Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Zen: 10 questions to the Grandmaster

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • #91
    Thank you Sifu :-)

    Dear Sifu,

    I always get amazed by your love and dedication. My question was the 15th on the list. The thread is called "10 Questions to the Grandmaster about Zen." Thanks for taking the time to answer my question.

    I really appreciate and value all your help and wisdom. You are changing my life in ways that I never imagined.

    In my younger days, I used to feel that Zen answers were always the best. That is what my heart felt. Because of my education, all my teachers wanted me to intelectualize everything that I was going to do or say.

    Even when I started working, I had the same issue/problem with my managers. I exactly knew what to do and how to do it but managers and teachers always required me to give a wide explanation on why I was going to do those things in that way.

    Now, with your Zen training, I feel like if I am coming back home. Now, I know that what I used to do in my younger days was not wrong and was the ideal.

    Even without the Zen course I already made great achievements in my job/life. I am becoming incredibly efficient. That is saving my a lot of time. :-)

    I could safely say that even having studied Business Administration and Marketing in University, I have learned more about those subjets with you than with my teachers (I was thinking about that the other day). This is because the training that you offer is so profound that it can be applied to everything that I do in my life.

    Thanks Sifu from the heart,

    Santiago

    Comment


    • #92
      Dear Santiago,

      Thank you for your inspiring account. Stundents who will take part at the Zen course benefit greatly from this direct experience.

      Best regards,
      "From formless to form, from form to formless"

      26.08.17-28.08.17: Qi Gong Festival with 6 courses in Bern:
      Qiflow-Triple Stretch Method-12 Sinewmetamorphisis-Bone Marrow Cleansing-Zen Mind in Qi Gong

      Website: www.enerqi.ch

      Comment


      • #93
        Zen Question-Answer 16, Part 1

        The super grande finale:

        Question 16:

        Please could you discuss the methods and objectives of contemplation practices as they relate to, or differ from, Zen meditation?

        Matt


        Answer:

        Contemplation meditation and Zen meditation are two important, different categories of meditation.

        Many people mistakenly think that there is only one type of meditation, just as they mistakenly think that there is only one type of chi kung.

        In fact, they are countless types of meditation, and countless types of chi kung, both ranging from the basic to the most profound.

        The term “meditation” is not a suitable choice of words. It comes from the verb “meditate”, which means to think or intellectualize. But in many forms of meditation, including the ones we practice in our school, thinking or intellectualizing is exactly what one should avoid.

        Personally, I find the phrase “training of mind” to be more exact. “Mind” may be replaced with “soul”, “spirit” or “consciousness” in some cultural or religions context.

        In classical Chinese, the concept of meditation is described as “entering Zen”, “entering Tao” or “entering silence”. In modern context, it is “entering a chi kung state of mind”. But the term “meditation” has been established, so despite its short-comings, we still use it.

        Then, why is the term “meditation” used? It originated from the spiritual cultivation of the early Christian fathers, which consisted of four processes, namely reading scriptures, praying to God, contemplating on God’s words, and reflecting on the Truth. This historical fact is important to those who erroneously think that meditation is non-Christian.

        Later other forms of spiritual cultivation were introduced to the West from the East. While the internal approaches and techniques might be different, the external form was similar. Hence, the term “meditation” was used and became established.

        Apart from Zen, there are two main categories of meditation for spiritual cultivation, namely concentration and contemplation.

        In concentration meditation, the mind is trained to be one-pointed. In Christian meditation, this refers to the two processes of reading scriptures and praying to God until the soul is totally devoted to God.

        In Islamic meditation, or muraqabah, this is dhikr, where devotees continuously repeat phrases to God until there is no other thoughts but God. In Buddhist meditation, it is called samatha where practitioners focus on one object until the mind becomes concentrated.
        "From formless to form, from form to formless"

        26.08.17-28.08.17: Qi Gong Festival with 6 courses in Bern:
        Qiflow-Triple Stretch Method-12 Sinewmetamorphisis-Bone Marrow Cleansing-Zen Mind in Qi Gong

        Website: www.enerqi.ch

        Comment


        • #94
          Zen Question-Answer 16, Part 2

          We accomplish the Zen Question-Answer series with part 2 of Question 16:

          Having attained concentration of mind, contemplation begins where devotees contemplates on the Supreme. In Christian meditation, it refers to the two processes of contemplating on God’s words and reflecting the Truth.

          In Islamic meditation, it is tafakkur, where devotees reflect on the universe and the Supreme. In Buddhist meditation, it is called vipassana where practitioners investigate into Reality.

          Although the techniques may be different, both the approach and the ultimate aim is the same. The approach is having attained a one-pointed mind or focused soul, the aspirants expand their mind or soul transcendentally to attain a spiritual awakening or to return to God.

          Zen meditation is different in its approach but the ultimate aim is the same. Instead of first concentrating the mind and then expanding to Universal Mind through concentration and contemplation, Zen aspirants aim directly at no-mind which is Universal Mind.

          The underlying philosophy is as follows. Everything is originally Universal Mind, or described in some religions as there is nothing by God. But we mortals experience the undifferentiated Universal Mind as the phenomenal world because of thoughts. One way to return to Universal Mind or God is to tear down the countless thoughts, as in concentration and contemplation. This is referred to as a gradual path.

          Another way, referred to as a sudden path, is to aim straight at no thoughts. When no thoughts arise, phenomena disappear and Universal Mind or the Supreme Reality naturally results.

          This is what is meant by saying that nirvana and samsara are the same, the difference is a matter of spiritual perspective. In other words, it is the same Cosmic Reality, but when we have thoughts we perceive and experience the undifferentiated Cosmic Reality as countless entities in our phenomenal world.

          In scientific context, everything is an undifferentiated spread of energy. But conceptualization transforms the undifferentiated energy into countless objects in our so-called objective world.

          Hui Neng, the Sixth Patriarch, describes this Truth poetically. When one is unenlightened, he is a mortal; when he is enlightened he is Buddha.

          At the mundane level, we employ the sudden path in our arts and daily life. Other people may have to practice chi kung for months before they can have a chi flow. We enter into a chi kung state of mind, and have a chi flow within a minute.

          Other people have to practice appropriate exercises for months to have internal force. We enter Zen or Tao, consolidate our energy flow and experience internal force in fifteen minutes!

          Other people have to concentrate their mind and contemplate on their problems for months, yet may not have a solution. We throw the problems into the Cosmos and within five minutes a solution appears.

          Other people not exposed to our training will think we are boastful. But our students who have direct experience of the benefits know that we are merely stating the truth.
          "From formless to form, from form to formless"

          26.08.17-28.08.17: Qi Gong Festival with 6 courses in Bern:
          Qiflow-Triple Stretch Method-12 Sinewmetamorphisis-Bone Marrow Cleansing-Zen Mind in Qi Gong

          Website: www.enerqi.ch

          Comment


          • #95
            Dear Sigung,
            Thank you for your kindness, abundant generosity and wisdom. I am so grateful to be one of your students. We are truly blessed.
            With deepest gratitude,
            Matt

            With love and Shaolin salute /o

            "Your purpose in life is to find your purpose & give your whole heart and soul to it." - Buddha

            Gate gate pāragate pārasaṃgate bodhi svāhā.

            Comment


            • #96
              Dear all,
              All good things have an end sometimes. The Zen-Q/A series are completed.

              I would like to thank Sifu for all his time and generousity from my heart.

              We all know even those who haven't attended or can't attend a Zen course benefit greatly from the answers given. Some of my students highlighted: even the reading gave them in some way a push onto another level, imagine what such a course will do.

              All the best to everyone.
              "From formless to form, from form to formless"

              26.08.17-28.08.17: Qi Gong Festival with 6 courses in Bern:
              Qiflow-Triple Stretch Method-12 Sinewmetamorphisis-Bone Marrow Cleansing-Zen Mind in Qi Gong

              Website: www.enerqi.ch

              Comment


              • #97
                This has been epic! Thank you Sigung and Roland Sipak.

                Comment


                • #98
                  article

                  Today I found this article in Biological Science:

                  Professional ball game players report the feeling of the ball ‘slowing-down’ before hitting it. Because effective motor preparation is critical in achieving such expert motor performance, these anecdotal comments imply that the subjective passage of time may be influenced by preparation for action. Previous reports of temporal illusions associated with action generally emphasize compensation for suppressed sensory signals that accompany motor commands. Here, we show that the time is perceived slowed-down during preparation of a ballistic reaching movement before action, involving enhancement of sensory processing. Preparing for a reaching movement increased perceived duration of a visual stimulus. This effect was tightly linked to action preparation, because the amount of temporal dilation increased with the information about the upcoming movement. Furthermore, we showed a reduction of perceived frequency for flickering stimuli and an enhanced detection of rapidly presented letters during action preparation, suggesting increased temporal resolution of visual perception during action preparation. We propose that the temporal dilation during action preparation reflects the function of the brain to maximize the capacity of sensory information-acquisition prior to execution of a ballistic movement. This strategy might facilitate changing or inhibiting the planned action in response to last-minute changes in the external environment.

                  Comment


                  • #99
                    Dear Sigung and Roland Sisook!

                    This thread is just amazing! I have learned so much! Thank you for contributing your time and effort! Those going for the course are very lucky!

                    Dear Mariangela Siguje,

                    thank you for providing this very interesting excerpt. I wanted to read more have found the whole article here: http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.o...2012.1339.full

                    (in case anyone is interested)

                    Best regards,

                    Anton.
                    Engage and maintain joyful practice!

                    May all of you get the best benefits from what you do.

                    Anton Schmick
                    Shaolin Wahnam Germany Nord

                    shaolinwahnamchina.com
                    http://chikunghamburg.wordpress.com
                    http://shaolinwahnam-nord.de
                    http://kungfu-luebeck.de

                    Comment


                    • yes

                      yes, so much effort and work to find a chemical proof to what the old masters have known for millennia...

                      Comment

                      Working...
                      X