Apech

Who makes differences? You? Me? Him? Her? Us or them? The same thing really.

Well, specifically how it is diagnosed - I have read on the internet but the symptoms not clinically defined as far as I can see. Also I was interested if anyone had used Chinese medeciine, acupuncture or even qi gong to treat it. Ta.

Lino, Thanks that is an excellent article - the idea of the alchemy as a natural process is IMO spot on and also points to the universality of this experience - which is then expressed in different ways. Cheers.

produce wet water say hello to porcelain pure white pissing bliss.

Hear the seagulls cry, Lamentations on the shore, They're calling you home.

Its a short step from one to the other I think. My last Tai Chi teacher (now sadly back in Taiwan) was working here in England and doing classes through the Education Authority. They insisted that she take a teaching course despite the fact that she had been practicing since she was a small child and had won various open competitions and so on. The teaching qualification interfered with her classes to the point that they changed beyond all recognition - and not for the better. She had no choice - I know cos I used to help her with her homework. Similarly when I practiced Aikido the requirements of the coaching certificates, health and safety rules and so on took away (IMO) the authentic feel of the classes - and therefore made the Aikido poorer. Mind you most of my teachers learned from Chiba Sensei so they were used to jumping up and down on people and breaking limbs to aid relaxation . I'm sure you are right in some ways Ya Mu but I fear the growing trend to make everything subject to bits of paper. (Probably a sign of aging!)

I have no wish to offend anyone but when I look for a teacher I meet them, talk to them, experience a class ... possibly punch them (?) and make my mind up if they are some one I can respect and learn from (and if they know anything worth knowing). The last thing I would look for is a certificate handed out by some regulating body. I know if Buddhism there is a system of authorization for teachers but that is different - it is a confirmation that a master has passed on the ability to teach a set of teachings to their pupil.

Yes.

Relative or conventional bodhicitta = compassion. Ultimate bodhicitta = dharmakaya. This is because compassion is a natural outflowing of the enlightened mind. Are the Four Noble Truths known as dependent origination? The middle way path to liberation is based on right action, thinking and so on. Anyway I don't recall saying you were violating them but simply that what you called lower understanding or whatever is actually part of the higher teachings. If you want to practice Dzogchen then you need a qualified teacher who can explain the texts to you.

Fundamental to the mahayana and vajrayana Buddhist path, from the beginning to the end (in Buddhahood) is working for the benefit of all sentient beings. This applies to body, speech and mind. So it applies to intent, thought and actions. This is because the feeling of compassion reflects the nature of the dharmakaya itself. This is relative and ultimate bodhicitta. If you ask a Lama he will tell you that even though the highest teachings point to the liberation from the duality of good/bad and so on, as per your quote above, this does not mean that dharma is discarded. This is a misunderstanding. It doesn't work like that. The essential teachings of Buddhism from the Four Noble Truths onward support each other, it just that the insight into their meaning gets clearer and more direct. I don't think this is a threat. He was saying its easy to say you are above relative dualism but harder to live it.

Currently two sessions of 40-45 mins. each.

Suggest: 1. Take it easy don't worry just be interested in what is happening to you, don't follow the 'physical' reactions in your mind. 2. Try to earth the energy (should be able to find exercises for this). 3. Do some formless sitting meditation if you know how. 4. MOST IMPORTANT find a teacher.

This is about not censoring the minds activity. In Mahamudra and Dzogchen meditation thoughts and feelings and so on are allowed to arise and fall in the mind naturally without any attempt to control. So there is no distinguishing between thoughts which are positive (i.e. which reflect bodhicitta) and those which usually would be considered harmful or bad. Letting go of the thought and its origin is part of this - so that the nature of the mind and the nature of thoughts can be realised. This is not the same as saying all thoughts are equivalent as a Buddhist would hold that negative thoughts generate unhelpful karma. This meditation goes beyond nirvana/samara duality. The basis of samara is the desire generated grasping at form and not the labeling of thoughts as good or bad as you suggest.

on fresh baked salmon, celtic silver wisdom fish, rests my hungry eye.

As I understand it enlightenment arises as a result of the union of citta and prana (or mind and chi) and is actually about a reflexive realization where energy and awareness come to know their non-difference. It is not about building up huge supplies of chi (like petrol in a tank) - which is illusory anyway - but about how consciousness turns on itself to realise its own nature. The 'light' part of en-light-en-ment is not just light = energy but light = awareness.

I wish someone would change the weather where I am !

Not enlightened exactly but I enjoyed this: K4sFCxfMEs0

You may be right Pero - however I think it is used in the way I suggested - in fact here is an example: http://karmalhundup.org/ where ngakpa = 'lay yogin' in fact I used to have a teacher who was called ngakpa by his lama (who was kagyu+sakhya) and was a lay teacher. Not just a Buddhist but a yogin or tantra practioner of course.

Pero, who is Jax???

don't mind the toe grit there will be no extra charge for the seasoning.

Thanks for the reply Taomeow, I think we are more in agreement than I thought. I don't claim anything like the level of strength your Taiji teacher has attained. I would say more that I use my meditative awareness as a kind of diagnostic. If I feel something is wrong I will try to adjust it and this may sometimes be environmental conditions. I realise many people are more sensitive than me but I see it as a balance between getting on with life and protecting your being from harm. BTW you have destroyed my mental image of you in a cave surrounded by butter lamps! Shame

Taomeow and everyone, I think I can see that forms of artificial light may have health risks and some are better than others but the problem I have is this. For the last three days I have been been involved with a group buying a new computer system and we have been listening to presentations from the various software firms. The new system will IMO be a good thing for people like me (who live in this area) cos it will help them provide services better and in a more sensitive way - for instance for people with disabilities and so on. So I support the idea but find that to do so I had to sit for many hours in an office lit by flourescent light. This morning I am going to teach English to some women from Sri Lanka and Iraq who have come to live in England. This again is in a room lit by artificail strip lighting. So if I want to do these things I have no choice. I have always taken the view that the more meditation/cultivation I do the more adaptive and stronger I will become. This means I will be less affected by adverse environmental conditions. Less subject to the objective world. If I want to live in the modern urban environment then my spiritual work will help me do this. I can't and I'm not even sure if I want to just surround myself with butter lamps or whatever. Want to live quietly within society and not in an alternative. What you seem to be saying runs counter to this. I say this with the greatest of respect and would be interested in your views. Thanks.

Would they like my toes? Cos I'm sick of counting them, its ten every time.

Well we were all lost years ago then! Most of the threats to individual liberty in the UK arise either from the EU, e.g. light bulb issue ... "The report also says the switch will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 12 million tonnes a year, and save energy equivalent to the consumption of 11 million European households. Mr Piebalgs said that the phasing out had to be gradual so that "production facilities could adapt to the new lighting" and the quality of illumination could be ensured. "European homes will keep the same quality of lighting, while saving energy, CO2 and money," he said. Several nations including Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the Philippines have already announced they will phase out or restrict sales of traditional bulbs." source : http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7772412.stm or the Prevention of Terrorism Act which was passed because of the Bush/Blair loony 'war on terror' idea. Actually the UK lived for years and years under the threat of terror from the IRA who placed bombs in mainland city centres and pubs and so on (funded partly by Noraid from US). The current paranoia comes from being influenced by the US reaction to 9/11 and so on and Blair being naive enough to join in the Iraq invasion (depleted uranium shells being more environmentally harmful than light bulbs I would guess). It doesn't suck to live in the UK - far from perfect I agree and far too easily influenced by US and EU. All technology has risks and I worked for years in offices lit by traditional flourescent tubes. I believe that meditation and cultivation makes the human organism more adaptive and thus more able to deal with environmental factors. And I still welcome the reduction in energy consumption, less CO2 emission and good news for polar bears etc.

My passport does have a chip in it - not sure what its for though. I agree about the lightbulbs - whats wrong with cutting down on on electricity use? I don't like the 'nanny state' but lets not get carried away. Its the age of IT and we will just have to live with all this - its inevitable and not all sinister. The UK is still a place where individual liberty is valued as much if not more than most places. I refuse to vote Tory anyway. I live in the UK. Its OK!