Tune your ears a bit and his English will start making sense. Here, Master Yo Hoon talks about meditation and how it is an understanding of the mechanism of the universe more so than any technique. From his zen perspective, Yo Hoon discusses how the mind works and how we cannot have more than one thought at one time. Essentially, time and emotions/thoughts are bound and our understanding of the changing nature of this phenomena can set us free. He claims that there is no reason to fret about changing anything because the universe is constantly changing in perpetuity. Heaven and Hell are right here and now based on our perception of the present moment and our ultimate freedom is derived from our understanding of the mechanism of the universe.
If we could all live on a dream beach somewhere in the tropics, would we still have stress? Most people believe that the answer to this is “No”, but I would have to disagree. Sure, we’d be pretty good for a couple of weeks- maybe even a month bu then what? We’ll have dragged our busy minds along with us and, after a short amount of time, will be loading old thoughts, emotions, and memories that have been plaguing us for years.
How does this stress get booted in so easily? Think of a computer. We have our operating system and then we have applications. If we get a good night’s sleep, we generally tend to wake up with a free desktop. What happens then? We start opening windows. We click application after application, trying to load everything at once. Within the first hour or two, we have too many windows open and things are starting to hang up. Our system slows down and we are diverting valuable resources to the multiple open windows and have precious little left for our immunity.
This a a ten minute clip from my main zen mediation master who sounds like a Taoist but also speaks with some Buddhist influences. His discourse is part of a longer interview which I will post soon. This segment focuses on the nature of meditation and how we interface with our consciousness. His discourse is truly magnificent because it really illuminates how most people are fixed on meditation technique versus a profound understanding of Who we truly are and how the Universe works.
Zen mediation and a profound understanding of Reality is not a meditation technique but an enhancement of one’s consciousness. This falls in line with the true teaching of Taoist and Buddhist masters as well.
His English is a bit tough to understand but you’ll get used to it and its well worth the listen.
Enjoy!
In the world of Health and Wellness, we have four spokes that hold together the wheel of Vitality. The are the critical elements that constitute one’s lifestyle. Each of them have to be balanced in their own right and all of them need to feed into each-other in order to attain the ultimate goal of good health.
The first of these spokes is Diet. We literally are what we eat. The food we intake literally becomes the makeup of our body and the energy we run off of. A balanced diet of organic and locally grown ingredients brings vibrant energy and clean fuel to the cells. In Chinese medicine we derive out Gu Qi (Food Qi) from our diet and this, mixed with the air we breathe constitutes the foundation of our energy body. Qi Gong is excellent for the circulation of breath. The digestive organs assimilate the food we eat and produce usable energy for the body and brain- energy we need to run our daily lives. An abundance of energy can be derived from keeping this system efficient and eating quality foods in small quantities.
If you’ve tried to meditate and can’t figure out why it didn’t work for you, please read on. Here’s the solution to your dilemma:
I often encounter mental blocks with students who are trying to learn how to meditate because their world view is jaded. People treat meditation like some sort of “chill pill”- something that helps them get through their hectic days. This form of thinking has relegated an ancient form of deep wisdom into an inconvenient substitute for a pill. That’s not the design and is a wholly inappropriate way dealing with one’s self.
Have you ever noticed that when you are stressed or afraid, you stop breathing? It happens all of the time. Our emotional state overtakes our energy field and we stop circulating the flow of vital energy throughout our bodies. This locks up the coherent flow of our Vitality and entraps thoughts, emotions, disease, and toxins in our system. We start to breathe in a shallow fashion and we feel compressed- actually we literally are. The torroidal field of our vital energy starts to collapse and we densify- losing the flow of the Levity inducing charge that keeps us young and vibrant. It is one of the most common ways we ail- something so simple.
Hanging out with Leonard Orr this summer, he and I discussed his form of circular breathing and how he uses prescriptions for people who come to him for a whole host of ailments. This is very similar to what we do in my Qi Gong tradition- breath work for homework. It is so easy yet so difficult. Why so hard? Because we don’t want to feel what has come up- breathing life to a thought or emotion dislodges it and moves it through our field. If we learn to observe it with equanimity and an open heart, it simply passes and is gone. The problem- we freak out and hang on- then the repressed charge gets so strong that we can hardly breathe.
The fix is easy- deep lower abdominal breathing for ten minutes or so and then breathe to the area of repression.
Find a track here and get to work!
Every day I spend in the clinic, I encounter a handful of patients who walk in with their expensive coffees. They slap them down on the table along with their other precious valuables- their keys, wallet, etc. Somehow it has become commonplace for everybody to be walking around with a cup of crack in our society. It is simply assumed that the logic of “if tired, then coffee” is a foregone conclusion. I’ve been watching it for years, brushing it off as a necessary evil of our hectic post-modern society. Everybody is doing it so it must be tolerated- it must be OK…
It’s not. The more I compare adrenal profiles and lab work on people, the more I see these people slipping into oblivion. It is like America trying to solve its financial problems by getting into further debt financing. (more…)
post continued from Part I…
…Continued from [this post]
… Think of it like math. Most people hate math growing up. There is a given problem and we all think- oh no! Problem! But the answer to this problem is a given solution set that teaches us about the nature of this query and it teaches us how to come to a solution for this problem. Once solved, not only is the problem over, we also have learned how to solve similar problems to it! Imagine that- we actually develop a skill set that renders us more efficient at this kind of problem- we are a problem solver!
As we get better and better, we move to higher math and more complicated “problems”. So, back to your life- once you crack the code and learn how to get things done, the next thing gets easier and easier. The path to mastery starts with baby steps and, the solution set I put to you, hides in our relationship with time. Learn to adjust your expectations of yourself in time and you can do anything. This is what we see when a master performs a task effortlessly. It is a state of complete relaxation- effortless action. How we get there is (more…)
Most people I meet in the West are never truly happy because they are caught up in the cycles of aversions and cravings. No matter how much money they have, they always have some unfulfilled desire that keeps them longing for something. I’ve sat with billionaires and I’ve sat with paupers in India, and having now done so for so many years, can firmly state that maybe the Buddha was right.
We want too many things. We have goals, aspirations, dreams, and desires…most of which don’t get fulfilled. Now- is there anything inherently wrong with wanting to achieve things in life? No- but the motive becomes the issue. Are we trying to better ourselves and become more compassionate people, or are we trying to gratify our egos by proving something to the world. It becomes a question of consciousness and motives. Again, wanting to achieve something excellent is great- it helps us understand our Divine potential and the power of Spirit, mind over matter, healthy intention, and focused mindset. Assuming we are not trying to gratify our egos then (to be discussed in another blog), how do we set goals that are reasonable and sensible?
The answer lies in… (more…)
We’re happy to announce that we have the dates and location for the next seminar set to take place in Southern California.
Pedram will be returning from Africa and Europe on Nov 6th and we have arranged to have him teach a seminar on “Energy Economics” on Nov 20-21 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Newport Beach, CA.
Please click on the following link for more details: Nov 20-21 Newport Beach Seminar
Topics include:
Qi Gong
Meditation
Mental and Emotional Purification Practices
Diet
Exercise
Stretching
Time / Energy Management
Developing Will Power
We are looking forward to seeing you there!
Taoist Path Team
Qi Gong
Meditation
Mental and Emotional Purification Practices
Diet
Exercise
Stretching
Time / Energy Management
