thelerner

When you start quieting the mind a strange thing often happens. Thoughts and in your case sensuality hits much harder. The mind is usually moving in a 1,000 directions, literally a monkey mind. When you slow it down, put it in the spot light, the remaining thoughts come louder and more vividly. The classic solution is ..this to will pass. Thoughts come and go, hopefully quieting with time and skillful practice. Michael

One thing modern life has taught me is to with hold judgment til I know the whole story or more of it then a short internet version. I have sympathy for both sides, but the truth could go either way. Seemingly friendly 'family dogs' have been known to bite and kill dogs and kids. Michael

When I'm doing a form in the park I'll usually do it in a secluded corner. Even then I'll have my 'back' to the main road. Michael

Eh, Bickering, or conversation on opposing opinions is one of the things this site is all about. I don't think voicing disagreements are bad. Only when it get personal does it get silly and pointless, in the meantime its a way to learn and awaken to issues we might not otherwise think about. Plus disagreeing doesn't make us any less brothers, sometimes it connects us; we give a damn. So..it shouldn't hurt your heart, it should exercise it and let it grow bigger and stronger. There's much dissent in the world, but we don't have to take it personally. I think both sides have a point. Maybe one side with more heart, the other with more head. I'm stuck in the middle (as always), disagreeing with the petition, but signing it anyway; 1. because of my respect for Stig, 2. because when weighing heart vs head, its happier to go with heart. Michael

I don't agree with your premise. Are you so sure that living a conventional Western life style will lead to ruination of the future? Frankly my 13 y.o is a veggie and doesn't care for the mall. But if they did would that spell such a dark future. Really, for sure? How much of a Luddite existence do you want to subject others to? Perhaps some sort of cultural revolution should be done. You could look up Mao and see how well his went. On the third hand, change is neccessary and is coming. We're moving away from McMansions into manageable houses. Cars are finally getting better mileage, Hummers and there oversize brethren are considered ridiculous. I don't think its ecologic preaching thats responsible. Its good old fashion economics 101, supply and demand. There is intelligence that comes from market forces. As things get scarce we do without or find better substitutes. As oil goes up, society will change. In the meantime with relatively cheap oil I say party on!! Michael P.S. DB, as you'll notice, you don't solar panels, I don't, nor do my neighbors, even the composty gardening ones. They're just not ready for prime time yet, not here in the Midwest. I hope that changes. But right now its not.

I liked this and thought I'd throw it up for comments. Meditation and the Three Regulations Stillness is the key to open the gate to the mystical world. With stillness, the mind and body fall in love, yang and yin. The enemy of stillness is motion. How do you deal with motion in the right way? You must learn to deal with it in a philosophical way. Physical motion is the first test for everyone. You need a very wise mind to not attach to it. Once you attach to it, you are back at square one. Wu is the character for Enlightenment or Breakthrough and has the inner radicals “heart ”on the left and “self” on the right representing the relationship between you and the cosmos. To meditate bring the mind back to look for tranquility. Do nothing and leave nothing undone. Move into “Ting”, stop, be still, frozen, have no need to move. No one can distract you unless you want or allow yourself to be distracted. Withdraw the senses. Regulate your body: A. Seal your hands B. Eyes on the tip of the nose C. Arms rounded D. Sit cross-legged, females with the right leg outside, males the left leg. If you must sit on a chair then sit on the front 1/2 – 1/3 of the chair with your feet shoulder width apart and facing ahead. E. Let your armpits be empty and the belly soft F. Wear no jewelry, no watch, be natural G. Wear loose clothes, nothing binding The usual pain sequence for the body to follow when you start sitting is: 1) Legs ache 2) Kidney/low back aches 3) Shoulders ache 4) Neck aches 5) Forehead aches This is a natural sequence as the energy starts to move up. Just take it, do not attach. Sit for 20 minutes initially and then gradually add time in 5 minute increments over 1-2 months. Be regular! Do your practice at the same time every day – for example at 11:00 pm every night. Twice a day is recommended for your meditation practice: Mornings between 5 and 7 and evenings between 11 and 1, even when you travel. Twenty minutes of good quality meditation equals 2 hours of sleep. Regulate your mind: Kill the self – let go of your self-concept: ego, desire, self-identity, stress and go back to the innocent stage. Desire and emotion are the leading causes of mental motion – monkey mind. The wild horse is the intention, jumping monkey is the heart. 1 replaces the 10,000 Focus on the 1. Focus on the tip of the nose. The tip of the nose is the pole to tie the wild horse to. When you focus on the tip of the nose during meditation then you bring the consciousness to the Dan Tian. That’s called caging the monkey. ** When you focus on the 1, that is the beginning stage of stillness; when you let go of the 1, that is the intermediate stage. To achieve stillness you must practice self-cultivation of your virtue: remove the masks, be true to your heart, and seek the purity of your own heart. The goal is stillness. You must preserve the root in order to achieve stillness. Practice self-examination. The source of stress is from your own heart. You cause your own stress and you must take responsibility. Regulate your breath: Tu Na Gong Fu is the art of regulating the breath. In pure meditation you do not even regulate your breath. It simply falls away. This is a basic method for regulating breath. 1. When you inhale, gently contract the anus in and up beginning with the intention just under the tip of tailbone (Wei Lu point) and leading it up the inner face of the spine, up the Du Channel, around the skull to just below the nose. 2. When you exhale, gently relax the anus. Allow the intention to lead the Qi down the front of the body to the perineum (Hui Yin point between the privates). When beginning, practice 36 breaths or rotations and then let go of intention. Then do nothing, keep the mind in the belly, on the Dan Tian. Focus on the third eye; see and not see. Females can focus the intention on the heart center for around 15 minutes and then bring the intention back down to the Dan Tian. When you begin this will be a dry river. Use intention to see the path until one day water comes, and energy goes up and down by itself. After 100 days of practice you will achieve results. **This is an interesting take. It backs up Eric Yudelove's beliefs and exercises (In 100 Days to ..) about focusing on the tip of the nose. I'll make it a twofer and include this blog entry: Bubble Meditation & Grief and Happiness Can you find a single reason to forgive yourself? You can always find 100 reasons to forgive others. You have unlimited potential for a successful life! You must believe “I CAN DO IT!” What is the connection between grief and happiness? They are two sides of the hand. To appreciate happiness you must have grief. Just flip the coin. Victims lose their motivation to flip the coin. Don’t be a victim of any situation or for anyone, especially yourself. It is very simple to find the root – it only took me 30 years… Bubble Meditation For this meditation, seat yourself comfortably in meditation pose (cross legged or in a chair) and visualize yourself covered by a large bell. Visualize your mind as the sun, and your Dan Tian is the water. Let the sun shine and boil the water. Allow Qi to rise up the inner face of the spine – the Du channel – (red line) and around to below the nose with the inhalation. With the exhalation allow the intention to drop down the front of the body and back to the Dan Tian. (light blue dashed line). This circuit is the small circulation. Once Qi flows on the small circulation there is no more sickness. Eventually you will achieve longevity and immortality. Degree of concentration determines heat of the fire. Do not practice when you are emotional. Repeat the circuit beginning with 36 breaths and building up to 108 breaths. When you are done, cover the belly with both palms (females right hand underneath, males left hand) and rub the belly three times in each direction. Then rub the palms until they are hot and dry wash the face and head 3 times. Practice for 100 days and observe the changes within.

Maybe the ideal is, Vispassana is where I live, but energy arts are what I exercise. Hmmnn taking it further, quiet sitting (emptiness) is my washroom that I visit to avoid constipation. (not that I shine at either particularly) Michael ye olde tyme religious taoist are a pretty commercial lot. least they're not pushing charms and talismans

Left hand reply: Not only would I not give up anything, I'd want a $250,000 in recompense to live without oil. Next to air, water and electricity its the greatest thing in the world. It runs my transportation, grows and transports my food. Its everywhere, I use it directly or indirectly 1,000 times a day. I'd want big bucks to do without it. Perhaps a collection could be made... Michael <sniffing butt, I am a Prius owner>

ARE you CRAZY? The termites will provide food, fuel, even companionship. I say keep'em

I'm sipping some smooth garden made gaspacho. Threw in 2 handfuls of 'grape' tomatoes, half of 'giant' jalapeno, 1/3 cucumber w/ some v8. Also salt & olive oil. Tasty and nutritous, could use a little sweetener though. My neighbors are pulling out some veggies for there dinner. The rewards of a garden, even a small kitchen garden are many. Michael

I agree with Martial D., but I signed it anyway. There are simply times you do things because a friend asks. Michael

Wise and deep and timely. Thank you.

At my best I'll just sit for 30 minutes or listen to the Wudang Evening Meditation CD which covers a wide variety of Taoist and Buddists practices. At my worst, I'll watch TV . Michael

FYI, the book Freakonomics talks about Supermans most important and real battle. A man who had every reason to be a Klansman, ie deep south aristocrat whose father and grandfather were high members, wasn't. He found the group and its ideals heinous. He was also friends with one of the writers of the Superman syndicated newspaper comic strip. He joined the klan and began giving the secrets to the writer, who put them into the strip. There secrets codes, passwords, rituals were exposed and ridiculed. Instead of powerful they looked like grown men in bed sheets wearing dunce caps who gave each other ridiculous names. It worked, Superman did what the FBI couldn't, membership in the Klan fell dramatically. Sometimes you don't need super powers to get things done. All it takes is bravery, humor and shining some light where it needs it. My next favorite Superman story is a graphic novel called 'Secret Identity'. It's set in the ..'real world' where a boy from Kansas has the unfortunate name Clark Kent and is plagued by the Superman toys and references. He hates having the name until one morning he wakes up a few feet above his bed. Then the story moves into a thoughtful reverie of what superman would be like in reality. Michael

I read in a book that when Buddhists monks and Christian ones meet they recognize each other as brothers. The way they move, talk, treat things, are very similar in nature and very different from those who live an uncloistered life, in 'the noise'. Different paths, same summit. Or maybe not so different paths. Masters recognize, beginners squabble. Michael

Facts, I don't need no stinking facts. The lousy stinkin facts point in both directions depending on whose computer model you go by. So.... It may well be a hoax, but in my mind its a good one! I don't see the true believers getting rich off it, not like the big wigs at so many of the oil companies have done for 60 years. Myth or not its creating opportunity and a legacy of greater energy efficiency and helps make the move to alternate energy sooner, rather then in a panicked state. We are horrible energy hogs; simple measures could save massive amounts, but we don't, cause we don't have to, conservation isn't an economic necessity, hence big cars and vampire appliances that constantly waste energy, instead of having 50 cent chips installed. So sign me up on Gore's side, even if its wrong. Michael

Again, every one opposes such persecution. BUT, I've talked to scholars and practitioners who dislike the Chinese government, and should be natural allies of Falun Gong, but view FG with suspicious and believe some of the FG high officials do harm to there cause. Your big question is a bad one, because the great majority of people will say they are for Truth, Compassion and Forbearance. Its like having a party line that says we're pro-family and anti-crime. Its meaningless because its ridiculously inclusive. Such slogans are manipulative. Maybe I'm being too critical. I think everyone here supports freedom of religion and practice. Its just, I have a prejudice against end of the world pronouncements, even the 'light' versions like FG or should I say Templars. I've seen too many of them during my lifetime and know there have been hundreds in the past. They appeal to peoples fears and prejudice (ie exclusive godly club) often end up taking over there lives and leaving them in tatters. I apologize for dogging your posts and will stop. It may not seem like it, but I do have respect for many of the practices of FG. Prophecies are frequently done and easy to make. Watch me, The red headed man who lives by the river will kill the left handed politician. Boom 100% percent chance I'm right. Matter of more like 8 or 900% since there's 1,000s of rivers, tons of red heads, and nobody likes politicians. The Templars were simply not the most of prescient of people. If they were, they'd still be around. From a historical point of view, things going on around there time, were much much much much worse then whats going on now. Example, for things like our Aids, they had regular plagues that wiped out large percentages of there population. If Aids was hundred time worse and spread with a cough, that would close to there time. Starvation and depravation were close to norms. We live in a time with food, freedom and conveniences they'd scarcely believe. Even China has evolved from its cultural revolution that left some say 30 million dead less then a generation ago, to a better place. No, its not perfect, matter of fact many things about it stink, including the persecution of FG, but in my eyes its evolving better. rant over Michael out

Yawnn, you could probably come up with hundreds of prophecies, though you may want to wean out those that were suppose to come true in the year 0, 100, 200, 210, 330, etc.. Gauss if you're going to be posting doomsday prophecies several days a week, you may want to take them down to the non topic section. We get it, you're Falun Gong and the world is going to end (except for the Falun Gong) in a couple years. I'd hate to have hundreds of your gloom and dooms posts here and when the world doesn't end, have the usual disclaimer, 'We CultX saved the world so no destruction'. Seen it happen every couple years for the last 4 decades, I assume dates back to the stone age. Michael

Also not Taoist , sometimes I'll do a practice of reviewing my day visually in detail and without emotion. I'll use meals as anchors to make sure I don't skip parts. I think the practice has many benefits. Likewise there is a guided meditation called Evening Inventory Meditation, available as a free podcast in Itunes. It does something similar w/ a long 'letting go' period that sets the mind up for sleep. Taoist stuff..I went through Michael Winns Taoist Sleep practice years ago. They recommended sleeping on ones side, one hand tucked under the head, the other on the stomach. What I remember most is that you can give yourself gentle suggestions, but at the end you need to be in a state of acceptance. Michael

You'll probably never find a copy, but 'The Memoirs of Elizabeth Frankenstein' is a good read. It tells the Frankenstein story from view point of the Dr's bride. Her meetings w/ wise woman/witches, the internal alchemy's that were devised. Interesting take on alchemy. Nice outline of the times and events. Tim Pratt is a good writer. His collection of surrealistic short stories 'Hart & Boots and other Stories' was excellent. One story made me think of some of the ladies here. A story of a witch who excelled at sexual magic, loses her powers and needs to get them back before old enemies find her. Hokey, but the story had a nice human edge to it. It was available at the library. His other book is a fun easy read too. A thought provoking book is 'Replay' by Ken Grimwood. The plot is about a middle aged man who suddenly is back in his body at a younger age and replays his life til the same age when once against he's thrust back, replaying his life over and over. Reading the book forces you to consider how well you're spending this life. This one was a best seller so I'm sure its at most libraries. Michael

:lol:

I don't think they're completely different. More like kissing cousins, at times one slips into the other. That said when I sit I try to stay away from trance states, pleasant though they may be. I also enjoy guided meditations, but like a dessert, you shouldn't live on them solely. Michael

Thanks Adept, I study sacred sounds and that's a nice comparison of contemporary master's use of them. We had a post on the Pangu qi gong form and there was a writer who had good experience with 3 different master's teachings who could compare and contrast very well. Great learning tool. Michael

This reminds me of Adyashanti's teachings which say we meditate wrong. We put ourselves into a relaxed trance state and miss the whole point of what meditation should be about. I've been working with this concept and at first it feels like a step back, but has made my sitting deeper. I'll have to keep your advice in mind when I stand. Thank you. Michael