330 From: "ilgu99" <ilgu99@yahoo.com>
Date: Tue Mar 15, 2005 6:39pm
Subject: Taoist smile meditation ilgu99
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(stress relief by meditation)
Try "Taoist Smile Meditation":
Lao-tzu said, while explaining Wu-wei ("no-action"), that a wise king
rules his country not by intervening but by letting things run their
course (flowing with Tao (Nature), not against). (Of course, the king
was a well-behaved one, too. "Well-behaved" here means maintaining
good conduct, thereby "keeping peace with oneself".)
How so? The Tao-te-ching Sutra of Lao-tzu said "When nothing is done,
nothing is left undone". This implies that "No-action is more
powerful
than the most powerful action". Don't try to understand this: just
try
to believe it (come to think of it, it makes sense too, sort of).
This is a religious belief, and that's why Taoism is a religion. Like
many other religions, it is based on the "Original purity of
mankind".
This is why "a shovel cannot move rocks, while a prayer can move the
mountains".
"Wu-wei" roughly means "an action with minimal movement of your mind".
(It presupposes that you are a well-behaved person, too.) The
closest
(and the easiest) you can get in imitating this Wu-wei (as a
meditation)
is:
1) Assume that you are the king of a country.
2) Assume that your body is your country.
3) "Wear a smile", and keep smiling gracefully like a king (and
don't
intervene).
This "meditation" works well on minor (but nasty) irritations such as
headache, insomnia, indigestion, backache, shoulder pain, neck pain,
job-related stresses, family problems etc., and when you are trying
to
kick the habit (alcohol, tobacco, drug, over-eating). Basically,
it operates the same way as hypnotic regression or spiritual healing.
It restores everything back to where it was ("nothing is left
undone").
Just like the "reset" button on your computer.
[Smile is the first "mudra" (Sanskrit, seal of law) of a Buddha --
ever wondered about that mystic smile on Buddha's face?
Sitting cross-legged is the lotus posture of your body; wearing a
smile
(without intervention) is the "lotus posture" of your mind. So you
can
dance or run "cross-legged" also.
Like they say, "good things in life are free". One needs not booze up
or smoke away; just smile away.
For a "group therapy", why not have a "smile session" with your
partner, in the backyard, over a mild Chinese green tea?]
------------------------------------------------
If you are interested in Zen:
http://www.itsmysite.com/yourpage-- ilgu
