Leaderboard

I practice Chen Family Taijiquan. In our line, Taijiquan is a gongfu practice. Much of what we develop is not innate to the human body. It has to be built. Forged. If you take someone who has never trained this way, it does not matter how well you explain things to them in the moment, or what cues you give them about what to feel; there are things they simply cannot do yet, because those capacities do not exist in their body. The earth has rocks by default. It does not have swords. Swords have to be made. There is a National USA Push Hands Champion (allegedly) who has been training for 30-40 years and is a disciple of a well-known teacher. I, a self-proclaimed beginner and complete nobody with five years of training, trolled him in Push Hands as he was a judge at a Push Hand tournament. I later heard he has talked a lot about me in his Push Hand classes, trying to figure out how to counter me, even trying to invite me to his school. Now... I look at his writing online. He wrote article about Daoist breathing and how he teaches his students it as a key element in strengthening the central energy line and improving pushing hands, how it to cultivate the Dao and train their Qi. From repeated, real-world contact with other practitioners and teachers, one thing has become very clear to me: methodology beats principles. Most people are never taught such methodology, even though they may train for decades and speak fluently about internal theory.

(May have posted this before, sorry it may not apply to struggling or younger folks )

Up in the mountain is a better place for seclusion!

These are all dictionaries for the use of the characters in modern Chinese. You need a dictionary for the meanings as used in transcripts of Classical Chinese. There often is some difference in the meanings. I use: A Student's Dictionary of Classical and Medieval Chinese, Author: Paul W. Kroll

The only thing I remember about Flatliners from the 1980s/1990s is its about medical students who flatline their hearts then resuscitate themselves in an attempt to give themselves near death experiences (NDE). The summary for altered states says "genetic memory" plays a role in the film. In the book Travels, Michael Crichton participates in hypnosis or meditation to make contact with his ancestors or former lives. He says he connected with a gladiator who lived in a past era. There could be a case for trauma being written to ones DNA. The same with famine and other conditional circumstances. To some extent our life choices also have an impact on DNA. But also remember that there were lengthy and comprehensive studies done on newborns addicted to crack. With the conclusion being that living in a negative environment being surrounded by negative people is more debilitating to human development than being born addicted to crack. In terms of nature versus nurture, it is possible that study proves nurture or choices matter more than DNA.

Always happy to disagree with you. That’s great, I am very happy for you.

Aren't lucky you didn't!? I tried that too, but didn't have the courage! How come this time you become so wise?

Yes, Laozi thought so too.

@Vajra Fist, Thanks for the reading references. “.. transformative prayers available to the layperson.” yup! ”.. vehicle for awakening bodhicitta .. benefitting beings .. “ The mani mantra is a really kind balanced mantra .. reflective of GuanYin’s role, effects, cultural place. A lot could be said about how broad the appeal of GuanYin is, across regions, traditions, genders .. and the deity yoga process - the simplest form, just offerings and an altar .. tempting to sketch out the simplest. I’m just rambling now. - Trunk

Interesting practice, it reminds me a little of the complex visualisation accompanying the mantra, described in the John Blofeld book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bodhisattva-Compassion-Mystical-Tradition-Shambhala/dp/1590307356 I'm always fascinated by the practices that emerge around the six word mantra. It seems one of the most powerful, transformative prayers available to layperson. My own practice with this mantra is slightly less esoteric. I do a modified version of a visualisation from a book called 'Wheel of Great Compassion' by Lorne Ladner. I use a prayer wheel alongside the recitation, and I visualise the light from the wheel healing and blessing beings of each of the six realms in turn. For me, the mani is a vehicle for awakening bodhicitta. It uplifts my mind, and ensures that my main meditation practice is on the right path. But more than that, I believe it actually has an effect in benefitting beings in samsara.

Absolutely, I completely agree with your point about “forging” capacities. That’s exactly what I mean by developmental remodeling / the refining stream: the body has to be built and conditioned to support these subtle internal capacities, whether in fascia, nervous system, or movement efficiency. Without that foundation, the principles can’t be realized, although they can be "imagined", which I think is where a lot of people get stuck. At the same time, I’d argue that methodology must lead to principle. Methodical, structured practice is what it builds the foundation and creates the container. But it’s only the first step; the ultimate goal is to discover and embody the principles within that container. Without the principles, the method alone remains mechanical. In other words, the “sword” can’t exist without first being forged, but once it’s forged, the principle is what sharpens it.

The science that pointed to the brain being where the experience of being originates is known to be flawed, and has been for many years, so yes. Here is a nice article on this topic: https://tricycle.org/article/six-questions-b-alan-wallace/ ...or, if you are more science minded: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9490228/ - Setting that aside for a moment - if you were asleep and based your reality on experiments done in your dream, your experiments MIGHT have some sort of seeming circular reality, but when you finally woke up you would dismiss them outright. The same goes here - it is entirely possible to "wake up" from the dream of duality and see that there is a deeper, more real level of reality that includes and suffuses the reality you already experience.

The term "God" is very modern. If I recall correctly the first translation of the Bible to use that term is the King James version - about 1610. Prior to that Deus was used - from Latin - that seems to come from Sanskrit, meaning "shining" and "celestial". And of course there are various ancient accounts of the gods in their shining craft. The standard human format, when properly controlled, refined, aligned and intentional, has direct awareness of The Source of All. Thus the standard human format is connected both to Existence and to pre-Existence. The mystics, perceiving their own unity with The Source of All, needed a concept that reached before the heavens existed - but that was not too offensive to the Holy Inquisition.

Does it matter which one it was used? At least, she picked the right one!

Demons and voices are "makyo": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Makyō They are distractions that come from the thinking mind. If your mind is still, they aren't there by definition. The stillness is the deeper reality of these experiences - the thing that is ALWAYS there when the mind is allowed to stop. Many experiences of all kinds occur during meditation. Most of them are blissful. Some people have supernatural experiences, some don't. It's good to have recourse to a proper teacher to check in with who has seen and understands these experiences, so that when things like this happen they can be framed in their proper perspective and there is some tuning of your practice where problems arise. @Cadcam, if you are continuing to experience anhedonia you should really be in contact with a mental health professional.

I´ve also found the Bums a mostly kind-hearted group. It sounds like you have Good Forum Karma! I hope you continue to find this a welcoming, accepting place for many years to come.

Life imitates Art

@thelerner @liminal_luke the golden mean? No but reallly, I agree with you. These things isn’t something I’d share with every and anyone. Reason I did it here on daobums, is I consider you kind hearted people and in many ways… friends. 🎉

If I had to guess, an accurate diagnosis and treatment plan might require OP to be more specific & detailed on the practice they were engaging in. A basic treatment process might take whichever practice caused the injury and to invert it to some degree. Excess yang injury might be treated with a yin approach and vice versa. In your case however things likely snowballed to where that is no longer viable. But a diagnosis involving the specific practice used could shed light on details in ways that can be useful. As far as I know there is no one in the world who knows how to treat ki deviation. Even in past ages when there was greater knowledge and more masters there still was no knowledge of how to treat it.

Elizabeth Gilbert, author of the much-acclaimed book Eat, Pray, Love, recently wrote about her desire to murder her terminally-ill drug-addicted lesbian lover. Not everyone considers radical honesty a virtue, and response to Gilbert´s confession has been decidedly mixed. Should she have saved the more gruesome details of her relationship for an intimate fireside chat with close friends? I think so. I´ll save the juiciest details of my own misadventures for those who deserve my heart.

So ..... Chi Dragon does not go to the desert ?