already suffering from a failed relationship; it is a lot like shutting the paddock gate after the horses are gone. A relationship that has been objectified tends to take on a life of it's own, like it was a real person; a living thing. When the relationship ends, it may seem as if someone has died, in certain respects. When someone or something living to whom we have established an emotional attachment departs, we experience grief. Overcoming this grief can not be done by refusing to acknowledge it; it must be experienced throughout it's various stages: Shock, Denial, Bargaining, Guilt, Anger, Despair, and finally acceptance. Everyone will not experience grief in the same way, or in the same order, necessarily. Shock: One might have a feeling of the world falling away beneath one's feet, like a sudden descent in an elevator. The world does not seem real - this sensation can quickly develop into Denial, where one cannot or simply does not wish to acknowledge that the relationship has ended. To help with this phase, one must find a way to bring one's mind to the present moment; work, excercise, walking or stillness meditation - whatever it takes to rejoin the now. Denial, at least in some respects, will persist until Acceptance has been reached. Bargaining: Still in the throes of Denial, one may attempt to find some way to 'breath life' back into the relationship. To someone on the outside looking in, the person is engaging in self-delusional behavior, believing falsely that they can somehow control how another feels. I've written an essay on control elsewhere, and presently I shall provide a link for it here. http://thetaobums.com/topic/25809-on-control/ Guilt: A period of self-reflection in order to discern what one might have done wrong to cause the end of the relationship. Sometimes the produce of this examination becomes fodder for Bargaining, or the mourner will become angry with him/herself and proceed with self-inflicted emotional punishment. In the latter case, one should attempt to cultivate self compassion; understanding that one is still developing and growing, and that mistakes provide an opportunity to grow. Anger: Now the sufferer is externalizing their pain, and assigning blame to the other(s) for their suffering. Human beings are not the paragons of virtue, the physical embodiment of divine perfection; they are flawed, often deeply so, and the sufferer should now be quite aware of this. One of the great hazards of building relationships is the tendancy to project one's idealized view of the other upon the relationship, instead of accepting the other, and the relationship for who they are/ what it is. Apply compassion for the other in understanding this nature, then allow them to peacefully go their own way. Despair: The sufferer wallows in self-pity, struggles with that dreadful sense of anxiety born of the thought that perhaps they will never have a real loving relationship ever again. This state can completely consume one's thoughts and dominate one's life to the point that sleep and appetite are diminished or lost entirely; or may be subliminated by engaging in self destructive patterns of behavior. Despair often emerges throught the grieving process, but is overcome as one progresses through these stages, until finally the sharpness of the emotional pain fades away, or one eventually learns to stop trying to have a relationship, but merely appreciate the experience when it next occurs. At this point, one has reached Acceptance, and the emotional healing process can be accomplished.

I just knew you were the kind of guy who knows how to have a good time

Not easy to find your cup of tea if you are spiritual seeker ... Indeed, this is one of the reasons that many spiritual seekers live like monks, even if they are not living in a monastary.

This (Lomas) looks like RAB, skin breathing, with particular focus on the point and moment of impact timed with a (hard) sharp exhale. It is a normal side effect of neigong practice. I would also recommend doing traditional martial arts body hardening, including lots of strength training, and doing your skin breathing excercise outdoors in winter clad in a pair of boxer shorts (or naked, if you don't have any issues with privacy). A walk-in freezer is good for doing skin breathing practice in warmer climates, or during summertime. If you do not have access to one, a similar effect can be gained by going into a cave, and having water poured over the body, and then having a partner use a fan while you practice. IMO, one should start with the qigong/neigong practice first, and not worry so much about becoming superman.

I believe that a great deal of post-relationship angst is rooted in the formation of attachment. Consider the words that are commonly used with relationships: We have a relationship, we are building a relationship. These are words used to describe an association with things. According to buddhist philosophy "Attachments to that which does not last leads to suffering." All relationships come to an end. Objectifying a relationship is what enables it's dissolution to cause suffering. If it can be posessed, it can be lost or stolen; if it can be built it can be damaged or destroyed. How many persons behave unatrually or practise dishonesty out of fear of harming their relationships? A better approach to relationships might be to experience a relationship, rather than seek to have one.

Race to go nowhere Pointless drama, the stoplight makes everyone wait.

Written on the wall of drill hall 900, Great Lakes naval training center, near Chicago, Ill (back in the day) "The true meaning of discipline is not punishment, but the ability in men to strive for perfection, and achieve excellence." That thought has gotten me through some very hard miles.

I am just glad it is not ... Thundercats! Meow.

Likewise, sir! There is very little Sufi wisdom that penetrates to the western mind, so your participation in this forum is very valuable. The western mind is very rebellious, and it's nature is to challenge everything - for this reason I felt it necessary to bring to your attention how you were being percieved, however incorrectly. I think you are getting 'the hang of it' Learning to humble one's self and be of service to mankind is difficult, and I have also been very rebellious in the past ... But I am trying. May the almighty provider bless you.

John Paul Jones was a Scotsman, just saying ... In all seriousness, I think the number is closer to one in 10000; people are shocked when I tell them about it, and I get the sense that a great number still don't believe it. The first of my ancestors to arrive on this continent's shores was in the employ of King George, and the only reason that I am here today is that he was not a christian, and on the occasion of Washington's surprise raid across the Delaware river, he was sober enough to retreat. This makes july 4th a very interesting holiday for me, but I do celebrate it; it is the celebration of the birth of an idea, an idea that I firmly believe in. I think that people have to come to grips with the fact that they have no influence on the past, but what shape the future takes is rooted in what they do and feel today. I have chastised Recep before, not because I disagreed with him in principle; I believe he was correct in that case - but on account of how he presented his case. The western mind is rebellious in nature, and must be persuaded by sound argument in terms that it can understand, rather than commanded by dictate. This takes time and patience, and I believe that he is developing more patience. Perhaps we all should.

In the course of my studies, there is a thought that has occurred to me, but I have not found an answer in any of the books that I have read ... yet there are more books than can be read in a lifetime, it seems. Perhaps you may have some insight in this matter, but if not, that is OK, too: Is it possible that the period of angelic evolution and the period of human evolution might overlap? In other words, could there already be incarnate angels on earth today who are undergoing their own evolution?

Cue weather, Boil hops barley malt, yeast, and airlock I prefer mine strong

A little bit of everything; a whole lot of nothing - mainly just being, and being aware of the experience.

I've got my heart set on a new manual pump for my well ... I snapped the handle of the old one in two a longer, more deeply set makiwara post would be nice, too. :update, dec 10 : the pump is on the way ... hehe, this wishing for things is fun!

This may be too simplistic of an analogy, but it works for me: A doctor's kit contains a variety of medicines for the treatment of many ailments of the body. Used properly by a physician with knowledge and discernment, they can restore or maintain the health of a patient. Taken all together, a person would become sick, or possibly die. A set of religeous beliefs likewise include teachings which, properly applied with knowledge and discernment, can maintain or restore a person's spiritual well being. Taken all together without the benefit of knowledge or discernment, religeous beliefs could very well be considered to be spiritually poisonous. So, when someone offers a set of religeous beliefs, it is much like offering a kit of medicines. I am grateful when someone with understanding shares their religeous beliefs with me, as it increases my knowledge of spiritual medicine.

Ok, by way of explanation for someone who is not doing energetic practice you might start by asking if they have ever had a headache. The brain does not have any pain receptors, yet it interprets information indicating a problem in this area as a sensation of pain, pressure, or both. The body does not have any neurological receptors that detect subtle energies, either, yet a person can feel them when they practice. Perhaps this is simply the brain attempting to interpret this information into a sensation that can be physically experienced in the same way.

Words flow through the dream Guiding me to emptiness; Here we find the Way.

Preserving the way intact The Master of the Hidden Storehouse lived for three years on the south face of Feather Mountain, during which time there was no sickness among the local folk, and the grain crops ripened regularly. The people privately said to one another, "When the Master of the Hidden storehouse first came, we thought him strange. Now we find our yearly income to be more than enough even though our daily income seems insufficient; Could it be that he is a sage? Why don't we pray to him, and make a shrine to propriate him?" When the Master of the Hidden Storehouse heard about this, he appeared uneasy. A disciple tried to induce him to go along, but the Master said, "I have heard that people of ultimate attainment live independently in humble cottages, while ordainary people, in frantic madness, do not know where to go. Now the people of Feather Mountain are talking among themselves about propriating me by ceremony - am I the man to be their target? This is why I am uneasy, considering the words of Lao Tzu." The disciple said, "I disagree. A small pond has no room for a huge fish to swim around in, but a mud puppy can sport freely in it, a small hill has no place for enormous beasts to hide, but it is good for little foxes. Moreover, since the time of the ancient kings Yao and Shun it has been an established practice to honor the wise and employ the able, to invite the good and take to the beneficial, so why should the folk of Feather Mountain not do likewise? You should listen to them, and let them do what they propose." The Master of the Hidden Storehouse said, "Oh come now! Were Yao and Shun in the know? When a huge beast strays far from the the mountains, nets and snares trap it, when a giant fish is beached, insects torment it. Therefore the abodes of birds and beasts should be in high places, and the abodes of turtles and fish should be in deep places. Now, when people who would keep their bodies and lives intact conceal themselves, they cannot be too deeply hidden or too remote." "I tell you, the basis for great disorder has its roots in the time of Yao and Shun, and its aftermath will remain even after a thousand generations. After a thousand generations there will surely be people eating each other." Now before the Master of the Hidden Storehouse had even finished speaking, a certain earl in his audience became uneasy, kneeling at his seat, he said, "I am getting old, how can I put aside my business, to put what you say into practice?" The Master of the Hidden Storehouse said, "Keep your physical body intact, embrace your life, don't let your thought and rumination work frantically: if you live out your years this way, you may thereby be able to reach what I am talking about." "But even so, my ability is slight, insufficient to teach you. Why don't you go south and call on my teacher Lao-tzu?" Once the Master of the Hidden Storehouse has sent the earl away, without making an explanation to the folk of Feather Mountain he made himself like a dragon in the world. The nature of water is inclined to clarity, but when soil muddies it, water cannot be clear. It is the nature of man to desire longevity, but when things confuse human nature, people cannot live long. Things are means of nurturing life, but many deluded people today use their lives to nurture things. Thus they do not know their relative importance. Therefore, in matters of sound, color, and flavor, sages take what is beneficial for life and reject what is harmful to life. This is the way to preserve life intact. If ten thousand people shoot in concert at a single target, no target will not be hit; when the disturbance of ten thousand things erode a single life, no life will not be injured. Therefore the way sages govern myriad things is to keep their own nature intact. When nature is intact, then the spirit is intact. People in whom the spirit is intact can succeed without cognition and hit the mark without planning. Their spiritual illumination is all encompassing; their will stabilizes the universe; their virtue is as if heaven sent. They may rise to become emperors, but that does not make them haughty; they may be lowly commoners; but that does not make them ignorant. These are people who keep the way intact. When the mind is even and straightforward, and not seduced by external things, that is called purity. If purity can be sustained for a long time, it becomes clarity. If clarity can be sustained for a long time, it becomes openness. When the mind is open, the Way abides there intact. When one of the associates of Lao-tzu passed away, the Master of the Hidden Storehouse mourned him. His apprentice said, "Everyone in the world dies - why do you mourn him?" The Master replied, "Everyone in the world mourns; how can I not mourn?" The apprentice said, "But mourners grieve, whereas you have never sorrowed; what about that?" The Master responded, "I have no pleasure or happiness with anyone in the world - what would bring on sorrow?" "Remove the solid, and there is liquid. Remove the liquid, and there is gas. Remove the gas, and there is emptiness; remove the emptiness, and there is the Way. Emptiness is the substance of the Way, tranquility is the ground of the Way; reason is the net of the way; conciousness is the eye of the Way." "The Way is the means of preserving the spirit. Virtue is the means of broadening capacity. Etiquette is the means of equalizing manners. Things are the means of supporting the body. "In something that should be white, blackness is considered pollution. In something that should be black, whiteness is considered pollution. So how do we know what in the world is truely pure or polluted? For this reason, I do not focus solely on the purity or pollution of things. "Those whose sight is dim mistake yellow for red and blue for gray. Now how do we know that what we call black and white would not be considered red and yellow by the perceptive? And how do we know what in the world are true colors? For this reason, I do not get lost in the colors of things." "Those whose fondness for money is extreme do not see anything else as likable; those whose fondness for horses is extreme do not see see anything else as likeable; those whose fondness for books is extreme do not see anything else as likeable. So how do we know what in the world is likeable or detestable? For this reason I do not see anything to be attached to. Nothing can mix me up!" The ruler of the state of Ch'en sent out one of his grandees on an official visit to the state of Lu. One of the aristocrats of Lu said to him privately, "We have a sage in our state - do you know of him?" The grandee of Ch'en inquired, "What actually shows that he is a sage?" The aristocrat of Lu replied, "He is able to to still his mind and yet use his body." The grandee of Ch'en said, "Although my humble state is small, we also have a sage, but he is different from the one that you mention." The Aristocrat of Lu asked, "who is that sage?" The grandee of Ch'en answered, "Someone named the Master of the Hidden Storehouse, who is foremost of those who have attained the Way of Lao-tzu. He can see with his ears and hear with his eyes." When Lord Ting of Lu heard about this, he considered the Master unusual. He had the aforementioned aristocrat return to visit Ch'en and invite the Master of the Hidden Storehouse to the state of Lu, where he would be treated with the highest honor. When the Master arrived at the court of Lu, he was recieved in the Lord's private quarters. The Lord of Lu questioned him in a humble manner, and the Master explained, "I can see and hear without using my eyes and ears, I cannot exchange the functions of eye and ear. Your informant was exaggerating." The Lord of Lu exclaimed, "Who is like you? I am even more amazed. What is your Way? I really want to hear about it." The Master of the Hidden Storehouse said, "My body is merged with mind, my mind is merged with energy, my energy is merged with spirit, my spirit is merged with nothingness. If there is the smallest object or the slightest sound, no matter how far away they are; they are as close as the space between my eyebrows and eyelashes. Whatever comes to me, I know it completely. And yet I do not know if this is sensed by my senses or limbs, or if it is known by my internal organs or concious thought - apparently it is just spontaneous knowing."

With respect, I believe that I might help shed some light on this topic, If I may. The effect of symbolism has more to do with the person percieving it than the person who has handled it, in most cases. If, in the course of creating a work of art, the artist is experiencing something transcendent, the patterns of that realisation may, and I stress MAY be imprinted within that artwork in such a fashion that if another should meditate upon the image in the proper frame of mind they might also recieve insights. I feel that everyone should attempt to create some form of art solely for the cultivation of their own spirit. If someone else should enjoy this art and wish to purchase it, that is good, but keep in mind that any symbolism will mean something to someone out there, even something so simple as a drop of dew falling from a leaf at the precise moment that a thought rises to conciousness. Making a practice of capturing and selling moments of pure consiousness for profit imparts to me the sense of something dark and sinister that, although hidden, will manifest itself in time in very real, and very negative ways. If you feel compelled to paint, then paint! There is no need to create for a prospective buyer any meaning that they do not themselves percive within the painting. I hope that helps ... and post some of your art, If you would ... perhaps there is something we all can gain by contemplating it! Ok, back to basics, and I yield the thread to teachers far more worthy than myself.

One of the core tenants of the dojo that I occasionally frequent is that "what one is told is soon forgotten. What one learns for one's self endures." This means that in order to achieve real understanding, a student has to "figure it out" for themselves, then they can progress towards mastery without mechanically following the path of previous masters. Each generation becomes more and more adept. The master's task is to assist the student in finding their understanding, not to spoon-feed knowledge to them. The origin of this teaching philosophy comes from Lao Tzu: The way you can go is not the true way; the tao that can be named is not the true tao. Now the training at this school is extremely physical, rooted in the kyokushin of Mastatsu Oyama (there is a lineage of both spiritual and physical masters here, so some of the old tai jutsu is still being taught). The old models are not irrelevant, as they contain the basis for evolving one's personal understanding. If it is easiest for one to approach understanding of reality from the framework of a holographic matrix, the old models still provide a path to this sort of understanding ... but this understanding must still be gained by the student for themselves, or it has no validity, no power. Perhaps some persons who go out seeking understanding do not have the temperment necessary to develop understanding for themselves. This is not a bad thing; not everyone can be the sage on the mountain. "Not this lifetime, maybe the next" is a quote that comes to mind. For most, it should be enough to be simple, and simply be. Another thing that is taught is this: not all instruction is for every student. If the words that I have written speak to you in a meaningful way, then pehaps they are for you. If they do not, then perhaps next lifetime; don't be concerned about them for now. There should be no easy answers; Easy answers stifle personal growth!

Thank you for providing me with the opportunity to practice the cultivation of patience. Your sense of humor is unconventional and a bit unsettling - you really had me going for a moment there

(Eskrimador hasn't collected all seven dragonballs yet, and can't make a wish) Granted. A semi truck bound for the grocery store runs off of the road and crashes through the wall of your home. I wish I hadn't eaten that second breakfast burrito.