i know it sounds abit advanced, but has anyone tried training in solitude with nature eg. somewhere in the mountains? Would you ever consider it? I read a very inspiring true story on this type of training. Dont bother posting if you think its stupid
actually I live either close to the beach or on a lake, and I enjoy doing forms or meditating sitting on the pier or on the sand, early in the morning before it gets hot or noisy...solitude is bliss, clearing the mind, just hearing the waves...peace...
Sounds inspiring, thanks for the quick answer. One day i wish to do a similar journey to what takamatsu did.
NS, Not stupid at all and hardly advanced, afterall it's only a location. I myself live in the Mountains west of Sydney at quite a high altitude and I just walk into my backyard and I'm instantly in nature, surrounded by huge tree's and water, usually a good deal of morning mist etc. I used to train in parks in Sydney when I lived in the city and I always had excellent sessions in nature. It is not vital that you train in solitude but it certainly is beneficial. If you have the opportunity then go for it and if it's a public park don't worry about what people might think, just go for it. Best, Syd
what's the longest amount of time you have spent doing this? By advanced i meant trying to achieve some sort of enlightenment
I have been actively practicing Qigong for about 3 years but before that I was meditating more in the Western Esoteric Tradition. I think that the goal of Qigong is not to achieve enlightenment but this may be a case of semantics. I would have to ask you how *you* define enlightenment. Personally I practice Qigong to enhance my health, bathe the meridians, cultivate Qi for the benefit of use in healing and martial arts. If enlightenment (however one would wish to define it) is achieved at any point, then I would say it should be seen as a benefit rather than an goal. Things like striving for enlightenment within Internal Martial Arts, in my view, are distractions and concepts which can be misleading and not beneficial to progress. It is the same concept of looking for sensations when practicing Qigong, if you look for sensations then they will not appear, because your intent is not correct. I don't know what style of IMA you are involved in and what exactly you hope to gain from whatever practice you are involved in so it's difficult for me to comment. All I can say is that personally, for me, I believe that using enlightenment as a goal in and of itself is misleading and not beneficial to the student. It is like putting the cart before the horse. Just practice your internal meditation in whatever way you do and be in the moment without expectation. From this, progress will be made in the correct fashion and without conceptual attachment of the mind on material concepts of gain. You need to transcend the concept of needing to achieve a certain goal and just *BE*. Best, Syd
asceticism Just wondering, What was the reason for an ascetic/yamabushi mountain warrior for going into solitude up in the mountains, you always hear stories of them being up there. thanks :Angel:
i go off into the local forest for some personal training myself. it's nice to get away from it all and be able to focus on what im doing a bit more
I like solitude for training, too. Excellent place is the beach in the middle of winter; you won't find many people there. You can find solitude in the middle of the city, however, if you pick your time carefully -- 5:00 AM can be very quiet in the city. Assuming daylight at that hour, and a city where it's reasonably safe to be out and about at that time -- can be a good training opportunity.
not far enough from the topic to start another thread. the point of training at all available seconds of every day. even if you're just bored at the office you can train your hands to be stronger by "gripping". simple things like that can seriously help your training in the long run. every little , no matter how small, helps
