steve

I'm currently reading these two and thoroughly enjoying both. Big thanks to @liminal_luke for mentioning the slow read of War and Peace. \

Another thing I'd like to mention is that nearly everyone who has ever written about or practiced what is being described in this thread began with other practices, and often concurrently engage in other practices, that do involve effort in a variety of ways. It does irk me a bit when people speak of releasing all effort as if it is something that is easy to do as that tends to push people away who have tried and struggled with this or makes them feel bad about themselves or the practice. This is very simple but not at all easy until one has had appropriate training and lots of practice. Simply stated, we need to exert as much effort as is necessary for us to come to the point where we can genuinely let it go and rest into what is already always present without distraction. I also like this quote from Peter Fenner, "If we didn't do what we didn't need to do, we would never know that we didn't need to do it!" One of the more important aspects of teaching this stuff is to acknowledge and respect the fact that different people need different things to support their practice. This is constantly changing for each of us over time. For some, it is essential that varying degrees of effort be engaged to stabilize the attention. Otherwise they will simply day dream or doze throughout a meditation session and make no progress at all. For others, a simple pith instruction or the sound of a bird call may be enough to put them right into that open, clear place of spontaneous presence. It is critically important to be aware of what we genuinely need in our practice and to be honest with ourselves about that. Otherwise we are far more likely to waste our time than cultivate skill and experience in meditation (especially so with non-meditation, which is a very precise practice). In my own training, and when I guide or teach, I begin by giving people something to focus on. The first step is to be able to get some control of the attention to keep it from running wild. This takes some effort and time. It is called zhiné in Tibetan (or shamatha in Sanskrit). My teacher once described the effort when we begin this practice as being like an old person with poor eyesight trying to focus on something they are having trouble seeing. Very focused, very intense, lots of effort and often frustration. Gradually, as the mind begins to settle and wander less, we can incrementally release the effort until we are able to release entirely into the unfabricated present moment and simply abide without distraction. For example, one practice I engage in is resting the attention on silence. In the beginning it takes a lot of effortful concentration to first recognize and then keep the attention focused on silence, partly because we are so used to engaging with what is filling the silence and so unfamiliar with silence itself. Little by little we are able to release that effort of listening and simply hear and feel the silence. As our practice continues to deepen over months and years we can even release the very subtle effort associated with hearing and simply be silence itself. This is tough to describe in words and may sound far-fetched but is very clear to one who practices and has this experience. Once we gain some skill and familiarity with this it becomes easy to rest and open the attention under a variety of circumstances utilizing little or no effort and being free from distraction. It's little more than a shift of attention combined with stability cultivated through practice. At this stage, the practice is no longer limited to sitting on a meditation cushion in a quiet room. We can bring it into our lives and engage this practice under the most challenging circumstances imaginable. This is what it means when dzogchenpas talk about 'bringing all experience onto the path.' Ultimately this is intended to be a continuous practice that is beautifully described in Namkhai Norbu's book, The Cycle of Day and Night.

When I began to explore Daoist teachings, I found them somewhat impenetrable. Knowing nothing about Osho, I stumbled across his book, When the Shoe Fits: Stories of the Taoist Mystic Chuang-Tzu, and found it to be enormously helpful in beginning to decipher Zhuangzi’s teachings. Osho’s teachings were insightful and had their own unique flavor which I enjoyed and appreciated. Unfortunately, I think he failed miserably as a spiritual guide for his community. I recommend watching Wild Country for anyone interested in what happened to his community in Oregon.

It does seem paradoxical but that is largely a matter of unfamiliarity. At the end of a long, exhausting day of work how much effort is needed to drop into a comfortable chair and simply rest? We are so familiar with being focused on our actions, our inner voice, our thoughts and feelings that we pay no attention whatsoever to what it is that gives rise to all of that. What this practice invites us to do is to release our infatuation with the movement and activity of the body and connect deeply with the stillness that is always, already there. Release the obsession with the inner narration and judgement and connect deeply with the silence that hosts all sound, both inner and outer. Notice the mind's endless ruminations and release into the spaciousness that has no argument with anything that arises. As we become more familiar with this ground of experience, we begin to trust in it and in doing so can discover something very special. Describing it and debating it have some value but experiencing it through patient and committed practice is the only way to truly get a taste of what these teachings are telling us.

@idiot_stimpy Thanks for this wonderful thread! Is this most recent post quoted from Longchenpa?

No judgement old3bob, just responding to your comment on wu wei. If my comments are not helpful or not wanted please ignore.

Recognizing an old friend she hasn't seen in ages, MaryAnn approaches her, "Ginger! So great to see you! You look amazing!. You used to be so heavy now you're so thin! You used to be a redhead, now you're a brunette! You used to be so tall, now you're short! Amazing what happens over time." "My name's not Ginger..." "Oh and you've changed your name too!"

This question belies a pervasive misunderstanding of wu wei. As madmen run amok, heroes vault into action! If she is able to prevent the carnage, of course the hero can and will do so. If she can't prevent it, of course she can and will respond appropriately, assuming she is capable and aware. This is the natural flow of humanity. Shit happens and from our perspective they are judged as good or bad. We react in a manner that accords with our biology, environment, psychology, and conditioning. We must acknowledge that there are people who do horrible things for complex reasons. It is not really a matter of whether it 'shall be allowed,' the unfortunate fact is that it happens all the time and has been happening since the earliest times in recorded history. Wu wei does not mean to ignore, allow, or permit things you judge to be harmful or wrong through some sort of spiritually misguided inaction. Rather, it is to allow the natural and appropriate reaction to express itself without allowing all of our conditioned baggage, second guessing, ulterior motives, emotional dysfunction, and so forth to get in the way of the appropriate response. If a child is drowning in a pool the natural response from a healthy adult will be to help. This is the natural flow that is to be allowed. It would be an unnatural act to interfere with that natural response and do nothing, IMO. For this reason, my functional translation (right or wrong) of wu wei is more along the lines of "non-interference" than "non-action." The flow of nature includes human nature, IMO, it is pervasive and applies to all beings. This is how I interpret and implement Daoist praxis in my life. Even animals do things that we could easily judge as horrible to each other, and to us. Understandably, the closer we are to the living creature, the more easily it is to judge their behavior as good or bad. Consequently we judge ourselves, and each other, the harshest.

I think these journeys can tell us about both the conscious and unconscious. Anything occupying a substantial part of our conscious activity will spill over into the dream world and imagination. Sometimes it is obvious, other times disguised, but very much a part of, or influenced by, our daily conscious activity, whatever is alive in us in positive and negative ways. Unconscious content - suppressed, repressed, or latent - will also be expressed and I find the two are often inter-mixed thus giving rise to complex and unexpected images and stories.

I feel like these two are often a matter of perspective and inseparable.

Not if you come prepared...

Studies show that sexual activity for many continues well into the 70s and 80s. I would agree it becomes less of a "big issue" (eg obsession or source of stress) with advancing age.

The system settings are such that videos and image url's that are copied and pasted from a variety of sites, including youtube, are automatically embedded by default. There should also be a notification below the embedded content giving the option to post a link instead. If you are copying and pasting a youtube url and it's not embedded automatically, I suspect it's related to your device or network settings.

My experience here, and elsewhere, is that while I sometimes feel like people are referring to me with posts or comments, it's far more likely that they are referring to something going on in their own lives. That tendency to assume we are the object of someone's comments or expression is normal and natural but usually inaccurate and leads to unnecessary conflict. On retreat, someone once told my teacher they were blown away by how he seemed to talk to them so directly about their specific conditions and problems despite speaking to such a large and diverse group, and multiple other retreatants agreed. His response was that he is never speaking to anyone in particular, and doesn't really know anything about our individual lives, but that if we feel someone is talking to (or about) us then they are! Meaning it is something that is reactive and needs attention in us and something we should pay some close attention to. But it really has nothing to do with the other person. Zhuangzi's empty boat parable touches on this for me.

On the one hand, there is no way to tell if someone is enlightened, or not. We may think we know but that is all projection. An enlightened master could lead us to believe whatever they feel is prudent in any given set of circumstances. On the other hand, anyone claiming they’re enlightened is not. Period. My opinion only, of course. Fake masters have a lot of tells. They tend not to show any vulnerability or admit mistakes. They often claim their way is the only or best way or that they know what’s best for others. They like fancy titles but don’t share who bestowed them, they often don’t reveal their lineage or teacher(s). They tend to talk more than listen and often like fancy clothes and trinkets and other external paraphernalia, often appropriated from other cultures, that helps sell their package. Their prices are often exorbitant compared to others. Their behavior outside of the teaching environment, how they treat others for example, especially when criticized, is often a dead giveaway. They tend to talk down about other styles or teachers, even about their own students. They like to put themselves on a pedestal and enjoy adoration. They get defensive and evasive when challenged. These are some things I’ve observed over the years in people who proved to be, or that I concluded (right or wrong) are fake or bad news.

Natural mind is like a jewel. If you’re looking for mind, you can’t find it. Even if you don’t look for it, it is never lost and never separate. ~ Geshe Dangsong Namgyal from Pure Dzogchen

To me this wonderful pith instruction has levels of meaning. To know myself requires that I look at myself with honesty and directness, as if in a mirror. It requires openness and clarity and I can greatly benefit from also looking at myself through the eyes of others. This has been a great benefit of engaging in this forum for me. As I begin to see the conditioned patterns, habits, reactivity, and tendencies in my thoughts, feelings, and behavior, they become less autonomous, thus losing some of the power and control they exert over my life and relationships. As I continue to go deeper with this investigation, new choices and opportunities emerge and I am no longer as limited in how I engage with life. I begin to see through the sense of identity I previously accepted unconditionally and realize who I have thought I am is, in reality, not who I am. With persistence, through coming to know who I am not, I have the opportunity to actually discover the truth of who I am, which is far more powerful and has far greater potential than I ever imagined. Here is an excerpt from a Bön dzogchen teaching regarding 'who I am' that I find inspiring - Its positive qualities are inconceivable, Like the revelation of a king's treasure. The one who rests within its true meaning Enjoys the inexhaustible wealth of its fruition. ~ from The Seven Mirrors of Dzogchen attributed to Drenpa Namkha

For me, this is a good and important point of distinction. All manner of practices and efforts may be necessary to bring us to the threshold of the unconditioned. No effort whatsoever can take us across that threshold, only release and openness to what is. No "one" can ever pass that threshold because that "one" is the very essence of conditioning.

My best wishes and prayers go out to Earl Grey for a peaceful and fulfilling life. Despite the occasional ruckus, I enjoyed his presence and passion and will miss him.

Another option is to email the file to yourself. This generally gives you the option to resize before sending. A little extra work but effective if all else fails.

That has been my experience, this advice was given when I first started so hard to know.

pining for Basho mooning for Arthur Rimbaud poets do inspire

For now, I recommend you resize images or link to a url. Making changes to permissible upload size is above my pay grade. I will tag @Trunk and @sean to see if they want to weigh in on the question.

My Daoist meditation teacher also recommended we not practice meditation during thunderstorms. His reasoning was that it was potentially too much of a shock to the system, though whether he was referring to the electrical effects, the general effects of the sounds and light, or all of that and more, he was never very clear. He is not the kind of teacher who encourages a lot of questions or offers detailed explanations.

No idea how that happened... I simply highlighted and quoted from LL's post. My apologies. I've corrected the attribution, thanks for pointing that out Mark. So wonderful to see those of you who shared photos! You all look radiant and wise to my tired eyes.