Combining "eastern" and "western" practices?

[Unseen_Abilities]

[Protector]

If you're going into Hermetics look up Franz Bardon books

They're old and people give them out for free online

 

I don't like all these new copy paste books out there

Sometimes old ones are just fine

[Jeramiah Zeitigeist]

Looks like a very interesting book. I might get that myself.

 

If you read through the Flying Phoenix Chi Kung thread, you'll come across quite a few mentions of Hermetic practices, and a very interesting post about Crowley. Sifu Terry Dunn is a Taoist, but I believe is also involved in the study and practice of other traditions, including hermetics. I don't see any problem in exploring other cultures and traditions.....I think Osho said that Taoism was the ultimate rebellion.....so not something with strict rules and regulations.

 

I think most, if not all, of these traditions spring from the same source, so we can drink what we like, and then assess it through our own personal encounter.

[konchog uma]

i think one can combine eastern and western practices together with success. Daoism is very formless and abstract, very right brained. Even seemingly organized aspects of it, like the I Ching, are poetic and metaphoric at their core. Hermeticism is a nice balance to that in that is is more logical and left-brained.

 

Ideally, we use both hemispheres in a synchronized way, which usually entails fully exploring both modalities of consciousness.

 

also, an afterthought, beware anything that offers a fast track to liberation or universal consciousness. IME/IMO theres no such thing, not even for reincarnate masters, tulkus, etc. Don't believe the hype, the spiritual path is, in almost all cases, years of work.

[Sloppy Zhang]

I second the suggestion for Bardon's books. Very solid. Cuts out all the crap and gets right to the practices.

 

You want a practical system of legitimate self cultivation from a Western tradition?

 

Go Bardon.

 

Now, many moons ago Taomeow made a post that really struck me and it's something that has been on my mind since then, and I have found the guideline to be VERY helpful in distinguishing between different systems.

 

And that is: their mode of language use, whether it is a "state" oriented language/system, or a "process" oriented language/system.

 

Many western systems, and many systems that come out of India (including yoga and Buddhism) are very "state" oriented. You "are enlightened". You "are an adept". You have "attained the state of X". You have "fallen from the state of Y."

 

Other languages and cultures have a more "process" orientation. The Taoism of native Chinese culture is process oriented. This makes things a tad different in terms of overall outlook and processes.

 

Now there are many Chinese systems that are hybrids- Taoist that got intertwined with Buddhism, throw in some flashes of Confuscianism, etc etc.

 

Interestingly, I read "Opening the Dragon's Gate", the book about Wang Liping, and compared it to what I had read of Franz Bardon's "Initiation Into Hermetics." There were some VERY interesting similarities as far as what steps were involved, the description of the processes, signs of attaining certain points, etc etc.

 

But again it's pretty status oriented.

 

 

I spent a long time trying to blend Eastern/Western practices. It was a headache. It seemed very forced and unnatural and very "head" oriented. I found Taomeow's general explanation to be generally applicable, simple, and elegant.

 

And once you realize that some systems are coming at things from fundamentally different places and going to fundamentally different places... well I just stopped caring about trying to make them fit together.

 

But hope you find something that works for you. It's what you gotta do!

[Unseen_Abilities]

Hey guys, thanks for replying. I've been chipping away at the practices in the Hermetics book, and feel as if I've made some progress: My visualisation skills have improved a bit, and I generally feel calmer as I'm going about my day. That being said, I feel as if I've built a bit of a barrier in my head in regards to combining this with something like Taoism...Part of me feels like I should just follow one thing, but a different part of me is saying, "No, its ok, don't limit yourself", so I guess I'll just trust that, in time, I'll find my path.

 

If anyone with experience in this area could share how they go about combining things from different systems, that would be cool

 

Peace.