Why did you choose this path and doing all these practices?

[Shad282]

Hey

 

why did you choose this path of spirituality, chi, meditation, qigong... (knowing that there are different paths inside of it).

 

- are you trying to have an identity, sort of religion belonging, escapism of reality,, trying to gain superpowers/telekinesis, reach that superstate of nirvana or enlightenment?

 

- what is your goal and what are you trying to achieve out of practicing and having such beliefs.

 

Thanks

[Miffymog]

I could say that it's because I would like a better life experience - more energy, feel healthier and have better emotional balance. But I think the main reason is that I like to do things that engage my mind and I find interesting, and these practices do that.

Edited August 12, 2016 by Miffymog

[RiverSnake]

It feels good to live with these practices. 

[Spotless]

"I" didn't choose them.

[Aeran]

A ton of reasons, but probably the foremost is that it opens me up to aspects of reality that I would otherwise remain disconnected from, it gives me a sense of connection with the universe and a purpose and meaning around which to direct my life.

 

Up until a few years ago I lived as a regular, 21st century atheist, refusing to even consider anything outside of the tight confines of the materialistic/reductionistic scientism imbued in me by my education, and it made me incredibly miserable. Believing that you're nothing but an emergent property of a pile of grey goop in the top of a machine made of muscle and bone, disconnected from everything around you, with a short existence bereft of meaning or true connection, is a truly awful way to go about life. It was like being stuck in a beige hell, and discovering meditation, qigong and the spiritual side of reality was like waking up to a vibrant world of color and life.

[Shad282]

"I" didn't choose them.

what do you mean? 

[Shad282]

It feels good to live with these practices. 

and without them? it feels not good? 

[Shad282]

A ton of reasons, but probably the foremost is that it opens me up to aspects of reality that I would otherwise remain disconnected from, it gives me a sense of connection with the universe and a purpose and meaning around which to direct my life.

 

Up until a few years ago I lived as a regular, 21st century atheist, refusing to even consider anything outside of the tight confines of the materialistic/reductionistic scientism imbued in me by my education, and it made me incredibly miserable. Believing that you're nothing but an emergent property of a pile of grey goop in the top of a machine made of muscle and bone, disconnected from everything around you, with a short existence bereft of meaning or true connection, is a truly awful way to go about life. It was like being stuck in a beige hell, and discovering meditation, qigong and the spiritual side of reality was like waking up to a vibrant world of color and life.

did you investigate what made you really miserable in the past and healed it? or you just changed your beliefs and adopted new practices ?

[ChiForce]

"I" didn't choose them.

That's correct....  It was never a choice. 

[ChiForce]

what do you mean? 

It means that your actual life situations and circumstances would dictate your path, either you like it or not.  A genuine spiritual path works with real life situations and circumstances.  It isn't about following some rituals and rules, or the scriptures.  The Tao and the Dharma are always present since the beginning of time, if there are beginning.  Neither can be explained and grasped.  Then, how can you claim to have made a choice to follow either since you neither can see them or to grasp them????     

[Brian]

what do you mean?

The path chose me. (I'm not Spotless but my response was going to be the same...)

[Miffymog]

That's correct....   It was never a choice. 

 

I think for many people this is true. I'm guessing it's a kind of calling, or they discover things about themselves and their existence which are only met by these practices. For me, I'm definitely just a dabbler. One of my greatest passions in life is learning new skills, and having discovered these, I've found them beneficial and interesting.

 

 

EDIT - when you read Spotless' post you realise that it definitely chose him!

Edited August 12, 2016 by Miffymog

[Shad282]

The path chose me. (I'm not Spotless but my response was going to be the same...)

 

It means that your actual life situations and circumstances would dictate your path, either you like it or not.  A genuine spiritual path works with real life situations and circumstances.  It isn't about following some rituals and rules, or the scriptures.  The Tao and the Dharma are always present since the beginning of time, if there are beginning.  Neither can be explained and grasped.  Then, how can you claim to have made a choice to follow either since you neither can see them or to grasp them????   

neither can see them or grasp them? i mean, all religions, practices and beliefs are accessible and available all over the internet and it is not that hard to encounter any of these and find explanation. lots of practices from meditation and qigong are available on youtube and anyone can learn it. it doesn't have to be predestined. you had a choice at some point in your life and you did take that road by ur own choice.

[Brian]

neither can see them or grasp them? i mean, all religions, practices and beliefs are accessible and available all over the internet and it is not that hard to encounter any of these and find explanation. lots of practices from meditation and qigong are available on youtube and anyone can learn it. it doesn't have to be predestined. you had a choice at some point in your life and you did take that road by ur own choice.

Of course! The path I am currently on is the product of the decisions I make -- good and bad, in this lifetime and perhaps beyond that, on this plane and perhaps beyond that. When the current path and the lineage which accompanies it opened to me, I embraced it because I saw that it was good. The path I am on will continue to unfold and to morph, in part as a result of the decisions I make.

[Miffymog]

neither can see them or grasp them? i mean, all religions, practices and beliefs are accessible and available all over the internet and it is not that hard to encounter any of these and find explanation. lots of practices from meditation and qigong are available on youtube and anyone can learn it. it doesn't have to be predestined. you had a choice at some point in your life and you did take that road by ur own choice.

 

 

This is a half true story. Imagine you were the son or daughter of concert pianists, but were adopted. You then, by luck, find yourself in front of a piano. You take an interest in it and find a latent affinity with it. This instrument is in your blood and you have all the natural skills required to excel at it ... now, did you choose it, or did it choose you?

[cheya]

Yeah, for me it is a magnetic thing. 

Some practices just draw me in and then seem to nourish me.

It's not a mental thing like joining a religion.

[silent thunder]

I was drawn to it, with a deep, instinctive, compelling pull.

[Aeran]

did you investigate what made you really miserable in the past and healed it? or you just changed your beliefs and adopted new practices ?

 

I studied Western philosophy intently for a period of time (it was my first major at University), but this had the effect of deepening my conviction that there was no chance of living any other way, that the human condition was to either live in that meaningless manner or to delude oneself into believing mythological concoctions to provide a veneer of meaning. 

 

As for beliefs - my beliefs (or perhaps a better term would be "worldview") changed as a result of my experiences, which I underwent (mostly, but not exclusively) as a result of the practices I had taken up. I initially took these practices up, not in a conscious attempt to provide some kind of existential cure, but from a desire to investigate certain experiences I had had. These practices then opened me up to further experiences, and my research into these lead me to an intellectual and philosophical framework which supported these experiences and practices (although it is a framework which I'm constantly adjusting as I'm exposed to new concepts and new experiences).

Edited August 12, 2016 by Aeran

[ChiForce]

This is a half true story. Imagine you were the son or daughter of concert pianists, but were adopted. You then, by luck, find yourself in front of a piano. You take an interest in it and find a latent affinity with it. This instrument is in your blood and you have all the natural skills required to excel at it ... now, did you choose it, or did it choose you?

Hell...just because you saw someone playing a piano, it does not mean you know how to play one.....  

[Miffymog]

Hell...just because you saw someone playing a piano, it does not mean you know how to play one.....

 

ummm, clearly there were some lessons involved in this story that I didn't mention. During these lessons, the kid found out they were naturally very good at it

Edited August 12, 2016 by Miffymog

[ChiForce]

ummm, clearly there were some lessons involved in this story that I didn't mention. During these lesson, the kid found they were naturally very good at it

Yes..a musical prodigy would be able to hear the tones and to repeat them on a piano without much instructions.  Lessons and instructions from here on are to refine the techniques and styles and to interpret a particular musical piece.  

[RiverSnake]

and without them? it feels not good? 

Yep

[RiverSnake]

I was drawn to it, with a deep, instinctive, compelling pull.

 

and also this. 

[vonkrankenhaus]

There is no other actual path.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

-VonKrankenhaus

[Shad282]

There is no other actual path.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

-VonKrankenhaus

what do you mean ? people provide explanation to what you mean you make me feel like justin bieber ...  asking" what do you mean?".