Might As Well Talk about Religion Too...for Thanksgiving!

We are quasi religious I guess.

Our family does believe in God. I was raised Catholic, James was "raised" Protestant. We have both always been deeply spiritual but never quite connected with our religions. We have studied a lot and taken a lot of lessons from Buddism, Taoism, Judiasm, and Christianity, as well.

However nothing felt right. I do not like the concept of religion because of a Buddist lesson/saying--"the moon that can be named is not the true moon". Or in Catholic terms--man cannot explain God, ever changing, ever reactive, unknowable, unfathomable. I have only (and just a small one, at that) a personal sense for what God is which I could never force upon someone else. A force, the goodness, an entity (and of what form)? I know none of these.

My opinions of the Bible, Torah, Quran, etc, is that they contain some of the true "qi", the original energy from the Teachers--Jesus, Buddah, Moses, Muhammed, Da Mo, Gwan Yin, Lao Tzu, etc . . . but it can be very difficult to access, learn from, use effectively . . . furthermore, the true teachings are watered down, filtered through a screen of time, power, priorities, of language, mistranslation, editing . . . hence the difficulty in learning--the ease in twisting messages so that people can claim to kill for God or war for Peace. Soooo, I believe you should only take positive messages from things written by humans. Jesus taught us that humans erred. The Bible, Torah, and Quran are as flawed as their writers/recorders, unfortunately--humans, many of them politically motivated, who lived long ago and not only in one period of time but continually changing, editing, twisting, translating. Therefore, any negative messages that get twisted into these texts should be ignored. Like those that make terrorists think God is on their side, or those who inspire our young homosexual boys and girls to commit suicide because they think God/the religious masses hates them.

However, there are also excellent messages in these texts. Like that forgiveness is a way to heaven/enlightenment. Or that honoring your mother and father is a requirement. Or that all people deserve freedom and the opportunity to work and live.

James and I are very lucky to have found a way to learn from these excellent messages, as well, through Yan Xin Qigong. James started practicing in 1998, when he was a freshman in college. I started in 2003, when I was a sophomore.

It is not a religion, but I would consider my Teacher, Dr. Yan Xin, to be a true Teacher or more traditionally called "Master". I don't believe Jesus was the "son of God" in a more specific way than Buddah, Moses, Muhammed, Da Mo, Gwan Yin, or Lao Tzu. I believe that people who attain far along the path of enlightenment become closer to God in, through, and by way of the process/journey. I believe all of these Teachers went far along the path of enlightenment, and that many fully achieved it. As far as my OWN teacher? Well, who am I to judge my own Teacher other than to say he is my true Master. Through his teaching I am able to learn from all the Masters, all the Teachers . . . It is a Thanksgiving Topic for sure.

On this Thanksgiving in particular I wanted to be Thankful for the blessings Yan Xin Qigong has brought to my life. For my family, my husband, my baby, my life . . . I do have so much to be Thankful for.

Old School Sunday: Enlightenment and/or Society?

If you haven't heard about my new blog series "Old School Sunday", read the back story!

And if you want, catch up on what you missed (read from the bottom up!)

Just finished my first semester, sophomore year . . . I was definitely finding myself spiritually and a lot of other ways during this time. Here I am once again rescued by Greg, always up to answer a difficult question with a well-thought out answer (and accompanying metaphor? Ha).

19th December 2002
4:32pm
Current Mood: artistic
Current Music: Phish--Way back home

AdriN2001: To what extent is participation in the world important? If one participates in the world, they are providing themselves as a human resource, possibly causing change to those parts of our system which so badly need it. However, the path to enlightenment requires one to turn away from worldly thoughts and actions. Is the path to enlightenment, then, wholly selfish? Would I reach enlightenment by removing myself from society, while society suffers from the lack of what I could add to it? My mind is troubled--thoughts very welcome.

DebilNoxin: while turning from worldly actions does necessitate non-involvement, it does not precipitate a lack of understanding.
DebilNoxin: In fact, to draw a bit of an analogy-- it is very difficult to discern the workings of a clock while standing in the middle of it.
DebilNoxin: however, with a bit of distance and perspective, the function of each part and their interaction as a whole are more apt to be understood
DebilNoxin: to generalize from this analogy, being a part of society, while immediately helpful on some levels, is bewildering because it presupposes intimacy and involvement with society-- much like standing in the middle of the clock
DebilNoxin: with distance and perspective-- the removal from society-- the social significance of actions and reactions can be observed and pondered more readily
DebilNoxin: this, however, begs the question: is it better to interact with a measure of blindness on a practical level, or is it better to understand on a theoretical level?
DebilNoxin: understanding things on a theoretical level facilitates the observation of the whole-- not in its individual parts and actions (such as every-day life)-- and hence the ability to more correctly discern the appropriate paths of action you and others may take in society.
DebilNoxin: Therefore, the removal from society to achieve enlightenment, or 'understanding' if you will, in actuality enhances one's ability to interact with the same society in a manner at once more concise and more far-reaching.
DebilNoxin: in short, the removal is a short term sacrifice for a long-term yield of very large proportions.
DebilNoxin: To return to the clock analogy-- imagine being part of the clock itself, going about one's task as part of a whole to achieve a purpose you cannot see or comprehend.
DebilNoxin: No imagine that as the piece of the clock, you remove yourself from the works and observe how all the parts function together and what their ultimate purpose is.
DebilNoxin: When the piece returns, or even if it does not return at all, it has gained knowledge and understanding of the system in which it functions.
DebilNoxin: this knowledge may enable the piece to function more efficiently upon its return, or it may enable the piece to devise a better and more appropriate manner in which it may function.
DebilNoxin: Like the piece of the clock, the enlightened individual may return to his society and function with greater poise and aplomb in his original function, or may seek to change the theoretical functions of society from within or without.
DebilNoxin: Thus, to answer the question posed previously, it is by far better to gain knowledge through temporal removal than to function blindly with unanswered questions obstructing the efficient or appropriate completion of one's larger function.
DebilNoxin: good night and peace
DebilNoxin: if I'm still around when you return feel free to come talk
DebilNoxin: did i just send you something long and nonsensical?

Old School Sunday: My Away Message

If you haven't heard about my new blog series "Old School Sunday", read the back story!

And if you want, catch up on what you missed (read from the bottom up!)

Getting to the end of the fall semester of my sophomore year in college . . . just started writing again after a six-month break . . .

11th December 2002
3:26am
Current Mood: satisfied

"Would it be possible for humans to feel love as deeply as they can, but not hate? Just as the existence of Heaven can only be explained in the face of Hell, I am afraid that hate is connected to love too strongly to separate out one from the other. Psychologists say that chemically, hate and love are identical. People say that you can only truly hate people that you love. I say that people choose their own emotions, and if they don't, the emotions choose them, and control is lost."

So that was what my away message said, and then I read it over and I started thinking. What if the body just produces a physical (chemical) reaction to our world, and it is our brain that assigns value to these, in essence, emotions. If we realize this, we start to realize our ability to control how we feel, at every moment of our lives.

Old School Sunday: What I said to Greg

If you haven't heard about my new blog series "Old School Sunday", read the back story!

And if you want, catch up on what you missed (read from the bottom up!)

I was a month into my first summer break from college. . . missing my college friends like Greg B...

15th June 2002
3:45am
Current Mood: contemplative

I might be wrong.

I think that the difference between sane people and SOME insane people, you included, is that insane people are more easily able to forget hypocrisy, injustice, madness, sadness, and sorrows. Insane people like you are the ones who recognize the world for what it is, and cannot seem to reconcile the positivity of existence in such a barren and unhappy place.

Luckily, I am one of those who easily forgets, but not everyone is this lucky. I suppose I just think that even though the world is horrible in many ways, it isn't natural that this is true. I think nature gave us this perfect, beautiful, amazing place, and it is only some of the things that we do with it that makes the world horrible. And I can't help thinking that someday things will be different. That someday, there will be an equality between the beauty of nature and the goodness of people.

And I suppose that the meaning of MY life, not to speak for anyone else, is trying my hardest at all times to help the balance be achieved. There's not really anything else I could do.

Resolution Update Day 20

So I made a resolution on 1/11/11 to practice Yan Xin Qigong (a sitting meditation and life practice) every day for the rest of the year.

And ten days ago, I reported that I'd missed a few days, but was persisting on . . .

In that post I said that the most important thing about a life change was to keep trying--and I am. I am happy to say that I've practiced every day for the last three days, and I'm feeling good.

Here's a few things I notice about what happens when I practice more:

-I am more: energetic, focused, and productive
-I write more: In my blog, in my journal, in my head ;-)
-I am less tired
-My mind doesn't linger on negative things as much
-I feel better about who I am
-I find more pleasure in simple tasks
-I am less hungry and lose weight more easily

So of course, all these things are so great and motivate me to continue on with my resolution. In 12 more days I will have reached my goal of one month of practice--not with every day intact, but with my intention and resolve intact. I am finding that this is the most critical thing.

Someone said once that the path to enlightenment is like swimming against a current. You just have to persist. It is going to be difficult and when you stop swimming you will float backwards and maybe lose some ground. But the muscles you built will never be lost, which means you will be continually more successful in your quest up the stream.

And so I persist.