About sophrology ????

[Johnv]

Actually, we had a thread on martial arts a few months ago.

Yes, I remember it. Those saying no christian should take karate sounded just as ridiculous.

 

[Marcia]

I will read your Articles as I find them interesting. However, the practice of siting in the Sieza posture like food is not bad. Practicing breathing to calm nerves and focus mind is not bad. Closing your eyes is not bad. Doing all these things together are not bad. Doing all these things and empting your mind and becoming self absorbed is. Thats how they relate. Principle is the same.

The breathing techniques in most things such as the OP brought up are based on Eastern meditation. These breathing techniques are actually ways to induce self-hypnosis (a light trance state). In this state, the judgment and critical thinking are suspended. If one does these things systematically, there are results (that are not good). I did this for 15 years.

 

[Marcia]

Yes, I remember it. Those saying no christian should take karate sounded just as ridiculous.

Imo, it depends on how the teacher is teaching it. I am asked a lot about martial arts. The soft martial arts such as aikido and tai chi should be avoided because they deal directly with spiritual beliefs and are based on them.

Karate is a hard martial art - the moves can be taught as defense.

But many karate teachers have the students meditate and often the students must bow to a photo or picture of a dead teacher in that lineage. This brings up other issues some Christians are not comfortable with. The atmosphere of some karate studios is very Eastern - so it depends a lot on the teacher and the school it's in.

But this off-topic - if you want to discuss it, you should start a thread.

 

[Johnv]

The breathing techniques in most things such as the OP brought up are based on Eastern meditation.

So what? Our days of the week are based on idolatry. Several of the names of the month are implimented to honor false gods. Our numerals came from Islam. The handshake is an idolatrous ritual. Unless you abandon those first, you're not being consistent.

But this off-topic - if you want to discuss [karate], you should start a thread.

No need. Karate doesn't compromise my faith, not in the slightest. If someone else finds it compromises their faith, then they should refrain. But if they insist that others also must refrain, then they don't have a scriptural leg to stand on.

 

[Marcia]

So what? Our days of the week are based on idolatry. Several of the names of the month are implimented to honor false gods. Our numerals came from Islam. The handshake is an idolatrous ritual. Unless you abandon those first, you're not being consistent.
.

Yes, I know this but using the days of the week is not a spiritual practice. There is a distinction between days of the week and practicing some of the things I address in my ministry. There is no valid analogy here.

Karate doesn't compromise my faith, not in the slightest. If someone else finds it compromises their faith, then they should refrain. But if they insist that others also must refrain, then they don't have a scriptural leg to stand on

I also find that many times, people don't think something is affecting them, but it ends up doing so. I did not say you should not do karate - I said something about it above.

 

[Johnv]

Yes, I know this but using the days of the week is not a spiritual practice.

You hit the nail on the head: SPIRITUAL practice. Using feng shui techniques when decorating one's home is not a spiritual practice.

I also find that many times, people don't think something is affecting them, but it ends up doing so.

And when they do, then they shoud cease. That does not, however, mean that everyone who does these things is guilty of occultism.

 

[Marcia]

You hit the nail on the head: SPIRITUAL practice. Using feng shui techniques when decorating one's home is not a spiritual practice.

I think my information in the articles on Feng Shui show clearly that it is.

It is believed feng shui probably emerged in the second century b.c.25 Originally used as a method of “divining” where to dig graves, feng shui developed into a way to discover where to build homes and cities.26 Buddhism absorbed feng shui soon after it migrated into China in about the first century a.d. and built its temples according to feng shui principles.27 Rosemary Guiley, a writer on the occult and the paranormal, gives three roots of feng shui: the religion of Taoism; divination practices “based on patterns in nature”; and astrology, numerology, and other methods used to determine the placement of things, a crucial aspect of Chinese beliefs.28 Early feng shui masters were priests and holy men who passed on its principles orally.29

The Tao, the Trigrams, and Reading Patterns
Feng shui was seen as a study of “the way of heaven and earth in relation to humans” so that one can choose a life and place to live that harmonizes with our ren tao, which is “the way of being human.”30 The Taoist relationship between heaven, earth, and man is referred to as “the three gifts,” which is represented graphically by eight different combinations of three parallel unbroken and broken lines called trigrams. These trigrams, which are often carved on coins, are the basis of the complex I Ching, an ancient book containing 64 hexagrams used as a tool of divination. The I Ching is based on the Taoist method of reading patterns of change in the universe.31 One article says, “The root of all ancient Chinese science, symbolically and energetically, balances Man, in perfect harmony between Heaven and Earth, as defined by the workings of nature and graphically represented by the trigrams.”32


The trigrams are also related to the yin and yang energies, which must be balanced in feng shui. The Tao is the state of stillness from which all things originate; from that comes the constant change (called t’ai-chi) and interchange between the yin and yang energies, from creation to dissolution.33 Yin and yang, in a complex pattern, generate the trigramsor pakua, which are illustrations of the moving yin and yang energies.34 Feng shui seems to have arisen out of a desire for harmony between the elements, nature, and man in order to prevent disaster and keep evil at bay in a world full of the unexpected.

THE TOOLS OF FENG SHUI
A feng shui consultant must take many things into account: how the chi is flowing in a house, the shape of the land and house, the directions the rooms face, the location of the rooms, the decor of the home, and the landscaping of the yard/garden.35 They are also factored in with yin and yang, along with the five elements of water, earth, fire, metal, and wood.36 Feng shui practice can include traditional feng shui, modern interpretations of feng shui, geomancy, dowsing, space clearing, and astrology.37

 

[Johnv]

I think my information in the articles on Feng Shui show clearly that it is.

You're presuming spiritual application in a practical application, where no spiritual application exists.

 

[Marcia]

You're presuming spiritual application in a practical application, where no spiritual application exists.

Feng Shui is not based on practical application; the goal is not to have nice decor. The goal is manipulating chi, yin and yang, harmonizing the 5 elements, and bringing "good luck" to areas of life.

I think it is highly possible you did not use real Feng Shui, but rather a Westernized watered-down form of it. It takes a long time to learn Feng Shui.

 

[JMSR]

I was just thinking that organizing a room and making colors work may not necessarily be feng shui just because you call it that.

 

[Marcia]

I was just thinking that organizing a room and making colors work may not necessarily be feng shui just because you call it that.

Right. In fact, that is not Feng Shui. As I've said over and over, Feng Shui is not a decorating scheme. It is a form of geomancy, the belief that placement of objects or land shapes has spiritual and real affects on one's prosperity, health, love life, etc.

Feng Shui (wind and water)--also known as Chinese geomancy., Geomancy is the of positioning physical objects in strategic locations in home and work environments to stimulate optimal wellness, wealth, and happiness. Each room is divided into nine sections called quas when considering where to put things. Nine sections called Quas represented in the Feng Shui Baqua are:

• skills/knowledge/wisdom
• family/family relationships
• wealth/opportunity
• fame/reputation
• marriage/love relationships
• children/creativity
• travel/helpful people
• career/lifepath
• health/wellness

http://healing.about.com/od/glossary/g/geomancy.htm

Geomancy is the art of reading energetic interactions that occur here on Earth and how they affect us.

Most ancient cultures (Aboriginal, African, American Indian, Celtic, Chinese, Egyptian, Indian, Nordic, Mayan etc.) have their own systems of explanation.

Feng Shui, the Chinese Taoist form of Geomancy, provides one of the most comprehensive and well documented explanations.

http://www.geomantic.co.uk/

Feng shui (English pronunciation: /ˌfʌŋˈʃweɪ/ fung′-shway′,[1] formerly /ˈfʌŋʃuː.i/ fung′-shway;[2] simplified Chinese: 风水; traditional Chinese: 風水; pinyin: fēng shuǐ, pronounced [fə́ŋʂwèi]) is an ancient Chinese system of aesthetics believed to use the laws of both Heaven (astronomy) and Earth (geography) to help one improve life by receiving positive qi.[3] The original designation for the discipline is Kan Yu (simplified Chinese: 堪舆; traditional Chinese: 堪輿; pinyin: kānyú; literally: Tao of heaven and earth).[4]
The term feng shui literally translates as "wind-water" in English. This is a cultural shorthand taken from the following passage of the Zangshu (Book of Burial) by Guo Pu of the Jin Dynasty:[5]

Qi rides the wind and scatters, but is retained when encountering water.[5]
​

Traditional feng shui practice always requires an extremely accurate Chinese compass, or luo pan, in order to determine the directions in finding any auspicious sector in a desired location.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feng_shui

 

[Thinkingstuff]

Marcia, I built my house on a Vortex in Sadona, AZ. Is that bad? :smilewinkgrin:

 

[tinytim]

From my casual observance of this thread... I think there is a fundamental misunderstanding between John and Marcia on "energy"...

Would each of you define what you mean by "Energy" when doing interior decorating?

BTW... I see some good points in both of your arguments.

 

[Marcia]

Marcia, I built my house on a Vortex in Sadona, AZ. Is that bad? :smilewinkgrin:

I don't think you live in Sedona. :tongue3:

 

[Marcia]

From my casual observance of this thread... I think there is a fundamental misunderstanding between John and Marcia on "energy"...

Would each of you define what you mean by "Energy" when doing interior decorating?

BTW... I see some good points in both of your arguments.

Energy as used in Feng Shui and the New Age and occult (and a myriad of animistic beliefs/practices) is unquantifiable and is part of a spiritual belief system. It is not natural, like electricity. Sometimes this energy is equated with God, sometimes not. But manipulating, channeling, and attempts to control such energy, for whatever purpose, is a central belief in and part of occult and animistic practice. Many things are based on this principle, such as Reiki, Tai Chi, Qi Gong, energy healing, and many others.

 

[Johnv]

Would each of you define what you mean by "Energy" when doing interior decorating?

You know, the feel, the expression of tension or relaxation in an room, the flow, the vibe, the harmoniousness, the bow chicka wow wow.

 

[Marcia]

You know, the feel, the expression of tension or relaxation in an room, the flow, the vibe, the harmoniousness, the bow chicka wow wow.

This is what I was beginning to think you meant by "energy." What you mean here is atmosphere, I think. And this is not chi nor the occult energy I define above (and how others define it). Therefore, if you decorate according to this, you are not using Feng Shui.

 

[JMSR]

Problem solved. :smilewinkgrin: When I was single I had some feng shui. If I had the energy to get the sofa in the house, wherever I stopped, that's where it went.

 

[Johnv]

This is what I was beginning to think you meant by "energy." What you mean here is atmosphere, I think. And this is not chi nor the occult energy I define above (and how others define it). Therefore, if you decorate according to this, you are not using Feng Shui.

Like I've been saying all along, it's not unscriptural to use some PRINCPLIES of Feng Shui to decorate a room. I'm been saying all along that simply using some principles doesn't equate to engaging in an occultic practice.

 

[JMSR]

Like I've been saying all along, it's not unscriptural to use some PRINCPLIES of Feng Shui to decorate a room. I'm been saying all along that simply using some principles doesn't equate to engaging in an occultic practice.

I think she might be questioning wether or not you actually are using feng shui principles.