laughingblade

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Posts posted by laughingblade

  1. Posted

    Joining a church seems anathema to any kind of spiritual practice.

     

    If OP wanted to *study*, rather than work, the University of Glouceseter has well-regarded degree course in Philosophy and Religion, and an MA in same which is mostly online and part-time. Might suit?

  6. Posted

    flowing hands XYP has been active there in Indonesia for over 40 years,

    how many XYP disciples have you had to fix ( from being messed up and came crying to you) so far?

    i thought we had gone over this on my XYP thread already?

    let the folks go review that thread and judge for themself.

    My search-fu has deserted me. Any chance you might link that thread? Many thanks, Rich

  7. Posted

    Back to topic - I did the course with XYP last year and was told there would be a UK initiation this year.

    The only drawback is that it's in London, a few hours drive away. However, this could be a once in a lifetime opportunity and I'll be trying my damned best to be there.

    Please don't let a certain individual ruin this topic, just ignore him is the best way to do that.

    Cool. Can you tell us anything about the spiritual aspects, or indeed the initiation/transmission content or the inner lineage?

    Thanks, Rich

  9. Posted

    okay got it. i will separate those practices. But how is concentration on the breath one pointed if there is inhale and exhale? i have trouble with this as well

    Either:

    Make the breathing soft and smooth so the inbreath and outbreath flow into each other with no gap, holding or 'mental pushing/anticipation'. You'll find you can ride the breath with your attention at a slightly 'higher'level than the flow of air and movement of body. That's maybe a more vipassana approach - mindful.

    Or:

    Get right down and dirty with every little movement and sensation. Follow one in-breath from tip of nostril all the way to the belly. Every millimetre of the way. That's more concentrative. You don't care about in or out because you're concentrating finer and finer.

    Or:

    Pick a point - the tip of the nose is common - and concentrate on what happens there. Another concentrative option maybe.

     

    Did I get this right? Like GMP says above: cultivate and then some more. Attitude - interested aware attention is key. Without such then you can sit on your arse for lifetimes and not progress at all.

  10. Posted

    Shamatha and Vipassana are specifically buddhist approaches. Taoism doesn't understand them, perhaps because many of the more well-known Taoist cultivation practises are about qi development, and it's not afaik until Taoism gets to Shen development that such mind practises would even be relevant. You have to do a lot of horse stance to get off the wheel of Samsara. However I think these are complementary, and it seems to me reasonable in an integrative/mixin approach not only to do body, mind, and spirit practises but also to take from the traditions that have the 'best' tools. Ken Wilber has a lot to say about this.

     

    So shamatha is about achieving a one-pointed tranquility through concentration on e.g. mantra, flame. Then vipassana is about moment-to-moment mindfulness. If shamatha isn't achieved then vipassana tends to scatter or dis-connect IMO. If only shamatha is pursued then one can become quite the cold and unfeeling spiritual tough guy. Balance the two and you have clarity with compassion: bodhisattva here we come!

  12. Posted

    Hatha yoga for your body. Go easy and avoid injury early on.

    Sitting meditation for your calm (firstly) then development...

     

    Finding teachers?

    For Hatha Yoga I'd pick a well-known branch (Sivananda, Iyengar maybe) and a long-running local class.

    Mediation is harder. Many (usually Buddhist) centres run introductory meditation classes - often a series of 6 or so - and mix the meditation instruction with some philosophy or principles too. If you haven't meditated before then mainstream is probably the best place to start. These classes are often taught in a consistent manner by senior students, so you can get a flavour of "The Path" rather than the personality of some dude. Don't rush though - ease your way in, listen to plenty of people and try a few flavours before you nail you flag to anybody else's mast: your cultivation practise will be unique to you and is well worth letting unfold gradually and naturally.

     

    And as GMP advises: enjoy!

     

    Rich

  14. Posted

    Terry Pratchett has a nice take on Gods in his book Small Gods.

    He reckons Gods ebb and flow in power and influence according to the numbers of their believers.

    Lots of believers = Powerful God.

    Tiny sect = Tiny God

    Tim Robbins' Jitterbug Perfume had a hero taught breathing practices for longevity escorting the god Pan to the New World before he faded completely due to deteriorating belief in him in Europe. The masked his funky stink using a perfume with a bass note extracted from beet. One of my favourite books ever.

  18. Posted

    There will be a day of resurrection ending this world. It is for sure. But it will not take place on 21 December 2012. Nothing unusual will happen on that day.

    So I can relax for now?

     

    Will you make a new thread when the world is really about to end please? Leave enough time for GMP to get back from Tesco - if it's anything like ours the traffic is awful aruond the apocalypse. And Sunday afternoons.

     

    Thanks :)

     

    Rich

  19. Posted

    Sorry to hear you're having physical troubles.

     

    Don't they say that the Yi moves the Qi and the Qi moves the body? Just sit or stand however you can - spine straight as is comfortable. Lie down even. Set your intent clearly, and relax...

     

    My wife and I visited a local Buddhist centre shop, as she wanted to buy cushions for sitting: there was an older guy in there: skinny, long grey beard, faded tee and cotton shorts. Sandals. He straight out told her she had to sit in full lotus else there was no point meditating. We went elsewhere, and now she has a big comfy seat and enjoys her meditation. I bet the skinny guy was a vegan too.

     

    Rich

  21. Posted

    The Daily Mail is a rabid right wing scandal sheet full of lies and as such, beloved of the parasitic English bourgeoisie .

    Dude we appreciate your zorba-the-trickster persona, but this is really going too far! How will serious cultivators ever find The Way if you're fucking with their heads like this?

  24. Posted

    Not hours for other practice, dude. Another pracrice that I meant is good for grounding and balancing and take only 1 hour. Also I tried to be clear saying that there is no martial art aspects in s-m and myself have been doing it for few years. It is the same practice of alignment and balancing and building thr internal power

     

     

    So I agree S-M won't "give you nuts", and that a simple practise for balancing could be good idea if you feel you need it.

     

    Maybe S-M isn't that practise though, as it's a complete system, esp when GoT is included. I think you do S-M a dis-service by thinking you can just bolt it on to your existing stuff, and I was suggesting that (for whatever you choose) you try to isolate it to see what/how it works for you before you mix it in. I personally don't like not knowing what I did that works and what is just pointless or a superstition - like some bizarre cultivation cargo-cult.

     

    I have some experience with Chen-style TaiChi and I can confirm that S-M and GOT are at a different level, and would go as far as to say that IME S-M is not "the same practice of alignment and balancing and building thr internal power" as martial arts.

     

    Rich