What are your favorite practices?

[thelerner]

Which cultivation practices do you enjoy most?

 

 

I like sitting on my zafu w/ a quiet mind and gently rock (though lately I'm still, staring at my nose tip and breathing slowly & quietly, not as effortless or natural).

 

I like standing in the afternoon sun, sometimes listening to Rawn Clark's Archaeous or a yoga nidra.

 

In the morning I like arranging head pillows in a T, putting another under my knees (ala zero gravity position), 2 sobakawa pillows on my stomach, a heavy sand eye pillow over my eyes and listening to a meditation audio.  Often Minke de Vos's. 

 

I like chanting in the shower, usually Rawn Clarks YHVH canticle. 

 

I like doing the first 3 moves of Michael Winn's Fundamentals II Video then the Pangu qigong sequence. 

 

 

[C T]

For body, my fav practice is doing prostrations

 

for speech, it is chanting (or listening to) mantras

 

for mind, i do visualisations, a combo of shamatha/vipassana, and reading/contemplating texts and commentaries

 

sometimes the above are all integrated into one session - at other times there would be more focus on a particular practice, depending on various factors and also intent, like time, space, increasing inspiration, healing, auspicious dates for practice, and so on. 

 

Always end with dedication of merit! 

[Spotless]

I just picked up a sailboat and did Qi Gong in the cockpit - as of today it is / was my favorite practice.

 

Qi Gong has taken on whole new dimensions - it brings such vibrancy into all things - and a lightness of being.

Edited March 5, 2015 by Spotless

[roger]

non-meditation

 

 

 

no effort, no technique

 

 

 

Try it!

[子泰]

Cleaning my room, taking walks, sitting upright when I'm at the desk

[Rara]

I enjoy cleaning up too, cooking for my lady, steam baths, talking with family, tea drinking and recently stretching exercises

[Marblehead]

Hehehe.  I guess I'm going to have to hire someone to do my cleaning for me.  For some reason that has taken a very low priority for me the past few years.

[Sahaj Nath]

shaking, chanting, and singing. those are probably my favorites.

[Rara]

shaking

Can you tell us more about this? I have just discovered bioenergetics in recent months and am wondering if this is coming from the same angle..

[Sahaj Nath]

it's basically just this. at 2:30.

 

 

as the energy increases the session becomes more and more spontaneous so that the energy is moving me rather than the other way around.

 

 

 

 

EDIT:

 

okay, she made it look all pretty and nice, but when it gets real, it's more like this:

 

Edited March 6, 2015 by Hundun

[Aetherous]

For body, my fav practice is doing prostrations

 

for speech, it is chanting (or listening to) mantras

 

for mind, i do visualisations, a combo of shamatha/vipassana, and reading/contemplating texts and commentaries

 

sometimes the above are all integrated into one session - at other times there would be more focus on a particular practice, depending on various factors and also intent, like time, space, increasing inspiration, healing, auspicious dates for practice, and so on. 

 

Always end with dedication of merit! 

 

I was going to say...exhaling the stale winds and then sitting is probably my favorite in terms of how I feel. But add in these other methods such as prostrations and dedication of merit, and it works even better. Tibetan Buddhist methods can bring such relief to the emotions.

[Jox]

it's basically just this. at 2:30.

 

 

as the energy increases the session becomes more and more spontaneous so that the energy is moving me rather than the other way around.

 

 

 

 

EDIT:

 

okay, she made it look all pretty and nice, but when it gets real, it's more like this:

 

 

First video, she make it just fine, but I would rather stay in the grass ... 

 

Second video, cant help, but reminds me more of some cult group dynamic ...

[Jox]

Inner smile ...

[Sahaj Nath]

First video, she make it just fine, but I would rather stay in the grass ... 

 

Second video, cant help, but reminds me more of some cult group dynamic ...

 

 

think of it like sex. when the intensity's real, you're not putting on a pretty face for your partner or the cameras. when you really let go, nothing is contrived.

 

there are plenty of other practices that don't involve spontaneous natural flow. however, when the kundalini is awake and kicking during practice, it might look like this whether you like it or not. *shrugs*

Edited March 6, 2015 by Hundun

[thelerner]

For body, my fav practice is doing prostrations

 

Always end with dedication of merit! 

Prostrations are very non-Western kind of practice.  I imagine them as kneeling then bending down, repeatedly.  Can you tell us a little more about the practice.  

Also, if I may ask what do you consider a typical dedication of merit?  To all sentient beings, or do you get more specific?

Thanks.

[C T]

Prostrations are very non-Western kind of practice.  I imagine them as kneeling then bending down, repeatedly.  Can you tell us a little more about the practice.  

Also, if I may ask what do you consider a typical dedication of merit?  To all sentient beings, or do you get more specific?

Thanks.

 Here's a link that thoroughly explains all the benefits that prostration will yield to the practitioner (from a teacher's pov)

http://www.lamayeshe.com/index.php?sect=article&id=837

 

Personally, i do it as an integral part of my daily practice. Besides keeping me in really great physical health, it is also very useful as a whole-body grounding exercise. Taoists love to connect their feet to the earth, well, those who do prostrations connect with the whole body! Hah! 

 

A number of Western Buddhist friends of mine who practice Vajrayana are really dedicated prostrators. I think people struggle with the idea initially because they usually misperceive the whole intent behind the act, thinking it makes them subservient to a guru, or it diminishes one's status, etc. but actually its not accurate to think this way. In fact, the greater the aversion to prostrations, the more we should try to incorporate the practice into our routine. It really helps to bring ego under a tight rein. 

 

Prostrations are made to one's own higher, nobler essence, or buddha nature, which im sure you have heard mentioned here many many times. With each one we do, it becomes an active reminder that we are connecting with that pure essence within us. This pure essence is usually represented by either an image or a figure of a buddha, or Buddha Shakyamuni, but it is not an act of worship as such. It is a physical and spiritual endorsement of our own worthiness as potentially enlightened beings, equal in deservedness of mastering our negative traits and habits so that in time we too will embody the attributes of enlightened beings everywhere. 

 

As for dedicating the merit of each practice session, this is vital for preventing any 'leakages' as the dedication is meant to seal the practice, as a sort of blessing to ensure that all the good derived are shared with others. This creates in our mindstream such qualities as generosity, love and arouses our 'heart of enlightened mind' or Bodhicitta. Each time a dedication is made, it strengthens our resolve to obtain the fruit of practice quickly - so for a Mahayana student, this fruit is of course enlightenment, but remembering always that enlightenment only becomes meaningful when others can be helped by it, so acquiring the habit of dedicating the merits of one's practice is very compassionate-bound. It also gives a lot of meaning to the practice overall. 

 

[liminal_luke]

Hundun,

 

Love the shaking!  Wondering about a few things.  How long do you recommend shaking for a beginner?  How long do you practice it yourself?  

 

Also wondering whether or not you see it as different from Sifu Jenny Lambs Yi Gong?

 

I´d be grateful for any thoughts.

 

Thanks,

 

Liminal

[Sahaj Nath]

Hundun,

 

Love the shaking!  Wondering about a few things.  How long do you recommend shaking for a beginner?  How long do you practice it yourself?  

 

Also wondering whether or not you see it as different from Sifu Jenny Lambs Yi Gong?

 

I´d be grateful for any thoughts.

 

Thanks,

 

Liminal

 

unless a person has some sort of physical limitations, i would shake for at least 15 minutes. the sessions at my house will go for 20-30 minutes depending on the day, with an additional 15 minutes in Yao Feng Bai Liu (flowing breeze, swaying willows), where we just stand in surrender, allowing the flow of energy to have its way.

 

i would say that Yi Gong is more like Yao Feng Bai Liu than it is shaking because shaking always starts out with the practitioner deliberately shaking out the body before anything spontaneous arises. with Yi Gong and Yao Feng Bai Liu you can either initiate small movement, or you can simply relax and wait for movement to arise on its own.

 

i think shaking works as a powerful lead-in to the other two. i practice all three, however.

 

i think natural flow practices are essential to a true understanding of Wu Wei. it eventually dawns on you that there is no "you." even when not engaged in practice, the body-mind ceases identity and functions without the notion of a self. thoughts, actions, and behaviors arise just as spontaneously as the energized movements of the practices.

 

i've tasted realization more than once with these methods.

Edited March 7, 2015 by Hundun

[Trunk]

Prostrations ...

 

[Marblehead]

That is two Army physical training exercises merged together with the addition of the outstreatched arms in the prone position.

[Trunk]

That is two Army physical training exercises merged together with the addition of the outstreatched arms in the prone position.

 

It's the way I've done prostrations at home.  (I don't know how it compares to official ways of doing prostrations.)  In terms of calisthenics, I find that it combines lots of things.  And in terms of psychology / spirituality (conscious knowledge / real knowledge), I find that it includes the high and most low ... in a way that somehow has quite an effect.

 

(However you might do them.. )  Prostrations are something I hadn't done while growing up, lol.  Seem antithema to western culture.  I'm at a loss to describe, but am grateful to participate.

Edited March 7, 2015 by Trunk

[Pyramidalcow]

Eating

[C T]

some subtleties of prostrations explained in this vid. 

 

 

 

The palms together placed at the forehead (or crown) symbolises purification of body; at the throat it symbolises purification of speech, and at the heart, purification of mind. 

Edited March 7, 2015 by C T

[Marblehead]

It's the way I've done prostrations at home.

Perhaps the outstretched arms in the prone position is for the purpose of expamding the lungs for inhaling oxygen for the return positions?  Only reason I can think of for including it.

[Sahaj Nath]

Perhaps the outstretched arms in the prone position is for the purpose of expamding the lungs for inhaling oxygen for the return positions?  Only reason I can think of for including it.

 

what about the fact that it's just a beautiful expression of reverence & submission. isn't that more important (in this context, at least) than its utility as an exercise component? perhaps it's more an emotional component than a physical one, being that it's a spiritual practice.

Edited March 7, 2015 by Hundun