A Cure For Scepticism Perhaps???

[Guest Zenda]

Kia Ora!

It’s the poll lady again, this time you can blame ‘Leigh’ -him and his bloody thought provoking threads…No only joking - Leigh has given me an idea that hopefully will help/enlighten others in some 'way'...

Here’s a couple of links for the sceptic and non sceptic to help connect them with their energy force…

Perhaps one should check out the links first before ticking a box

http://people.howstuffworks.com/taoism-and-chi1.htm

http://www.eclecticenergies.com/chakras/chakratest.php

I wonder if what’s in these links will convert the harden sceptic???

May the force be with you…

Quote

"If you feel that you are not enlighten-you can always 'try' to be!

Harish Johari

Metta Jendar

[Guest Leigh]

lol..thanks Jendar. i feel cool for having inspired you...weird that i'm the first to reply to your thread??

i really want to start doing yoga again...that's what this thread has made me think...

and if i could find somewhere to learn taichi...

oh well. i will get closer to enlightenment, if for no other reason than i'm never going to stop trying..lol

thanks for the links.

peace&love

leigh

[Guest Zenda]

Kia Ora Leigh,

Here’s a couple of links that might be of interest…

http://zenhabits.net/2008/02/12-practical-...-with-the-flow/

http://www.worldtaichiday.org/LESSONTaiChi...anchorVIDEOLSSN This one's a free download taichi lesson…

I’m not on broadband so I didn’t download the ‘lesson’ one to check it out [it was going to take around 6 hours to download on dial up]

You might also find a local Tai-chi teacher on the same site…

Even though I would consider myself very open minded on a number of things, I do tend to be quite sceptical regarding anything I personally consider to be in the supernatural/superstitious realms-and what one considers supernatural/superstitious to be, depends on the individual…

However a lot of Eastern thought is about natural energies that can be harnessed and put to beneficial use and more importantly one can actually measure their effects…

What I believe and know is what I experience on a daily bases…And I tend to practice what I preach…

‘Meditation’ stills the mind>’Affirmation’ & ‘Visualisation’ re-programme’s it…We are in the pilot’s seat -the controls are and have always been in our hands-on a sub-conscious level we operate these controls for our basic survival needs each and everyday…If on a more conscious level we begin to do so with concentrated positive intent>one starts to live a more fulfilled life…

Taoist paradoxical koan…

“If you want to experience fulfilment in your life, learn to spend more time wanting what you ‘already’ have, and spend less time wanting what you don’t have!”…

Taoists like Zen masters purposely say things that are paradoxical and downright confusing, but it only seems that way when you're analyzing the words with logic. If you understand the words at a deeper level, that of your intuition, it can be very profound. A few single words can become entire philosophies of life. But insist on analyzing, and it will seem like nonsense…

A Buddhist proverb “When the student is ready-the teacher will appear!”

Good luck with your quest for a teacher...

Metta Jendar

[Guest April63]

I believe in Qi (chi). I voted yes for the chakras too, but it's really more like a 70% yes and 30% no. I don't believe every detail about qi and chakras, but I think some of it makes sense.

[Guest Zenda]

Kia Ora April,

Check out the 'Chi' link and try the experiment with one of your friends...It might suprise you and your friend...

Metta Jendar

[Guest Puppy Girl]

That is really cool! And the test was fairly accurate for me. Two years ago, before I started to study Buddhism, I think my answers would have been very different.

I was mostly in balance, except I have trust issues and am still working on my listening skills. The only one that was WAY off (overactive) was the third eye, which cracked me up because I do, in fact, hallucinate as part of my narcolepsy.

Highly amused! Thanks for posting that. And I'm making my SO do it when he gets home from work lol.

-Puppy Girl

[Guest roxannemariska]

Why on earth would I ever want to be less skeptical? I hope my skepticism deepens every day. The observable universe is not only weirder than we have imagined, it is weirder than we can imagine. If you like paradoxes, I recommend quantum mechanics, or if you want to go big, relativity.

I grant you that chi/chakra/woowoo can be profoundly powerful personal experiences, but they remain internal personal experiences. An external influence/power/wisdom/force has not be demonstrated. If anything, similar experiences between individuals would suggest that as humans we are all generally built the same way. Mystics make their living by obscure pronouncements. It's perfect, because they always lay the search for knowledge/wisdom in the lap of the listener. Thus, any answer the listener comes up with will make the mystic 'right.' Pass the hat.

Here's the kicker. I admit that there are vast areas of human experience we don't understand. To learn and understand about all that, we can't rely on the personal experience of one individual. It has to be independently demonstrated by...skeptics.

Let's do a quick thought experiment. Your child has smallpox. Chances of survival: slim. If she does survive: disfigurement. How shall we respond?

Answer 1. “If you want to experience fulfilment in your life, learn to spend more time wanting what you ‘already’ have, and spend less time wanting what you don’t have!”

Answer 2. "Administer the vaccine."

[Guest Weaver]

Skeptical of skepticism. What a paradox.

What is skepticism other than having an open mind? I know people that have been baffled by this questions saying that "Skeptics don't accept anything!".

QualiaSoup on YouTube made a great video about open-mindedness.

One of his friends believed his moving lamp shade was the sign of a ghost.

He told his friend to wait a little bit and then turned off a heater that was under the lamp, whereupon it stopped moving.

Who was most open-minded? QualiaSoup did not jump to a conclusion as his friend did. He considered that it was a ghost, but he also

considered it might be something else. He was open to a multitude of possibilities, which were all eliminated when he found that it

was the heater that caused it. His friend was close-minded because he did not allow any other possibility than a ghost.

He was using logic.

That said, no I don't believe in chi, and it's no 'cure' for skepticism. If I tell you that the moon is made of cheese and the sky is really water that's stuck up there;

You'd tell me that I was being silly, because you are also a skeptic. Children are not skeptical, and they believe anything you tell them, from the easter bunny to

that Santa will give them coal if they don't behave well. Everyone is a skeptic from the day they stop believing in any imaginary thing.

The difference between skeptics and skeptics is that some skeptics are not skeptical about things they ought to be skeptical about. I.E: Everything.