Taoist Texts Posted March 6 1 hour ago, silent thunder said: And have you interviewed and tested each one who read it TT? thats not the point. the point is you and me both cannot name any one who has achieved anything out of many thousands who read it 1 hour ago, snowymountains said: Define achieved oh never you mind. that ugly word is for the real world only 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
silent thunder Posted March 7 (edited) 19 hours ago, Taoist Texts said: thats not the point. the point is you and me both cannot name any one who has achieved anything out of many thousands who read it Your comment redolently reeks of a perspective mired in naive realism, projection and assumption. Â Pure story time. Â Edited March 7 by silent thunder 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
snowymountains Posted March 7 7 hours ago, Taoist Texts said: thats not the point. the point is you and me both cannot name any one who has achieved anything out of many thousands who read it oh never you mind. that ugly word is for the real world only  Well eg Jung achieved plenty. If you can't define the expected goals out of a meditation, how can you tell nobody achieved anything. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
blue eyed snake Posted March 7 begin to understand why sifu was totally uninterested in proof, or science or people who said he sold rubbish.  "well, if you do not like it you can go elsewhere, if you want to stay though, you 'll practice my way as this is my dojo" The criticaster became red in the face,  mumbled a bit, and chose to stay.  I never had any "expected goals" out of my meditation, only the trust in sifu. I never regretted it and cannot explain what I have 'achieved', but to me it's more then satisfactory. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
thelerner Posted March 7 As a dabbler over the years, here's what I've gotten out of it. One it's fascinating to read. It's combination of poetry, philosophy, practice and history (ie quotes) a great read. An underappreciated classic, bonus its also short. Also old, mysterious. Comparing and contrasting the different versions is like a treasure hunt. A damnable one since at times they can be pretty different.  As a modern guy I look more for practices than philosophy. Even there, different translators seem to describe it differently, yet I see pieces of it in different energy arts.   Anyhow, what I've gotten out of it is to practice (at times) with open eyes. Nothing radical there, half eye is common in Zen, and a few other traditions. But GF puts more explanation and emphasis on it. In that I see some parallels to Dzoghen.  There's a gentle breath oriented circulation going on. I'm sure I've bastardized it but a gentle awareness- breathing in- head, heart, belly (comfortable hold), breath out- to heart, back to head. Feels good to me. Keeps my breath slow. Not really visualizing rather shifting my awareness of sensation.   Has it done anything great for me? Don't know, maybe I'd be even worse without it. For me, it's a pleasant way to sit and drop my mind.  Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mark Foote Posted March 9 On 3/7/2024 at 7:25 AM, thelerner said:  Has it done anything great for me? Don't know, maybe I'd be even worse without it. For me, it's a pleasant way to sit and drop my mind.     Puts me in mind of a song:Relax your mind, relax your mindMake you feel so fine sometimeSometime you got to relax your mindWhen the light turns greenPut your foot down on the gasolineSometime you got to relax your mindWhen the light turns redPut your foot down on the brake insteadSometime you got to relax your mindWhen the light turns blueWhat in the world are you gonna doSometime you got to GF your mind  (Jim Kweskin, with slight alteration)   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=963_5AiDk94  1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
