exorcist_1699 Posted March 19, 2019 (edited) The thinking that our practice " once certain level/ breakthrough attained, can be kept forever " ( "一得永得" ) is hardly true for Taoist alchemy and Buddhist enlightenment , nor martial arts. In the case of martial arts, there is a famous saying tells us that " 鍊拳不鍊功, 到老一場空 " ( " practicing those postures without having attained some (qi)gong , to the end of your life, all your efforts end in vain ") ; If you follow Taoist jing -> qi -> Shen formula, then unable to eliminate jing leakage or period ,similarly makes your efforts, no matter how many years they accumulated , something futile. How about Zen's ? Sitting there straight for long hours to hollow their mind, in fact, drains off monks or Buddhist practitioners' jing , qi and shen , so unless what they gain in deep emptiness overtakes what they lose in jing+ qi+ shen, decade-long meditation mostly ends up giving them a dull mind and withered body only... Edited March 19, 2019 by exorcist_1699 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
exorcist_1699 Posted March 21, 2019 (edited) On 3/16/2019 at 2:23 AM, forestofemptiness said: I suppose the same can be said for mind-based practices. With Buddhist meditation, you may end up spending many hours practicing with no noticeable result. Then one day, some large chunk breaks off and things are different. From Taoist standpoint, any spiritual achievement, once achieved doesn't necessarily imply that it can be kept forever , you need jing and qi to sustain that " energy level " , otherwise you likely will drop off from it , back to your previous level as you aged . Of course, hardly are old Buddhist "masters" eager to tell you this because they already established their prestige among followers when they were young...; besides, recognizing Taoist truth at old age seems too late and therefore too painful for them.. * It doesn't necessary mean Buddhism is inferior to Taoism in every aspect , Buddhism has something really great, for example , Zen and Hua-Yan , which can be equal , even superior , to Taoism. Edited March 22, 2019 by exorcist_1699 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Spotless Posted March 22, 2019 (edited) Carry bag of salt and a tape measure: It is good to listen and take in teachings but do so with a grain of salt. Do so because of the obvious - do you really now “know” what they have said or are you becoming a believer and have skipped over coming to know this for your self. Use the grain of salt to slow your own assumptions - ask what words meant to them and do not assume. Use the grain of salt to check your extreme standards and judgement and remind you to use your tape measure - to measure your head and see if it has swollen with pride. When you have gained the whole world there is so much more. Edited March 22, 2019 by Spotless 2 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
exorcist_1699 Posted March 25, 2019 Here on this forum , we get different readers/ members who have attained respective levels or interested in different subjects, so if some people find my posts arrogant, please just ignore them and continue their conversation ; Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
joeblast Posted April 3, 2019 On 3/19/2019 at 6:46 AM, exorcist_1699 said: The thinking that our practice " once certain level/ breakthrough attained, can be kept forever " ( "一得永得" ) is hardly true for Taoist alchemy and Buddhist enlightenment , nor martial arts. In the case of martial arts, there is a famous saying tells us that " 鍊拳不鍊功, 到老一場空 " ( " practicing those postures without having attained some (qi)gong , to the end of your life, all your efforts end in vain ") ; If you follow Taoist jing -> qi -> Shen formula, then unable to eliminate jing leakage or period ,similarly makes your efforts, no matter how many years they accumulated , something futile. How about Zen's ? Sitting there straight for long hours to hollow their mind, in fact, drains off monks or Buddhist practitioners' jing , qi and shen , so unless what they gain in deep emptiness overtakes what they lose in jing+ qi+ shen, decade-long meditation mostly ends up giving them a dull mind and withered body only... "You assume there is loss through movement, yet this is only because nothing is gained in stillness" As anyone who has actually attained real samhadi knows, your focus is either maintained, or byebye samhadi. Deep emptiness is most certainly quite full - but there's a significant difference between the words 'void' and 'oblivion' Share this post Link to post Share on other sites