I wrotee the following post on another thread when I realized my mind was just kind of picking at me to start this new one.
Anyhoo, here's the post. It had to do with a certain kind of mindset in martial arts and a very small, simple explanation of what is behind it.
I think I know what mbokohutu is talking about, and i know what he means when he says that someone needs to be patient and willing in order to understand. The reason why many (if not the vast, overwhelming majority) of martial artists never understand this higher learning is because their minds are too linear. Too much sensory reliance in a system that is meant to develop your intuition.
One of my favorite songs, Lateralus, describes the whole thing rather beautifully.
In another thread I mentioned that the fact that the Shaolin were out in the middle of nowhere to begin with was part of the explanation as to how their martial art unravelled.
I won't go into too long of a discussion, as it tends to be one that is better done in person, but I will say that a lot of it has to do with a vibrational force that pervades the universe and expresses itself to those things and beings who choose to tune into it.
A group of buddhist monks out there in China picked up on this and, aided by a mysterious indian man (if he wass human at all), gained a fantastic understanding of how this all works (remember, damo basically taught these guys how to breathe and posture correctly as they do rather regular, obvious things).
What these guys were able to do (as were other peoples in various places of the world including Africa, South America, places in Europe and other places...) were come in touch with a guiding principle that taught them much of the rest of what they needed.
From that point on, geared with the understanding they had to begin with, these monks probably started to shift their aim in the direction that fate had inevitably set them towards.
It is also no co-incidence that the place is surrounded by mountains. Mountains tend to carry this vibration in polar extremities, making them excellent training tools (ever wonder why some people just refuse to train indoors?). The mountains themselves are, in fact, a physical manifestation on the ground of the polar energies that exist within them.
Anyway, before I digress... The surface of the planet of a grid of energy channels (much like a human being, it has it's own meridians, acupuncture points, living vibration and in fact, a consciousness of it's own. It has Chakras and a kundhulini spiral just like a human being does (as does, in fact, every single entity which exists in the universe but that is another story).
On the surface of this grid exist metaphisical continuations of this energy, the result of an intent (a thing called "yi" in chinese) which manifests itself as a physical, sensory oriented existance, the form ("Xing", if you will) which is both the resuly of one intention and the root of another. We call these things people, animals, rocks, mountains, rivers, leaves, piles of concrete shaped as squares called buildings (feng shui, anyone?).....whatever they are, we've at this point pretty much assigned a dichotomy to all of them.
Every single thing that exists, exists on the face (grid) of another thing. The reason for this is that everything in the universe is continuous. This Idea partially falls in line with the membrane idea within string theory; the idea that everything is a membrane that exists on or within another membrane. In qigong, this dichotomy is referred to as microcosm/macrocosm qi circulation.
As beings that exist on another membrane, we are subject to transactions that occur between the two. Vibrational energies flow within and without (beatles reference) these entities. As this occurs, there are two things a consciousness can do: comply or resist.
One way of resisting is to ignore the energy. It, like all methods of resistance, fails. Western as well as much of eastern society is a very good example of this, in that we choose to rely entirely on sensory input and output without allowing ourselves or anyone else to open to ideas that are too "esoteric" or "inpractical". We further hinder ourselves by calling this state an "advanced" society.
But we are not. I would put it to you guys that in ancient times, man was, on an instinctual basis, able to "jack in" to this grid and use it for things most people cannot comprehend. Everything. Longevity, self-healing, excercize, massage and many things that our primitive and counter-developed societies would call "magic".
The shaolin are an order of monks, in my opinion, who practiced this energy transferrance using meditations, breathing and postures, and other things that are not only at the core of their gongfu but are available to any human being without prior knowlege of this pehnomonon if they only open their true ears and true eyes to it.
Unfortunately, a lot of things have changed since then and from what I understand, you are not likely to really find people who understand this anymore. In fact, this very notion tends to be greeted with nothing short of outright hostility by people who insist on clutching onto the infinitesmal-presented-as-all-encompassing aspects of what they are led to believe a martial art should be.
I believe that a theist looking at the old mindset would liken what these monks did to something that the artist Alex Grey has been saying for a long time now. That the artist is a vessel through which the hand of god expresses itself, and reveals itself to the artist.
You could say that the Tao manifests itself through and enlightens those who allow it to. Most people out there are, in my opinion, strongly opposed to allowing this to happen.
As for how to judge whether a teacher has grasped and applied a "true meaning" to anything....remember; there are no simple answers. only a simple-minded interpretation.
Anyhoo, here's the post. It had to do with a certain kind of mindset in martial arts and a very small, simple explanation of what is behind it.
I think I know what mbokohutu is talking about, and i know what he means when he says that someone needs to be patient and willing in order to understand. The reason why many (if not the vast, overwhelming majority) of martial artists never understand this higher learning is because their minds are too linear. Too much sensory reliance in a system that is meant to develop your intuition.
One of my favorite songs, Lateralus, describes the whole thing rather beautifully.
In another thread I mentioned that the fact that the Shaolin were out in the middle of nowhere to begin with was part of the explanation as to how their martial art unravelled.
I won't go into too long of a discussion, as it tends to be one that is better done in person, but I will say that a lot of it has to do with a vibrational force that pervades the universe and expresses itself to those things and beings who choose to tune into it.
A group of buddhist monks out there in China picked up on this and, aided by a mysterious indian man (if he wass human at all), gained a fantastic understanding of how this all works (remember, damo basically taught these guys how to breathe and posture correctly as they do rather regular, obvious things).
What these guys were able to do (as were other peoples in various places of the world including Africa, South America, places in Europe and other places...) were come in touch with a guiding principle that taught them much of the rest of what they needed.
From that point on, geared with the understanding they had to begin with, these monks probably started to shift their aim in the direction that fate had inevitably set them towards.
It is also no co-incidence that the place is surrounded by mountains. Mountains tend to carry this vibration in polar extremities, making them excellent training tools (ever wonder why some people just refuse to train indoors?). The mountains themselves are, in fact, a physical manifestation on the ground of the polar energies that exist within them.
Anyway, before I digress... The surface of the planet of a grid of energy channels (much like a human being, it has it's own meridians, acupuncture points, living vibration and in fact, a consciousness of it's own. It has Chakras and a kundhulini spiral just like a human being does (as does, in fact, every single entity which exists in the universe but that is another story).
On the surface of this grid exist metaphisical continuations of this energy, the result of an intent (a thing called "yi" in chinese) which manifests itself as a physical, sensory oriented existance, the form ("Xing", if you will) which is both the resuly of one intention and the root of another. We call these things people, animals, rocks, mountains, rivers, leaves, piles of concrete shaped as squares called buildings (feng shui, anyone?).....whatever they are, we've at this point pretty much assigned a dichotomy to all of them.
Every single thing that exists, exists on the face (grid) of another thing. The reason for this is that everything in the universe is continuous. This Idea partially falls in line with the membrane idea within string theory; the idea that everything is a membrane that exists on or within another membrane. In qigong, this dichotomy is referred to as microcosm/macrocosm qi circulation.
As beings that exist on another membrane, we are subject to transactions that occur between the two. Vibrational energies flow within and without (beatles reference) these entities. As this occurs, there are two things a consciousness can do: comply or resist.
One way of resisting is to ignore the energy. It, like all methods of resistance, fails. Western as well as much of eastern society is a very good example of this, in that we choose to rely entirely on sensory input and output without allowing ourselves or anyone else to open to ideas that are too "esoteric" or "inpractical". We further hinder ourselves by calling this state an "advanced" society.
But we are not. I would put it to you guys that in ancient times, man was, on an instinctual basis, able to "jack in" to this grid and use it for things most people cannot comprehend. Everything. Longevity, self-healing, excercize, massage and many things that our primitive and counter-developed societies would call "magic".
The shaolin are an order of monks, in my opinion, who practiced this energy transferrance using meditations, breathing and postures, and other things that are not only at the core of their gongfu but are available to any human being without prior knowlege of this pehnomonon if they only open their true ears and true eyes to it.
Unfortunately, a lot of things have changed since then and from what I understand, you are not likely to really find people who understand this anymore. In fact, this very notion tends to be greeted with nothing short of outright hostility by people who insist on clutching onto the infinitesmal-presented-as-all-encompassing aspects of what they are led to believe a martial art should be.
I believe that a theist looking at the old mindset would liken what these monks did to something that the artist Alex Grey has been saying for a long time now. That the artist is a vessel through which the hand of god expresses itself, and reveals itself to the artist.
You could say that the Tao manifests itself through and enlightens those who allow it to. Most people out there are, in my opinion, strongly opposed to allowing this to happen.
As for how to judge whether a teacher has grasped and applied a "true meaning" to anything....remember; there are no simple answers. only a simple-minded interpretation.
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