ben

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Posts posted by ben

  3. Posted

    I think immortality is about cultivation of free will, you have more options as an immortal.

    A long life with robust health is my style of immortality.

    IMO celestial immortals achieve the body of great transference while still alive, very few masters achive this; even with-in the Dzogchen tradition. Padmasambhava and Tapihrista(Bon) achieved this and some Tao immortals.

  15. Posted

    Well, we all got to go sometime. Martial artists have a disappointing record when it comes to longevity. I studied with one of Erles students briefly in Sydney, there was no real depth of understanding of Nei jia. I never trained with Erle. RIP.

  18. Posted

    I just recently got this material from "Self-Esteem: Your Fundamental Power" by Caroline Myss. It's a series of lectures on CD that I checked out of the library and loaded into my Ipod.

     

    http://www.amazon.com/Self-Esteem-Fundamental-Power-Caroline-Myss/dp/1591790344/ref=sr_1_18?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1297646275&sr=1-18

     

    Eliminating self-loathing has sort of been a mission of mine this past year, so I've poured over a lot of material, but this woman gets my highest rating. She's also completely familiar with energy work and the psychology of the chakras, so that makes her one of the coolest women alive, in my opinion.

    Ultimately, she says you cannot meditate or study your way to self-esteem; action, as well as body-centered awareness, is necessary to re-wire the physiology.

     

    Looks like there are CDs available for under $8.

    Cool, I will check that out. Martial arts have helped me considerable with self-esteem but also got me arrested. I was a little late in realizing the healing and balancing effects of noting the breath.

  19. Posted

     

    Thanks for the links on the big dipper, I have long known about the swastika being a symbol for the big dipper. Why ancient cultures placed such an emphasis on the stars is still a mystery. I practise a Taoist ritual form that involves stepping out the big dipper, but its effects and lineage are very Chinese. I would be interested to learn about other traditions methods for working with the big dipper- Taoism has plethora of such practises.

  23. Posted · Edited by ben

    Winns title of Tai Chi for enlightenment has not helped its cause, The form targets the middle and upper dan-tien, there is a strong lineage energy and you may get visits from Tao adepts later on. It leads to rebirth.

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  24. Posted · Edited by ben

    The prominence of the Big Dipper in Taoism indicates shamanic roots. Other Taoist lineages work with the Big Dipper or the nail of heaven as it is called in Mongolian shamanism. The Tao Te Ching should be considered as the collective wisdom voice of the Taoist sages, Lau Tzu referred to older masters in the Tao Te Ching.