Cultivation Is Not A Separate Practice

[thetaoiseasy]

Thanks for reading, I appreciate it.

 

Best,

 

Taoiseasy

Edited July 9, 2013 by thetaoiseasy

[thelerner]

You raise a good point. I've known some pretty high level people who'd only meditate 20 or so minutes a day. Ofcourse the experienced meditator may get more from less and hit emptiness faster because they've put in the 1000's of hours. During waking hours and even in sleep they're closer to Tao then we are, literally there brain waves are different.

 

I see meditation as a method or technique not a goal.

[skydog]

very good post once again thetaoiseasy..

[ShenLung]

One of my closest friends is currently planning on expanding his dojo into a complete academy, with living quarters for students, gym, practice areas, library .. the entire enchilada. During one of the planning sessions, as we were going over floor plans, discussing features, ect. he asked "what is this missing"? Among those things that were needed was a space for the creation of art - painting, sculpture, pottery and the like.

Development of the whole person is very important. I would like to think that most practicioners natrually fill in those areas with the activities in daily life, but it never hurts to take a look and see if there is an area that might need improvement. Going over the plans, and asking "what is this missing"?

[i am]

I also really like the idea because, like thetaoiseasy has said before, for most of us, our "practice" is, at most, one or two hours a day. This really isn't much. If your practice becomes your daily life, then you are always practicing/cultivating. If the only time you are cultivating is when you've lit incense, turned down the lights, sat on your mat etc., then it's not very often that you're cultivating, most likely. 20 minutes of tai chi in the morning is great, but...

[GrandmasterP]

Great thread.

No way could I fit 2-hours cultivation into a working day but mindfulness throughout the day is a constant goal.

There was an old saint, will look him up; talked about finding God amongst the pots and pans.

Brother Lawrence, maybe not a saint. Somebody who talked to him a lot wrote a little book of Lawrence's wisdom called Practice of the presence of God.

http://www.tochrist.org/Doc/Books/Lawrence/The%20Practice%20of%20the%20Presence%20of%20God.pdf

 

 

Edited December 28, 2012 by GrandmasterP

[adept]

Thank you taoiseasy, that is an awesome post.

[Thunder_Gooch]

I am sure I'll get dog piled as usual... here goes...

 

Not all paths can be accomplished the same way.

 

Some paths can't be explored while "doing the dishes", or integrated into normal life.

 

I am not saying practice x is better than practice y, only that some paths and goals are realizable through specific methods.

 

Not everyone has to pursue those goals, it's your path follow it how you want.

Edited December 29, 2012 by More_Pie_Guy

[GrandmasterP]

Agreed.

Read a book about Taoist Hermits in China, those guys are seriously dedicated to their methods of cultivation, nothing else matters and it's more or less all they do 24/7.

[Marblehead]

The only thing I have done 24/7 is live. Perhaps I will be allowed to continue to do that for a while longer.

[GrandmasterP]

It has rained here 24/7 over the holiday so far.

Thinking of building an Ark.

:-)

[Bubbles]

The only thing I have done 24/7 is live. Perhaps I will be allowed to continue to do that for a while longer.

 

Thanks for that Marblehead

[GrandmasterP]

Just thinking about the OP though, there are some cultivations that are separate practices.

Pilgrimages for example are a sort of 'one off' cultivation.

You do it, then it's done.

Maybe 'retreats' are similar.

(No truly happy person ever went on a retreat).

Just finished a course of weekly lessons to learn Beijing short form TaiChi before the holidays, not something I'll keep up but it was nice to learn something different from a super TaiChi Union GB teacher in a fun group whilst it lasted.

[Birch]

Great post OP. I wanted also to mention the point of knowing oneself in terms of choice of practices. I use Bazi/5E as a sort of a starting point map. Seems (so far) that the most fruitful stuff in terms of practices (and living) fits with whatever 'element' is lacking. It's another reason why some practices are pointless (if not downright harmful) for me and another reason religion with its 'one size fits all' precepts is great for some people but not everyone.

 

----opinion alert---

[mYTHmAKER]

a matter of attitude and awareness in every moment is all one needs

[thetaoiseasy]

Thanks for reading,

 

Taoiseasy

Edited July 13, 2013 by thetaoiseasy

[Thunder_Gooch]

 

I strongly believe that in our modern era, we can no longer afford to live in monasteries and meditate all day - this sponsorship is not productive, antithetical to natural living. We can take pilgramages, retreats, take classes, and do meditation. But most of us still have to live in and struggle through the joys and sadness of real life, relationships, work, and family. To make the most of it, we can at least live completely aware and maintain a constructive, directed attitude throughout our work, our activities, and thought processes. By doing so, we are channeling our energy in our daily lives.

 

Just some context for my original post.

 

It really depends on what you want to do with your life.

 

The title of this thread should have read "Cultivation is not a separate practice for most people"

 

Most normal people aren't interested in serious cultivation, they are interested in living a happy life.

 

I am not judging anyone for how they choose to live their life, but dedicating your life to meditation and cultivation is really alien to most people and seen as unhealthy.

 

We each are entitled to live our lives as we see fit, and as long as we don't harm anyone else it shouldn't matter to anyone else.

 

I am not telling anyone my way is better than your way, only that this one size fits all way of life you describe isn't for me, it isn't how I wish to live my life.

[thetaoiseasy]

.

Edited December 29, 2012 by thetaoiseasy

[thetaoiseasy]

Thanks for reading

Edited July 13, 2013 by thetaoiseasy

[Thunder_Gooch]

I'm not sure if we disagree, though. The difference is I think lying about on the beach and bird watching is some serious cultivation. I don't believe that learning reverse breathing is any more effective than gardening or calligraphy.

 

 

Sure bird watching could be serious cultivation depending on your goals.

 

I don't consider reverse breathing to be serious cultivation either, there is a lot lot lot more to it than the manner in which you breathe. (just imho)

 

 

I think there are two main types of people, those that see life as precious and limited so we must enjoy it to the fullest and be the best person we can be, then there is the person that sees life as precious and limited and has something they want to achieve at all costs before they die. I am the latter.

Edited December 29, 2012 by More_Pie_Guy

[GrandmasterP]

Focused is good. Those who are focused on a single goal have more chance of getting there sooner than butterflies ( self included).

[skydog]

Actually a few months ago before I really did stillness movement, all I did was read a bit of the tao te ching, for the rest fo my day I "did" absolutely nothing..Let go and surrendered. I would find myself doing really cool things as if I was on holiday and drunk/on drugs and also I would get very high. I find it more difficult to combine wu wei and lower dan tien awareness..maybe this comes in time.

 

Whereas another day I would do all these different breathing practices/mantras etc and I was in a constant state of "doing" didnt really achieve much peace, same is true with dance or being with someone you love, most likely you will not have any thoughts about "trying to escape samsara and find enlightenment"

[GrandmasterP]

I have to stick to a routine otherwise I'd not cultivate at all some days due to laziness.

[skydog]

yeh true..

 

Also there seems to be a reason why a lot of traditions value treating their cultivation with a playful attitude, a serious attitude, is against harmony, peace...to some extent, not to say one should never be serious.

[GrandmasterP]

Serious guys wearing suits cause a lot of trouble in the world.

Nobody wearing a clown hat ever started a war as far as I know.

OP wise I suppose my cultivation is separate from a lot that I do in the day as far as actual doing QiGong goes but I can get in the zone by weeding or even mucking out the horse on a good day. Anything I can do more or less mechanically is fine but at work where I have to think and talk to people, that's hard going, but then again they don't pay me to cultivate on their time.

Edited December 29, 2012 by GrandmasterP