Aetherous

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Posts posted by Aetherous


  1. There are bone stim devices that they use in Western medicine. I recall reading that it has quite good results, but a friend tried it and it didn't work for her...look into it.

     

    Ya Mu appears to have not visited the forum for over a year now...but maybe he'll return if you private message him (because it'll likely notify his email).

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  2. For me personally, this is one of the most beautiful teachings in Buddhism.

     

    ...


    Yesterday, a friend of mine told me about the Chris Watts murder case. I've already had a hard time lately forgiving others for their faults lately, but with what this guy did, I find it impossible to forgive.

    Normally I could apply an antidote like the Prayer of St Francis (obviously not Buddhist), or just focusing on some of the good that a person has done, and "get right" internally, wishing them well...but I think that prayer and those methods are too weak for such strong negativity. It seems to me like this stronger negativity has been encroaching our world, and human nature, lately. Are we entering a darker era?

     

    The Eight Verses still do the trick for me, even in this horrific case. I can't say I feel anything positive for this Chris guy, given what he did and who he is, but the eight verses at least transform my mind away from the desire to establish justice, and more toward a loving attitude.

     

    ...

     

    I think the eight verses require having some knowledge of the Tibetan Buddhist path. Things like "to all my mothers" definitely aren't understood without that.

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  3. Eight Verses of Training the Mind

    by Geshe Langri Thangpa

     

    1. By thinking of all sentient beings
      As more precious than a wish-fulfilling jewel
      For accomplishing the highest aim,
      I will always hold them dear.

    2. Whenever I’m in the company of others,
      I will regard myself as the lowest among all,
      And from the depths of my heart
      Cherish others as supreme.

    3. In my every action, I will watch my mind,
      And the moment destructive emotions arise,
      I will confront them strongly and avert them,
      Since they will hurt both me and others.

    4. Whenever I see ill-natured beings,
      Or those overwhelmed by heavy misdeeds or suffering,
      I will cherish them as something rare,
      As though I’d found a priceless treasure.

    5. Whenever someone out of envy
      Does me wrong by attacking or belittling me,
      I will take defeat upon myself,
      And give the victory to others.

    6. Even when someone I have helped,
      Or in whom I have placed great hopes
      Mistreats me very unjustly,
      I will view that person as a true spiritual teacher.

    7. In brief, directly or indirectly,
      I will offer help and happiness to all my mothers,
      And secretly take upon myself
      All their hurt and suffering.

    8. I will learn to keep all these practices
      Untainted by thoughts of the eight worldly concerns.
      May I recognize all things as like illusions,
      And, without attachment, gain freedom from bondage.

    | Rigpa Translations. Revised 2012.

    Taken from: https://www.lotsawahouse.org/tibetan-masters/geshe-langri-thangpa/eight-verses-training-mind
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  4. 6 hours ago, nunya said:

    In an ideal world, chi will be used to heal. But what about when chi is intentionally used to harm? Is there a way to protect ourselves? 

     

    When qi is used to harm others, it becomes destructive to the user. Most often it's a subtle destruction, and it doesn't end their life right away or something. Every practitioner should protect themselves against this by choosing to be peaceful rather than violent. Having a negative attitude turns qi into something damaging...having true virtue and being good toward others keeps it healthy.

    Some people are able to harm others by invisible means, either intentionally or unintentionally. Intentionally, they could do things like curses. Unintentionally, their negativity could simply be strong and could become attached to you by accident.

    The way to protect yourself from that is to have a large enough qi field that everything just bounces or sluffs off of it, and doesn't affect you. Another way is by having spiritual connections...friends in high places. A simple way of doing this would be to pray, and intend for it to go to the highest and most beneficent beings who want to help you...for the monotheist, it could be God. Regardless of what one believes, it's true that genuine prayer changes the heart of the person doing it...having virtue as a result of praying is a protection.

    So: be positive and good, develop yourself through practices, and have spiritual help and virtue.

     

    6 hours ago, nunya said:

    In the physical world, if someone is bigger or stronger than you or has trained in martial arts, and you haven't, and they decide to attack you, you probably won't stand a chance against them. 

     

    It's good to exercise so that one isn't completely physically weak. But there will always be someone who could defeat you...in reality, the legal system prevents them from doing it very often.

    Sometimes the means to winning a fight is to never have the fight start in the first place. You said, "they decide to attack you"...the question is, why would they?

    Let's say you could be walking down a dark alley in a bad part of a violent city...okay maybe someone will decide to attack you then, because they want money. Or let's say you're talking trash to some stranger at the bar...they might decide to attack you and teach you not to be so rude. Or you broke apart a marriage by seducing some wife...yeah you're probably going to get attacked, because that's horrible behavior.

    So don't do things that would make being attacked more likely.

    There's a chance that you could be attacked without you being at fault, too. Life throws all sorts of curveballs at us.

    I tend to think that spiritual cultivation prevents even this...not only preventing invisible negativity from impacting you, but it also keeps the violent away from you, or even changes them in your presence. But sometimes despite our cultivation, and despite not doing things that would make being attacked more likely, things happen to us.

     

    6 hours ago, nunya said:

    So in the energetic world, if someone is stronger and has trained for years in energy work and wants to attack you, how do you protect yourself when you're overpowered? Is it even possible? 

     

    It can be a frightening experience...but you will probably find that you're still standing after it, so: what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

    Best to not do things that would provoke such an event. For instance, don't be showy. Be respectful. Don't infringe on others in any way. Stay positive, virtuous, and connected to your friends in high places.

    I think we often tend to run across information we need when we need it...so you'll figure it out, and will more or less learn what helps in such a situation, in the moment.

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  5. 2 hours ago, HuangDiNeiJing said:

    That's some good tuina! But I really don't get the blowing thing or whatever he's doing. Do you know what this is about? It's kinda creepy.

     

    Yes, some of what he does indeed appears creepy. I don't personally think in a "creep" like sexual kind of way (despite what youtube commenters tend to say below his videos), but just in a mysterious oddness kind of way.

    I do know of healing methods where the healer will connect to a higher type of qi by inhaling in particular ways, and then can transmit it to a patient by breathing that special kind of qi on them...there are different types of breathing depending on the result. I can't say more. I haven't heard of these methods coming from China as well, but apparently they do. I've also seen breathing onto people done during shaktipat demonstrations.

     

    I've seen shamans do the opposite method, where they'll inhale sick qi out of the patient's body...China had a lot of shamanism early on, and is close to Siberia and Mongolia where it's more or less continued to this day. Perhaps they would also exhale onto people's bodies, too.

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  6. On 1/24/2018 at 4:51 PM, Bruce Qi said:

    what about things like the kunlun flying needles

     

    I was able to see this one. It primarily has to do with your intuition. You sense the exact thing to do in the moment that the person needs and then do that. At least this was my understanding of it.

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  7. 1 hour ago, CompleteReality said:

    idk im so confused and lost, I just want clarity.

     

    Focus on what makes 100% sense.

    If it doesn't make sense, it's either something that you don't understand yet, or something false that people are repeating without understand it themselves.

     

    If it's false, then it's really worth ignoring. If it's just something you don't yet grasp, then it's worth ignoring for now. You'll understand it when the time is right.

    In the meantime, don't ignore what's clear.

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  8. 18 minutes ago, wandelaar said:

    I don't need to do that to believe you. I also did the standing exercise some time ago, and it gave me a burning feeling in my calves and shoulders. So I am capable of experiencing bodily feelings in case anybody might doubt it. The disagreement revolves around the interpretation of those bodily feelings. Is "experiencing chi" just an expression for certain bodily feelings, or is it also a form of observation of something called "chi". If the latter than the observation can be more or less accurate as is the case with all kinds of observations. Now the problem is how to test the accuracy of our "experiences of chi". Can it even be tested, or is it just a belief system in which one is initiated by those who already believe it?

     

    I encourage you to keep reading the post, and actually do what it says to do. That will address all questions.


  9. 19 hours ago, wandelaar said:

    Thanks for the comments. Unhappily they are in line with my suspicion that chi as experienced by Taoist and Martial Arts practitioner's doesn't point to something real. I did karate, yoga, meditation, and qi gong but I didn't experience chi. The experience of chi isn't a necessary result of the mentioned practices. Surely one can learn to feel all kinds of things, and suggestion, doctrinal studies, and visualisation will help to experience chi. But as long as objective tests and rational analysis are banned the experience of chi may be nothing more than a (sub)culturally induced experience, and not the alternative form of observation that it is claimed to be. I believe the many people who claim to have experienced chi, but I am not convinced of the correctness of their interpretation of those experiences. And I wouldn't even be convinced of the correctness of their interpretation if I had those experiences myself. Subjective experiences are to be taken with a grain of salt.

     

    Scrape your fingernails against your outer forearm for about 30 seconds, with medium pressure. Not enough to actually damage the skin, but not at all gentle either. Your skin should become red, and warmer.

    That's "wei qi".

    You can objectively test that a change has occurred...the temperature will truly be different in that spot versus another area of your skin.

    You can also just sit there after scraping, and subjectively feel the change that occurred...there's more sensation in the forearm you scratched.

    Now you've experienced qi.

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  10. Just now, ilumairen said:

    Does this question point more to practical application than vast financial gain?

     

    Yep definitely. Our theories should be able to have real world results...if they don't work (such as the theory of manifesting, and trying to prove it by choosing to manifest 1mil into your bank account) then it's a sign that those theories might not be accurate. I only said 1 million dollars because that's the most common thing people talk about when it comes to manifesting.

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  11. 1 hour ago, liminal_luke said:

    In the beginning Daobums was a place on the internet dedicated especially to the discussion of Daoist theory and practice and sundry other spiritual pursuits.  Not anymore.  Now the majority of the posts relate to politics and controversial social issues.

     

    This simply isn't true whatsoever. Look at the on topic sections of the forum.

    Also, I knew that the recent change (pitting the Trump threads) wasn't going to satisfy.

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  12. On 6/27/2018 at 5:04 PM, Aetherous said:

    Another recipe that's awesome is Finnish Korvapuusti (translated as "slap in the ear" due to its shape) https://www.sbs.com.au/food/recipes/finnish-cinnamon-rolls-korvapuusti

    It's a cinnamon roll, but for the variety I made this past winter, I basically modified the recipe in the link to include as much ground cardamom in the filling (with the cinnamon) as in the dough. It's absolutely essential to get the green cardamom pods, open them up and discard the outer shell, then grind the cardamom that very day.

     

    IMG_0016.thumb.JPG.5da20fba31c1f084b49363d02ec8d9ae.JPG

    My "ear" shapes need some work, but this dessert was awesome.

     

    I made these again this holiday season. The secret to getting it look right is to press the center on the smallest part. Kind of turn it up on its side so the smallest edge is facing upward, then press down into that with your finger.

     

    Here's what I mean when I say "the smaller edge".

     

    Korvapuusti-1452-160x160.jpg

     

    Just put the bigger edge down on the table and the smaller edge facing the ceiling, then press down on the center of the smaller edge.

     

    Korvapuusti-1507-160x160.jpg

     

     Then it makes this correct shape:

     

    sbsfood_korvapuusti.jpg?itok=ByIG3pm6

     

    Pearl sugar is a must for them. Also, don't be afraid to cut them slightly bigger.

    Here's my correct, but not yet mastered version:

     

    lu.thumb.jpg.abb99a4dfd2684bc222187f27bf7ad48.jpg

     

    It looks kind of wavy because I pinched it while rolling it. Also, not enough filling.

     

    On 6/27/2018 at 5:04 PM, Aetherous said:

    This was inspiring to watch, after having failed at making omeletes that way. Talk about "cultivation":
     

     

     

    Just this morning I successfully made this, although not masterfully. I used a plastic fork to stir it around in the pan, which worked well. Here's the key: instead of thinking of the eggs as undercooked on the inside, you should think of them as becoming "custardy".

    There are varying levels of being cooked that we can think about:

    Raw

    Not cooked enough, so that it's still runny

    Custardy, so that it's cooked, not runny at all, but still isn't fully set

    Well cooked so that it's set (how most of us eat scrambled eggs/omelettes)

    Over cooked so that it becomes brown.

     

    So, it won't be runny at all. But it won't be solid...it's creamy. I was really impressed with how good it was.

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  13. 1 hour ago, wandelaar said:

    That's part of what we have to do (study what we need to know and acquire the necessary skills), but then after that the Taoist way of handling things would be wu wei.

     

    Is that like taking the path of least resistance? Or simply following the steps without grinding one's gears (wei wu wei)?


  14. This is a matter of semantics, but...

    I think our destiny is the ultimate story we're meant to be the hero of. It's the path we walk when we're in alignment with our true nature. We need to become who we're meant to be, in order to have realized our destiny. Just think of the hero who has yet to set out on his journey...he's told "you have a great destiny" by a seer.

    Fate, on the other hand, involves those experiences which we have no control over. We try to make a plan, do the work to accomplish that goal, and then it fails for some reason - that's fate. The fates have messed with us. "Well, that's fate" so they say. To some extent, of karmic reactions being real, that is also fate. I think fate is something to be wise about, and circumvent, or something to overcome directly if possible. Life throws a challenge at us, and we're supposed to deal with that one way or another.

    I don't know what's up with manifesting. For me personally, it seems to have haphazard results at best, if it works at all...and I prefer thinking more practically when it comes to accomplishing things. (Such as: knowing what you want and don't want, formulating a goal to get what you want, create a plan to achieve the goal, formulate actionable steps toward fulfilling that plan, and do the real work that's required for each step, until you follow through with your plan and achieve the goal.)

     

    I suspect that "manifesting" might have more to do with being more subconsciously attuned to certain things. For instance, let's say you try to manifest an orange. Soon enough you'll see it in an ad on TV, or you'll see someone eating one at work. You must have manifested it, right? But perhaps those things happen every day, and while you're usually barely aware of it, now you were just more attuned to oranges and therefore saw them more often. This faculty of the mind can have some use. It helps us notice more of what we're looking for...but how many of us have "manifested" the million dollars into our bank accounts?

    Not saying it isn't possible...just that my results with attempting it aren't good, and that something else more realistic might actually be taking place other than what we're told is taking place.

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