Michael Sternbach

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Posts posted by Michael Sternbach


  1. On 12.9.2023 at 4:49 AM, Mark Foote said:

     

    "crazed knife-wielding", glad kote-gaeshi worked for you! 

     

    Guess what... So was I! 🍀😅😁

     

    On 12.9.2023 at 4:49 AM, Mark Foote said:

    "Turn the hips, fingers down to the floor" says the video reminding me of what kote-gaeshi is.

    The video had some amazing moments--I had no idea that anyone was trying to free-spar Aikido.  Not all that impressed by what was on the video there--like a judo match but without the dramatic moment when somebody gets a grip and goes for it.  Except for one kote-gaeshi.

     

    Besides tomiki/shodokan aikido, the yoseikan style does free-sparring too. Practitioners even put protective gear on, and the techniques employed are sometimes pretty impressive -- then again, yoseikan is more of a mixed martial art, really, as it incorporates elements from judo and karate.

     

    On 12.9.2023 at 4:49 AM, Mark Foote said:

    He's advocating for sweeps in Aikido sparring.  That was the throw of the dojo, in my high school years--our teacher's throw.   We all learned it.  His was particularly wonderful to be thrown with.

     

    In many situations, leg sweeps indeed come in very handy (LOL). They even made it into modern shotokan (sport) karate.

     

    On 12.9.2023 at 4:49 AM, Mark Foote said:

    Have we said enough, about why study martial arts if you'd never fight back?  Ha ha! (it's the teachers, find a good one!).

     


  2. On 12.9.2023 at 2:11 AM, stirling said:

    Hello Michael!

     

     

    Very certainly Zen/Cha'n is one of my major influences, but I spent 20 years working in the Tibetan Nyingma tradition before that, so you could say Nyingma and Dzogchen are still very influential for me, and I teach some of those texts regularly. 

     

     

    I honestly think most Buddhism in the West is experience based, though I don't know that much about the Nichiren or Pure Land schools. In all cases, though what I am saying does not particularly differ from what my teachers or primary texts might have said, what I am expressing is my personal understanding. 

     

    That's great! We can only convey convincingly what we have personally understood. 

     

    Quote

     

    I can see how:

     

     

    ...could be a provisional understanding used as a teaching scaffolding. My personal experience is that all abstractions such as realms or other worlds are empty of any reality of their own, incompatible with Nagarjuna's explanations of time, space, and self.

     

    While I am certainly aware of the important role played by perception, I would argue that this and other realms (including our own existence in them) are structured and determined -- at least to a significant degree -- by mathematical/physical/metaphysical laws and principles which are neither arbitrary nor illusional. I am sure that that's why we see so many mandalas in Buddhist art.

     

    Yes, it may all turn out to be something like a dream at the end of the day. But we should be careful not to confuse different levels of reality with one another.

     

    Quote

    My personal feeling is that Nagajunas explanation (most specifically the Shentong "emptiness of other" interpretation) is about as close as we are going to get to clear dialog about how "reality" is, though it is still flawed as he would have admitted. :)

     

     

    That may be true, but I can only see cosmologies as conceptual constructs, not really having any reality that we can truly experience ourselves. I love cosmology (the stranger, fancier, more arcane and ornate the better) but in terms of reality I only trust what I can experience.

     

    What you can experience very much depends on how far down the rabbit hole you're willing to go.

     

    Quote

    Having said that, the further you get on the this path the more strange and metaphysical what you encounter becomes. Even those experiences have a certain relative reality of their own, though it is advisable to hold what is "real" lightly and without reification. 

     

    Yes, sometimes. And sometimes it's important to acknowledge what you perceive as valid and real.

     

    Quote

    In my teens and twenties I was deeply interested in the supernatural and metaphysical. Buddhism (and "empty" reality) are FULL of such things and experiences. Experiencing them is the natural consequence of dropping tightly held beliefs and stopping the process of explaining them away. 

     

    I rather like that. :)

     

    Quote

    You can talk about it, but (as neo-Advaita chap Adyashanti says) you have intend to "fail well" in the best case scenario. It really isn't expressible, primarily because our language, which depends on subject/object relationships, is not suited to the task. It isn't a subject/object "thing" to experience. 

     

    True, language has its limitations. But I believe that it can do more than what so many spiritual seekers give it credit for.

     

    Quote

    Oh, DEFINITELY. I think of them as different perspectives of the same thing seen through different facets of a prism. The same thing is looked at, but the descriptions will differ. 

     

    My question still stands: What are the descriptions of the 'emptiness realisation' in other spiritual systems?

     

    And I am not only asking you, but also myself, and anyone who may have something to share on this topic.


  3. On 12.9.2023 at 10:15 AM, Nungali said:

     

    A few thoughts on the video .

     

    Aikido is not cultish ... or a satanic cult  :)  , not satanic but Aki-kai is definitely a cult . Its a family cult too .

     

    We where told 'we'  ( paid up members of aki-kai aikido) had Mr Sugarno as our teacher ( the HG assigned 'boss' of Australia ) .  Not that he seems to have any presence , he chooses to live in new York. If you are a member , some of your fees will go to him and some to the descendants of Ueshiba  family who still hold ( or did then ) the 'business' .  Not to mention the shrine of the dead ancestor ( ueshiba) in each dojo that everyone bows to . The classes are stylised formal rituals  that often have no meaning or no meaning given  ( regarding some of the strange 'warm ups' ) .

     

    Those 'warm ups' are typically aikido-specific qigong exercises, though.

     

    Quote

    the other point was the mention of Aikido in MMA .  Its just silly to try and take that stylised performance ritual enacted by two people into MMA HOWEVER , some of the technique, at the right moment , depending on what your partner does  AND ... its MMA  YOU should not go in the ring with one skill set . At least take a bit of punching and wrestling with you !

     

    DUDES  ... its just silly !  I saw one guy trying to do it ... he had a full hakama on ( long divided skirt ) , he did okay and was willing to 'punch on' when he had to ... but that was not 'aikido' and he just looked silly trying to do all that in a  'dress' .

     

    ( hint , just tread on their hem :D  ) 

     

     I have managed to pull of a few 'aikido type moves'  in sparring , by doing what I described before . BUT I got training in a few martial arts  ... not just one . Sometimes I slip in a wrestling ,ove . Got one guy with a beautiful wing c hung punch .. but I never done wing chung  :)

     

    After a while I realised a lot of those moves that are 'aikido' are actually within some of the higher kata I practised , but 'karate  people' didnt know their application .

     

    before karate got degraded and modernised  a lot of that stuff vanished .  So now karate and  aikido techniques  seem very different .

     

    There's this great instructor Tony Annesi who frequently drives his seminar attendants mad by deriving aiki techniques directly from karate kata. 😁

     

    But you can actually find something like that in Funakoshi's Karate-do kyohan already. Some of those moves have a definite 'aiki feel' to them, nothing like modern karate -- and yet Funakoshi emphasizes that they should be studied "according to kata."  A statement I found rather curious back then in my Shotokan days, when none of the proper bunkai was generally known yet, and even high-ranking JKA instructors gave total BS explanations for most of the kata moves.

     

    Annesi made a DVD on "Funakoshi's Nine Throws," an excerpt from which can be watched here:

     

     

    I am not sure what happened to the soundtrack, YouTube may have stripped it off for copyright reasons. But you can switch the subtitles on for the second part of the video. The first part is self-explanatory anyway -- and if some of the throws don't look too impressive, that's simply because Annesi is going easy on his uke.

     

    Quote

    Also, look at this way ... it all depends how good ( experienced and smart - able to learn and apply that is )  you are :

     

    Mny years back I watching a medieval battle thing . One guy was HOT ... very good fighter ,  I wa surprised at some of his moves that looked familar . later I asked him if he had ever done aikido or the type of karate I had been doing ., " he answered  " when you have been training and fighting long enough , its all the same , we are all constructed and move the same way , we all got the same type of joints  , strengths and weaknesses , we all got a centre of gravity .  "

     

    Really, it would just be insane to go into any type of bout in MA ; MMA , ju-jitsu , karate, etc  and think you can do well by performing your 'training rituals' in there .

     

    Even in sword ... I learnt a lot about sword in aikido, yet once when  a local club close down  , the last training session the instructor asked me to stay back . He wanted a sword match to see 'if I could really kill him' (he knew I trained elsewhere as  well - in training he often restricted me as a lot of my stuff was 'not aikido '  ;)    ) . He attacked  rushing in cutting down from above his head ,

     

    Kylo Ren's opening move when he was taking on Luke Skywalker then...

     

     

    A pretty suicidal technique if not set up properly! And yet in aikido, it's done all the time, with or without an actual (wooden) sword.

     

    Another one of those stylized attacks that may have a purpose for learning basic movement patterns, and alright, there's a remote chance that some drunk would try to smash in your head with a bottle that way. However, I seriously doubt that any aikido-sensei would survive against an experienced sword fighter if all they knew was aiki-style 'sword technique'.

     

    Quote

    before he got half way to me , i just side stepped , went sideways and did a one hand lunge . Got him with blade sideways between his ribs right over his heart , before he had even cut down .  he goes " Oh , that would have done it ." .  Then he wanted a another go , so I decide to attack . lifted my sword up above my head and rushed in , but then kicked my rubber crock off my foot into his face ,

     

    Alright, that puts a creative twist on an otherwise dumb move... 😁

     

    Quote

    he baulked , lost concentration , tried to bat it away with his sword. I cut down short and then  thrust in .... blade sideways , between his ribs , over his heart .   he said he had never seen those techniques before .  In class they would have been called 'rude' .  ;) 

     

    They do a 'sword ritual' and it can be enjoyable . My other style will  match... one handed , undrawn , practice sneak and treacherous attacks , practice with sword in scarab , etc etc .   Oh yeah ... much of aikido actually comes from sword technique

     

    It is said that the reason for this is that the samurai practising those moves to supplement his sword fighting techniques didn't have to learn a completely different skill set this way.

     

    In a similar fashion, many of the kenpo moves that I practise can also be done with a stick or a knife in your hand -- better yet, with dual blades! 😁

     

    Quote

      and just those things we practised , eg, 'stop draw'  - someone is about to draw and you try to stop them , eg by seizing their wrist as it grabs the sword to draw it out from the belt . 

     

    The guy attempting to draw his sword can then trap your hand in return and use the sword handle to perform a really effective nikyo on you; then draw his sword while you're down on your knees with a damaged wrist; one of those moments when the downward strike with the sword comes in handy!

     

    Quote

    Several ways of doing this are classic aikido moves , including the body movement  / placement  and even the  hand position is  still the same as -  if you where holding a sword .

     

    • Like 1

  4. On 13.9.2023 at 7:32 AM, Daniel said:

     

    What's smaller?

     

    A bank account with 0 dollars?

    A bank account overdrawn 100 dollars?

     

    0 is not infinitely small.

     

    -100 is smaller.

     

    0 is infinitely small as a positive number. Introducing the '-' sign reverses things. Now it might be the largest negative number. Which kind of illustrates my position that zero and infinity coincide.

     

    I suspect that you aren't satisfied with my definition of 0 as 1/∞ since you consider zero to be 'disconnected' (as you said elsewhere). You may argue then that, by ongoing division, it can never be reached. But you see... That's the point.

     

    On a related note, your equation of 1 and infinity mentioned here actually makes sense to me insofar there's an infinite number of fractions between 0 and 1.

     

    It's all a question of perspective, really. 

     

    BTW, I constantly find that, at an advanced level, mathematics becomes a surprisingly artistic and intuitive endeavour! 🙂

    • Like 1

  5. 17 hours ago, Daniel said:

     

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wuji_(philosophy)

     

    "In Chinese philosophy, wújí (simplified Chinese: 无极; traditional Chinese: 無極; lit. 'without ridgepole', meaning 'without limit')

     

    I'm just now seeing this comment.  Kind of a lovely syngery with the other convo we were having yesterday regarding the Ain-Soph (never-ending).

     

    Yes, exactly. Same insight there. 🙂

     

    17 hours ago, Daniel said:

     

    Unless 'zero' is not compatible with this and zero never coincides with infinity.

     

     

    We'll have to talk about that some more. 😜

     

    11 hours ago, Cobie said:

    Kroll (pg 185, 2. b.) 無極 wu2 ji2- infinite, immeasurable; paramount. 

     

    Thanx for the confirmation. 

    • Like 2

  6. 9 hours ago, Mark Foote said:

     

     

    Think the quote and response you're referring to are:

     



    The Kobun quote in full:

     

    Sitting shikantaza is the place itself, and things. The dynamics of all Buddhas are in it. When you sit, the cushion sits with you. If you wear glasses, the glasses sit with you. Clothing sits with you. House sits with you. People who are moving around outside all sit with you. They don't take the sitting posture! 

     

    (Jikoji website, Aspects of Sitting Medition

     


    Something from a piece I'm working on now:

     

    But usually in counting breathing or following breathing, you feel as if you are doing something, you know-- you are following breathing, and you are counting breathing. This is, you know, why counting breathing or following breathing practice is, you know, for us it is some preparation-- preparatory practice for shikantaza because for most people it is rather difficult to sit, you know, just to sit.

     

    (Shunryu Suzuki, lecture 70-02-22: The Background of Shikantaza, “question and answer)
     

     

    Suzuki says that directing attention to the movement of breath (“following breathing… counting breathing”) has the feeling of doing something, and that “doing something” makes the practice only preparatory.

     

    Sometimes when you think that you are doing zazen with an imperturbable mind, you ignore the body, but it is also necessary to have the opposite understanding at the same time. Your body is practicing zazen in imperturbability while your mind is moving. 

    (“Whole-Body Zazen”, lecture by Shunryu Suzuki at Tassajara, June 28, 1970 [edited by Bill Redican], from cuke.com)

      

     
    Suzuki was thinking here of the last line of a famous poem by the 6th century Chinese Buddhist Fuxi, and he quotes the line:
     

    Water does not flow, but the bridge flows.

    (ibid)

     

    The flow of “doing something” in the body, of activity initiated by habit or volition, ceases in the fourth concentration.  The location of awareness, or “mind”, generates the activity of the body in the movement of breath, and the location of awareness can flow. 

    Nevertheless, Suzuki cautioned his students:
     

    Let the water flow, as that is the water's' practice. Let the bridge stay and sit there, because that is the actual practice of the bridge.


    That caution was echoed by the twelfth-century Chinese teacher Foyan, when he spoke of two sicknesses in Zen:
     

    In my school, there are only two kinds of sickness.  One is to go looking for a donkey riding on the donkey.  The other is to be unwilling to dismount once having mounted the donkey.

    … Once you have recognized the donkey, to mount it and be unwilling to dismount is the sickness that is most difficult to treat.  I tell you that you need not mount the donkey; you are the donkey!

     

    (“Instant Zen:  Waking Up in the Present”, tr T. Cleary, Shambala p 4)



    There’s a tendency to want to continue the experience of the mind that moves, to want to continue to experience activity of the body that takes place purely by virtue of the location of attention.  That can reintroduce “doing something” into the practice, in a new way.

     

    Rather than issuing a caution about “meditation sickness”, Gautama simply endorsed his own way of living, “the intent concentration on inbreathing and outbreathing” (SN V 316 & 326):
     

    … if cultivated and made much of, (the concentration) is something peaceful and choice, something perfect in itself, and a pleasant way of living too. 

    (SN V 320-322, Pali Text Society SN V pg 285)



    “The intent concentration” consisted of sixteen particular thoughts applied and sustained, each thought applied or sustained in the course of an inhalation or an exhalation. Gautama did not, however, ignore the role of “mind is moving” in everyday life--the fifteenth of the sixteen thoughts was:


    I will breathe in… breathe out beholding stopping…

    (MN III 82, Pali Text Society MN III p 124)

     
    “Beholding stopping” is witnessing “the cessation (of ‘determinate thought’)” in activity, witnessing activity that takes place without “doing something”.  Gautama witnessed “stopping” in the course of inhalation and exhalation as part of the mindfulness that made up his way of living.

     

    Gautama let the water flow and the bridge just sit there, but as necessary to his mindfulness, the bridge could flow.

     

    When I wrote: 

     

    "Shikantaza is the place, and things" (Kobun, from the Jijkoji website).  The place and no-thing, things and no-thing.

    It can't be done, of course.
     


    what I meant was "the place and cessation, things and cessation", and "doing something" is not "just sitting".   I expect I'll have the piece I quoted from up on my site soon, that may fill in some gaps for you.

     

    Would you say that Soto Zen is Gautama's Buddhism pure and simple?


  7. 1 hour ago, RobB said:

    Perhaps it is 'perfect' as in 'as it should be'. Everything is as it should be. Things might not be pleasant or enjoyable but they might be precisely in line with how the Universe (or your Universe) should be.

     

    That's the perspective taken by Zen and those Buddhist schools which maintain that the 'Pure land' is everywhere around us, if only we could see it.

     

    I tend to agree.

    • Like 1

  8. 2 hours ago, Michael Sternbach said:

     

    Here, Laotzu seems to identify the Dao with Wuji. Which is a rather interesting perspective. 

     

    While an argument can be made for Wuji being analogous to zero, 無極 literally translates to 'without ridgepole', read: 'without limit', or 'infinite'.

     

    The apparent contradiction here again speaks to the curious coincidence of zero and infinity that I talked about elsewhere.


  9. 2 hours ago, Daniel said:

     

    I would argue that the infinitely large is 1 not 0.  As infinity is approached the distinctions that border each individual 'thing' become less and less significant.  Eventually the distinctions which border seperate each individual "thing" become infinitesimal.  when infinity is achieved the distinctions become 0, there are no borders, everything becomes 1.

     

    0 is not included in infinity.  infinity is 1.

     

    this is why mathematically

     

    infinity +1 = infinity

    infinity +10 = infinity

    infinity + 100 = infinity

    infinity + infinity = infinity

     

    it's the ultimate tautology / identity.

     

     

    2 hours ago, Daniel said:

    0+0+0+0+0+0+0+0 ... will never = infinity  which is unlke any other number.

     

    0 can be defined as the infinitely small. Just like the series of natural numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, ... approaches infinity, their reciprocals 1/1, 1/2, 1/3, 1/4, 1/5, 1/6, ... approach 0. Thus, 1/∞ = 0.

     

    In this sense, the number 1 can be said to be in the middle between infinity and zero.

     

    And this is where manifestation occurs.

    • Like 1

  10. 19 minutes ago, Cobie said:

    @Daniel your ‘infinity’ posts reminded me of Ch. 25: 


    There is a form that developed from primordial chaos 
    That was born before heaven and earth. 
    Silent and still, it stands on its own and does not change. 
    ... 

    It can be regarded as the mother of all under heaven. 
    Not yet knowing its name, 
    We refer to it as the Dao. 
    Were I forced to give it a name, I'd call it the Great. 

    The "Great" means "overflowing"; 
    "Overflowing" means "going far"; 
    "Going far" means "to return." 

    Heaven is great; the earth is great; the Way is great; and the king too is great. 
    In this realm there are four greats, and the king counts as one of them. 

    Humanity takes as its model the earth; 
    The earth takes as its model heaven; 
    Heaven takes as its model the Way; 
    And the Way takes as its model that which is so on its own. 

    又状虫成, 
    先天地生, 
    敚[糸禾], 
    独立而不亥, 
    可以为天下母。 
    未智(知)其名, 
    字之曰道。 
    吾强为之名曰大。 
    大曰筮, 
    筮曰远, 
    远曰反。 
    天大、地大、道大、王亦大。 
    国中又(有)四大安(焉), 
    王居一安(焉)。 
    人法地, 
    地法天, 
    天法道, 
    道法自然。 

    (Henricks 2000, Terebess)

     

     

     

    Here, Laotzu seems to identify the Dao with Wuji. Which is a rather interesting perspective. 


  11. 4 minutes ago, Daniel said:

     

    Ain-Soph literally means "without-end" or "never-ending".  It's a term meaning infinite. 

     

    The field that underlies the manifested world is, if I recall.  ohr-ain-soph, never-ending-light.

     

    The qabalistic zero is 'Ain' unqualified.

     

     

    I was purposefully not overly exacting here, since the infinitely large and the infinitely small (i.e., zero) strangely coincide. As we discussed in another thread.


  12. On 2.7.2023 at 10:12 AM, helpfuldemon said:

    I've come to realize that this system is a study in demonology.  The Abyss Grade, which is only bestowed upon people with great Chesed, is to be tortured and humiliated by demons.  They drain the poor adept of all of their Wisdom and hope, and force them to work on solutions to life's problems.

     

    They embody the forces of resistance. Gautama had to deal with them on his way to Enlightenment. 

     

    But their nature is maia, and whatever power they may have is drawn from the seeker who is facing them.

    • Like 1

  13. 1 hour ago, stirling said:

     

    I am sorry if I have come off in some strange way.  Not my intention.

     

    What I said was:

     

     

    By "great respect" I mean "great respect". By "bravely", I mean one who is interested enough to ask the difficult questions with true curiousity and the intention to truly understand the topic. Your intial post seemed earnest, so I took it that way. I personally assume everyone is a friend until proven otherwise. :)

     

    I see seekers in two flavors:

     

    • Idealogues who have made their mind up about a particular constructed viewpoint

     

    • Seekers who truly wish to understand the nature of reality and are open to the possibilities

     

    I don't generally engage the former, but champion the latter. There is a receptivity, and genuineness in them. Someone who truly wants to know is someone I want to talk to. 

     

    -

     

     

    It IS difficult, yes. I wouldn't personally believe anyone who told me about some "golden heaven" that exists somewhere else either. I am against beliefs... they just cause mental struggle. Beliefs are what we construct when we don't know through personal experience. If there is some benefit to a practice it should be something you can experience yourself. It should be transformative when practiced with openness. It should be do what it says on the label. 

     

     

    I DID express my opinion earlier in the thread. As I said previously, I don't buy a perpetual "bliss" exactly, but do know that there is a pleasurable "relief" (for lack of a better word) where there is seeing things as "empty" that is pleasant in the same way that a glass of cold water on a hot day is pleasant. Another analogy might be when you wake up thinking it is Monday and you have overslept, but then realize it is Sunday. With some guidance, anyone who practices meditation with the intention of allowing the mind to become quiet will experience this within a week or so of sitting. 

     

    I am a Soto Zen priest, but that doesn't mean I don't recognize the teachings of Daoism, Sufism, Hinduism, etc. as valid, AND that also doesn't mean that any of the above are a belief system for me. Understanding how things are doesn't require a massive crenellated concretion of beliefs, it just requires creating the space that allows the underlying nature of things to well up. Nothing to buy, nothing to believe, nothing to worship. You could decide that there are qualities of both agnosticism and gnosticism in this, but that isn't really important.

     

    Hi Stirling,

     

    This sounds all quite interesting to me as I am currently "reviewing" my prior involvement with Buddhism, early on on my personal meandering path.

     

    Having been a practitioner of Soto Zen myself back then, I can tell that the view you are expressing here is characteristic of that particular school of Buddhism. Zen is definitely very much experienced based, although it does have its specific metaphysical and literary framework (understated though these aspects generally tend to be). But it goes without saying that some of the other Buddhist schools are more talkative in this regard, and they also take different stands on the nature of enlightenment and ultimate reality.

     

    The following excerpt from the Wikipedia article on 'Pure land' is quite conclusive in this regard:

     

    In Chinese Buddhism, the pure land was commonly seen as a transcendent realm beyond the three realms (the desire realm, form realm and formless realm) into which one can be reborn after death.[59] This view of the pure land as a place was defended by masters of Pure Land Buddhism like Shandao. However, another interpretation of a pure land is that it is non-dual with our world. The Vimalakīrti Sutra was widely cited by exponents of this non-dual view of the pure land, often called "mind-only" pure land (wéixīn jìngtǔ 唯心淨土). This was most commonly defended by masters of the Chan / Zen school.[60] In the Platform Sutra for example, Huineng states that only the deluded hope to be born in a faraway land in the west, while the wise who know their nature is empty seek the Pure Land by purifying their minds.[61] These two views of the pure land led to many debates in Chinese Buddhism.[62]



    In a similar fashion, according to the Huayan school patriarch Fazang, the ultimate view of the Buddha's Pure Land (derived from the Avatamsaka sutra) is that it is interfused with all worlds in the multiverse and indeed with all phenomena (dharmas).[63] This view of the Buddha's pure land is inconceivable and all pervasive. Since for Fazang, the entire Dharma realm is visible within each particle in the universe, the Pure Land is therefore contained in every phenomena and is non-dual with our world.[63]

    Later Chinese thinkers similarly attempted to synthesize the two ideas. Yúnqī Zhūhóng (1535–1615) saw the pure land as an actual place which is a useful upaya (skill means) created by the Buddha. Once beings reach this realm, they realize that it is just mind. Real sages can see that both ideas are interconnected and thus can affirm both without any conflict.[64]

    Similarly, Hānshān Déqīng (c. 1546–1623) taught a synthesis of these various ideas ideas.[65] According to Hanshan, there are three kinds of pure lands (associated with the trikaya, the three bodies of the buddha):[65]

    the Eternal Land of Calm Illumination, also known as the pure land of mere-mind. This is the land where the Buddhas and bodhisattvas live.

    the Majestic Land of True Reward, which refers to the Huayan view of a Pure land that pervades the entire universe and is interfused with every particle and phenomenon in existence.

    the Incomplete Land of Expediency, which is the 'Western paradise" of Sukhavati taught in the Amitabha sutras, and is only one of a myriad of such skillfully manifested pure lands in existence. This land is associated with the nirmanakaya.

     

    In this citation, I would particularly highlight the statement that "Real sages can see that both ideas are interconnected and thus can affirm both without any conflict," as well as the actual attempts at their reconciliation that are mentioned here.

     

    Plato's cave metaphor has recently been brought up somewhere--I wasn't able to retrieve the post, however, it reminded me of my own reference to Platonist philosophy in a conversation I had not long ago with one of the Buddhist members of the forum. 

     

    In that metaphor, the shadows seen on the wall of the cave--and taken as the only reality by those imprisoned inside it--are mere reflections of things that in actuality belong to a more universal order of reality. The parallels to *some* Buddhist schools of thought are IMO undeniable and even extend to the concept of a multi-layered more-than-physical universe found both in Platonism and some forms of Buddhism.

     

    Above all, being a Zen-influenced natural metaphysicist, I was excited to learn now that I am not the only one to ever find this kind of perspective essentially compatible with the Zen view of 'ordinary' experiential reality as transcendent  empty! 🙂

     

    That being said, I continue to be interested in finding a (personally) more satisfactory definition of the emptiness concept in philosophical terms (and quite frankly, I don't buy the notion that it can only be experienced but not talked about, yadda yadda).

     

    For that matter, I am quite sure that apparently rather different systems (such as the Gnosticism you mentioned) have an understanding of this as well, even though couched in terms of their own.

     

    dc0f5bb434b04d59873d000d07794ef2.jpg

     

    A Buddhist-inspired cosmic vision (self-created digital image).


  14. 45 minutes ago, galen_burnett said:

    @Michael Sternbach your reply to me of today, 11th sep. i’ll need to go back and reread the thread to remember in what context you mentioned archaeology and then reply more fully; but for now, sure, academia are hugely ignorant of the truth of the planet’s history; that it is in fact an extraterrestrial terraform, hollow, and has had at least settlements, if not whole civilisations, of people populate it throughout the last, probably, millions of years, much much more advanced than we are today in 2023. the ancient aliens documentary series is invaluable. all the religious icons in history, including the buddha, were most likely extraterrestrials—or even inter-terrestrials, or martians even, or maybe even inhabitants of the orion constellation. one needs to have some really quite soft and dry sand to bury ones head deep enough in now to be able to deny the mountains of evidence for all this. 

     

    Not that I would agree to your assumption of the Buddha and other avatars having been non-humans, or the timeline you are suggesting, but as far as the gist of your comment is concerned, you are quite correct, in my view.

     

    45 minutes ago, galen_burnett said:

    regarding the hominid reference: i may not like him, and found one joke he made about disabled people to be disgusting, but i still don’t really get why you’re calling him a proto-hominid; the ‘austra-‘ in australopithecus doesn’t seem to actually refer to australia, that ape was an african species, google tells me; and i don’t really see what beef you have with him otherwise… again, maybe i’ll get it when i reread the thread…

     

    OMG! 😅😂🤭

     

    Nah, I have no beef with good ol' Nungers. As at least the older forum members will know, we are just having fun to tease each other a bit from time to time. Not to mention the occasional "virtual sparring match" when we don't agree on a topic (which doesn't happen  very often, though). He is indeed one of the really knowledgeable and (I'll return the compliment) rational forum members.

     

    At any rate, no hard feelings. 🙂


  15. On 9.9.2023 at 1:25 AM, Nungali said:

     

    Well, it depends on your style's philosophy .   If it IS about self defence and fighting then that is where it should be .

     

    I am not a good physical fighter - I dont have enough expereince with real fighting   ( however I did okay in the club and often cleaned up others in cross training - ie, different styles ) but that was becasue they did LESS real stuff than I did . But I do enjoy the movement, dynamic, tactics , range , etc  ... " a desire to express oneself with movement and contemplate paradoxes " ... yes, not sure about the paradoxes ....  more 'contemplate situations and their dynamics '.

     

    However , I did aikido for years , what they teach in the dojo is NOT good for self defence , however it helped me immensely in my hospital work as an orderly  ... and often having to deal with the disorderly  ( drunk, stoned, confused , aggressive , panicked. etc ) in a way where violence and conflict rarely manifested .

     

    Even correcting one's gait (walking style ) can help with self defence  .... meaning , you can learn a lot that stops a fight before it even starts .

     

    My old teacher ( gone now ) was very traditional , his system was a fighting system ( and not for the ring either ... one would be immediately disqualified  - his old school reasons for studying and practising where threefold ;

    1. To protect your parents .

    2. To protect your home and household .

    3. To protect yourself - so you can continue to to do 1 and 2 .

     

    But me ... yeah, I just like the movement and the dynamic , as described above ' between two people  (or me and three others ) , it just fascinates me and I enjoy it . I do not enjoy BS martial arts , and I recently dropped out of a very long term practice ,  due to this .

     

    man, have things improved since I did that !  It was soooo restrictive , degraded , disillusioned , warped ... yet it contained valuable kernals of gold - which I mined . 

     

    There are a whole set of reasons for this weird dynamic you mention ... it is related to cultural things  it seems . I spent a few years looking into it , as i wanted to find out why there was soooo much BS involved in martial arts .  Its FULL of it !

     

    - but people dont like to be told why.     ;) 

     

    On 9.9.2023 at 5:39 AM, Franky said:

     

    This system includes some Aikido techniques, and I agree with you. It's not effective against a trained fighter who has control of their center of gravity and also recoils their strikes. But I also agree it's good for throwing around drunks without causing too much damage, in the event of say, a bouncer that wants to avoid lawsuits. It also helps with comprehension of anatomy for healing applications like rehab with the elderly. 

     

    On 10.9.2023 at 12:25 AM, Nungali said:

     

    I have found it  effective in this way as well :

     

    Dont try to do aikido .  In a fight, bout  or spar .... wait , feel, evade ... at some stage the other might just 'offer it to you on a plate' ... that is, make a mistake, or make a move or be in a position where the technique fits perfectly  ... then its applied . The same goes for other styles techniques ....  I have found .

     

    Aikido is just one set of martial arats techniques , removed from the larger picture and enacted in a ritual environment .  But you can still learn stuff from it , but it has to be adapted to a real situation to be effective .

     

    I found that problem with them especially in ju waza  , randori, etc .  Everything was too telegraphed , polite and 'enabling'  ;  come on guys, amp it up a bit  ' ... its good to start slow and kindergarten, to get the movement, dynamics, flow, etc  ... but at some stage , it should meld to a more realistic situation .

     

    I agree that Aikido the way it's generally taught isn't too suitable for application in a real-life situation. Fending off exaggerated stylized attacks may be a good way for beginners to get the basics down, but should give way to more realistic scenarios at a certain stage.

     

    However, regardless of all the criticism the art is getting, I maintain that its principles are sound and applicable. (Ever tried to disarm a crazed knife-wielding person with a kote-gaeshi? I did it twice--it worked like a charm!)

     

    The following video addresses some of these issues:

     

     

    • Like 1
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  16. On 9.9.2023 at 5:37 AM, Franky said:

     

    My master got his black belt from Ed Parker a long time ago. Then went on to explore other styles and created his own system, mostly based on Ed Parker's Kenpo, with many of his techniques being applied. A lot of quick and nasty stuff like eye and groin strikes, knee kicks etc... Not for sport situations. While he does enjoy the philosophical aspects, the philosophy is auxiliary at best. It seems however, that the new generation of students have inverted these priorities and he expressed concern about it, but he's ready to retire and considers this an omen to do so. I understand that a philosophical martial art would stress spiritual achievements via physical practice, but defense and fitness are his priorities. Hope this makes sense.

     

    I never understood why there should be a dichotomy between self-defence and spiritual achievements in MA practice. Surely the Buddhist monk Takuan Soho didn't look at things that way either when he authored the content of The Unfettered Mind -- a fantastic book, BTW, that thematises the application of Zen principles to mortal combat. Highly recommended reading for anyone interested in the topic. :)

    • Like 1
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  17. On 9.9.2023 at 5:47 AM, galen_burnett said:

    @Michael Sternbach what do you think archeologists have got wrong about prehistoric civs?

     

    Well, they're generally unaware of the very existence of prehistoric civilisations. Even though things started shifting a bit with some of their more recent finds.

     

    This is actually a topic that I pursue with great interest, as you can see, e.g., here:

     

    Since I started that thread, I collected a lot more information and developed certain theories of my own. One day in the not-so-far future I am going to publish all this material in a comprehensive book. :)

     

    On a related note, the Lost Civilisation topic plays a role also in my upcoming sci-fi novel Spacepunk I -- Humanity at the Crossroads

     

    On 9.9.2023 at 5:47 AM, galen_burnett said:

    i still don’t follow the “nungali is an inaccurate human” bit though, don’t understand that part.

     

    Well, I just like to imagine that, when the archaeologists of the future will dig up and carbon date his remains one day, they will be more than surprised to find a specimen of Australopithecus originating from our time. 😉


  18. 7 hours ago, Daniel said:

     

    If the divine is infinite it cannot be ever be approached, because, it is already omni-present.

     

    It is--insofar it's at the very centre of things.


    The Buddhāvataṃsakasūtra states "that the fields full of assemblies, the beings and aeons which are as many as all the dust particles, are all present in every particle of dust."


    This is no different from William Blake's famous vision in The Auguries of Innocence:


    "To see a World in a Grain of Sand
    And a Heaven in a Wild Flower
    Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
    And Eternity in an hour"


    Even though it is possible for mere mortals to gain that kind of insight, the question is if infinity can ever be actualised to its full potential by a finite being.


    I once had a discussion about this with a Buddhist lady who insisted that her revered Tibetan masters were fully-realised. Wicked me maintained that this was an impossibility.


    If anyone had a total realisation of Being, they would be identically--and consciously--God.


  19. 4 hours ago, Franky said:

    I train in a martial arts system that most closely resembles Kajukenbo. I've been away for a while but recently returned. I've noticed that while they move well and like the philosophical aspect of martial arts, they admit they'd never be in a fight. I'm not saying anyone should go looking for fights, or even enjoy it, buy why learn techniques of violence and destruction of another's body if one believes in pacifism? I consider it incompatible with pacifism. 

     

    It seems a desire to express oneself with movement and contemplate paradoxes that attracts them. I don't have anything against being artistic or philosophical, but it seems an inappropriate situation for expression and philosophizing. I like paradoxical philosophes and Taichi, but Kenpo based Karate is very different not soft of esoteric or philosophical. Enlighten me please.

     

    The different styles under the Kenpo umbrella today originated from James Mitose's Kosho-shorei-ryu which emphasizes yoga-like exercises and the cultivation of a peaceful mind. Here's a quote from their website:

     

    "Yet, at another level of Kosho - SHOREI is the religious system consistent with Judeo - Christian tradition added with the teachings of Buddha. In Kosho - Shorei using meditation and energy collection as techniques for development of a restful state of being necessary for achieving inner peace and harmony."

     

    https://www.kosho-ryu.com/Basics/basics.html

     

    Hey Franky,

     

    The Kenpo style that underlies my own martial art system is Ed Parker Kenpo Karate. While, the way this art is generally practised, it may indeed not appear to be overly philosophical or esoteric, its founder GM Parker showed his understanding of the spiritual aspects especially by his book The Zen of Kenpo.

     

    I am honestly not sure what kind of Taiji you are referring to. The one that I am familiar with--Old Yang style as taught by Erle Montaigue--can be every bit as devastating as Kenpo Karate anyway. I find the two arts fully compatible with each other both in principles and application and in fact combine them in my own practice, with the addition of some Aikido elements.

     

    Kenpo Karate overall is designed to enable you to end a fight quickly even when facing a bigger and stronger adversary. It does a good job at that if taught properly. It is left to the discretion of the practitioner to adjust the level of violence needed to the situation at hand.

     

    I hope you find my answer useful in some regard. But I will be happy to discuss this important topic more if you wish.

     

    Michael 

    • Like 1

  20. 12 hours ago, Apech said:

     

    Funnily enough - and I speak as a English person - I have found it hard to find anyone in my compatriots or even other countries who actually likes the Beatles.  I think they have their place in music history in the sense of what happened in the early sixties but beyond that I would never choose to listen to a Beatles song.

     

     

     

    Hey, man, don't be square! That comment really bummed me out! Lemme tell ya, the Fab Four are totally outta sight! Last night, when my pals and I were getting loaded in that karaoke bar and all singing Yesterday, it really got our groove on! I mean... Just boss! Jinx!*
     
    * You owe me a coke.