JustBHappy
-
Content count
197 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Everything posted by JustBHappy
-
Suffering and ignorance ceases.
-
I think there are different versions. I only know the Tibetan/Chinese lunar calendars and they are 12 or 13 months. No reason to worry about how it's all calculated in my opinion. Easy enough to just get a calendar or check online when needed. The moon, as you will find out if you really get into Taoism/Buddhism and Chinese/Tibetan thought is quite powerful and obvious. It's not too hard to tell when it's a new moon or full moon. The lunar month begins/ends on new moons. Pretty simple really. For example Chinese New Year is always on a new moon and it's the first day/night of the lunar calendar. All the Chinese holidays as well as the Tibetan and Buddhist holidays are always based upon the lunar calendar and then translated onto the solar calendar for us westerners so we can plan accordingly. The lunar calendar is very common in Asia and most holidays are all based upon it. Once you start noticing, and paying attention to the moon, you will become aware of how powerful it really is. It effects us all as well as the planet we live on. To be in touch with the Tao is to be in touch with the moon energy. To ignore it, is well....ignorant. Westerners in general are not in touch with this basic energy cycle and Asians are losing it as the desire for western ways grows and spreads. You can take the understanding as deep as you wish. Both the superficial surface understanding as well as the more subtle will benefit your life as you get in touch with it and learn to apply it in your world. The moon is the great reminder of the cyclic and impermanent constantly changing nature of life. The yin grows until it's peak when it is forced to start yielding to the growing yang energy which then of course follows the same "grow-expand-peak-contract-yield" cycle. It's a beautiful example of what is happening in our minds/bodies and the world around us all the time. I stress, that to deeply understand the moon is to also understand the Tao.
-
All the Chinese festivals are based upon the Lunar calendar. That's why they are always on a different date from year to year. Ghost month is always the 7th lunar month.
-
Nice tight Bagua. Who is the performer/teacher on that dvd? Nice smooth walking. You can tell he has a good teacher and has spent many moons making laps on the circle. Good Bagua is enjoyable to watch and for me even raises the spirit so I get that nice tingly feeling on the top of my head.
-
Lineages absolutely matter. Life is short and we only have limited time for training in our busy lives as we struggle to pay the bills and take care of people. Wasting ones life on a lineage that will not bear fruit is a sad way to live. If one develops high levels of skill and wisdom or enlightenment through only their own newly developed training methods then they are the holders and creators of a new lineage. Good luck with that. It's certainly possible, and there is something to be said for modern methods for modern times, but I for one prefer to find and train in authentic lineages. My time on earth here is short and I never know when it will end, or how much training I can squeeze in each day so for me, lineage is everything.
-
Sounds like you have a great lineage. One of my Bagua teachers also holds that same lineage, the 108, the fast set, and assorted weapons and qi gong/meditations. He has insane short power. Small movements can effortlessly send me flying upwards and back. He says he doesn't know where the power comes from because he just followed his teachers instructions and the power developed. I suspect though, that some of it came from the Tai Chi. If I ever learn the whole Bagua system from him I definitely want to learn the long form and the fast set. My understanding is that these are some of the oldest Yang sets that others such as the Chen Man Ching 37 were based upon. Good luck with your practice and teaching.
-
The Gao lineage I study has 12 animals. There are also numerous animal movements within the rest of the system. The 64 hou tian palms all relate to a specific hexagram, with each group of eight having a primary trigram. These are really the heart of the system and the most applicable to combat and to life in the external world of appearances. The 'manifested' world that we call reality. I was also given a similar Bagua diagram from my Liang master which I would assume relates directly to the 64 straight line palms from that system but I haven't verified this with him, nor have I took the time to translate all of it. The 12 animals have nothing to do with, or have no direct relationship with the trigrams/hexagrams as far as I know. But they do kick ass none the less.
-
Corn Syrup really does make people fat more than sugar does
JustBHappy replied to voidisyinyang's topic in General Discussion
High fructose corn syrup is nasty nasty stuff, and sadly it's in everything these days. Not only do you get the high fructose corn syrup effect, but they are almost surely using the nasty GMO corn which is bad enough already. Whole foods, natural unprocessed foods and no sweeteners or natural sugar or even better real honey. That's another story entirely, but a lot of honey sold these days is missing the vital parts. http://www.naturalnews.com/040520_honey_supermarkets_counterfeit_food.html It high time for a natural food revolution. Communities growing their own locally and the masses slowly weaning themselves off the fake, poisonous gmo processed foods. Food, air and water are the most important things, yet most take them for granted and ignore the serious issues right in front of them. Time to get the ball rolling the other direction, the movement will pick up momentum once critical mass is reached. Getting off the high fructose corn syrup is a vital first step. -
Mantak Chia's Iron Shirt; good or bad practice
JustBHappy replied to norbu's topic in Daoist Discussion
I would stay away from his material. I realize that there are not many books, videos, or teachers in the west but I honestly don't understand why so many get fooled by folks like him and BK Francis. I guess in this age of decline, anyone who writes books, videos and claims to be a great master will end up fooling a lot of people. Sad, but clearly true. Meanwhile there are some highly skilled and enlightened masters on the planet quietly doing their thing. I have a friend that lived with Mantak in Thailand many years ago. He volunteered for an extensive period of time, helping him publish books, and run retreats and such. He and his wife have no shortage of stories about the guy that are...shall we say less than the conduct of someone who should be teaching this material. I can say without any doubts that his sexual methods can be downright dangerous and would highly urge people to stay far away from them. Just because someone claims to be a master, writes books, and acts the part doesn't mean a lot. My experience has been quite the opposite; "he who says does not know, he who knows does not say." First thing when learning from any teacher is to closely examine the teacher and think if you really want to become and emulate his/her spiritual development, health, actions and lifestyle. I can say without a doubt that neither Frantzis nor Chia pass this test for me. -
Gary J. Clyman interview & biography "You can!"
JustBHappy replied to Wells's topic in General Discussion
wow! Finally had some time to kill and watched these silly vids. This guy reminds me of one of the serious alcoholics I used to see everyday when I was a bartender/bouncer many many moons ago. The poor guy has some issues. A psychology professor could teach a whole course and then some on him. I feel sorry for the guy. On a positive note, at least he isn't a sheep. -
Scientists declare consciousness not exclusive to humans
JustBHappy replied to effilang's topic in General Discussion
Scientism is a joke, a sad, aspect of today's society. People want to wait until their beloved scientism tells them it's ok to believe something, or perceive the world in a new way. Animals have consiousness----- duh! -
How does one go about mastering their intuition and emotional/energetic sensitivity?
JustBHappy replied to WillingToListen's topic in General Discussion
Yeah, this is the way. Don't even try to control or master them. Watch them come, stay for a while, and move on. The thoughts, feelings and emotions that are helpful for your path can be watered and given some attention, they will grow. The others, just simply allow them to come and go, and don't react to the worm on a hook that they are dangling in front of you. They will be gone and replaced by another soon enough, no need for you to do a thing. -
See ya Gary Clyman. Remember : You can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave! Peace be with you.
-
For me personally, neither mind celibacy nor body celibacy are needed or particularly important. There are many different paths, some are clearly more dangerous and/or rewarding than others. Each person needs to find their own path and a lifestyle and daily practice that works for them. There is no "one size fits all" and one will find that changes happen in different stages of ones life, different seasons, phases of the moon etc....So one size will not even work for one person at all times. One can absolutely enjoy a healthy sex life while preserving the precious fluid. In fact there are definite energetic benefits.
-
HowTo: Have a deep meditation in an unsupportive environment?
JustBHappy replied to 4bsolute's topic in General Discussion
As long as your immediate environment is safe, it doesn't matter. Sure for long term retreats where your getting really deep into it, the environment becomes a factor, but not for the daily practice of a layperson. I've been there, I used to think and believe exactly the same thing. Like everything else, it's simply a thought. If we water it and feed it, it will grow and consume us. If we focus on our object of meditation instead, then all the distraction in the world will not matter. It all comes down to where we place our attention. Even deep deep in the mountain caves there will be distractions and our mind can make them just as big as the ones in the city. It all comes down to focusing, and resting upon the meditation object, the environment is not terribly important. When your mind becomes aware of a "distraction," simply rest right there, relax, and let go of all resistance. Then gently guide yourself back to your object of meditation. There is a point of relaxation where nothing will bother you, nothing will have the power to grab your attention. It's all about relaxation. The fact that your being sidetracked, and agitated shows that there is too much tension and not enough relaxation. Let go of the strong focus, the forced attention, and put your attention into always letting go, relaxing further and further. The mind will come back and naturally rest where you have asked it to. I stress again that for westerners, the biggest obstacle is not lack of concentration, or focus, its the lack of relaxation and letting go. Once you become habituated to letting go and relaxing, the unsupportive environment will no longer be an issue. -
holy crap! Special Head levitates on American TV
JustBHappy replied to alleswasderfallist's topic in General Discussion
Hehe, he can levitate but he can't walk...... Along with the flash bomb at the end, it all seems a little fishy... I will go with Howard's first instinct! -
Are the natural laws of the universe perfect?
JustBHappy replied to Jetsun's topic in General Discussion
I agree entirely, each and every situation and person is unique and there is always more to it than we are able to perceive. My friends and family often tell me "you can't save the world" because I usually stop to help random strangers. More and more I am witnessing and participating in scenes that prove the teachings on what was coined 'idiot compassion' by Trungpa Rinpoche. Since we are not enlightened and cannot see karma, it is extremely hard to know if your actions are indeed helping someone, or further entrapping them. It doesn't take long to realize that we are in no place to make judgements. Just a few weeks ago I was sitting outside at a cafe drinking some coffee. I watched as a gangster punk finished drinking his tea and simply dropped the empty plastic bottle on the road next to his scooter. Well, I didn't jump up to shout at him, nor did I get up and pick up the bottle. I sat there for about five minutes thinking how bad people like that are and what a loser he was. A few minutes later, an old lady pushing a cart filled with cardboard, and plastic, strolled up and happily picked up the bottle. For her it meant more money and she was happy that it was there. My judgements were clearly limited by the small glimpse of reality that I live in. I could only see the careless litterer at that moment. The big picture is always there, but we only perceive a small portion of it which is always limited by space and time. Without knowing the past/future, and without knowing what is happening in other places, it's impossible to make clear judgements. Until we are realized, the most we can hope for is idiot compassion, which sadly will often do more harm than good regardless of our intentions. -
Are the natural laws of the universe perfect?
JustBHappy replied to Jetsun's topic in General Discussion
Hehe, For a realized person to help another there is no reason or requirement for losing their own sense of peace and harmony. Once again, it is unborn, uncreated, beyond causes and conditions. You can come up with a thousand scenarios, it would make no difference, it is a state of being that is beyond causes and conditions. It does not rely upon appearances. Moreover a person would be able to assist in a much better way if they were able to stay centered themselves. It would be of no assistance, nor entirely true to tell someone that their pain and suffering is not real. Pain and suffering is quite real to the person experiencing it. It's also quite real to the people around witnessing it. It would be uncompassionate and unwise to say such things to people. Appearances cannot be denied, the great Buddhist and Taoist as well as Hindu masters didn't teach nihilism. The Buddha made this very clear in his teaching on the "two truths," It wasn't the teaching on 1 1/2 truths, or one truth and one lie. I have never stated that if you ignore it, it will go away. I have found quite the opposite to be true. In fact from my direct experience I have found that experiencing pain is the wisest path when we have this option available to us. Sometimes we have to go to work soon and function at a high level so it may be better to just take an aspirin, we don't have time and space to deeply experience the pain in a meaningful way. It's not always easy, or fast to break through our own resistance. There is a huge difference between pain and suffering. Having pain, in no way guarantees that one will suffer. The suffering comes entirely from our reaction, our tightening up and resisting the initial pain. In fact if we let go, and simply rest right there in the pain it's true nature will be revealed to us. Not by ignoring it, but rather by turning around and being with it directly, letting go of all our resistance and aversion with the goal of really experiencing the pain directly. Very few people on this planet have felt pain directly, head on, free from their own automatic and unconscious reactions to pain. Great bliss is hidden within this veil of pain, but it can only be known to those who go beyond their resistance. One person can be put in full lotus for ten painful minutes of hell, while another can rest in bliss for hours. One resists the sensations, one lets go and experiences them directly. Far far different from ignoring. Ignoring is just another form of resistance; "I don't want to see or experience it, so I will try to ignore it." -
Are the natural laws of the universe perfect?
JustBHappy replied to Jetsun's topic in General Discussion
Wonderful question. This is my understanding and experience; If a persons mind is in harmony and peace they will perceive a more harmonious and perfect reality. When I am at peace inside, my external world is also perceived in this way. For most of us, the moment we are entrenched in a situation with violence, grief, suffering and pain, we immediately lose our center and our harmonious and peaceful state of mind. I especially am prone to this. The more I practice, the more sensitive I get and am easily influenced by the moods, thoughts and feelings around me. I will one day reach the point where I am broadcasting so loudly that my environment is blasted by feelings of calm and equanimity and the people around me lose the connection to the anger, violence, grief etc.. that is destroying their happiness. So what I am saying is that for most of us, we are not in harmony and peace when we are surrounded by violence, grief, suffering and pain so of course, we may not perciece the world as perfection in that moment. One who is awake, from my understanding will not have this issue. This type of being is not caught up in the display in front of them, they see the whole picture. The violence, grief, suffering and pain in front of us, is always just one small glimpse of reality in that moment. There is a whole cosmos at play. It is we who have this affliction of getting caught up in the appearances around us and take this to be reality. One who can expand awareness, will see it for what it really is, one small appearance in a vast cosmos. One small glimpse in time is no basis for which to make judgements of perfection and imperfection. So the answer to your question really depends on the level of harmony and peace in ones mind. For most of us this harmony and peace is dependant, it relies upon our surroundings and perceptions in the moment. For a realized being, it is natural, unborn, uncreated, and has no causes or conditions to rely upon and thus will not be affected by changes and appearances. May we all learn to rest and abide in happiness that is free from causes and conditions. -
What technique have you learned to Erase Doubt forever?
JustBHappy replied to 4bsolute's topic in General Discussion
Nothing wrong with doubt. No reason to erase it forever in my opinion. From the Buddhist standpoint, it is an obstacle to have doubt IN the teachings and teachers. This does not in any way apply to everything we perceive. It's a very specific doubt about very specific object(s). The Buddha even urged people to examine everything he taught with open eyes, to start from a place of doubt. This is the true and authentic way of coming to your own unshakable knowing that is beyond doubt. Doubt, can and does keep us out of trouble. Without doubt we would all be hooked up to some $2 dollar gizmo while being audited by a scientologist who is scared of body thetans from the planet Zenu and having our bank account sucked dry in the process. Doubt, like any other thought is powerless. It is we who give any thought power by feeding it, following it, and jumping into the storyline. Doubt can come, and doubt can go, no harm is done. Same with fear, and the myriad of other thoughts, feelings and emotions. In fact, the more we tense up and try to resist, the stronger we make them. -
Are the natural laws of the universe perfect?
JustBHappy replied to Jetsun's topic in General Discussion
Perfection is a man made projection, along with imperfect and the 10,000 other labels we like to use to put reality in little boxes. Keep in mind that we see, and experience such a small glimpse of reality. Time---We only experience the world from our perspective of time, one in which 100 years is a long full life, and one second is quick and fleeting. There is a lot more to be seen in time. Space-- A visit to the local planetarium will show us how small we are in relation to the cosmos. More importantly it will show how much we can't see or understand. Perception---We only see a tiny range within the electromagnetic spectrum, and there a likely other 'dimensions' of seeing possible beyond this model. The same goes for hearing, the frequencies we are aware of make up a small piece of what's out there. Two points that come out of this: 1. We are clearly in no position to apply labels like perfection or imperfection. 2. It all comes from the mind. If our mind is in harmony and peace, we will see perfection in the universe. If our mind is scattered chaotic and agitated we will see imperfection. As far as natural laws go, they can all be broken but they appear to work fine within the paradigm in which they were formed. -
Going to Taiwan - Got any tips/advice/recommendations for me?
JustBHappy replied to madMUHHH's topic in The Rabbit Hole
Yes exactly, it can be quite noisy. I think that once you get here and meet some people that you will have a better chance of finding a good apartment. There are likely some helpful resources at the school also. For many of us, paying our dues while living at the shitty hostel near the main station has become a rite of passage. One could write a book about the characters... er creatures they encountered while there. I would also highly recommend trying to find an apartment that is near one of the MRT stops. It's a great system and it's a lot more civilized than the ones you find in China. People will actually wait for passengers to get out before walking/pushing into the MRT car. -
No thanks, I don't play the 'ignore game' I have no issue with you, or your views. I have found that the people, things and events we most wish to ignore, often have something we need to learn. Once the lesson is learned, we often either never see these same appearances or we do and they cease to effect us. I don't strive to have nobody push my buttons, I strive to have no buttons. I realize that my views are extreme for most people. I have, and continue to make sacrifices and tough choices in order to find and learn from what I view to be great masters and lineages. What started out as a three year meditation retreat in India has turned into an endless journey through Asia. I realize that for some, committing to a couple days a week to learn some Tai Chi at the local community center is a big sacrifice and that the average joe couldn't care less about lineage's or authenticity. I see the great internal arts and Buddhist/Taoist meditation arts as priceless jewels with the potential to help us in ways that the world desperately needs at this time, so I do take it a little more serious and I don't apologize or try to hide it.
-
It's quite simple. If they don't know what they are talking about nor have the skills and mastery, then they simply do not have the lineage. The lineage is not a chart on a piece of paper like a family tree. A lineage is a LIVING transmission of enlightenment or mastery. This flame needs to be kept alive in order to have authentic lineage. The moves, the meaningless 'family tree' that one may claim, have little value. It's the lineage transmission that is priceless. "Sad to say, there are masters of impeccable lineages who might not know what they are talking about, especially those who cannot fajing or tinging." This is rubbish. They are not masters of impeccable lineages. They are frauds, charlatans, scammers, fakes, despite what they may claim, or what their family name is. Once again, to make it clear because for some reason very few in this world seem to understand the importance of lineage and what it is; Lineage is a LIVING transmission of enlightenment or mastery. If this enlightenment or mastery is missing, then the lineage flame has died. There are no masters of impeccable lineages who don't know what they're talking about or have no skills. If they are clueless, skill-less, then they are also lineage-less. You cannot carry a flame that doesn't exist. The great lineages of yogis, saints, and internal arts have shown us again and again the supreme importance of true lineage. They have also shown us again and again that it has little to do with blood, or family. Often a great masters own children will not have what it takes to receive the lineage. They can learn all the moves, the techniques, the theory, etc.. but lineage is much much more than that. Ignore it if you wish but you can truly spend a lifetime diligently practicing and make very little progress. The student is important, but even the best student in the world will end up scratching his/her head on their deathbed wondering what they did wrong and why they got no results unless they find an authentic lineage master. Those of you reading this who have met and been taught by authentic masters will know exactly what I'm talking about. A few hours with a real teacher is much more valuable than years with a charlatan. It's the small imperceptible details that produce the most profound results.
