XieJia

My longing to break free is literally the only thing that matters to me in life.

Then it is literally the only thing bounding you.

Hi Humble,

The Patting helps and act to relieve tensions.

Visualizations may help one to be more aware of the flows of energies in ones' body.

Some schools do teach that one can move energy through intent.

May your path be fruitful,

XJ

`Cheshire Puss,' she began, rather timidly, as she did not at all know whether it would like the name: however, it only grinned a little wider. `Come, it's pleased so far,' thought Alice, and she went on. `Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?'

`That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,' said the Cat.

`I don't much care where--' said Alice.

`Then it doesn't matter which way you go,' said the Cat.

`--so long as I get somewhere,' Alice added as an explanation.

`Oh, you're sure to do that,' said the Cat, `if you only walk long enough.'

Alice felt that this could not be denied, so she tried another question. `What sort of people live about here?'

`In that direction,' the Cat said, waving its right paw round, `lives a Hatter: and in that direction,' waving the other paw, `lives a March Hare. Visit either you like: they're both mad.'

`But I don't want to go among mad people,' Alice remarked.

`Oh, you can't help that,' said the Cat: `we're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad.'

`How do you know I'm mad?' said Alice.

`You must be,' said the Cat, `or you wouldn't have come here.'

Yes. I am not sure, quite, of the extent of the purification gained by this technique of not holding something in your mind. Does it mean ignorance doesnt exist in your bodymind or your unconscious? Not quite, right, or else it would be easy to achieve rainbow body or status of ramana maharshi. There is more to it.

 

Why is not easy to become as ramana marishi, for example?

The student didn't gain enlightened that day, but he realized that much is to do with the present.

Though the technique is not quite "not holding something in the mind".

The thing is there is, while being mindful; the greed, hatred or ignorance that is present in your mind comes to an end.

There is no different between your mind and Ramana Marishi's.

The more to it is, most returns to their usual selves through familiarity/memories and karma

while for the Enlightened Masters, that mind is ever presented to them.

If only that were true. We admit one piece at a time, I guess, and wait for more to unravel.

You made me recall a story.

One sunny day, after hours of meditation practice.

A students walks out to the pavillion, there was sitting his master holding his warm tea cup gazing the moutians and the crops the villager have cultivated.

Seeing the student, the master asked

"How do you know that Greed, Hatred or Ignorance are not present in your mind?"

"Through being mindful at the moment, I know that Greed, Hatred or Ignorance are not currently not present in my mind."

the student replied.

Recalling what he heard about the Englightened masters, the student asked "Then how do the enlightened masters always have the mind and the dharma present to them without straying from the path?"

The master chuckled, slowly sipped his tea then asked "How do you know that in 7 days, 1 months or 3 years that Greed, Hatred or Ignorance would be present in your mind then?"

The student is puzzled, he exclaimed "How!? would someone know that about the future!"

Before the student could finish his sentence, the master smiled.

The student was silenced...

and then a bright smile broke out on his face and he answered:

"In 7 days, 1 months or 3 years; through being mindful with the moment, I know that Greed, Hatred or Ignorance are not currently not present in my mind."

The master chuckled, sipping his tea and looking over at the distances at the mountains and the crops the villagers have cultivated.

.... the use of the word 'only' in that sentence. Not sure if it is meant humorously..

 

 

we know of the depth of love and the depth of pain.. do we deny the depth of ignorance?

the strange thing about ignorance is when we stop denying it...

...it disappeared?!

Modern English is a very precise language, sometimes it have difficulties representing ancient Eastern languages which tends to be more generalized; some ambiguous meanings are lost through translation.

From my experience, the only thing blinding the man to his virtue would be his ignorance.

The Dao acts through both the ignorant man and the wise man,

the only differences is that

the wise man knows and understand his nature and circumstances; putting his mind and actions in accord to the Dao;
in this virtue, it brings him peace and contentment.

the ignorant man knows not and understand not of his nature and circumstances; putting his confused mind and actions against the Dao; this brings him suffering and disappointment.

Thus the saying "Only the man of virtue knows whom to love and whom to hate".

So then, Buddhism is a way to truth and liberation, a set of instructions like a cookbook recipe?

One is not wrong to put it that way; there is the path and where it leads to.

There are no prerequisites knowledge,

if one allows one's mind to be mindfully present.

The mind reframes, refined or learn what it needs;

it also remove, retouched or discards what it doesn't.

There might be so many recipes, but that's because there's many people with different tastes or craving.

If a person is to take just one, and take it to completion.

That person would understands how the rest of the meals are made.

Either way, wish you all a fruitful weekend.

May peace and happiness be on your way.

XJ

Hello Humble,

In the end of the day, there is no differences between anybody's Qi and Universal Energy.

It seems that Master Jin have made the teachings of non-self, mindfulness and spontaneity the central of his methodology and it is tailored to make it look more interesting and more digestible for some people.

If one are to mindfully approach Qi Gong or Tai Chi from a no-self perspective, one should be able to arrive at similar outcomes.

And of course it is also very rewarding, where one following the traditional path and discovering them with one's own mind.

Peace and Happiness be on your way,

XJ

Edited: Layout fixes

Hi Fold,

First one is where you derived happiness from you taking actions.

Second one is when you derived happiness from being grateful and content from what you already have.

Though the conditions for them are different, they precedes each-other and are one of the same; the flow in action and non-action.

Wish you found that you seek and may happiness and peace always be with you on your path.

XJ

Hi Fox,

Abandoning self is not an independent action, one cannot abandon self if one cannot see the self.

Likewise, there's nothing wrong with writing but what you said is your attachment and earthly.
Is it to do with more of what you see as the consequence of being a good renown writer?

If you are not attach to that, then it is not earthly at all.

It's not easy for one can find ones' dream an yet follow it.

Writing can be a good meditative tools, a window into the inner world.

Meditation is not a form; as long as one is mindful and absorbed in seeing and knowing one-selves anything could be a meditation.

May you find your answers, and may you path be fill happiness and peace.

XJ

The Zen of Hotei

Once as he was about to play-work another Zen master happened along and inquired:

"What is the significance of Zen?"

Hotei immediately plopped his sack down on the ground in silent answer.

"Then," asked the other,

"what is the actualization of Zen?"

At once Hotei swung the sack over his shoulder and continued on his way.

Songtsan,

It is in our tendency to over-complicate.

So tell me; which comes first? The Dao or You?

Edited: Fix spacing...

Hi Chiforce,

Buddhism haven't lost its meaning at all.

What Alwayson mentioned is partly true, the path of Pratyekbuddha is not available in this lifetime.

One can however cultivate and approach that certain path in the future, however it is not a matter of choice but depends greatly on how one cultivates.

My question is if one have the choice of cultivation in this life,

Why should one worry about future lives instead of the current one.

Peace and fruitfulness on your path.

XJ

I am almost convinced that emptiness cannot be literal. Once we meditate on emptiness, that emptiness becomes form...

 

So far, for me, it is an analogy for quietening everything in the mind that isn't the pure, mindful conscience...

Emptiness is what is meditating on form.

Seeing that, form itself also empty.

Are not habitual tendencies transformed into inner, still habitual tendencies? Is not "good" karma, still karma?

 

Could the practice be to accept and then drop (let go of) habitual tendencies?

 

Best wishes, Jeff

There are certain kind of karma that let go of other karma and eventually let go of itself.

Dear 4bsolute,

Fasting can be a fruitful endeavors for practitioners and cultivators.
One can develop a strong samadhi and great power of concentration from it.

Energy cultivation is what can aids one and helps one from being needing to eat or drink much.

You should also gain from the benefits from being able to feel more of the energy, both external and internal.

However may I ask you what is it are you hoping to get out of this?

If condition permits you to fast, I would recommend speech fasting or vow of silence first.

Meaning taking abstinence from speech, internet, reading or writing for a specified amount of time 3-5 days or more.

Personally, I have found that the latter kind of fasting have been more fruitful for my practice.

Peace and fruitfulness be on your path.

XJ

Hello Chocolate,

Take care of the emotional and mental energies, they can be the things causing the blockages.

I would recommend taking a stroll in the country side with nature.

Go back to the simple breathing.

The body can do wonders in healing itself if you let it to.

Refrain from any exotic energy practice for the time being.

Peace and Happiness be on your path.

XJ

Doubts are very useful in one's practice.

Once one opened up to it, and understand it.

It naturally disappears.

It's there as signposts to help you reach the right destination.

Ignoring it completely will lead you further away.

Once you reached your destination, there will be no doubts left.

Though the earthly knowledge might be lost to one for a time when one leave this earthly shell.

What one cultivates and its consequence will ever continue to follow like a shadow.

The consequences of holding the precepts will help conditions mindfulness

much like the consequences of the path will lead one to the end.

It will be like going somewhere anew, and found that one has always been home.

Sunrise and Sunset.

Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter.

The four-seasons ever-unfolds under one sky.

In the Theravada traditions, it is refers to as "Mindful Walking".

When the right foot is striding, one knows that the right foot is striding.

When the left foot is striding, one knows that the left foot is striding.

The simplest form is Left/Right, a more complex forms involves breaking each step into more components.

It is not that the complex is more desirable or simple form more easy, but each have their benefits.

Ideally, this help the practitioners to be more mindful about how they walk and will extend to higher awareness of one's body and mind in their daily lives.

Vipassana occurs when awareness and other faculties, one being samadhi are balanced; the mind is neither wandering or fixated.

The funny thing is that one can't force them into a equilibrium, so most teachers will teach the student cultivate Samatha for samadhi first or mindfulness first.

Has anyone run into this? For the past couple months I've been meditating a lot and now it seems harder to meditate, as in I don't have the patience like I did and I'm not sure why?

There must be an event where you saw what you are suppose to see.

The mind takes time to recollect itself and getting used to the current state.

It will be ups and downs like this until the end of your path.

May fruitfulness and happiness be always on your way.

There are no two ways to die.

 

Death is unavoidable. Being able to decide the time/place to leave the body may be hard to attain as a siddhi, but its not fundamental to liberation. Death is not suffering... clinging to life while trying all manner of ways to prolong the agony and fear of obliteration is.

 

There are numerous accounts (i have seen one myself) of meditation masters whose body does not fully decay at all (like a normal corpse) after death. People would flock to worship and pray to these shells of a body, not fully knowing what it means. You think this is high attainment? (Practitioners who reach the ninth Jhana -- the cessation of feelings and perceptions -- can perform this when death comes). Yet, the Buddha said to Ananda, "As long as there is clinging to the equanimity attained in the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception, a practitioner is still not totally unbound. Only without clinging/sustenance, Ananda, a monk is totally unbound."

 

Those in the know say these so-called masters are actually frozen in samadhi, and there are rituals which can be performed to 'thaw' them in order to release this blocked state so that the body (which is useless anyway at that time) may continue along what should occur naturally during the after-death phase.

Thank you for the Buddha's quote; your posts are always heart-warming.

So in a nutshell are you saying that Vipassana helps you to understand and apply the eight fold path, while Samatha can give you samadhi and powers?

If one have to put them into words;

Vipassana is when one places one's attention on whatever is happening.

Samatha is placing one's attention on making something happen.