adept

None of those disciplines conflict with each other, that's why I recommended them specifically. I would learn only ONE, and practice it daily for at least 3 months, before adding further practices though. Also, the one that you do choose, get as much information as possible on it. If you don't have regular access to a teacher, ask a friend or family member to check your posture. Most importantly, go within. Learn to feel and listen to your mind/body/spirit. Try to find the time for solitude for an hour a day. If you have nature nearby or a park, take time to just mindfully walk there. No ipod ! Listen, look, smell, feel the wonderful creation all around you. Best wishes

Gerard's advice is excellent. Also try this which lifeforce posted a while back : http://thetaobums.com/topic/22555-energy-pressure-in-head/#entry322184

I'm gonna have to listen to all these shows when I get the chance. Seems like I'm missing out on some awesome stuff.

You've come to the right place to ask such questions ! If you sit at a desk all day, you need some movement and standing practices to balance it all out. For a complete beginner I would recommend 8 Brocades, Walking Meditation, Yin Yoga and Zhan Zhuang. Google them. Use the search facility on this site. These practices have been discussed to death. You'll get many different ideas and opinions here. Do LOTS of research and make up your mind about which practices speak to you, fit around your life, and interest you. Good luck.

Lets look at what some of the masters say: http://www.zen.ie/downloads/HowToPracticeZazen.pdf Dogen's Fukanzazengi - To sit in the full lotus posture, first put the right foot on the left thigh, then put the left foot on the right thigh. A whole series on full lotus starting here: http://antaiji.dogen-zen.de/eng/adult35.shtml

http://walklikeamountain.blogspot.co.uk/

Seems like your Aikido teachers were just poor examples. Properly taught Aikido is far from new agey.

.

How very bodhisattvic of you ! A real Buddhist would never think like this.

Walking out in nature, especially early morning where it's very quiet. All senses experiencing the Dao in their fullest form. The world is a very different place at that time. Feel the contact of the foot upon the ground, as the heel touches, then rolls along the foot to the ball. Enlightenment in every step. Taking in full, deep breaths of un-polluted, clean, cool air. The symphony of songbirds just awakening. Rabbits frollicking in the fields. Mist rising from the damp earth. The smell of trees and wild flowers. And, if you listen close enough, the silence.

If there was no big bang, then why is the universe expanding still after 13+ billion years ? That can't happen on it's own. An unbelievably, incomprehensible, inconceivable force was needed to kick start all this off.

Different to the way I was taught. I was told NOT to focus on the space between breaths, but to focus on the whole of the inhalation and the whole of the exhalation. No gap between. A continuos breath.

Bumping this thread. I'm not sure if deci belle is with us anymore. It would indeed be a sad loss. Hope she's reading this. Anyway, I was reading the introduction to Thomas Cleary's translation of The Book of Balance and Harmony and he makes some very interesting comments: Taoism perceives that the originators of civilization itself are people of higher knowledge attained through extradimensional awareness … all successful original cultures are initiated and guided by people in contact with the Tao or Universal law. Thomas Cleary It is Cleary’s contention that from this Taoist vision, “Taoism is not, as usually thought, a product of Chinese civilization. Rather it is the other way about – Chinese civilization was originally the product of Taoism in the sense that like all successful original cultures it was initiated and guided by people in contact with the Tao or universal law.“(The Book of Balance and Harmony, Cleary, 1989) What a powerful concept and a perfect focus for renewal and transformation. Thomas Cleary in his book of the translation of The Book of Balance and Harmony (1989)identifies that the Taoist movement called the Complete Reality movement was created to distinguish a practical understanding of Taoism as it had been lost over time. Cleary writes that ” ironically, one of the most comprehensive descriptions of Taoism … can be found in a Buddhist text, the Avatamsaka-sutra or Flower Ornament Scripture,” which he said is “held to contain the totality of all religion:” The various methods and techniques of the enlightened adapt to worldly conditions in order to liberate people. The enlightened provoke deep faith by being in the world yet unaffected by it, just as the lotus grows in water yet water does not adhere to the lotus. With extraordinary thoughts and profound talent, as cultural leaders, like magicians the enlightened manifest all the various arts and crafts of the world, like song and dance, and conversation admired by the people. Some become grandees, city elders; some become merchants, caravan leaders. Some become physicians and scientists, some become kings and officials….. All-sided goodness abides by reality, not in a country. - Thomas Cleary, The Flower Ornament Scripture I mean, wow ! The most comprehensive description of Daoism in an Indian Buddhist text ? Thomas Cleary's works are brilliant. This is where the border between Taoism and Buddhism disintegrates and becomes one. As far as I see it, and I haven't read the Avatamsaka Sutra, only bits and pieces here and there, is that both the Daoist texts and the Avatamsaka are trying to describe the Inconceivable, the Indescribable, the Mystery of Mysteries, Totality. Only the Avatamsaka is using Mahayana Indian Buddhist terminology. I spoke a while ago to deci belle about reading and studying the Avatamsaka as I felt it was describing similar things to the Daoist texts. I knew she had read it in it's entirety and I was looking for some positive feedback. Her reply to me was not to bother with something of that magnitude when smaller, and more easily understandable texts were available. To study the Avatamsaka would require a long, long time. I dunno. I'm still curious. I've even had dreams about it ! Maybe it's worth delving into for a lifetime of study. The reading and study would become a meditation in itself.

Sorry, I didn't mean to derail the thread but it makes me angry that Mr, Sifu, Dr, Lama Dondrop Dorje (real name Peter Young) can get away with his brainwashing cult like activities. Please think before you listen to a damn word he says.

http://www.dharmawheel.net/viewtopic.php?f=77&t=9597

It gets hilarious at about 4.20. Art Garfunkel look-a-likes scissor kicking in the air as they force themselves to fly backwards. Glassy eyed gullible 'students' as compliant 'victims'. Guru cult-worship at it's most extreme. Seriously, anyone taken in by this needs their head examined. Do you research folks. There's loads of stuff all over the net about this guy and countless other con-men.

He lives in my area and is well known as a fraud and a bully. He makes up titles for himself. In the past he's been sifu, sensei, sigung, dr, and now lama. He is none of these. I would advise people to stay away from this charlatan. It would be better for your health, sanity, and wallet

Starjumper ! I thought I recognized the school name.

AN EXTRAORDINARY ABSENCE A love letter from life to itself How wonderful it is to have no idea what is going to happen. To let life surprise you. To wake up every morning like a newborn baby, the past wiped clean, the future a mystery. To know that everything will happen exactly as it should. To know that there is nothing higher, more spiritual, more noble, than getting out of bed, brushing your teeth, putting on your clothes, walking out into the fresh air. To understand that there is nothing to understand. To live every day, every hour, every moment knowing that it is your last day, your last hour, your last moment. And to know that the last day is also the first, And each final moment a new beginning. To see presence in each and every little thing. To see death not as the enemy but as profound rest for the weary traveller. To look out at the world and see only a love with no name reflecting back at you. - Jeff Foster

"Next time waves of sadness, or fear, or anger, or boredom, drop by for tea, drop the description "sadness" or "fear" or "anger" or "boredom", and directly feel the raw, unfiltered, mysterious and completely innocent bodily sensations, in the stomach, chest and neck. Meet the vibrantly alive, unnameable energy that is here, without judgement or resistance. And if judgement and resistance do appear, meet them without judgement or resistance too. Notice that ALL is welcome in the vast open space that you are..." - Jeff Foster

Well, whatever, I do have a soft spot for 365 Tao though, as do many others on the forum. Some poetic pearls of wisdom in that book.

I do Shifu Yan Lei's Shaolin Qigong version of the 8 Brocades. It's done with typical Shaolin stances which are a lot lower than other versions I've seen. This obviously develops a strong, firm foundation. Other benefits from daily practice over a long period of time are similar to most qigong forms: Resistance to diseases, allergies and infections. Mental clarity. Better sleep patterns. Control of diet and eating habits. Strength, softness and flexibility. A peaceful outlook on life.

Thank you, and the very best of wishes to you.

None. I care nothing for the man-made religions of the world. The teachings of the sages are all that I need. When mankind compartmentalizes these and creates divisions, that is when the trouble starts. For instance all the 'my sect/tradition/practice/belief system is better than yours' BS that rears it's ugly head on countless discussion boards. Not for me thank you.

GUIDANCEWorship with your conscience, Receive grace with humility. Guide with awareness, Lead with modesty. The altar is a tool. If we kneel before it and say we have done wrong, we are really telling that to ourselves. If we give thanks for our good fortune, we are expressing our modest appreciation for good luck. There is no outside force listening to us. There is no divine retribution for our wickedness. The altar is merely symbolic. Those who follow Tao use it to focus their self-awareness. When we step away from the altar, we should not lose self-awareness. We should not take the fact that worship is symbolic to behave in immoral ways. Instead, we still have to act with a conscience and lead others without manipulating them or taking advantage of them. It takes maturity to grasp that there are no gods and yet still behave as if there were. It takes insight to know that you must be your own disciplinarian. Only the wisest can lay down their own "divine laws" and find guidance as if they were truly heaven's word. Today's entry from 365 Tao. Thought it might be appropriate to the discussion.