Hello

[Pero]

Hi everyone

 

I don`t know what to say really, so I`ll post pretty much the same thing I posted on the HT forum.

 

Untill about a year ago I practiced quite a bit and had good succes. I have been practicing the inner smile, six healing sounds, microcosmic orbit with the additions from the Awaken Healing Light of The Tao book, and began to do some iron shirt qigong. I also practiced Ba duan jin and experimented with a few other stuff. Unfortunately I stopped everything, probably due to going too fast and too much partying in December.

 

Currently I`m practicing a qigong called the 8 Foundations, which are basically stretching exercises with the use of sounds, kiai-jistu healing method, 8 Trigram standing and Spring forest qigong. I also plan to experiment with other things (again). I would like to add taoist practices (again lol).

 

Next to Taoism, I am also interested in Dzogchen.

 

 

Regards,

Peter

[Peregrino]

Welcome, Pero!

 

Slovenia has always seemed like a fascinating country to me--lots of great poets, artists, musicians and philosophers packed in there! What part are you from?

 

I enjoy reading Slavoj Zizek, even though he disses Taoism (or the "spiritual supermarket" equivalent of it) and makes me dizzy.

 

Happy trails,

Peregrino

[Pero]

Welcome, Pero!

 

Slovenia has always seemed like a fascinating country to me--lots of great poets, artists, musicians and philosophers packed in there! What part are you from?

 

I enjoy reading Slavoj Zizek, even though he disses Taoism (or the "spiritual supermarket" equivalent of it) and makes me dizzy.

 

Happy trails,

Peregrino

 

Wow, someone who knows Slovenia? lol

I`m from Novo mesto, which is in the SE part (Dolenjska). Have you ever been to Slovenia?

Never heard of Zizek before, but after I checked him out, I know why. Not really interested in politics. Does he talk about spirituality much?

 

Thanks for the welcome.

[Peregrino]

Wow, someone who knows Slovenia? lol

I`m from Novo mesto, which is in the SE part (Dolenjska). Have you ever been to Slovenia?

Never heard of Zizek before, but after I checked him out, I know why. Not really interested in politics. Does he talk about spirituality much?

 

Thanks for the welcome.

 

I've never been to Slovenia, but the more I learn about it, the more I want to go. Ljubljana sounds like a happening town, and I've heard you have a pretty little shoreline . . . Welcome to the European Union, by the way! Eastern European countries have so much energy and so many refreshing new ideas to contribute to the fossilized Western countries, IMHO! (I'm a dual US/Irish citizen--proud to be a *part-time* American living and settling in Europe.)

 

Zizek is the bad boy of contemporary Western philosophy--part rock star, part stand-up comic. He's collaborated with Laibach, and he even married a gorgeous (but highly intelligent, of course!) Argentinian lingerie model named Analia.

While his writing style is often dense (but funny), and I don't always agree with his politics, I think Zizek should be a national hero for Slovenia!

 

I've been putting off starting a thread entitled "Taoism and Politics" with this quote from Zizek:

 

The ultimate postmodern irony is thus the strange exchange between Europe and Asia: at the very moment when, at the level of "economic infrastructure," "European" technology and capitalism are triumphing world-wide, at the level of "ideological superstructure" . . . the New Age "Asiatic" thought [note shudder quotes to indicate that this probably comes from comfortably diluted Asian traditions], which, in its different guises, form the "Western Buddhism" . . . to different "Taos," is establishing itself as the hegemonic ideology of global capitalism. . . . One should mention here the well-known topic of "future shock," i.e. of how, today, people are no longer psychologically able to cope with the dazzling rhythm of technological development and the social changes that accompany it--things simply move too fast. . . . so that more and more, one lacks the most elementary "cognitive mapping."

 

The recourse to ["spiritual supermarket"-style ]Taoism or Buddhism offers a way out of this predicament which definitely works better than the desperate escape into old traditions: instead of trying to cope with the accelerating rhythm of technological progress and social changes, one should rather renounce the very endeavor to retain control over what goes on, rejecting it as the expression of the modern logic of domination--one should, instead, "let oneself go," drift along, while retaining an inner distance and indifference towards the mad dance of this accelerated process, a distance based on the insight that all this social and technological upheaval is ultimately just a non-substantial proliferation of semblances which do not really concern the innermost kernel of our being . . . . If Max Weber were alive today, he would definitely write a second, supplementary volume to his Protestant Ethic, entitled The Taoist Ethic and the Spirit of Global Capitalism.

--from On Belief, pp. 12-13, Routledge, 2001.

 

Whew! I need a breather! That's another reason I come to this site--to learn new methods of cooling down when I work my chattering mind up with all these fevered thoughts!

 

Peace,

Peregrino

Edited July 20, 2006 by Peregrino

[Peregrino]

Following up on my last rambling: there's an interesting article on your country in today's _New York Times_: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/26/world/eu...;pagewanted=all

 

So, what's Novo Mesto like? Any places in the Dolenjska area you'd recommend for a spiritual retreat?

[Pero]

Following up on my last rambling: there's an interesting article on your country in today's _New York Times_: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/26/world/eu...;pagewanted=all

 

So, what's Novo Mesto like? Any places in the Dolenjska area you'd recommend for a spiritual retreat?

 

Hmm, interesting article. Not sure about the country supporting the U.S. foreign policy though, I know I don`t and a lot of others either. Also, I think accepting Euro so early is a mistake, Italy could be an example, pices are already rising here too.

 

Novo mesto, huh, it`s nice lol. Don`t really know what to tell you. The town was founded over 600 years ago. It has around 25 000 people. It has two of the biggest companies in Slovenia, one pharmaceutical (where I might work after I finish college ) and the other is making cars for Renault. Anyways, here are two links, if you`re interested: - Novo mesto - from STO

- Novo mesto homepage

 

Here`s a picture:

 

As for spiritual retreats, I have no idea. I think that in Dolenjska the place for retreats might be the Kočevje forest, if you`re not afraid of the bears lol. I like forests, except for the bugs and mosqitos, which unfortunately like me a lot.

 

BTW, interesting what you say about the energy of eastern countries. When a qigong master was here, he said that he liked the energy of the country a lot, he said it has a rising energy.

[thelerner]

Hi Pero,

 

I'm interested in different spiritual practices that use sounds. Could you post a little on the discussion site here about Kiai Jitsu?

 

In Ki-Aikido we would have classes in Kiai ing. It was considered both a spiritual expression, as well as form of self defense all by itself. Unlike martial arts like Karate, it was used before an attack to shock and unsteady an opponent.

 

Yours

 

Michael

[Pero]

Hi Pero,

 

I'm interested in different spiritual practices that use sounds. Could you post a little on the discussion site here about Kiai Jitsu?

 

In Ki-Aikido we would have classes in Kiai ing. It was considered both a spiritual expression, as well as form of self defense all by itself. Unlike martial arts like Karate, it was used before an attack to shock and unsteady an opponent.

 

Yours

 

Michael

 

 

Hi

 

I will, but I`ll reply on Sunday at the earliest, because I`m going to visit my grandparents now.

BTW, I used to practice Ki Aikido as well.

[Peregrino]

Wow, great pic! I'm becoming a real "slavophile" these days.

D'oh! My laptop battery is about to die. Anyway, when I finally decide to make my big trip East, I'll ask you some more advice about appealing destinations . . . and how to use kiai jitsu defenses against the bears! : )

 

Ciao!

Peregrino

Edited August 3, 2006 by Peregrino

[Pero]

Hehe, you don`t know how much that made me laugh.

BTW, it was on the news that there are around 700 bears in Slovenia now, which is a big increase from the usual 400-500. 700 bears is a lot for a small country like this.