Steven

I think we understand each other. 🙂

Best,
Steven

To be honest, I don’t know anything about Advaita
or the person/book you mentioned, so I can’t
comment on it.

S

Hi bagua:

My retreat is great. I love it!
Glad to see you post, my friend. 🙂

>>>Steven: From my experience and my observation
>>>(and this is where I disagree with both you
>>>and bagua, as it is basically a middle ground),
>>>this “skeleton you”, this fundamental part of you
>>>beneath the five shen, this aliveness,…[Read more]

Just to clarify:

1. Everything I said in the 4-part post on ZBuddhism,
are the teachings from the Zen tradition.

2. With the exception of my last post,
while much of the discussion has been my interpretation
of Zen practice, I suspect most Zen practitioners would
still agree and concur with much of what I said.
Even most…[Read more]

>>>This question of observing the “collective impersonal self”
>>>is relevant because in previous conversations on this board,
>>>when a Chan practitioner focuses on “emptiness between the thoughts”
>>>with the goal of merging into that emptiness, I have often
>>>had the impression that it was a kind of “universal emptiness”,
>>>an…[Read more]

Hi Chris,

What you said was very insightful and makes perfect sense.
Thank you very much for sharing.

I feel very honored to have been able to
read and experience your sharings and Wendy’s
sharings on your mutual relationship . . .

My utmost love to the both of you, wishes of
continued success on your special relationship,
and…[Read more]

Thanks for sharing!
I may have to check out that book when I get home from retreat.

You mentioned that the “being away” is difficult/frustrating.
This I whole-heartedly agree with. It’s extremely hard.

So I guess the question is:

I’d sort of be interested to know
why the two of you continue to choose to be
in a long-distance…[Read more]

Slowly coming out of my energetic detox
& sleeping part of the retreat . . .

There are so many subtle layers of tension,
and holding patterns held deep . . . patterns
you don’t even realize are present until you
are placed in a situation where you are in
complete silence with no responsibilities,
no obligations, and in complete…[Read more]

Steven: “your focus in alchemical meditation is on achieving something different.
Nor do I think that as much focus is directed at uncovering
the stable core axis of self that is lying beneath the clouds
of thought, beneath the spheres of emotions, beneath the
collective voices of the five shen, etc. Whereas this
is one of the focal points…[Read more]

>>>Also as an aside, I would definitely agree that mindfulness
>>>is an important practice. My first (and only) introduction
>>>to buddhism was through reading Thich Nhat Hanhs commentary
>>>on the diamond sutra, and doing some meditation form what is
>>>in the book, and can say that the daoist practices of the
>>>inner smile and all…[Read more]

>>>I would say that the debate was about “what works”
>>>rather than being locked into a certain dogma.
>>>It was generally around specific ideas such as:
>>>1. dissolving the self into emptiness vs. individuation
>>>(“cessation of the self vs. alchemical development
>>>of a free will being”)
>>>2. The terminology used in buddhism of…[Read more]

I would concur with SD here, and recommend that they
seek some professional counseling and therapy.

Healing Tao techniques can only do so much.

In Daoism, nothing is really a sin, as everything is
an expression (in one form or another) of the lifeforce
and its interaction in our “mundane world”. The idea of
sin is born from the…[Read more]

Wire hitters are standard tools
in Iron Shirt 3: Bone Marrow Nei Kung

If you purchase the Bone Marrow Nei Kung book
by Mantak Chia, you will find some fairly clear
instructions as to their use. It is a book
I recommend for purchase.

As to the other questions you asked that relate
directly to Michael’s post, I’ll let him respond to…[Read more]

Sounds like you did a lot of research and made an
informed decision . . . which was really the point
to the discussion after all. ^_^

Yes, I had a strong opinion (based on what I know
and my experience), but that doesn’t mean you have to
listen to me either. 🙂 (Smiling as I say this) 🙂

Everyone, ultimately, has to do what they…[Read more]

My beloved currently wishes to remain private
and anonymous for the time being, so out of
my deep love for her, I hope you understand
my relative silence on our relationship . . .

However, I would love to hear anything that you two would
be willing to share about the challenges you two
have faced and/or have overcome and/or dealt with…[Read more]

I’ll try to drop in, once a day or so,
and see how you all are doing.

It gives me an excuse to walk.

First few days are always pretty lazy.
When you arrive in a private isolated hermit retreat
like this, the silence is deafening. Somehow
your body and spirit realizes how much of your life,
you are kept alive by activity and outside…[Read more]

I resonate with your post.

When people are deeply in love, and when I say this,
I’m talking DEEP SOUL LOVE . . .

The situation becomes one where the only true desire one
has . . . is to become as physically close to the other person
as is humanly possible, the desire to merge your essence
with other person’s, the desire to transfer…[Read more]

No hard feelings and no worries.
I know you weren’t intentionally trying to be mean;
I just needed to establish some boundaries.
That’s the part of me that’s not mushy 😉

In all seriousness, though, everybody has things to work on.
It’s part of the great experiment and great experience.
And you are not alone.
We are all in it…[Read more]