Rituals

[Yoda]

Was reading Trunk's website, and it reminded me of prostrations. I just did a set and it was nice both spiritually as well as physically. Put me in touch with my past life as a Tibetan Buddhist--there is something to that sort of ritualism that acts on a very primitive level of the brain.

 

I had seen the horror movie Constantine recently, and sleeping by myself these days, the movie sort of spooked me a bit even though I don't buy into the hell thing. Every night before going to bed, I'd think of those hell realm dudes. One night, my fire alarm went off minutes after I turned out the lights.

 

The fire alarm has never gone off like that before, so I realized that I needed some sort of lizard brain ritual to dispel my inner spooks. I went to the store and bought a Mary candle and that did the trick. My electronic devices are back to normal.

 

During the daytime, I thought the whole thing was funny stuff, but I really did need some sort of ritual to chill out at night.

 

-Yoda

[thelerner]

Rituals are good. Modern man probably doesn't have enough of them. They remind us to have strong intent.

 

I tend to think they are the power behind crystal & other 'magic' objects. In the past, at least in Roman times, medicines were given w/ specific chants to recite. I our hurry to throw off superstition we've dismissed the powerful realm of mind body interaction.

 

When I do pull ups, I clap my hands twice, then jump up and do them. It kind of establishes intent-clears the mind-pulls the trigger then go. I've been clapping twice before getting out of bed too sometimes.

 

Peace

 

Michael

[Yoda]

clapping is a good one. I've saw a Japanese skater clap at a Shinto shrine wishing for the olympic gold. I forget if she won or not.

[peter falk]

don't care much for rituals myself. but if ya are gonna do one, probably best to do like yoda and make your own. it's more meaningful that way and entirely yours. don't ahve spend a lot of time trying to make someone else's ritual yours.

[Cameron]

In Zen we do prostrations(bowing) at the end of zazen .i like it. I don't really look at it as bowing to the buddha or anything like that but as an another opportunity to drop.let go of the self. To me, all these spiritual practices have as there hieght the experience of letting go, letting go..going beyong the ideas and concepts.

 

Something I also..very,very briefly experienced with the white skeleton meditation.

 

My grandparents are muslim and pray 4 times a day facing Mecca. To me they are trying to do the same thing..letting go of the ego by submitting to Allah. We can call all this whatever we want ultimately there is only one source and truth. The rest are our ideas and opinions about that which IS.

 

There I go adding more to the too much that is already there again!

[Cameron]

Also, I see no reason sex shouldn't be considered a ritual or spiritual practice .My general feeling about this is sex is the most intimate and potentially beautiful thing you can do with another human being but can also become self serving. Or something that doesn't allow any kind of spiritual development.

 

I like what John Daido Loori wrote about the way a zen practitiner should view sex. It should be not-2 sex. Not self centered sex. It should be loving.

 

I was watching some japanese porn of some girl vomiting on another girl that someone sent yeterday and just thought. How did we get such perverted views on this? Isn't sex the direct way we can express our love and feelings with others? Where does all this sickness come from?

 

And then of course all you have to do is look at the world and look at human history and it is very easy to see where all this sickness comes from.