try pushing a cart up the hill backwards.... or ask folk how many mice are sitting on the pie?...merle
Bill, I am glad to read one of your coolest statements. Yes, it is great to develope scychic powers. When you are ready, please challenge JMJM to have a psychic contest. By the way, there is a Chinese story that to get enlightened by sitting zen is like grinding a brick to make a mirror. What do you think? Anthony From: Bill! <billsm...@hhs1963.org> To: Zen_Forum@yahoogroups.com Sent: Wednesday, 23 May 2012, 6:13 Subject: [Zen] Re: News: Stanford scholar tracks meditation's migration from ancient monasteries to modern yoga Siska, I know you didn't ask me, but I'd like to respond. My objectives for my meditation is to do it better than any of my friends. They all think they're pretty cool, sitting for hours at a time, seeing colors and feeling like they're floating above their cushion. Frankly I'm tired of hearing about it. I'd like to develop some powers like pointing at someone and making them feel hot, or reading others thoughts. Do you have any advice for me? ...Bill! --- In Zen_Forum@yahoogroups.com, siska_cen@... wrote: > > Hi Ed, > > Now I'm wondering, do you have any objectives for meditation? Would you > please share? > > Siska > -----Original Message----- > From: siska_cen@... > Sender: Zen_Forum@yahoogroups.com > Date: Wed, 16 May 2012 14:12:19 > To: <Zen_Forum@yahoogroups.com> > Reply-To: Zen_Forum@yahoogroups.com > Subject: Re: [Zen] Re: News: Stanford scholar tracks meditation's migration > from ancient monasteries to modern yoga > > Hello Ed, > > I just like doing it, quite very much. But I don't really know why or what > for. > > Siska > -----Original Message----- > From: "ED" <seacrofter001@...> > Sender: Zen_Forum@yahoogroups.com > Date: Wed, 16 May 2012 14:08:22 > To: <Zen_Forum@yahoogroups.com> > Reply-To: Zen_Forum@yahoogroups.com > Subject: [Zen] Re: News: Stanford scholar tracks meditation's migration from > ancient monasteries to modern yoga > > > > Hi Siska, > > What are the objectives (if any) for your meditation and/or yoga > practices? > > --ED > > > > --- In Zen_Forum@yahoogroups.com, siska_cen@ wrote: > > > Hi Joe, > > I came across yin yoga not very long ago and I also found it very close > and quite complementary to my meditation practice. > > Do you practise other yoga styles? I found myself quite reluctant and > not responsive to anything that is exciting after yin practice, > including yang yoga. I feel like being still all the time, don't feel > like moving. If I don't do a lot of yin, I enjoy vinyasa a lot. My > teacher always reminds me to have balanced practice - yin and yang. > > This also makes me think if sittings and the stillness in it make us > less energetic, which is not necessarily a bad thing. Perhaps, we don't > need to be that energetic because maybe, there are many things we do > while they are not necessary. > > Perhaps, I'm simply not balanced, always swayed way to far from the mid > point. > > Siska > > > From: "Joe" <desert_woodworker@> Sender: Zen_Forum@yahoogroups.com > Date: Sat, 12 May 2012 00:03:27 -0000 To: <Zen_Forum@yahoogroups.com> > ReplyTo: Zen_Forum@yahoogroups.com Subject: [Zen] Re: News: Stanford > scholar tracks meditation's migration from ancient monasteries to modern > yoga > > In the article, the "difference" between monastic practice and lay > practice is emphasized. > > The difference does not have to be a difference, however (and, indeed, I > *do* take the article referenced with a grain of salt). > > As lay students, we still have the opportunity to attend several > sesshin, or intensive retreats, per year with our teacher and our > sangha. > > The important thing about zazen is to practice it, not to imagine how it > might be different if we were monks or nuns. We'd still have to > practice... . > > Physical practice is also important, to support sitting meditation, and > to improve our health. Chinese Ch'an teachers emphasize this more than > Japanese teachers or their Western successors, and so the Ch'an teachers > are my heroes, and my favorite Bodhisattvas. > > Yoga is a fine adjunct to zazen. The recently so-called "Yin-Yoga", deep > and prolonged holding of relaxed poses in order to treat the connective > tissue, is the most useful to my practice. Aerobic exercise is a great > adjunct to influence the diaphragm (muscles), and to enable the deepest > relaxation in zazen, and the smoothest breathing, there; Samadhi > practice becomes possible. > > Although lay practice and monastic practice seem different, we can still > benefit from the encouragement of the Chinese Ch'an monastic > teacher, who, in the Golden Age of Ch'an in China, taught that "A day > without work is a day without eating." > > The "work" is not desk-work, or cubicle work, but physical work. > > To add Yoga to this is even better. > > Strong practice, all, > > --Joe / Sonoran Desert / Arizona > > > Interesting but take with a grain of salt.... Edgar > > > > Stanford scholar tracks meditation's migration from ancient > monasteries to modern yoga >
