Water Method imagery

[SFJane]

Hey gang. I don't have a lot of spare time at the moment but I thought I'd share this video with you all that popped into my inbox the other day out of the blue. The video is loaded with water imagery that I thought was representative of water method meditation. I see the rocks as blocks being dissolved by the ocean. Check out 2:20, the mind of a meditator, stillness below, moving mist above.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-XrtOa6g0E

 

 

Speaking of water method, have you guys seen Bruce lately? He's lost a lot of weight. I think he looks great and I am really glad to see it. In fact, I think as he gets older and with his hair and beard cropped the way it is, he kind of looks like an evil Sean Connery. I mean that in the best way, it's a compliment, he could be a villain or an end boss in a martial arts flick. He should totally do it too if he got the chance—he would be awesome at it.

 

Edited September 17, 2010 by SFJane

[~jK~]

Hey gang. I don't have a lot of spare time at the moment but I thought I'd share this video with you all that popped into my inbox the other day out of the blue. The video is loaded with water imagery that I thought was representative of water method meditation. I see the rocks as blocks being dissolved by the ocean.

 

SFJ,

 

It seems you like to explore C.G. Jung's images of dream interpretation.

 

Others have used this method of water imagery - such as:

 

"Prophetic Method of Nostradamus

Nostradamus used a variety of magical arts and tools to induce ecstatic trances. Visions came to him through flame or water gazing, sometimes both together. he also followed the practice of Branchus, a Delphic priestess of ancient Greece, requiring him to sit, spine erect, on a brass tripod, the legs of which were angled at the same degree as the Egyptian pyramids. The upright position, and possibly the use of nutmeg (a mild hallucinogen when consumed in sufficient quantity -- [deadly when the dose is too large]), stimulated the mind; the angle of the tripod legs was thought to create a bioelectric force which would sharpen psychic powers.

 

Or the prophet would stand or sit before a tripod that held a brass bowl filled with steaming water and pungent oils. "I emptied my soul, brain and heart of all care and attained a state of tranquillity and stillness of mind which are prerequisites for predicting by means of the brass tripod."

http://www.dreamscape.com/morgana/method.htm

[goonis38]

Hi there,

Thanks.. We are all so blessed God made us some beautiful things in this world to enjoy, and to grow as people. Some times we just need to "stop and smell the roses"...

 

I love the music also.. Nice to me you by the way... Take care Melanie

[Guest paul walter]

[doc benway]

Very nice Jane - thanks for that. I've found the water method to be a very nice compliment to the fire method that I've practiced for a long time. The fire method is very effective but seems to lack a component of love/compassion/stillness that the water method has at it's core. That's my experience anyway.

Yeah, Bruce looks great. I'd like to meet him someday.

Steve

 

PS I just finished practicing some standing meditation and Chen Pan Ling Taiji in Olympia, WA. The mist and fog and Puget Sound were wonderful stimuli for dissolving

Edited September 18, 2010 by steve f

[goldisheavy]

Very nice. Thank you SFJane. I enjoyed both videos.

[TheSongsofDistantEarth]

Yeah, maybe he's stopped eating like a pig. Must say when I viewed this I thought he had no real idea about lao vs. (sic) chuang. I personally think it's a totally false dichotomy, one people get from books, not from what those writings really point to? Paul

 

 

Those are really nice videos, thanks SF Jane.

 

Paul, I would he's got a whole lot better idea about lao than you do, and it's not from books. How do you know he was 'eating like a pig'? Sounds like you have something against Mr Frantzis, no? Jealousy? Envy? Projection?

Edited September 18, 2010 by TheSongsofDistantEarth

[Guest paul walter]

Those are really nice videos, thanks SF Jane.

 

Paul, I would he's got a whole lot better idea about lao than you do, and it's not from books. How do you know he was 'eating like a pig'? Sounds like you have something against Mr Frantzis, no? Jealousy? Envy? Projection?

 

 

No, I 'love' the guys stuff, always recommend him first to people who ask for advice. Jane said he was "eating like a pig" (and was proud of it?). My views on him come from observation of his writings, of what he says, his 'life story', emotional problems in the past... You can never be sure if someone has a "whole lot better idea about" something, no real way of testing it really...

Edited September 19, 2010 by paul walter

[SFJane]

[SFJane]

Those are really nice videos, thanks SF Jane.

 

I am pleased that you enjoyed them.

 

Songsofdistant, Paul,

 

Let me clarify the pig comment. I was really into dieting for my spiritual advancement in my early twenties and tried many diets including raw food, macrobiotics (lot of aikido peeps were into that) and Taoist 5 Element nutrition. Convinced I was, that Bruce must also be into min-maxing his chi, I asked one of his students what diet Kumar preferred. I was told, “No diet, just the opposite, he eats like a pig.”

 

Jane said he was "eating like a pig" (and was proud of it?)

 

It was this student that I was talking to, that seemed proud of that fact, and of how it unsettled me. Because I was so sure that Bruce -must- have some kind of super-secret ultra chi cultivating diet, and I was so surprised to learn that he did not, even being disappointed on my end, when I first heard it.

 

This student did indeed act like he was proud, if not boastful, of the fact that BKF is a happy omnivore and does not play the 'my diet selection is better than yours because it gives me bonus +spirituality points' game, like some others do. These days, now that I am over myself enough to have moved beyond dieting for +1 New Age cultivation points or for 'moral' reasons I can use to make myself feel better and more advanced than others (or to browbeat them with), I too, am proud of that fact, and I emulate him.

 

I happen to like pigs (see my avatar). Pigs are really fascinating animals. There is nothing inherently wrong with eating like a pig. Heck, these days, -I- eat like a (finicky) pig.

 

In terms of Bruce's recent weight loss (compare his body now to his retreat videos from 2008) he has certainly thinned out quite a bit. I've seen him do this over the years, in images, if not in person. He was one size when I first met him, thinner later that same year. But by the next year, was much heavier.

 

I'd say Bruce probably puts on weight whenever he gets into a long writing phase. I've put on some weight myself doing the exact same thing. Eating good food, and plenty of it, while sitting on my butt writing all day. If you eat like an athlete but stop doing athletics for awhile, the calories add up.

 

There is a simple rule about weight. If you stuff yourself with calories and you don't move very much, you will get bigger. If you are willing to sweat buckets and get your cardio going daily, then you can eat like a pig and --lose-- weight, while eating like that. You have to move fast and vigorously enough so fat cells can't bulk up. Simple in theory. Harder to do in practice.

 

I knew Bruce had been in an accident or two since his Big One in Colorado. But in his more recent videos, the announcer (Greg?) stated the Bruce has been in a total of seven accidents. Recovering from an accident is something that can bench you from heavy exercise, so between his book writing, recovery from accidents and his love of good cuisine, its easy to see why and how he got heavy in the first place.

 

What matters now is that, despite all of his writing commitments, deadlines and seminars, and in spite of his many accidents, Bruce is still going at age 60+ and looks better than he has in years. I think that more than speaks to his abilities to repair himself.

Edited September 19, 2010 by SFJane

[Guest paul walter]

 

Paul Walter,

 

 

Maybe you can make a video response and tell Bruce, “You are getting it wrong.”

If you are really convincing with the why and the how, maybe I'll have to look you up and start learning Taoism from you.

 

 

Can't be bothered-you think two taoists would ever agree on anything as worldly as the tao vs chuang 'debate' . My main (and only) point on it is that when stillness is carried to ther point of movement and movement is carried to the point of stillness how can there be any 'difference'? Thanks for the reply on the food thing. I also read I think in one of his books (probably the internal arts one) where he was talking about the weight of those old tai-chi/bagua masters and he seemed to think it was a good thing being 'overweight' which he seemed to think was no problem at all. I felt maybe this was self-justification in a not good way? Also, the kind of weight gain/loss you describe is not usually a healthy thing for most--ages/puts strain on the body system prematurely (don't know about taoist masters though). His face certainly shows signs of wear and tear not expected of one who has been in the tao sphere all those years (though yes, his face is becoming more beautiful/wise/integrated there's no denying). Seven accidents eh?!! What's he doing wrong ? See you, Paul.

Edited September 20, 2010 by paul walter