adept

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Posts posted by adept

  2. Posted

    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.

    • Like 3

  3. Posted · Edited by adept

    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

  5. Posted

    I was thinking like you after 1 year of practicing Aikido. Once I met a guy who was black belt and he said that he left Aikido for Yoga. The reason as he explained was that it was not really applicable. And I had been doing A. for 1 year and as we were told it was only beginning. And I thought that that guy missed the point with A. And I came to the same conclusion after three years. USELESS. Close to new agey stuff on the market - love, non violence... The point then why to train it? All attacks there in the way no one really would attack you, no one grab like they train in Aikido. Yeah. It might happen that somebody stupid would grab your wrist and wait while you doing something to him... Better to spend this time for qigong, neigong...

    I did 3-5 classes a week. And then I changed teacher to see what is there else could be. I came to another more advanced sensei as he claimed and it was slightly better but still far from real application against REAL attack. I completely discouraged in it after a man who did that fo 12 years said he has no clue how to fend off face punch!!! And he said he is doing it for qi development. May be somebody likes such kind of training but it is not for me. Better to do qigong. I think it is more important to free the mind from violence. But why then to practice MA?

     

    Also my sensei teached Taichi forms and qigong. No one benefited from it for years.

     

    Uesiba was adept in Japanese Tantra first of all and MA was kinda training for him. But now people think that that Aikido was his main path. He invented Aikido only at the end of his path, but it was HIS unique path.

    As for M. Uesiba he trained in Aiki Jutsu and I think it how he got his skills. Only HAVING REAL experience in CONTACT MA one can understand and use Aikido. If one has no any clue about contact MA then it is only philosophy and business. You can be no violent doing qigong or yoga or just gardening, or playing golf. But if you have 20-30 years for Aikido may be it is your way, I can't judge here. The question how far you can go with it. I would better study bagua. Aikido is too much new agey

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

    • Like 1

  7. Posted

    If you reduce the problems obscuring the Birthing of Human Beingness sufficiently enough, the key is he obliteration of Christianity,...I'd say that England would be the best Country to penetrate the Christian meme,...totally annilating this hideous virus,...and the rest of the World could not ignore it. As the delusion of Christianity falls,...Islam and Judeaism will collapse behind. Only then,...IMO,...following the collapse of theism,...can an enlightened World arise

    How very bodhisattvic of you !

    A real Buddhist would never think like this.

  8. Posted · Edited by adept

    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.

    • Like 4

  9. Posted

    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.

  11. Posted

    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.

    • Like 2

  14. Posted · Edited by adept

     

    :lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:

    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.

    • Like 1

  17. Posted

    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
    • Like 1

  18. Posted

    "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

    • Like 1

  20. Posted

    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.

  22. Posted

    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.

    May I know which Taoist sect are you from?

    • Like 3

  23. Posted · Edited by adept

    GUIDANCE

    Worship 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.

  24. Posted

    Hey Samurai Mountain Man, I have the same problem as you !

    I've been struggling with anger issues for years. I've got some posts somewhere on the forums about it.

    I've tried lots of things that folks have suggested. Most of them DO work, but, in my case, only for a short time.

    My practices are good, simple and solid.

    I have a good diet, have practiced chi kung and meditation daily for over a decade, and do lots of walking.

    I've resigned myself to the fact that it's just the way I am and I'll have to live with it and try not let it affect others around me.

    Good luck

  25. Posted

    As practitioners of zen and the tao, what is your take on violence? If you were in danger of your life, would you defend it? Or would you accept your death?

     

    Of course I would defend my life. It's a primal instinct of all humans.

    The trick is to do just enough to get out of the situation, causing the least harm to the assailant.

    • Like 1