Aetherous

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Posts posted by Aetherous

  1. Posted

    If the US, I hope his life is protected while being held; and if he's convicted, he better get a pardon.

    In fact, I was surprised that they were arresting him and that he wasn't simply killed. Certainly, there are many people who want him dead.

    There was a lot of strange activity outside of the embassy for days prior to his arrest (if you follow Cassandra Fairbanks)...perhaps the good guys were ensuring that the bad guys couldn't get to him, and perhaps this is a protective move.

    Or perhaps I'm too much of an optimist.

    • Like 1

  2. Posted

    Something I forgot to mention...this isn't a formal practice, but I usually do some jin shin jyutsu self-help holds to clear various issues.

    A couple of months ago I started to have a twitch in my inner right calf muscle. I was trying to figure it out, taking magnesium, taking herbs like shaoyao gancao tang. Acupuncture (on BL-60, KD-3, KD-9, BL-57, BL-40) sometimes would help a little bit...probably the most out of anything I tried, but the issue would still come back the next day.

    One day I spontaneously had the idea to do the final pose of the "main central" practice of jin shin jyutsu. This is where the left hand is on the pubic bone, and the right hand is on the sacrum/coccyx. I thought maybe if the twitch was related to the nerve roots exiting the spine, then maybe that area needed some healing.

    It helped get rid of the weird twitch by 99%.

    Perhaps if I had acupuncture done on me at the sacrum coccyx area, it would've been even more effective...but jin shin jyutsu can be very effective if it's the right area that's being worked on.

    The trick is to know what's right to do in the moment. Kunlun flying needles!

    • Like 1

  3. Posted

    I often try to analyze what different postures do, not from any particular teaching's perspective. Here's what I think about this one:

    It's utilizing the throat and mouth level, corresponding to all issues related to speech and communication (can be anything related to that - even communication of qi throughout one's own body, or even becoming better at keeping our word). Hands in prayer posture, with the fingers pointed up - so there's a going inward to the center (inner self), a joining of polarities of left and right, as well as an uplifting effect related to the throat and the center (due to the fingers directing qi upward). The wrists are very extended, which I think opens up our energy, or "opens you up" to the outside world (think about an introverted person with their shoulders slouched forward, their arms crossed, fingers closed and wrists bent in...versus someone who is smiling with open gestures, and wrists extended open). The elbows are bent at a severe angle, which I think creates a kind of false blockage, so that once energy is flowing through there it flows through faster (similar to if you ever went down a waterslide, when you hit a point that curves, you speed up)...causing qi to flow through the arms to the hands more strongly once the exercise is done. Feet are on the ground at roughly shoulder width, so it's cultivating the person's ability to "stand their ground" and "stand on their own two feet", and increases/raises qi. Eyes are closed so the effect is more internal.

    I imagine it's helpful for someone to practice who has to deal with a lot of situations they really hate to be in, where they feel like their throat tightens up as a result of feeling stuck and not free. Doing the posture might change their life situation, because they'd have more inner strength to be who they want to be and do what they want to do, and they'd be more likely to speak their mind honestly.

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  5. Posted

    Falun Dafa is/was a cult, with a delusional teacher and teaching. It strikes me energetically as messing up people's qi, but that's just my personal impression of it.

    Unfortunately, the Chinese government was killing a lot of Falun Dafa practitioners. Very horrible. I don't know if that still happens today. This is a really strange thing to think about in our enlightened information age, when we come from societies in which we're free to practice any religion. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persecution_of_Falun_Gong

    The swastika was an Eastern symbol long before the Nazis used it. The Nazi version is often reversed and on its edge (like in the shape of a diamond), whereas the real version is often on its side (like in the shape of a square)...but not always. It's a symbol that has something to do with the big dipper revolving around the pole star, and it signifies good fortune among other things. It doesn't stop meaning what it does just because the Nazis used it, but it is problematic if it's viewed by the uninformed, and is misunderstood.

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  8. Posted

    57 minutes ago, escott said:

    I would be very sad to see knowledgeable, experienced people leave because of a few trolls.

     

    Just personally, I think experienced people have a duty to stick around and contribute what they know to discussions; and I think they should become capable of rising above reacting to others, and instead - live intentionally.

    Anyone who's been here for a short while knows how to take a break from the forum if they need it, and then return and enjoy the place again. We're all human and get pissed at the ignorance of others every now and then...but with time and experience in dealing with this, and with spiritual disciplines, I think we can become better at it.

     

    57 minutes ago, escott said:

    What do trolls want most? ATTENTION. Am I wrong to think that if you just ignore them they will go away.

     

    Seems to me like trolls don't go away even if everyone is ignoring them. The smallest bit of attention feeds them, but being ban hammered starves them.

     

    I was once banned, and as a condition of returning I said that I wouldn't question moderator decisions again (in addition to behaving better). I believe in the capacity for anyone to reform themselves...but also believe in the enforcement of forum rules, for the sake of maintaining a certain level of quality here.

     

    But in stating this, as I just said - I'm not questioning anything mods decide on this topic. What they do is final, as far as this forum is concerned.

    • Like 2
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  12. Posted

    In the Chinese guy's video, he would psychically scan the person to find out what was wrong, as well as to determine if what he did was adequate in resolving an issue. Also, he did the method of breathing onto others (and refers to himself as having a medicine body, and connecting to a higher form of qi). Both of these things aren't part of "massage" whatsoever. If you look at his youtube channel for other videos, you can see him doing these types of healings on men as well, doing them at a distance through photographs, and you can also see that he's married and works on his wife...all evidence which points away from him just being some horny dude. But our cultural programming does certainly make us jump to such conclusions rather easily.

     

    I won't waste further time debating what you said, if you want to continue saying it. I'll just keep using this thread to share or discuss videos of strange healing methods.

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  17. Posted

    29 minutes ago, ralis said:

    The human species with their insignificant anthropocentric point of view is on full display here. Lonely planet earth orbits in the backwater of the Milky Way galaxy and is hardly significant.

     

    Anyone seen the new image of the black hole some 55 million light years away?

     

    7200.jpg?width=620&quality=85&auto=forma

     

    Now that's an elevated perspective.

  21. Posted · Edited by Aetherous

    If you do something in order to achieve a goal, you're "cultivating". Let's say if you practice breathing, and your goal is to increase your qi for self healing...then you're cultivating qi and health. The term could be used for anything...like if you're in school, and have the goal of entering a certain profession - you're cultivating your profession in that instance. Working toward a goal is cultivating the goal, just like planting a seed and tending to it is cultivating the plant.

    In another sense, cultivation is about your choices in each moment. For example - you can choose to look at porn, in which case you're cultivating the results of that. You can choose to say a kind word to someone who could use it, and in that case you're cultivating those results. You can enjoy a cup of tea, and get those results. You can go into the bad part of town, and get those results. Every choice we make, what we focus on, what we do which shapes who we are, is cultivating us. Buddhists say we have our body, speech, and mind; so our actions, our words, and our thoughts either improve or worsen things.

     

    Some choices feel good in the moment, and have good results. Some feel good in the moment and have bad results. Some feel bad in the moment and have good results. Some feel bad in the moment and have bad results. Generally, it's good to cultivate so that you avoid bad results and bring more good results. As we can see, sometimes that involves making choices which don't feel good at the time. For instance, if you're cultivating your profession, you might not want to study...but if you do, you'll pass the test. Or if you're trying to lose weight, you might not want to eat the healthier meal...but if you do, your weight will keep going down.

    It's also about avoiding things that feel good temporarily but are ultimately harmful. For instance, hanging out with friends is a lot more fun than studying...but failing the test and ruining your career is much worse. Or, eating donuts and ice cream is enjoyable, but it makes you fatter.

    So, the first definition involved working toward a goal. The second definition was our choices and what we pay attention to in every moment. Those are two different ways of thinking about this term, cultivation.

    A person on the spiritual (or related) path is commonly called a "cultivator", and what they practice is commonly called "cultivation", no matter what it is. It's just a general term that's in common usage. This sort of makes sense, because people on the spiritual path do have an end goal in mind: at the very least, they want to improve things or themselves somehow. Most want enlightenment of some sort. Also, they are conscious of doing the right things and avoiding wrong things, in some form or another. At the very least, they have something that they practice or do, which they think will increase what they want in their lives, or bring them closer to that end goal.

    It's helpful if their idea of cultivation expands to include what they're becoming with every choice in every moment. And to think about what makes a good life, and what a good person is. What's fulfilling? What makes us proud when thinking back on life?

    Cultivation doesn't start and stop; we're becoming who we are to be at all times. If we get trashed on Friday, and then sit on the meditation cushion on Sunday, we still have to answer for our choices on Friday in some form or another. If we have lofty goals (like true enlightenment), this is very important to think about...because we will need to rectify who we are if we want to reach those goals.

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  23. Posted · Edited by Aetherous

    4 hours ago, rideforever said:

    Today I thought I would try a traditional Five Animals which are ordered as follows :

     

    Tiger    Wood    Spring
    Deer    Water    Winter
    Bear    Earth    Late Summer
    Monkey    Fire    Summer
    Crane    Metal    Autumn

     

    So .... w.t.f ... is this order ?   It is neither the Generating Cycle nor the Subduing Cycle.   In terms of the relationships between elements that this sequence of movements represents, it is :

     

    Wood > NOTHING > Water > INSULTS > Earth > NOTHING > Fire > DESTROYS > Metal > DESTROYS > Wood

     

    So the traditional ordering of Five Animals is, two destroys, 1 insults, and 2 nothings.   

    Am I missing something or has somebody deranged this practice just so much as it becomes completely useless ?

     

    I think that's the original order of the animals, as far as we're aware. Also, in the original version the exercises were different, and were more like calisthenics. It's unknown if they were required to be practiced in that order, but we do know they were listed in that order, so might as well be.

    Later on in history, people attributed wuxing correspondences to the animals, and changed the order, as well as changing the exercises themselves.

    It totally makes sense to attribute the wuxing to it, even if the original version didn't mention that. That's just how the Chinese culture looked at these things back in the day - if an exercise had five of something, it had a correspondence to the wuxing or a correspondence could be made.

    It's good to think of things in context. Maybe later practitioners designed their five animals exercises in a certain way, so that if you do them out of the order they prescribe, it's not as good. Doing the later exercises in the earlier order isn't right...if wanting to do the earlier order, it'd be correct to use the earlier exercises.

    And to keep the modern wuxing attributions in mind, but to set them aside because the original version didn't mention those ones.

    In order to figure out the correct wuxing correspondences for the old version, we'd have to be an expert at how the other texts of that time and slightly before it did the same thing. Do we know that at the time, they were looking at the bird as fire, or metal? Do we know that they were looking at the tiger as metal, or wood? What did others of that time say about the element of the bear, or the deer? I don't know the answers.