Chinese folk religion
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_folk_religion
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_China
"There was something undefined and complete, coming into existence
before Heaven and Earth... It may be regarded as the Mother of all things.
I do not know its name, and I give it the designation of the Tao (the
Way or Course). Making an effort (further) to give it a name I call it
The Great. (Legge, chap. 25)
(The Tao) produces (all things) and nourishes them.... (Legge, chap.10)"
Photos: http://www.taopage.org/pictures.html
Meditation Chinese
http://tw.wildmind.org/ (Taiwan)
http://chinese.wildmind.org/ (Mainland China)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bmissionc6/message/54
Breathing in, I know I am breathing in.
Breathing out, I know I am breathing out.
In/Out.
Breathing in, I see myself as a flower.
Breathing out, I feel fresh.
Flower/Fresh.
Breathing in, I see myself as a mountain.
Breathing out, I feel solid.
Mountain/Solid.
Breathing in, I see myself as still water.
Breathing out, I reflect things as they are.
Water/Reflecting.
Breathing in, I see myself as space.
Breathing out, I feel free.
Space/Free.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bmissionc6/message/474
In beauty may I walk...
http://www.wildmind.org/meditation/walking/inbeauty.html
In beauty may I walk...
In beauty may I walk.
All day long may I walk.
Through the returning seasons may I walk.
On the trailed marked with pollen may I walk.
With grasshoppers about my feet may I walk.
With dew about my feet may I walk.
With beauty may I walk.
With beauty before me, may I walk.
With beauty behind me, may I walk.
With beauty above me, may I walk.
With beauty below me, may I walk.
With beauty all around me, may I walk.
In old age wandering on a trail of beauty, lively, may I walk.
In old age wandering on a trail of beauty, living again, may I walk.
It is finished in beauty.
It is finished in beauty.
A Navajo Indian Prayer
======================
What is walking meditation?
http://www.wildmind.org/meditation/walking/overview.html
Walking meditation is a form of meditation in action.
In walking meditation we use the experience of walking as our focus.
We become mindful of our experience while walking, and try to keep our
awareness involved with the experience of walking. Actually, there are
several different kinds of walking meditation. We'll just be looking
at one of them in detail, although we'll touch on the others. Once
you've mastered one form, you'll easily be able to pick up the others.
Obviously, there are some differences between walking meditation and
sitting meditation. For one thing we keep our eyes open during walking
meditation! That difference implies other changes in the way we do the
practice. We are not withdrawing our attention from the outside world
to the same extent that we do when we are doing the Mindfulness of
Breathing or Metta Bhavana practices. We have to be aware of things
outside of ourselves (objects we might trip over, other people that we
might walk into) and there are many other things outside of ourselves
that we will be more aware of than when we are doing sitting -
especially if we sit inside. These include the wind, the sun, and the
rain; and the sounds of nature and of humans and machines.
But one of the biggest differences is that it's easier, for most
people, to be more intensely and more easily aware of their bodies
while doing walking meditation, compared to sitting forms of practice.
When your body is in motion, it is generally easier to be aware of it
compared to when you are sitting still. This can make walking
meditation an intense experience. You can experience your body very
intensely, and you can also find intense enjoyment from this practice.
The form of walking meditation we'll be introducing here is best done
outdoors. For your first attempt, you might want to find a park or
open space where you will be able to walk for twenty minutes without
encountering traffic.
======================
Technique in Walking Meditation
http://www.buddhanet.net/xmed7.htm
» Parts of the steps - illustrated
Click to view:
http://www.buddhanet.net/walking.htm
Walking Meditation While meditation is usually associated with the
sitting posture, insight meditation exercises can be practised while
walking. Walking in insight meditation is essentially about the
awareness of movement as you note the component parts of the steps.
When walking meditation alternates with sitting meditation it helps to
keep the meditation practice in balance.
Walking meditation is also a skilful way to energise the practice
if the calming effect of sitting is making you dull or you are
becoming over concentrated. Actually, it can be the preferred mode in
insight meditation as it is meditation in action.
How to do it ...
Establish your attentiveness by first noting the standing posture
and the touch sensations of the feet at the start of the walking
track. (You will need to find a walking path with a level surface from
five to ten metres on which you walk back and forth). The arms should
hang naturally with the hands lightly clasped in front. Allow the eyes
to gaze at a point about two metres in front of you on the ground to
avoid visual distractions. Then as you walk keep the attention on the
sole of the foot, not on the leg or any other part of the body.
For the first five minutes you can note just three parts of the
step: 'lifting', 'pushing', 'dropping'. Then mentally note or label
each step part by part building up the noting to its six component
parts: 'raising', 'lifting', 'pushing', 'dropping', 'touching' and
'pressing' - concurrent with the actual experience of the movement.
While walking and noting the parts of the steps you will probably
find the mind still thinking. Not to worry, keep focused on the noting
of the steps if the thoughts are experienced just as 'background
thoughts'. However, it you find you have been walking 'lost in
thought' you must stop and vigorously note the thinking as 'thinking',
'thinking', 'thinking'. Then re-establish your attention on the
movement and carry on. Also be careful that the mental noting does not
become so mechanical that you lose the experience of the movement.
Try to do a minimum walking period of half an hour and build it up
to a full hour. Strategically it is better to do a walking period
before a sitting session as it brings balance into the practice. If
you can alternate the walking and sitting sessions without any major
breaks it will develop a continuity of awareness that naturally
carries through into the awareness of your daily activities.
Meditation
http://www.daoisopen.com/Meditation.html
What is Walking Meditation?
(Tai Chi Walk)
http://www.wildmind.org/walking/
I'd heard of the practice of Walking Meditation, but I never took it
seriously. My training in meditation was based on sitting still and
allowing my thoughts to become still. How could a person walk while
meditating?
Recently, I researched Walking Meditation more thoroughly, but the
only practices I discovered suggested methods that seemed alien to me.
Walking Meditation was compared to the practice of TaiJiQuan or
QiGong, wherein the practitioner concentrated on their movements while
quieting their minds.
Then I remembered a practice I do myself that I never put a name to,
and I realized that I was practicing Walking Meditation! It started
many years ago quite by accident. I was walking down the street with a
friend. All of a sudden, I became aware of my legs - walking. I didn't
have to be consciously aware of the fact that my legs were moving in
order to move down the street. I was like a head moving without being
aware of anything that my body was doing. As I concentrated on my
legs, I noticed that my other thoughts vanished.
Over the years, I found that there were times my mind was so involved
with its own thoughts that I wasn't aware of anything else. Sometimes
the thoughts got so intense that they became like a movie I was
writing without any basis in reality. I imagined all sorts of
scenarios: "What if?..." And I came across so many other people who
were doing the same thing - thinking everything to death.
So, I came up with my own form of Walking Meditation. I've given my
method to others in the past, especially when they've gotten
themselves so embroiled in their own "What if...?"s that they turned
themselves into nervous wrecks. They told me that it worked!
You can practice Walking Meditation anywhere at any time. I've even
done it in the past when I was confined to a wheelchair. The idea of
"walking" doesn't necessarily involve moving your legs.
My Method of Walking Meditation
As you walk (move), feel every part of your body automatically going
through the motions. Feel your heart pumping, your lungs inhaling and
exhaling, your muscles performing just what they're supposed to be
doing. Do you have to force any of the movements? No, they just
naturally do their thing. Leave them alone now - they don't need you
attention.
Look around you. What do you see? A tree? Do you name the tree - is it
an oak or a pine tree or a maple? Does it matter? Don't think about
what you know intellectually about the tree. Just look at it. Look at
the bark, the leaves - examine it as though you'd never seen a tree
before. Isn't it an incredible life force?
Look at everything you see as though you were seeing it for the first
time. A flower, a building, a street sign, a rock, a cloud. See the
contours and the colors. Experience each thing, as though you were
inside of it.
Listen. What do you hear? A dog barking, a truck roaring down the
road, an airplane, the wind? Do you give each sound a name? Don't name
the sounds. If you name them, you'll come up with opinions about
whether it's a welcome sound or a disturbing sound. Is it necessary to
differentiate between the roar of an engine and the babble of a brook?
Every sound can be delightful if you don't search for its source.
Feel. What do you feel? The wind on your face, the warmth of the sun,
your muscles in action? Let your skin welcome every one of the sensations.
Smell. How often do you actually smell the air? Maybe you're just
aware of the smells that are overpowering - categorizing them as
pleasant smells or unpleasant smells.
Let everything swirl around you and enter you. When you stop thinking
about what you're experiencing or making judgements about what you're
experiencing, then you can actually experience. A smile will appear on
your face for no apparent reason. You've let yourself become like the
wind, the flower, the sky. It's okay. Enjoy.
Taoist Tai Chi
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taoist_Tai_Chi
http://www.taopage.org/resources.htm (Resources)
I-ching (Book of Changes) (pdf file) in Chinese
http://resources.taopage.org/docs/iching_chin.pdf
Tao-te ching is being considered the Bible of Taoism
http://www.taopage.org/tao_te_ching.html
T'ai-chi - translated literally "the beam sustaining the roof".
I-ching concept with reference to the fundamental reality. In I-ching
it reads: "Therefore in (the system of) the Yi there is the Grand
Terminus [t'ai-chi], which produced the two elementary Forms. Those
two Forms produced the Four emblematic Symbols, which again produced
the eight Trigrams." (Legge)
What is Tao?
The word "tao" is translated as "way", "road", "method", "technique"
or "principle". As a concept, Tao is the most important topic in the
philosophical Taoism (tao-chia).
tao graphs
The Chinese character for tao is made of 2 signs
http://www.taoism-directory.org/forums_directories.html
"The followers of the robber Kih asked him, saying, "Has the robber
also any method or principle [i.e. tao] (in his proceedings)?" He
replied, "What profession is there which has not its principles? That
the robber in his recklessness comes to the conclusion that there are
valuable deposits in an apartment shows his sageness; that he is the
first to enter it shows his bravery; that he is the last to quit it
shows his righteousness; that he knows whether (the robbery) may be
attempted or not shows his wisdom; and that he makes an equal division
of the plunder shows his benevolence. Without all these five qualities
no one in the world has ever attained to become a great robber. (From
Chuang-tzu, Chap. X, Cutting open Satchels.)"
Health benefits of Tai Chi
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T%27ai_Chi_Ch%27uan
Before Tai Chi's introduction to Western students, the health benefits
of tai chi chuan were largely explained through the lens of
Traditional Chinese medicine; which is based on a view of the body and
healing mechanisms not always studied or supported by modern science.
Today, some prominent tai chi teachers have advocated subjecting tai
chi to rigorous scientific studies to gain acceptance in the West.[1]
Researchers have found that long-term T'ai Chi practice shows some
favorable but statistically insignificant effects on the promotion of
balance control, flexibility and cardiovascular fitness and reduced
the risk of falls in elderly patients.[2] The studies also show some
reduced pain, stress and anxiety in healthy subjects. Other studies
have indicated improved cardiovascular and respiratory function in
healthy subjects as well as those who had undergone coronary artery
bypass surgery. Patients may also benefit from T'ai Chi who suffered
from heart failure, high blood pressure, heart attacks, arthritis,
multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's, and Alzheimer's. However, a thorough
review of most of these studies showed limitations or biases that made
it difficult to draw firm conclusions on the benefits of Tai Chi.[3]
There have also been indications that Tai Chi might have some effect
on noradrenaline and cortisol production with an effect on mood and
heart rate. However, as with many of these studies, the effect may be
no different than those derived from other types of physical exercise.[4]
Even for the young, Tai Chi's focus on relaxing the kua may be a
contributing factor in the greater pelvic flexibility observed in
Asian countries and the use of the squatting position as a more common
rest mode.[5]
In one study, T'ai Chi has also been shown to reduce the symptoms of
Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in 13 adolescents.
The improvement in symptoms seem to persist after the Tai Chi sessions
were terminated. [6] T'ai Chi's gentle, low impact movements
surprisingly burn more calories than surfing and nearly as many as
downhill skiing.[7] In addition, a pilot study, which has not been
published a peer-reviewed medical journal, has found preliminary
evidence that T'ai Chi and related qigong may reduce the severity of
diabetes.[8]
A recent study evaluated the effects of two types of behavioral
intervention, Tai Chi and health education, on healthy adults, who
after 16 weeks of the intervention, were vaccinated with VARIVAX, a
live attenuated Oka/Merck Varicella zoster virus vaccine. The Tai Chi
group showed higher and more significant levels of cell-mediated
immunity to varicella zoster virus than the control group which
received only health education. It appears that Tai Chi augments
resting levels of varicella zoster virus-specific cell-mediated
immunity and boosts the efficacy of the varicella vaccine. Tai Chi
alone does not lessen the effects or probability of a shingles attack,
but it does improve the effects of the varicella zoster virus vaccine. [9]
Now that the majority of health studies have displayed a tangible
benefit to the practice of tai chi, some health professionals have
called for more in-depth studies to determine mitigating factors such
as the most beneficial style, suggested duration of practice to show
the best results, and whether tai chi is equally effective as other
forms of exercise.
Taoism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taoism
Main article: Taoism
Taoism ("Tao Jiao", Religious Taoism) is an indigenous religion of
China and is traditionally dated to A.D. 142 with the founding of the
Way of the Celestial Masters by Zhang Daoling, although some Taoist
schools trace their origin much earlier. Taoist religion builds on
earlier concepts found in classic wisdom texts such as the Book of Tao
and Its Virtues or Dao De Jing(Tao Te Ching). This work is attributed
to the sage Lao Zi, a mythological person who subsequently came to be
venerated by some as a god. The philosophy of Taoism is centered on
'the way', an understanding of which can be likened to recognizing the
true nature of the universe. Taoism (in its unorganized form) is also
considered the folk religion of China.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taoism
The image
"http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/46/Dao4.svg/100px-Dao4.sv\
g.png"
cannot be displayed, because it contains errors.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/46/Dao4.svg/100px-Dao4.svg\
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Incense_taiwan_temple_fu_dog.jpg
Taoism Directory
http://www.taoism-directory.org/
Gods and goddesses
There are hundreds of gods and goddeses as well as "saints," immortals
and demigods. Historical figures noted for their bravery or virtue are
also venerated and honored with their own festivals after they are
apotheosized. The following list represents some commonly worshipped
deities:
(Note: This list is incomplete and should not be considered a full
representation)
* The Jade Emperor(玉帝, yǜ dμ), named Bairen Zhang,
king of
the gods, who stands in relation to the other gods as the human
emperors of old did to China's bureaucracy.
* Tu Di Gong (土地公, tǔ dμ gōng), the "God
of the earth", a
genius loci who protects a local place (especially hills), and whose
statue may be found in roadside shrines. He is also the god of wealth,
by virtue of his connection with the earth, and therefore, minerals
and buried treasure.
* Cai Shen (財神 "god of wealth"), named Gongming Zhao, who
oversees the gaining and distribution of wealth through fortune. He is
often the deified manifestation of certain historical
personalities.His shape is that of a giant blue whiskered cat.
* Guan Yu (關羽), the red-faced, bearded hero of Romance of
the Three Kingdoms and symbol of loyalty. He is the patron god of
policemen and law, and gangsters, as he shows forgiveness, and often
also serves as "Wu Sheng".
* Cheng Huang (城隍), a class of protective deities: Each
city
has a Cheng Huang who looks after the fortunes of the city and judges
the dead. Usually these are famous or noble persons from the city who
were deified after death. The Cheng Huang Miao (城隍廟) or
"Shrine of
the Cheng Huang" was often the focal point of a town in ancient times.
* Mazu (媽祖), the patron goddess of sailors. Shrines can be
found in coastal areas of Eastern and South-Eastern China. Today,
belief in Mazu is especially popular in the South and South-East,
including Fujian (福建), Guangdong (廣東), Hainan
(海南), Taiwan (台
灣), Hong Kong (香港), and Vietnam (越南).
* Baosheng Dadi (保生大帝), the "Great Emperor
Protecting
Life." A divine physician, whose powers extend to raising the dead.
Worship is especially prevalent in Fujian and Taiwan.
* Xi Wangmu (西王母), the "Queen Mother of the West"
who
reigns over a paradisial mountain and has the power to make others
immortal. In some myths, she is the mother of the Jade Emperor
(玉帝).
* The Eight Immortals (ba xian, 八仙) are important literary
and artistic figures who were deified after death, and became objects
of worship.
* Zao Shen (灶君|灶神), the 'Kitchen God'
mentioned in the
title of Amy Tan's novel, The Kitchen God's Wife. He reports to heaven
on the behavior of the family of the house once a year, at Chinese New
Year, and is given sticky rice in order to render his speech less
comprehensible on that occasion.
* Wenchangdi (文昌帝 "Emperor Promoting Culture"), god
of
students, scholars, and examination. He is worshipped by students who
wish to pass their examinations. Inept examiners in ancient times
sometimes sought "divine guidance" from him to decide rank between
students.
* Zhusheng Niangniang (註生娘娘 "Birth-Registry
Lady").
Worshipped by people who want children, or who want their child to be
a boy.
* Yuexia Laoren (月下老人 "Old Man Under the
Moon"). The
matchmaker who pairs lovers together, worshipped by those seeking
their partner.
* Hu Ye (虎爺 "Lord Tiger"), a guardian spirit.
* Qiye (七爺 "Seventh Lord") and Baye (八爺
"Eighth Lord"),
two generals and best friends, often seen as giant puppets in street
parades. 7 is black, because he drowned rather than miss his
appointment to meet with 8, even though a flood was coming. 8 has his
tongue sticking out, because he hanged himself in mourning for 7.
* Jiu Wang Ye (九皇爺 "Nine Emperor God")is held over
the
first 9 days of the 9th lunar month to celebrate the return from
heaven to earth of the Nine Emperor spirits.
* Sun Wukong ("The Monkey King" or "Great Sage Equaling
Heaven") is the stone monkey born from heaven and earth who wreaked
havoc in heaven and was punished under the five elements mountain for
several years. Released by the Tang Priest, Chen Xuanzang (or
Sanzang), he traveled under Xuanzang as his disciple to the Thunder
Monastery in the West (presumably India) for the Buddhist scriptures
to redeem himself. Depending on which version of the Journey to the
West legend, where Sun Wukong supposedly originates, Sun Wukong is
only sometimes referred to as an actual God.
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