adept

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Everything posted by adept

  1. Chronic Pain

    Thanks for the reply Apech. Yes the hernia was fixed with a mesh, in fact quite a lot was used this time as the rupture was bigger than anticipated. This also may be one of the causes for these post-operative complications. In the past I've recovered fine, only for another hernia to emerge years later. It's interesting that you say that I might be sensitive to qi. All throughout my life I've had a sort of a sixth sense regarding people and situations. Maybe I can detect certain intentions and incidents just before they happen ? I may be picking up on qi and the training and practices that I've done could be amplifying those feelings. I think you might be on to something there. I'll have a look at deep shamatha breathing, thanks for the recommendation.
  2. Chronic Pain

    Greetings all. I'm now in my mid-fifties and I consider myself to be very healthy. I rarely get sick. I can't even remember the last time I had a common cold. From childhood I've always been active. I took up several martial arts in my teens and continued into my thirties when I got interested in the internals. Since then I've had a daily qigong and meditation routine for over two decades, have always eaten well and tend to have a positive outlook on life, despite the state of the world these days. The only thing I've had a problem with health wise is recurring abdominal hernias. I've had 4. The last operation earlier this year was far bigger and deeper than my previous ones. My surgeon wanted to repair in such a way so that there was very little chance of another coming back. Recovery took longer because of this, but I noticed something concerning immediately after my procedure. I have a protrusion where the wound is situated and a constant soreness which gets very painful at times. An ultrasound scan found nothing there. No fluid, blood, or another hernia. Nothing. Just a painful, but soft and squidgy pot at the bottom of my abdomen. Very unsightly. My surgeon said that it looks to be fat and muscle which has binded itself to the scar tissue during the recovery process and that I may have to have plastic surgery to remove the unsightly lump if it doesn't subside in the next 6 months. The thing that is really bothering me is the pain. My surgeon has diagnosed me with chronic pain which happens in only 3% of patients hernia surgeries. All regular pain medication is not working and so he prescribed me with Pregabalin, which is normally an anti-convulsant medication but when taken in small doses it is a nerve pain medication. However the side-effects are horrendous and I have experienced some of these already only a few days in. Dizziness, suicidal thoughts, pain in the limbs, headaches, brain fog and lack of co-ordination have plagued me for several days. I feel absolutely terrible and have stopped taking them. I'm looking for alternative means of dealing with this chronic pain, whether that's medication, exercises, energy work, herbal remedies. If anyone has any suggestions I'd ver much appreciate it. Thanks in advance.
  3. Chronic Pain

    It's very rare that I visit doctors. Only because of my hernia problems and that it can only be fixed with surgery. Because of the complications post-surgery, my surgeon and family doctor were going to be my first ports of call. I do know a TCM practitioner who will most likely be more helpful than these licensed drug-pushers.
  4. Chronic Pain

    I know. It's an antidepressant. Apparently at low doses it works on nerve pain.
  5. Chronic Pain

    I actually contacted my doctor, not the surgeon who prescribed me the pregabalin, and he put me on amitriptyline. They were ten times worse than the pregabalin. Absolutely awful. It took me a couple of days to put myself right. I'm not taking these types of medication again.
  6. Chronic Pain

    I know an acupuncturist who helped cure me from particularly nasty hay fever a lot of years ago. I may ask him for some advice.
  7. Chronic Pain

    Thank you. This is excellent.
  8. Chronic Pain

    Thanks Nungali. Funnily enough I was thinking of marijuana as I was posting. A friend of mine has had an incredible cancer reversal using cannabis oil. He was given six months to live two years ago with an aggressive bowel cancer and put on chemo. The chemo did nothing for him and so he scoured the internet looking for alternatives. He's now cancer free and the doctors are amazed.
  9. http://www.herbalshop.com/Xiang/xiang-gong.htm So I was looking at this and it looks really simple to learn. There seems to be a lot of health benefits from this practice. It's unusual in that you don't harmonize your movements with your breathing as in most other forms of qigong. Does anyone have any long term experience with it ? Thanks.
  10. Mantra Recitation Dream

    Thanks dwai. I intend to act upon this very fortunate gift I have had the good fortune of receiving. The words of encouragement and genuine help is the reason I keep coming back to the forums. The Dao Bums is indeed a special place.
  11. Greetings all. I would like some advice and insight on something which happened to me last night/this morning. I was dreaming that I was repeatedly reciting a Sanskrit mantra. There were no visuals accompanying the sounds, only the mantra, entering my mind, and then me reciting it. As I started to wake from the dream, I was actually reciting the mantra out loud and kept repeating it. When I was fully awake I felt incredible. Is there a reason for this ? Am I being subconsciously prompted to follow a certain path ? A sign from God ? It's still so fresh in my mind which is also unusual as dreams tend to dissipate as time passes.
  12. Mantra Recitation Dream

    Yes. That's the reason for the thread. I feel like I'm being urged to practice it, even though it's entirely different to me. Maybe what I think is right for me, actually isn't, and forces greater than myself know better.
  13. Mantra Recitation Dream

    Thanks for the replies. I'm not sure how, or if to, proceed. Mantra recitation seems at odds with my current practices and study. I've invested a lot of time, and money, in what I do, which all come from Chinese traditions. This is what is totally perplexing about it. Sanskrit mantras weren't even on my radar. A lot of years ago when I was searching for a path, I was briefly interested, but found myself more suited to Daoist practices.
  14. Mantra Recitation Dream

    Hi dwai. Yes I remember the mantra vividly, every syllable. I would prefer not to disclose it, even in a PM. I've heard it before, many years ago and also seen it in written form, but mantra is not a practice which I have as part of my cultivation routine, which is what has me so intrigued. Also the clarity of the whole experience. Like a dream but not a dream. Very difficult to put into words. After writing the OP, I did some searching online. Some were of the understanding that it is a very auspicious sign that should be pursued.
  15. Confucian Qi gong

    Over the last few days I've been pondering and meditating on the 'investigation of things' from the Daxue. What struck me was the sheer depth of such a short statement. As I suggested earlier, the investigation of things is the starting point for cultivating illustrious virtue. Without this investigation, self-cultivation is not possible as we read further down on the passage posted by ZYD : ''From the Son of Heaven down to the mass of the people, all must consider the cultivation of the person the root of everything besides." Investigating of things, then behaving appropriately after acquiring knowledge through this investigation, is self-cultivation. From my so far limited understanding, this process is repeated constantly, refining the self and eventually becoming a person of illustrious virtue. I believe I may have found myself a worthwhile life-path of study, practice and meditation. Thanks to everybody involved in contributing to this thread.
  16. Osho was about as materialistic as any 'guru figure' ever. Have you even read about his lifestyle ?
  17. Confucian Qi gong

    Thank you. What I find very appealing about cultivating the Confucian Dao, is the emphasis on behaviour, conduct, morality and humaneness. Traits that seem to be sadly lacking in the general populace these days.
  18. Confucian Qi gong

    Thank you.
  19. Confucian Qi gong

    This thread has so much good information and is fascinating. I am particularly interested in this statement from the Daxue as posted above : Such extension of knowledge lay in the investigation of things. This 'investigation of things' seems to be the starting point for cultivating illustrious virtue. Is 'the investigation of things' a deep contemplative/meditative focus on life, society, people, nature, the way the stars move at night etc ?
  20. Does anyone here have experience with his system/teachings ? He has an abundance of free vids and articles online. Thanks.
  21. Following on from a recent thread, and not wishing to derail it, I've decided to provide some examples of spirals, sacred geometry/mathematics and intelligent design. These continue to be a source of inspiration and wonder for myself. I hope that some of the members will find inspiration in these examples. http://www.treehugger.com/slideshows/natural-sciences/nature-blows-my-mind-hypnotic-patterns-sunflowers/
  22. Book Sale

    The Buddhist Way Of Action - Christmas Humphreys Crooked Cucumber. The Life and Zen Teaching of Shunryu Suzuki - David Chadwick Opening The Dragon Gate. The Making Of A Modern Taoist Wizard - Thomas Cleary Letters of the Nun Eshinni. Images Of Pure Land Buddhism In Medieval Japan - James C. Dobbins The Way to Buddhahood. Instructions from a Modern Chinese Master - Venerable Yin-Shun Bankei Zen - Peter Haskel The Unborn. The Life and Teachings of Zen Master Bankei - Norman Waddell Bhagavad Gita As It Is - Prabhupada The Thunder Wizard Path. Modern Teutonic Shamanism - Michael William Denny The Qur'an - M.A.S. Abdel Haleem Interpretations of the Meanings of The Noble Qur'an In the English Language - Dr. M. Taqi-ud-Din Al Hilali & Dr. M. Mushin Khan Healing Light of the Tao. Foundational Practices to Awaken Chi Energy - Mantak Chia Hsieh Liang Tso and the Analects of Confucius - Thomas W. Selover Tao Te Ching on The Art Of Harmony. The New Illustrated Edition - Chad Hansen The Tao of Yiquan. Warriors of Stillness Volume 2 - Jan Diepersloot PM for details. UK postage only.
  23. Jeff Foster

    I was going to put up this thread in the Vedanta subforum, but maybe it doesn't belong in there. Recently I've come across the work of Jeff Foster. Very refreshing and extremely appealing. Here's a little post of his: THE ALTAR You will lose everything. Your money, your power, your fame, your success, perhaps even your memories. Your looks will go. Loved ones will die. Your body will fall apart. Everything that seems permanent is impermanent and will be smashed. Experience will gradually, or not so gradually, strip away everything that it can strip away. Waking up means facing this reality with open eyes and no longer turning away. But right now, we stand on sacred and holy ground, for that which will be lost has not yet been lost, and realising this is the key to unspeakable joy. Whoever or whatever is in your life right now has not yet been taken away from you. This may sound trivial, obvious, like nothing, but really it is the key to everything, the why and how and wherefore of existence. Impermanence has already rendered everything and everyone around you so deeply holy and significant and worthy of your heartbreaking gratitude. Loss has already transfigured your life into an altar. A message from Jeff : It is wonderful and heartening to hear that all over the world, in all kinds of ways, all kinds of people from all kinds of backgrounds are maturing like fine wines, going beyond the "I'm enlightened and you're not" spirituality, the-blind-worship-of-the-guru spirituality, the "there's nobody here and nobody there and I'm not a person and there is no choice and no free will and everything is a concept .... and that is the Only Truth!" spirituality, and discovering a spirituality beyond all second-hand concepts, beyond all fixed positions and regurgitated beliefs and theories, a spirituality that involves fearless first-hand looking beyond assumptions, rigorous questioning of all that we hold dear, and a constant and timeless return to the Home that we never left, the Home of Now and always-is and always-has-been. A revolution indeed. This is a real-time spirituality for the times we are living in. And the times they are a-changin'. Yet in the midst of the most tumultuous change, we are forever called to that which never changes and cannot change... This is a spirituality that does not separate itself from something that is not 'spiritual'. It has no enemies, sees no 'other'. Can we still call it "spirituality", then, when all boundaries have fallen away? Let us call it Life, and let us Live it. Who lives it? That is the thrilling pathless journey, the never-ending question with no answer, grounded in an ever-present discovery of a fresh new moment beyond time. Welcome to the adventure once again, my friends!