The Three Gates of Practice

[yugenphoenix]

The Three Gates of Practice:

 

 

1.      The Gate of Sleep

 

-When first awakening, the initial thought will be, “I’m tired, I need more sleep, I feel like shit.”  You must push through this and get up, perform your morning ablutions and go immediately to practice.  Focus on that relaxed, energized post practice feeling that will come if you can get yourself to it.

2.   The Gate of Mind

 

-From the moment of awakening enter the sphere of empty thoughts (Mushin). If a thought comes, don’t follow it or it will lead to more and more blossoming; just say “thinking, thinking,” and move on. Don’t let it lead to a feeling of negativity, either from what the thought was specifically about, “my practice is not as good as others, I’m wasting my time,” or your mind will try to distract you with fantasizes and delusions of the past and future and keep you lost in the daze of illusion.

3.      The Gate of Body

 

-The body and its subtle energy must be the focus, not the mind, not the endless parade of thoughts (at least in my practice).  Just feel what your body feels from each posture to posture, let the energy flow but don’t focus on it too deeply or specifically.  Don’t become too excited if you feel an obstruction open or a “good” feeling through your channels, nor get down from not feeling as stretched or able to achieve certain perfect posture that day that you could the prior days.  Treat it all like passing clouds in the sky, say “there it is, let it go now.”  The tan tian can be the focus anytime and should be throughout  the day “place the heart/mind in the tan tian,” breathe deeply into the deepest regions of your belly and feel the energy gather there till it overflows.

Edited January 25, 2018 by yugenphoenix

[exorcist_1699]

Hardly can I agree to the ‘gate of sleep’ , it likely be something from the Buddhist practice. From taoist perspective, If your qi  and Shen  become full, then you sleep less or not sleep at all naturally , otherwise   sleep as long as you need.  The saying about ‘ the evil of sleep’   (‘睡魔’  ) , to me, is doubtful .  To young guys , an erection that always emerges after sleeping undoubtedly proves an existence of yang , which is some kind of good sign . Old guys can’ t sleep long hours, and, even they sleep long hours , hardly can they get an erection after it. Capable of resuming it is one of the criteria showing how well you cultivate . Likely Buddhist practitioners ignore it, even laugh at it, but careful Taoist practitioners know better..

Edited January 25, 2018 by exorcist_1699

[Mig]

Wonder why nutrition is dismissed in most I read about this type of practice. I find that fortifying your vital organs and especially those that are weak since you're born is very helpful. Or did I read wrong?

[doc benway]

Big thanks to yugephoenix!

I woke up this morning and did not want to get out of bed.

I recalled reading this thread and it helped...

_/\_

[Astral Monk]

Where is this from? 

 

8)

[yugenphoenix]

I

17 hours ago, Astral Monk said:

Where is this from? 

 

8)

 

I made it up Astral Monk 😊 based on personal practice and a lot of reading.

[yugenphoenix]

On 1/23/2018 at 7:54 AM, steve said:

Big thanks to yugephoenix!

I woke up this morning and did not want to get out of bed.

I recalled reading this thread and it helped...

_/\_

 

Steve, 

Means ALOT coming from a guy of your caliber. I’m so glad it helped you and many thanks to all your posts. They are ALWAYS insightful and helpful.

Edited January 25, 2018 by yugenphoenix

[yugenphoenix]

On 1/22/2018 at 9:52 AM, exorcist_1699 said:

Hardly can I agree to the ‘gate of sleep’ , it likely be something from the Buddhist practice. From taoist perspective, If your qi  and Shen  become full, then you sleep less or not sleep at all naturally , otherwise   sleep as long as you need.  The saying about ‘ the evil of sleep’   (‘睡魔’  ) , to me, is doubtful .  To young guys , an erection that always emerges after sleeping undoubtedly proves an existence of yang , which is some kind of good sign . Old guys can’ t sleep long hours, and, even they sleep long hours , hardly can they get an erection after it. Capable of resuming it is one of the criteria showing how well you cultivate . Likely Buddhist practitioners ignore it, even laugh at it, but careful Taoist practitioners know better..

Hey Exorcist,

Thanks for the comments, much appreciated as always.  I was definitely not saying that sleep is evil or you should force yourself to not sleep when you need it. I was just saying that you can't let yourself hit the snooze button everyday and keep saying "I'll practice later, or tomorrow."  But as a busy father of four girls, who works full time, likes to workout a lot and to cultivate, I do have to sacrifice sleep to do all that some days.  But as the first of the 100 Buddhist Health Rules state, "Sleep is the first element of nourishing life." So on some days I do in fact say "screw it" and sleep in.  I listen to my body and when it tells me I'm pushing it I listen and let it rest, you just can't do that everyday and that was the point of my "gate of sleep."  It's a personal motivator that has totally helped me on more than one morning to just get to it, and EVERY time I push through it and do, I always feel better for it physically and energetically after and throughout the whole day.  In fact I find my mental and emotion state suffers when I don't practice, I have less patient with the kids, and tide of life can bog me down, and that is a big incentive to practice everyday for me and something that I take as a good sign my practice is worthwhile and doing something positive for me.  (so that's why I shared my list, it has been a quick mental pep talk to myself that I thought might help someone else in their practice).    Take care and thanks for the input again.  Btw the what is the origin of your name? I've always liked it but wondered if the 1699 had any significance.

Edited January 25, 2018 by yugenphoenix

[Astral Monk]

3 hours ago, yugenphoenix said:

I

 

I made it up Astral Monk 😊 based on personal practice and a lot of reading.

Very good. Can I quote this? That sleep gate is real lol.

 

8)

[exorcist_1699]

On 2018/1/26 at 1:26 AM, yugenphoenix said:

Hey Exorcist,

Thanks for the comments, much appreciated as always.  I was definitely not saying that sleep is evil or you should force yourself to not sleep when you need it. I was just saying that you can't let yourself hit the snooze button everyday and keep saying "I'll practice later, or tomorrow."  But as a busy father of four girls, who works full time, likes to workout a lot and to cultivate, I do have to sacrifice sleep to do all that some days.  But as the first of the 100 Buddhist Health Rules state, "Sleep is the first element of nourishing life." So on some days I do in fact say "screw it" and sleep in.  I listen to my body and when it tells me I'm pushing it I listen and let it rest, you just can't do that everyday and that was the point of my "gate of sleep."  It's a personal motivator that has totally helped me on more than one morning to just get to it, and EVERY time I push through it and do, I always feel better for it physically and energetically after and throughout the whole day.  In fact I find my mental and emotion state suffers when I don't practice, I have less patient with the kids, and tide of life can bog me down, and that is a big incentive to practice everyday for me and something that I take as a good sign my practice is worthwhile and doing something positive for me.  (so that's why I shared my list, it has been a quick mental pep talk to myself that I thought might help someone else in their practice).    Take care and thanks for the input again.  Btw the what is the origin of your name? I've always liked it but wondered if the 1699 had any significance.

 

Noted. Thanks your appreciation . 1699 in Cantonese sounds ‘forever’, this is the reason why...