Chapter 1 practice

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  • #128561

    Anonymous
    Guest

    Hi, everyone.

    In the Taoist Meditation Circle, we had quite a few robust conversations in the forums about various aspects of the practices we were learning. This groups seems a lot quieter.

    I just thought I’d do a quick post to see how other people feel about the first month’s practice.

    I find it very powerful and intense. I did a quick edit of the audio to split the practice off from the discussion of the chapter and have been using this as a guided meditation.

    Anybody else want to chime in?

    Best wishes,
    Matthew

    #132508

    Anonymous
    Guest

    Hi,

    perhaps that is so, because some of us are still working on the Taoist Meditation Circle Material and are a bit reluctant before starting a new and possibly more intensive practice.

    I am for example still having a hard time feeling my heart and I am still unable to pulse the heart. Before moving on, I want to get this aspects of the Meditation Circle practice going.

    Nonetheless I wanted to know what the new practice was about. Having the feeling of life leaving your body did not sound very appealing to me but I am sure it is a pretty intensive practice that I will start when I am were I should be with the Meditation Circle Material.

    Although I do not post here very often I really enjoy reading your posts, Matthew, and want to thank you for your valuable Input.

    #132509

    Anonymous
    Guest

    Hi Matthew,

    We are 86 people attending the Meditation retreat with Bruce at Gaunts House England. Bruce gave a public lesson about the TTC yesterday.
    So some of the members of this forum are very bussy meditating, maybe they will share with the forum later.

    Helmut

    #132510

    Anonymous
    Guest

    Wow, 86 people! I wonder what kind of qi field you are experiencing. Group meditation is quite different from solo in this regard.

    I liked the meditation in the first month. This is actually a fifth meditation I know of that has an expansion of light/awareness from the inside. It appears it is pretty common.

    It’s not that easy though to keep this as a meditation rather than contemplation as Bruce puts it.

    I’d also be interested if Bruce would address a topic of good / evil relationship in Taosims. Lots of confusion here.

    #132511

    Anonymous
    Guest

    I was surprised by the quality of this new series of meditation ideas along with the Tao Te Ching discussion by Bruce. The last 10 minutes were an improved guided meditation and I will split off the audio from that section and try using it while meditating which I didn’t do in the Meditation Circle.

    #132512

    Anonymous
    Guest

    Hi, Dirk.

    I think feeling inside the chest is hard because we are so used to feeling the surface of the skin, the movement of the lungs and the rib cage in the front, and the shoulders, shoulder blades, and spine in the back. It’s like these things are making a lot of noise and it’s hard to listen through that to the organs inside.

    I found working with the lungs to feel their pressure on the heart really helpful. Also, feeling the beating of the heart, particularly when it’s really going, after riding a bike or some fast walking, is a way to key in. The heart is like a really quiet, gentle thing deep inside. The way I know I’m on it is how it makes all the emotions much more apparent. Also, for me, the pulsing is a very, very small movement. It may be different for other people. I’d be interested in what others have to say about this.

    I’m doing a lot of inner dissolving now that I’ve been through the material in the Circle and have added the Tao Teh Ching meditation as a second, shorter meditation I do later in the day or before bed. There’s a lot to practice and it’s hard to fit all this stuff in to the day.

    Take care and best wishes,
    Matthew

    #132513

    Anonymous
    Guest

    Hi All,

    For some reason I dropped off the subscription for the new Tao Te Ching content, so have only just managed to download the first track – and have yet to listen! Doubtless, I’ll be posting thoughts and questions as they bubble up.

    For me the Meditation Circle continues, and I plan to cycle through again, focusing on deepening my practice and, being less constrained by the timeframe, I intend to focus on elements where I most feel the need for revision. On reflection, I have struggled most with feeling and working with my heart, and being sensitive to subtle emotion and the earliest hints of impending distraction.

    I had thought about getting back to Inner Dissolving via the CD set, however, I’ve decided that I need to work more on Outer Dissolving as part of my Qigong practice. So I’ve put Inner Dissolving on the backburner for a while.

    Fitting practice around family and professional priorities is always a challenge. Rising early is part of the solution, along with ‘micro-practice’ as and when opportunities arise. Do others struggle to make time and do you have any suggestions for optimising opportunities to practice without compromising family and professional commitments?

    #132514

    Anonymous
    Guest

    Hi Colin,

    I have difficulties with that as well. What works for me is to rise early and use the additional time to practice. Usually practice before leaving the house for work. If on has already done a practice session one can go about it in a more relaxed way and use practice sessions as they arrive.

    Then I try to Limit the time spent in front of the TV and the Internet. I try to use media in a conscious way.

    I know that those things are self evident. If somebody else has other (hopefully better) suggestions I will listen eagerly.

    #132515

    Anonymous
    Guest

    You are right, any practice is circular. At any new cirlce we refine our experience and make it more suble. A funny example would be Wang Li Ping teachings. People say that his workshops have had basically the same content for the last 20 years, yet people attend those workshops for 20 years and find new personal content in them. The same with the Meditation Circle. I started late, I’m in Month 6 now, and I find it to be the best Bruce’s product so far.

    As for finding time for practice, I have the same problems as anybody else: a dificit of time. What I do, I try to practice in any environment I’m in. For instance, while driving a car to work, or sitting at a meeting, or waiting in a line. One can always breath and relax. The altimate goal is to meditate 24/7, be present in the body all the time. The other thing from my personal experience is an effect of regular, everyday practice. Like enybody else I would make huge plans for weekends, or vacations to catch up and make a breakthrough. Yet the life experience proves time and time again that small steps but taken every day – this is what makes real difference. This is my experience though.

    #132517

    Anonymous
    Guest

    Finding the time to practice is not easy. I am not a morning person even though I have to wake up at 5:am. Adding morning time is rough. I try to incorporate meditation time through out the day. I agree that it is better to practice a little a day than not at all. I plan to limit doing work after work is over ( I am a teacher), time on the internet and TV (dont do that much anyway) to give myself time at night to wind down and include meditation. I am making room for mind, body and spirit work to keep myself sane and happy. Last year was a particuarly chaellenging school year and I do not want to repeat the stresses. I guess those were lessons to be learned.

    #132518

    Anonymous
    Guest

    Hi, Dolores.

    Yes, finding time is difficult. I’m a teacher, too, but at the college level. I get up around 5 and do my practice even though I’m not really a morning person. For me, it’s very important to have a schedule/routine to follow. The big turing point in my meditation practice was establishing a daily practice and sticking to it. Until I did that, my progress was not really happening. I find it difficult to practice at night: for one thing, I’m tired after a day at school, but I also find the energy in the morning is more conducive to meditating.

    It’s been a really valuable way for me to deal with the stress of my job. It’s always pretty intense where I teach and meditating really helps me keep my balance.

    Good luck with your practice.

    Best wishes,
    Matthew

    #132516

    Anonymous
    Guest

    Hi everyone, :)

    Nice to see some discussion starting. I thought I was a lone voice in the wilderness there for a bit. It’s interesting to hear others experiences.

    #132519

    Anonymous
    Guest

    I have the problem of time as well. I practice the meditation of the Relaxing into your being book in the morning before I head out to work, and do the Mediation Circle stuff in the evening. I want to add the meditations of this group as well, so I will have to fiddle around with the practices a bit. Probably will do the relaxing into your being stuff over lunch time. Evenings are always a bit of an issue , since me and my wife are failry heavely involved into ballroom dancing, not only training on competition level, but also teaching. But if I can find time through the day, I think I will manage.

    Jan

    #132520

    Anonymous
    Guest

    I agree with you Matthew re intense and powerful. I find that it works best for me to listen to the entire recitation at each session. We’ve all experienced the “I didn’t hear that the first time I listened.” phenomena.
    The most intense bliss rises from the tan tien upward as I breathe. I first made sure I wasn’t desiring this phenomena, then just let it be.
    I wish BKF would publish all 81 chapters with his commentary, however I’ll keep on going with these meditations and the Med circle work.

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