soaring crane

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Posts posted by soaring crane

  2. Posted

    I too am much more interested in how and why people have arrived at a particular emotional/spiritual/intellectual etc. destination than in hearing declarations about it. ... Connected stories of the process whereby one comes to know oneself... ...

     

    Same here in a big way. My eyes glaze over when I read directionless posts that never pull themsleves out of the theoretical or religious dogma to move into solid practice.

     

    This is really what attracted me to Daoist methods in the first place. The methodic experimentation (in the search for the pill and or mushroom of immortality), the willingness to research new ideas, adapt practices from other cultures, keep the good, discard the bad, re-test the norms and adjust them as needed. No sacred cows. Sacred cows clog the road.

     

    Now, sacred birds, well.... lol.

     

    To err is human;

    to refuse to consider a possibility of error in one's reasoning, beliefs, education, scope of knowledge, capacity for understanding experiences (whether one's own or someone else's) is assinine.

     

    Repeated for emphasis, can't possibly add anything to it. It should be posted at the top of the website in boldface.

  5. Posted

     

    This is very true. Many of his stories do not have answers - they are presented for the sole purpose of causing others to think.

     

    Peace & Love!

     

    hehe, I got trapped into a long circular debate about the butterfly, many years ago, and after a loooong time had to finally admit that I was dead wrong. He wasn't that stupid as to not know whether he was dreaming butterfly or not. It's a trap and everyone falls into into when they first meet him. The book is full of them. You really have to be on your toes when getting involved with Zhuangzi. I usually come out on the wrong end.

  6. Posted · Edited by soaring crane

    I don't live in a city. I've already mentioned where I live. North Somerset UK. If you can find a teacher there then well done. I have searched myself and haven't been able to find anything.

     

    Frustration creeping in? ;)

     

    I attended a weekend seminar based around the six healing sounds. It was quite a while ago. Every participant had his or her (actually, 90% her), own "accent" and nobody sounded exactly like the instructor, and that was okie dokie. Nobody's spleen works exaclty like his, either.

     

    What I'm saying is, you can learn the sounds easily from a CD or youtube video. What's important is the intention of each sound. They are for cleansing and strengthening the specific organs and mimic what that organ would sound like if it were speaking. So, it's important to really focus on that particular organ, and educate yourself on its function and relation to the rest of the system. Without that, I'm not sure, I don't think the practice is so effective. Your liver doesn't automatically know it 's supposed to pretend to be a steaming tea kettle when you go "shhhh"....

     

    Also, performing a specific gymnastic to activate the organ in harmony with the sound is helpful, but not necessary. Actually, I'd say that the experience is more intense for me when I do it sitting on a chair, although I haven't done this in quite a while. Honestly, I never really felt the cleansing effects of the six sounds as intensley as other people report.

     

    What I do more often, and very often while driving my car, is hum/chant the vowel sounds, in non-standard order, except that I use the German vowels (a,o, u, e, i in German = ahhh, ohhhh, uuuuuu, a, eeeee, the "a" sound is exactly the english letter "a" just extend it, I wasn't sure how to "spell" it longer) which work better than the English versions. It's very easy and kick-starts a nice healing vibration in the whole body, right down into the bone marrow. I do each seperately for a few reps and then the whole chain in one breath, finishing with an "mmmmm" or, better, "nnnggggg" sound until the breath gradually, and gently (don't hyperventilate) fades out. Draw another deep breath and start over.

     

    It's really a chakric exercise that I learned many many moons ago at some new age festival, but I focus on more Qigong relative regions, and have more of a Qigong intention while chanting. I developed (or stumbled onto) a simple arm movement to go along with it which represents first planting your roots deep in the earth and then your tree grows up and spreads its limbs outward and upward. A nice way to slide into a standing session.

     

    The form of the mouth is important. You have to exaggerate it so the sounds can come from deeper down, you push the air up from the lowest point you can reach. It's not like talking.

     

    hmm, I guess I could make a short video and post it.

  7. Posted · Edited by soaring crane

    I didn't realize what the "topic" was until after reading a number of posts. I thought there was some underlying yin/yang wisdom in the Homer/Lisa exchange I wasn't getting, lol.

     

    In every Homer there is a Lisa, and vice-versa.

     

    I gave up on the circular debates years ago. I just (try to) drop out of the thread and don't open it anymore. I try to avoid starting them myself, but I guess it happens some times. It used to be really bad at the TRS website forums and that's where I went though my fire trial. I don't see it happening here so often, which is nice, refreshing :D

     

    One thing that I find really helps me is that I try to use it as an opportunity to learn more about myself. Questions come up like:

    Why am I posting in the first place?

    What am I really doing and on whose behalf?

    Why am I replying and to whom?

    Why am I reacting in a certain way because somebody doesn't share my perspective or intentionally wants to be argumentative?

     

    With virtually every post I ever send, in any forum, I go through that same, well, a similar, process, and usually have to take a deep breath before hitting "send". Not from self-doubt but from the sense that, to me, in the end, there's really nothing to talk about. Not really. Paper, Rock, Scissors.

     

    But then, what's the point of joining a discussion board if you don't discuss shit? Also, as dreaming said, the entertainment factor is a biggie ;)

     

    I think it's very sad when someone gets obsessed and overpassionate about interaction in the online world (or any other virtual place). But we all go through phases and learning processes and it's not for me to judge where the experience is leading the person.

  10. Posted · Edited by soaring crane

    TM - i'm not sure embryonic, reverse stomach breathing enters into it. The way i practice and teach qigong, soaring crane for example, the reverse breathing happens automatically but we still exhale on the yang moves, when the center of gravity sinks and the abdomen expands (outward means outward, wei qi).

     

    I view embryonic breath as very natural, the most natural thing in the world. We ALL practiced it for roughly the first 9 months of our lives and repairing those broken connections is what it's all about after all ;-)

     

    As i understand it, and have experienced it a number of times, in the yang phase of a (Hatha) yoga move, cat bow for example, they'll inhale. Exhaling is then related to the relaxation phase. Backwards. Breath goes in, focus goes out. Why inhale while projecting outwards?

     

    Do they emphasize reverse stomach breathing in some yoga forms? That would surprise me as i thought that was a Daoist mainstay.

     

    They also like to push the shoulders back during standing figures for some reason which also eludes me (which is of course my fault, not theirs).

  11. Posted · Edited by soaring crane

    Exercise is supposed to be strenuous, otherwise if you get rid this and that, you loose the transformative potential.

    This is a major 'risk' for self-taught seekers, because we are more inclined to do things we can do, and avoid things we find hard to do.

    mm?

     

    That's interesting to me. Last night, at a Christmas party, I was trying to tell some people what to expect in an upcoming Qigong course. I told them we won't do anything strenuous, it's all very relaxing. I said I like to start my sessions with a little "schnaufen", meaning rigorous exercise that gets the blood pumping and the raises the breathrate, in order to clear the head and prepare for the more intense Qi exercises. ("Schnaufen" is German for "panting"). A woman said right away, "what happened to 'nothing strenuous'?", and they all chuckled. My answer was that, physical exercise, schnaufen, isn't strenuous, everyone can do that. Standing like a tree for 30 minutes, now, that's strenuous.

     

    Every one present was shocked at the idea. The idea of standing still for a measly half hour is scary for so many people. Difficult. Strenuous. But the same people will pay big $$ to go to a gym and sweat and pant and strain, convinced that they're doing something productive for themselves.

     

    I think, when the activity agrees with societal norms, when it seems normal, proper, and acceptable, then most people find it easy to do. It's those less conformist, "foreign" ideas (that we all love so much) that cause the strain. And the modern world is so yang-heavy, it's kind of lop-sided.

     

     

    when I exhaled during the active phase instead, I no longer had this problem.

     

    Which I would consider normal and natural...

     

    Why during yoga are the "active", yang phases of the movements done on the yin inhale? It's counter-intuitive to me, but it's like I'm missing out on what the other half of the universe is doing so, I know there's a well-based logic to the method, I just can't follow it.

  17. Posted · Edited by soaring crane

    Here's some applications of those magnetic rings and a zapper combo!

     

    lol, yes, that's the one! Be careful...

     

    btw, I made my own rings, with mega-strong neodym magnets, I didn't join the troops trying to get a pair directly from the great immortal Himself :P

  18. Posted

    I experimented with the "immortality rings" advertised by a certain silly internet guy who shall remain nameless. I think mentioning his name in public forums causes an automatic boot.

     

    Results of the experiments were inconclusive, but a few people who I got involved in it said they felt "good" and slept really well. No immortals, though.

  20. Posted

    There's absolutely nothing new in that movie for me. And in fact, from what I've gleaned from the trailers and an interview on BBC with the producers, it's actually quite tame and almost cowardly. But for anyone with no clue of what goes on out the industrial food world, definitely a must-see.

  21. Posted · Edited by soaring crane

    Another example would be that accepting the pain of horse stance is also teaching to accept other forms of pain, such as emotional pain.

     

    Do you believe that this is true? Do you have any comments?

     

    I don't think it's quite like that. Horse stance, just to stay with your example though this is a much broader topic, isn't painful unless you're doing something wrong. Over-eagerness at the beginner and intermediate levels is a mistake, thus it hurts. So, the signals you get from the body shouldn't just be "accepted", they should be utilized and exploited as a lesson in how to do it better next time, or a way of finding your appropriate pace in your private development. I think, yes, pain, physical and emotional, teaches, but because we've followed the examples and lessons of imperfect teachers all our lives, many of us interpret the lessons incorrectly, and react in less productive ways. "Grin and bear it" isn't a good long-term policy, in exercise or relationships.

     

    Love is the most painful lesson of all. Learn to do that right, and you've really made progress. The body is a piece of cake in comparison.

     

    edit: the connection between emotions and sickness, in the TCM sense, is a whole other ball of silk, and thoroughly researched, obviously.

  22. Posted

    My Dear Dark Star,

     

    I looked in my crystal ball to scry your intent here, and this is what I saw...

    ...

     

    All this I have seen...So Be It.... :rolleyes:

     

    I, too, have seen it... so clearly...

     

    ysgXZVyODTQ&feature

  23. Posted

    you might want to follow a no-grains diet (because the Grain Monsters that live inside you report to him once a month and spill all the beans about all your wrongdoings, not just dietary but moral and ethical failures and intellectual blunders too -- in other words, if they tell him you're being stupid, he won't want to listen to you because he is offended by stupidity.)

     

    Taomeow in da House! A tremendously informative post, as per your usual, thank you :D

  25. Posted

     

    Actually, "Pai" would be more accurately translated as Sect.

     

    mouse

     

    What about the word "Lineage"? It seems to be used more frequently, and it has a softer touch :D

     

    The Hua Shan technique is beautiful, reminds me a little of the things that can happen during spontaneous practice. It also reminded me of the old Taoist Restoratoin Society and Brock Silvers... I wonder what ever became of them...