duncan Posted August 14, 2006 Hi there... like lotusbud, I've been reading the forum for a while now and eventually have decided to join. My main practice is vipassana meditation in the Buddhist tradition, along with some Yoga when I get chance. Have also done some Tai Chi/Qi Gong and Aikido. I feel more and more committed to the dharma/tao, but recently, my mind has been excellent at finding ways to distract itself from meditation practice... like joining forums (excellent though they may be! ) Duncan Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
freeform Posted August 14, 2006 Welcome Duncan! Great to have another Brit on the books. I know very well what you mean about getting distracted from practices... funny thing is - usually it happens when you're just on a verge of a breakthrough or if the practice is becoming particularly effective. I think this stems from our ego's way of keeping us away from danger - if a practice gets a lot of energy moving this disrupts the status quo - and therefore is potentially dangerous. I'm always amazed at the creative ways my ego goes about distracting me in these situatuions. I find that a forum like this can actually help with keeping you going with your practices. I do em and if I discover something new I look forward to sharing it with the rest of the bums. Ofcourse in the same way it can distract you too... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
duncan Posted August 16, 2006 Welcome Duncan! Great to have another Brit on the books. I know very well what you mean about getting distracted from practices... funny thing is - usually it happens when you're just on a verge of a breakthrough or if the practice is becoming particularly effective. I think this stems from our ego's way of keeping us away from danger - if a practice gets a lot of energy moving this disrupts the status quo - and therefore is potentially dangerous. I'm always amazed at the creative ways my ego goes about distracting me in these situatuions. Thanks for your reply freeform. Good point. And yes, the ego is terribly creative in the ways of distraction. I recently deemed it essential to watch all of the anime series 'Samurai 7' at the occasional expense of practice... It was good though. And I agree - these forums can be supportive of practice as well as a distraction; that's one reason I joined. Duncan Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cloud recluse Posted August 22, 2006 Greetings Duncan Got a question for you & any other UK citizens.Just bought mysels an armload of books by an English author styling himself "Barefoot Doctor" ( I think his real name is Stephen Russell,or something like that).I LOVE the guys writing style,but dont really have the Alchemical experience to assess his chi gung.have you ever heard anything about this countryman of yours/Any dirt/praise ? I would luv to know Regards,Cloud. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ian Posted August 23, 2006 Greetings Duncan Got a question for you & any other UK citizens.Just bought mysels an armload of books by an English author styling himself "Barefoot Doctor" ( I think his real name is Stephen Russell,or something like that).I LOVE the guys writing style,but dont really have the Alchemical experience to assess his chi gung.have you ever heard anything about this countryman of yours/Any dirt/praise ? I would luv to know Regards,Cloud. Yes, he's very entertaining. I know next to nothing else about him, however. My impression is that his approach seems more psychotherapeutic than pursuing enlightenment. Lots of positive affirmations. He used to have a weekly column in the Observer sunday magazine answering people's fool questions. Very into his tai chi / bagua personally. Don't know what he teaches. He was doing a weekend workshop at the Lancaster Hotel not long ago, but I don't know what it was like. I was in the room next door with Burgs and we didn't hear anything. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
duncan Posted September 18, 2006 Thanks for your question cloud recluse, but Ian has probably replied better than me. The only book of his I've had access to is a herb compendium, which seems perfectly credible. I get the impression he's pretty big over here and that he's been tied to a number of books, some of which are quite 'pop' in feel. That may not be a good thing, but perhaps he's just compelled to share Taoism/TCM with the public. I say if you dig his style, then why not get into his stuff? Come to think of it, I'm always a believer in encouraging people to trust their own judgement when it comes to literature or teaching. By the way everyone, thanks for making me feel so welcome. I hadn't checked back to this section for a while. Duncan Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
