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Some prefer a long sword because of its reach . But they are more difficult to draw. and often a quick draw is essential. What to do? . There is the dignified draw with the assistant helping by pulling off the sheath for you, or even running off with it in hand, to be quicker. But would that really do in a fast situation? And what if you don't have an assistant , how you gonna draw that huge long sword out of its sheath and be instantly ready ?

This is actually a very important point you make, Bob... thanks. Part of what is realized and then forever available to be seen is precisely this breakdown of our idea about time happening along some sort of continuum.

As an ordained teacher of Zen I can tell you: Zen is big on the "sudden enlightenment" idea. This refers to the idea that, while there may be many years of learning and practice, it is not the practice that actually enlightens. It is commonly said that the sound of a kicked pebble hitting a pot could awaken you. You could be driving to the tire store, making a sandwich, or... anything. There are also those (in Buddhism) called Pratyeka buddhas - they awaken with no method or exposure to the teachings. They are real - I have met a couple. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pratyekabuddhayāna I am satisfied that enlightenment doesn't belong to any particular tradition, or philosophy, and isn't caused by any particular practice, what matters is that there is a moment where the reality of the understanding is noticed suddenly, usually when the mind is quiet.

Part of my method for dream work is to “feel the feeling” after the dream has been interpreted to the best of one’s ability, which I did by recreating the dream in my mind and allowing myself as much as possible to re-enter the feeling created by the dream image. Doing this for decades, slowly getting better at it, allows the full force of a feeling to be experienced over time, and really this is what a fully open emotional channel is. Rumi’s poem captures the work perfectly - The Guest House Rumi Translated by Coleman Barks This being human is a guest house. Every morning a new arrival. A joy, a depression, a meanness, some momentary awareness comes as an unexpected visitor. Welcome and entertain them all! Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows, who violently sweep your house empty of its furniture, still, treat each guest honorably. He may be clearing you out for some new delight. The dark thought, the shame, the malice, meet them at the door laughing, and invite them in. Be grateful for whoever comes, because each has been sent as a guide from beyond.

Slow breathing seems to be good for you https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5709795/

I’m Jo King

Your meaning about grounding seems of out of sync with the true definition. The true meaning of grounding to be keep your body in a stable condition to maintain balance. The most effective grounding position is the keep both feet flat on the floor or ground. Nowadays, any exercise with the knee passed the toes is considered to be a bad practice. It is because it puts lots of stresses on the knee cap that might cause problems. As far as I know, there were many Taiji practitioners had made this mistake and caused permanent damage at the knee joint. The correct movement is always to point the knee at the same direction of the toes and do not go beyond the toes. If the knee was not properly align with the toes will cause permanent damage to the knee joint.

geg

Well ..... Yo Momma dont be sittin on them other planets .

On another matter

Boing

and I'd say such a "sudden" which is now, is not really of time or on a time line.... (thus not strictly bound in ways that we might think)

As a science, magic, and mysticism nerd from my teens, in the Sixties,I am pretty good at understanding these things. I mentioned this book on Dao Bums as being both well written and informative back in 2013-4: Physics in Mind a Quantum View of the Brain by Werner R. Loewenstein. You can download a good pdf of it here: https://www.docdroid.net/fURPkT5/physics-in-mind-a-quantum-view-of-the-brain-by-werner-r-loewenstein-pdf As they say, "Try it, you'll like it" I hope that you will find it as good and informative read as I did. ZYD

Thank you friends, for all your responses. Wishing you all the best too for the new year

I agree, it is an apparent and passing identity. Nevertheless, it is how we experience life from birth to death, defined by this human form and sensory apparatus. It is what we have to practice and realize with. Realization does not mean that our human form vanishes, at least that is my experience. It persists until death or rainbow body (in the dzogchen tradition). Consequently, it is important for me to be aware that I am not the pure and perfect mind itself, i am a practitioner - which is an expression of that pure and perfect mind. Conflating the two leads to errors in understanding and practice in the teachings I follow.

If a practice leads to feeling ungrounded despite doing grounding exercises then the grounded exercises don't work or you're doing them wrong. When energy rises to the head then it means you are in fight or flight or are you too much mental focus. Practices should NOT interfere with sleep. That is bad, as you yourself have seen. With regards to energetic phenomena there can be positive and negative experiences, it is best to ask your teacher. Always be mindful of your own health as well, not all teachers are wise, kind or helpful. Too much chi in the head is usually a bad thing unless it is a specific lineage that works with it. Here is a copy of a message i sent to someone else with grounding issues: Because of this i have a good amount of ways to bring the energy down which you could try. 1. Food, lack of food causes a stress state, a stress state influences any chi that is in the system negatively; so making sure you are eating enough is important. Red meat, potatoes, rice, bread, lots of good vegetables, heavy food is better as it directs chi down to the stomach. 2. Chi goes where it is required, meaning if you spend 8hrs a day on a computer your chi will rise to your head due to the activity of the brain. With this in mind it is better to do activities that are more physical, i know you said in your post that you get pains in your joints, so you should tailor the physical exercise to meet your needs. Maybe swimming or low impact walking, even cycling if that doesn't cause any issues. Could you do deep earth pulsing in a stream or lake ? to mitigate the friction build up. 3. Some other things that might be worthwhile would be: learning how to sink the chi (hard but probably the most useful), walking barefoot on grass, doing prostrations on the earth without a mat (forehead to the earth) preferably someplace private, Hakuin's butter meditation, not sitting for too long, sleeping before 10pm if possible, waking up naturally with the sun, sitting in a deep squat for extended periods of time, minimal intellectual activities, gardening.

Are you doing grounding work at all? If not, start now. It's a MUST not a maybe. It should become a priority in your daily practice. How many hours do you spend every day looking at electronic devices and or doing mental work? If yes, start trimming down the excess.

This is a depiction of the Hetu (河圖, “River Map”) and the mythic Longma (龍馬, Dragon-Horse). According to tradition, a dragon-horse emerged from the Yellow River carrying the Hetu diagram on its back — a cosmological pattern representing early foundational principles of taoism.

Question for @Bindi How do you deal with powerful cathartic dreams? The kind that can shock you deeply as you find yourself for example expressing agression or sexuality without any boundaries, that is doing things that your conscious self would never aprove. I do understand that the reason why they happen is repressed energy, even so in my case it was something I couldn't deal with.

Expensive poison!

Meanwhile I've checked about injera. Definately something interesting to try to reproduce in my lab.

Yes, but one can have one hell of an argument! DaoBums for the win!

Anonymous internet intercourse is always tricky... don't ya think?

I'd love to have that job. Crocolepardoppotomizing them nine to five. There used to be laws of this kind in every culture. Eyeglasses makers guilds in Florence and Venice expelled their members with a lifelong ban on the profession if they were caught making lenses out of glass instead of quartz crystals (which actually helped treat eye disorders instead of merely serving as crutches for the eyes.) Today they're plastic...

Ohhh I do ! Used to do it professionally . I cook various Asian, Middle Eastern, Persian, Mediterranean ... but never African , for some reason . Maybe I assume I cant get the spices* ? I'm not sure why . yeah, I should give it a go . * a lot of the time they need to be fresh ones . I remember years back, I was being treated to some delicious Persian cooking , I was invited to meals by refugees (post Iran Islamic revolution ) I had been working with , and when they got a home they would invite me to dinner . One time I asked for a recipe ; ''Oh no, you would not be able to make it .'' '' I could give it a try ?'' '' No, you would not have the spices and herbs . '' '' Cant I buy them ? '' '' No, special, rare , cant get them here .'' '' I think I can .'' '' No, not the fresh ones, you need fresh ones .'' ''How did you get them?'' ''Friends grow them , here in their garden .'' ''Then I should be able to buy seed and grow them?'' ''No, you cant get the seed here .'' ''Well then, how did you get them .'' ''We bought them with us .'' ..... ? ... '' Are you saying, when you left Iran , as you told me , disguised as herders , going across the desert , hid some things in your robes , including, one person in your group, a baby , and you thought to bring some seeds with you , on the chance that you would make it, go through various countries , and searches and check points , for months, maybe years on end , finally end somewhere and maybe able to plant them ... so you can make your traditional food ?'' ''Yes . '' Now that is dedication to indigenous cuisine !

Well, it's sunday and I have tried to watch a film that I miss watching and today it seems impossible to find exept on dvd.The film is " Youth Without Youth" based on a novel by the Romanian Religions Historian, Mircea Eliade. It is a fun story about a guy that develops special powers after having an accident. At a certain point he starts comunicating with a "double". What's interesting about this is that the story is an allegory of the alchemical process and most probably the way that the author found to share some of his own experiences. More than this may be Carl Jung and the entities that came out of his unconscious to teach him. This can be found in his autobiography freely available online. Hope this helps somehow.

According to Carl Jung, 42 is the earliest opportunity for the human to have brought all its inner functions under control. Hence at age 42 the human may be ready for its mission in life. 7 years to control the physicality - age of reason 14 years to control emotional 21 years to control mental 28 years to control the heart 35 years to control the spiritual will - atma 42 years to control the human spirit - oneness Blast off! I recall long ago a battle for the leadership of the Liberal Party in Australia. Both men were aged 42. The winner became the Prime Minister.

I'd say just follow the suggestions, what do you have to lose by doing a little bit of qigong (which probs won't do much anyway) and stopping supplements and peptides (which probs don't do much anyway). You could always get a health check up to see if there is anything that might need addressing.

Thanks for sharing your experience. Some of my rambling thoughts on the matter, fwiw. Our minds come up with all sorts of things, some of little consequence and some very consequential, some weird and wonderful. Personally, I don't spend too much time trying to find explanations for these things, rational or otherwise. Do we sometimes meet with our minds from the past or future? Why not? Time is not as fixed or linear as once believed. Is it just content being created by the monkey mind based on all of the input over a lifetime and more? Why not? That does not mean that it is not very significant and meaningful. Fortune telling and astrology are not set in stone and are not death or illness sentences, they are simply constellations of external conditions and how they relate to our own constellations of internal conditions. I was in a similar state as you coming into my 60th year - warnings from Tibetan and Chinese friends and so forth. Fortunately, nothing particularly bad occurred for me. I don't brush off my weird little mind and I don't take it too seriously either. I don't brush of horoscopes and warnings and strange experiences, like meeting with a past or future self, or having visions, and I don't take them too seriously either. I do recommend attending to healthy choices as best you can determine them. Your body is aging and needs attention and care. It's the only one you get. Much of life in our technological age is unhealthy for the body and mind. If it means listening to an inner voice or a voice from the future or past, that is fine. No need to analyze or judge its veracity, it's still just another voice. The important thing, IMO, is trying to recognize the source of that voice. Does it feel authentic or is it based in emotional reactivity or psychological baggage? Does it come from the source or from pain and ignorance. Is it the Dao speaking and flowing through you or rumblings from an unhealthy or overly indulgent meal? Is it a future self or an ancestral trauma? Does it matter? I think it is most healthy to find something to trust, something that is not dependent on the monkey mind and labile emotions. Something not rooted in conditioned patterns coming from ancestral, social, and cultural trauma and dysfunction. For me that is one major benefit of my meditation practice. I think it could be helpful to sit quietly and be very open and still for a time. Once the mind and heart are somewhat settled and open, drop a question in like dropping a pebble in a calm pond. A question like, can I trust this inner voice, is it authentic? Or, shall I engage in this new qigong? Or, do I realy need these supplements? Just one at a time. See how it feels, not thinking about it, just allowing the ripples to arise and spread for a time. Leave them be after asking the question, don't engage, just remain open and present. Then continue to sit in that stillness and openness that returns once the mind has once again settled. I find that whatever comes from that quiet and still place is authentic, it is something I can trust. Maybe more precise to say it is something I have chosen to trust. I find that what comes from that place tends to be more accurate and dependable than decisions made from thinking or emotionally charged responses. The key is that one must be able to truly rest and be open to the stillness, silence, and spaciousness of body, speech, and mind. Whatever happens, whatever comes for you in this year of the Fire Horse, you will be OK. Situations and circumstances change. Our capacity for being open and present and responsive to the situation is always there. If we can trust in that, we can be OK even when we're not OK. I may sound overly confident and certain and I am not. I also worry and get distracted by thoughts and feelings all the time. Health, family, work, politics, finances - all sorts of worries and challenges. What I am saying to you is an externalization of what I tell myself and try to practice. I'm reminded in this moment of the Theravadan monks currently walking from Texas to Washington, DC - 2,300 miles. Simple human beings without any particular physical training walking everyday through the harshest of conditions, -15℃ with windchill much lower, through ice and snowstorms... all to raise awareness of the potential for peace in our country and in our lives. WOW, what power! What courage! What resilience! It boggles my weird, little mind. They are OK, I am OK, you are OK, even the poor monk who lost his leg to an impatient driver is OK, and yet... it's OK to not always be OK. Sending you warmth and good wishes

If you have really talked to yourself in the past, then at some point you will remember both sides of the conversation. Wouldn't this be confirmation?

Tao is always virtuous but human conditioned mind thinks otherwise arising as judgment (good, bad).

Let action come from True Nature. If action comes from conditioned self, it will result in harm. Has nothing to with nature as animals, forests etc.