Zen and Tao merge?

Many people spend their whole lives seeking zen emptiness. But this is only the first step. One is not complete until one becomes full. This can happen (as often does in zen tradition) instantly at the sound of a tree branch breaking, or whatever, but there is a trigger.

So, +, – and 0, where 0 is emptiness is not equivalent to yin, yang, yaun nor is yaun or emptiness Tao. So “everything” is:

(+, – and 0 AND not +, – and 0), and
Not (+, – and 0 and not +, – and 0)

Regardless of Zen or Tao practice, one must create space in order to be filled. This is acheived in different ways. And in the end with both traditions (which are really just a new beginning) it is spontaneous. Which is THE universal REALITY regardless of tradition.

Inner Peace,

Matt

I disagree. If the universe decides that you ar ready than you are ready and events can happen, placed by divine grace that enable the change to occure. for eg. There was a certain change in me that needed to occur to enable me to accept the crystal in heart dantian, well below it. I did practise some hunyuan qigong and some portal system qigong for a couple of months, but I did it because I felt like it. No idea why, then I stopped and then a coworker asked my partner if we wanted to go to a “new age” indigo movie. She had free tickets for us. The morning before we went to the movie we taught qigong to about 5 of our students. The evening before I helped out a friend. During the movie I saw who and what I was and tears started streaming down my face unccontrollably. An epiphany. I was totally floored. You have an equation here: higher energy from qigong meditation and helping others in their energy work + compassion and understanding, good intentions with no thought of anything in return (helping friend) + open heart. And then when I went to do qigong practise the next day ….kerplunk!! There came the crystal. I did not have a master to tell me to do this nor that. I did not have any videos of Michael Winn’s. I did what my heart told me to do, what my higher self told me to do. For I truly believe that what works for one does not ALWAYS work for another and that there is always more than one way to skin a cat. The chemistry and energetic shift does need to be there but it can be obtained in different ways, and sometimes (and some of you scientific mathematicians and phsycists are not going to like this one), sometimes, most of the times we do not understand what it takes. WE do try though and that is good. But the universe is careful not to give us too much, for our own good I am sure for we have produced almost total annihilation more than once in our human history. Research and practise is good but I believe that results can be gotten by listening to our primordial self, our higherself and the divine grace of the creator. And until you get the recipe right within your heart you can do neigong, qigong, breathing exercises till the cows come home and you ain’t going nowhere. And if you do go anywhere it won’t be complete. To me .. my belief is that you can do allof the mathematics and physist calculations and exercises but you require an open heart to reach the true place. Sometimes the open heart is the most hardest to do. Gruelling exercises many will do but they refuse to delve into the heart and clean up the attic of illusions they have formed. Too much work that one is sometimes.
And no one holds the equation to that one except our inner self. And delaing with inner self … that can be scary … and actually defining truth while dealing with inner self in another story. That is an art in itself. Mind is always giving wrong way. Not always though so it can be a true screwup. Trick is to bypass mind, listen to heart. Listen is thru feeling not always thru inside hearing process. Feeling is delicate. Diffucult. Anyways exercises can help us get the feel of it but I was told by my 1st teacher/master that what you intend to receive is not brought to you by the methods you think. For eg. He always told me, see Karen … you practise taiji so much at the studio because your marriage is not so good and it gives you a place of peace, of escape. I was not thinking of getting to be good at taichi nor qigong but in escaping that is what I did. And I did not think of opening at all, nor later of producing a crystal (heck I didn’t even know I could do that or it could happen). It just happened. (mind you he also told me I wasn’t like other people but I believe I am more like a lot more people than orignally thought). And so the process you think you are doing for a reason, doesn’t always turn out to be for that reason, most times not. Because as humans if someone tells us not to think of the colour red. What do we do. Think of the colour red. So our higher self and our guides are well aware of this and as much as we may hate some of the journeys they put us on (I know I have), the end results are in our best interest (gad, sometimes I would love to debate that but I know better). So look back in your practise. Are you ignoring something that keeps poking its way to you. But you keep pushing it aside because someone said to do 100 low taichi squats or whatever a day. Well, just look. See with open heart. If something comes to you 3 times over and more if you are truly stubborn then it is telling you something. That is required for further development in YOURself.

I have kind of an inkling feeling that a lot of these grueling exercises and kowtowing, etc to “masters” is not always so necessary. I mean masters of earlier years needed people to feed them, care for them. And the exchange for this and knowledge was acceptable. Nowadays though things have changed. It is not so necessary. Human has evolved, communication is optimum, veils are lifting, energy is transforming.
Unfortunately just as in religion some of the energy masters have used control tactics in their best interest. Not so much for best global interest.

I am the first to admit that listening to heart and higher self is not easy and I fight it lots. But it is still the way. Why do you think that there are stories of monks or whoever who when they were told they were enlightened by the “master” he tore up the certificate and the fella who tore up all the books he wrote on enlightenment. I think there may be a message there for us. #1 message – change. Change in how we think, what is accepted, what is required, what is sought after, what is neeeded. Always change. Think about it.
#2, I think it tells us that what we think is a complicated thing is not. I was told by a student that his master taught him to go this way and that way and this way and that way and when he reached his enlightenment it was,well we can state it kind of physically, it was right there beside him at the very beginning. The master just did all of that so he was well based, well broadened. Sounds like this may kind of be akin to the fella who tore up the “certificate” when the master told him he was enlightened. I mean if I spent 30 years doing all kinds of exercises, etc. only to find out that all I had to do was one thing and maybe another thing and voila! I would have been a bit pissed too.

Take it easy with your learnings. LIght heart, open heart, humour, relationships, nature, life. Beautiful things. Don’t spend all the time in the gym or in a corner of your room meditating allthe time. Life is meant to be lived. Sure, meditation is good, but so is grounding with life. And to be sure too much qigong opens way to psychosis and imbalance. I know, I have been there.

Well just alittle of my thoughts on it is all.

Rainbows!