Keith108

Had a relatively free day today, so took advantage of it.

Morning (5:45 start)

108 bows and about an hour of sitting

Evening

Ba Duan Jin (8 reps)

Zhan Zhuang (6 minutes)

more sitting

Lot of sensation in the back of the neck tonight, as well as the usual top of the head.  Dan tian feels very tight when I rest my awareness there. Interesting stuff. 

_/]\_

Had a goose egg practice wise yesterday. Good day professionally, but didn’t get the job for practice. 
 

Today:

108 Bows

Ba duan jin

evening Sangha practice (chanting, two sits)

Short and sweet today. Off to sleep! 

1 hour ago, Apech said:

I had no idea that there was a 5:30 in the morning until you mentioned it.

Having worked on golf course for many years, I am a morning person for sure. 

During retreats, monastics in Korea get up at 3 am; here in the US, we get up at 4:30 am. 

Today -

5:30 am start

108 bows

sitting practice

evening:

ba duan jin (4 reps)

sitting practice

Kind of a meh day. No energy whatsoever. Can definitely use some napping practice! Going to turn in early, and get a good night's sleep. On the plus side, I can definitely feel the location of the lower dan tian now. 

Reading Dr. Yang JM's qigong adapted DDJ translation. I am sure it's old hat for most of you. but I have never heard of the idea that it could be applied to practice (King=mind, people=qi, etc.}  Pretty cool and an amazing new perspective.

_/|\_

On 2/17/2024 at 3:55 PM, EFreethought said:

 

Do you ever practice mantras with a group? Or just solo?

 

And if in a group: Chanting, or is everyone meditating silently?

My tradition (Buddhist) uses mantra as an object of focus for meditation, and mantras are embedded in the chants we do. So maybe, a little of both.

For instance, at the end of the Heart Sutra, the mantra "gate, gate, paragate, parasamgate, bodhi svaha" is repeated three times. I know someone who uses this mantra for practice. My son uses the Great Dharani , which is pretty common among mantra practitioners in my tradition. The most common is kwan seum bosal (Guanyin, Kannon), which is said to help with excessive thinking. 

Personally, I don't practice that way, but it's a really common method. 

_/|\_

13 hours ago, Apech said:

 

Moving first and sitting after - not that I do much moving stuff these days as I have concluded that there is nothing that can be done through moving that cannot be achieved in sitting.  But maybe that's just me.  Having said that - if it's health concerns you're addressing then more moving is easier.

 

 

Thanks Apech, that makes sense. We always chant, then sit, bow, then sit, etc. I did that this evening. The moving qigong I do is pretty limited (15 or 20 minutes), and I do quite a bit of sitting. The moving stuff is mostly for learning to coordinate breathing with moving, for me anyways. And to regulate and stretch things out a bit. 

Long day, but a nice one. 

Slept in a little, 7 am start:

108 bows first thing (morning won!)

Sangha practice at the Zen center (3 30's and a couple chants)

Evening:

ji ben qigong (4 reps)

zhan zhuang (10 minutes)

Sitting (incense stick)

Think I will go back to ba duan jin for the moving stuff. I like the sequence better.

_/|\_

I didn't win the morning, but a nice restful day today. Going to be super busy for the next 3 days. 

6 am start

30 minutes sitting

then later in the morning

108 Bows

this evening:

sitting (timed with a short stick of incense)

ji ben qi gong (8 reps)

zhan zhuang for 5 minutes

When I'm sitting, awareness is resting on the lower dan tian. Still not sure I have found it. I definitely feel sensations in that area. There is also a lot of activity on the top of my head (bai hui). Way more than the usual tingling. Like a flowing out of and over the top of my head.

I have been reading Dr. Yang JM's stuff for years. Just finished Embryonic Breathing, and am currently reading Small Circulation. 

I haven't messed with any reverse breathing yet. But, I would say my belly breathing is pretty solid, and un-regulated. 

Here is a question for the more experienced folks: if you were to block some time for seated work and moving work, which one would you do first? I can see reasons for both, and in the end, it probably doesn't matter much. Just curious...

12 minutes ago, Maddie said:

I thought I would bump this topic because I find it one of the most difficult topics to make sense of. I have noticed in my own personal experience that doing mantras does seem to have profound effects but I can not rationally explain it at all. If anyone else has any insight I would appreciate it. 

I suppose the obvious answer is not everything has a rational explanation. One my favorite expressions about practice, and applies here I would think, is to just practice and see what happens.

Today I managed to get through all 108 prostrations I do daily with strictly nasal breathing. It's 10-15 minutes of pretty strenuous effort, so that was a good development. I notice if I do them later in the day, it's all huffing and puffing. 🤪 

If you win the morning, you win the day!

36 minutes ago, Mark Foote said:

unite yin and yang

fire and water, inverted

who's to say what's real!
 

Who’s to say what’s real?

Winter’s cold, fireplace crackling

Just now, Yin and Yang 

3 hours ago, idiot_stimpy said:

Everything has already been accomplished.

Nothing needs to be understood.

Nothing is needed to be here right now.

It can't be improved, if you tamper with it you will ruin it.

True mastery is gained by letting things go their own way, it cannot be gained by interfering.

I think this one is Stephen Mitchell’s translation. Just read it this morning. 🙏

31 minutes ago, manitou said:

Today I happened to be reading A.J. Girling's translation of the DDJ.  This is the very thing it talks about in Chapter 48:

 

 

DIMINISHING AUGMENTS

 

Attending to knowledge

one seeks to increase

 

Attending to Tao

natural diminishing.

 

Diminishing

Diminishing

Wu wei's richness augments.

 

In action with no actor (wu wei)

nothing remains undone

 

To fully appreciate life,

adhere to selfless action

 

With attachment to personal goals

it is not possible

to get the best out of life.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love reading different translations of source materials. This one is quite wonderful. 🙏

50 minutes ago, Nintendao said:

 

don’t eat damn pears, dear

or the chain might diverge, but

the green tea is good

😎🍵🫖

 

 

the green tea is good
sipped as chipped links are rejoined
by kintsugi gold

This is fun!

By kintsugi gold

The begging bowl is repaired

Now, where did it go?

33 minutes ago, blue eyed snake said:

good,

 

i am intrigued how this will work out.

meaning, I am guessing, you as an old time zen practitioner a lot of work has been done already.

 

starting the practice as showed by Damo the energetic 'results' could well go quite fast, me thinks you're good with him, good choice. 

In terms of having some of the work done, it does seem that way. The energetic sensations were a little unnerving at first, because the thought was it was going to take a lot longer. I do notice it's much more pronounced during evening sitting. 

Appreciate the comment. 

_/|\_

30 minutes ago, Taoist Texts said:

 

well he is a malicious fraud so...whatever

Whatever indeed. I have been getting a lot out of the stuff I have watched, and the physical sensations are there. It’s good enough for now. 
 

Edit - also, I put you in the ignored user bucket. Not interested in the negative nonsense. 

15 minutes ago, Taomeow said:

@Keith108  This is a Haiku Chain thread.  This game has been going on for many years with the same rule -- you start your haiku by using the last line of the preceding one as your first line.  It hasn't changed since Mark already told you on a prior occasion:  

 

 

Ah, very cool! Sorry, won’t happen again.

🙏

Well, it was off to a rocky start here. But after putting a few folks in the "ignored user" bucket, it's all good. 

Todays practice, 5:30 am start:

108 Bows (a Korean Seon prostration practice)

30 minutes seated meditation

Ji Ben qigong, 8 repetitions (Mitchell's version)

Zhan Zhuang, 5 minutes (tree hugging stance, as taught by Tekson Teo)

I've been practicing Zen for many years with my Teacher(s) and Sangha, the qigong stuff is from reading and youtube. I completely understand that's not ideal. But for now, for a variety of reasons that main one being financial, it's the best I can do. 

I am sharing this stuff to keep myself accountable. And, to have discussion about specific practices, as they pop up. 

Thanks for reading!

_/|\_

31 minutes ago, steve said:

@Elysium

@Keith108

 

You are both set up.

Enjoy

Thank you!

_/|\_

Hello!

I would like to request permission to post a ppl. 

Thanks,

Keith

🙏

11 hours ago, Unota said:

I'm not going to lie. They!! Hurt like hell!

I feel like the more that I rest the worse that they hurt. I'm trying to stretch often enough so that they don't lock up, but without putting too much excessive weight on them and making it worse. My doctor says that it can take up to a month for patellar tendinitis to heal completely. The pain reminds me of when I once over extended my ankle in high-school and severed the ligaments. It's not even close to as bad, but it's the same 'type' of pain, which I don't handle very well. My heart goes out to anyone who has arthritis in their knees. I have a new appreciation, for what that joint pain might feel like..

Please stick with your doctor’s advice…but one thing I have had a lot success with is trigger points. It’s a simple massage technique. For instance, plantar fasciitis (a very painful foot problem) can be helped greatly by massaging trigger points in the upper calf. I call it “going up the chain”. You may find some tender, painful spots above the knee, in the thighs. Massaging these areas may help loosen things up around the knees.

Morning sitting
 

Winter winds, cold, fierce

pines swaying back and forth, whoosh!

Inside, incense burns

🙏

On 2/13/2024 at 11:50 AM, Maddie said:

 

Hey Keith 

 

It's not being dragged but I would argue that the spirit of the Buddha's invitation to open inquiry is being honored here. The Buddha encouraged questioning, and asking "why is the thing that I think to be true, actually true?" 

You were saying? 

Just now, Cobie said:

 

Interesting. Why is that?

 

What is “openings”?
 

 

The Japanese term is Kensho. 

2 minutes ago, Cobie said:

Sorry, don’t understand, what is the taboo in Zen?

 

Talking about experiences that come up in meditation. Openings, etc. 

What does this icon mean?

 

In Korean, it's called hapchang. Two hands together, like when bowing. 

 

2 minutes ago, wandelaar said:

@CobieA lot of philosophical Taoists did leave in the great schism.

 

@Keith108 Haha! I was typing something similar as I saw your comment. It might be a problem that Taoists of the Laoist kind tend to turn away from debates the more they internalize the Laoist world view. But then again one would still expect younger people to join this forum and take over the debating part. But when they see that there is hardly any discussion about Taoism going on here, they won't stay for long.

The Zen section at Dharmawheel is a ghost town. Vajra and sutra adherents are very active. Sound like the same situation.