River's Chi House

Seven Reasons Why It's Better Not To Hate Them Even if they are really horrible, greedy, corrupt, and completely deserve it. . . By Diana Winston I KNOW HOW EASY IT IS to sit around during this election year and smolder in rage. I have years of personal experience reading newspapers or listening to news while the urge to violence hijacks my mind. Getting wind of the latest degradation to decades-old environmental legislation or another slash to health care and education is sure to get me steaming. I have entertained countless fantasies of moving to another country (and that's the tame end of things). But in spite of my anger, rage, and disbelief, I have a commitment to try not to hate, or at least to try to temper my hate with a little bit of compassion and understanding. Why? Well, I think it's the sane way to be—and my dharma practice demands it. To this end, I've concocted a set of reasons that I use to remind myself not to hate our government. These reasons are ...

Gregory J. Nicosia, Ph.D., B.C.F.E. is a licensed psychologist and the founder of Advanced Diagnostics, P.C., Pittsburgh's premiere center for the thought energy based psychotherapeutic treatment of trauma and remediation of cognitive dysfunction. Dr. Nicosia has helped to explore and elaborate the newest psychotherapies in the last 25 years including biofeedback and behavioral medicine, EMDR, and most recently thought field therapy. . Dr. Nicosia is the originator of TEST® Dx and ThoughtWorks® and has trained thousands of healthcare professionals throughout the U.S. in the use of TFT, and in his more recently developed Thought Energy Synchronization Therapy diagnostic and treatment procedures that have significantly expanded the range of effective application of energy psychology. He has authored a score of professional papers and articles, including publications on TFT and EMDR and was nominated as Pittsburgh Man of the Year in Science and Medicine for 1997. Dr. Nicosia is a Memb...

I very much liked Geshe Chongtu Rinpoche. I pasted some information and a link about him from his website can be found by clicking the title of this entry above. Geshe Chongtul Rinpoche has been teaching Bön religion in North America over the last decade. Each year the number of students increases because of a growing interest in meditation and in Bön religion. Rinpoche believes that the interest in Bön – particularly the Bön Dzogchen meditation system – reflects a growing desire for peace. The Bön ancient teachings offers a path to positive change in the life of an individual who is seeking peace, tranquility, and compassion in today’s world. Many westerners may feel a natural connection with Tibetans, Tibetan culture, and the ancient practice of Bön meditation because it applies equally well to people who have been born in many various times and places. Through the serious study and practice of this system, one can achieve peace within oneself which will naturally extend to ones’ rel...

From March 4th thru March 7, 2010 My and I attended a workshop on Death and Dying at Carnegie Mellon University Campus sponsored by the Olmo Ling Bon Buddhist Center and the Institute to Enhance Palliative Care, University of Pittsburgh the School of Social Work, University of Pittsburgh and the C.G. Jung Institute of Pittsburgh About the Workshop For thousands of years, the Tibetan spiritual traditions have cultivated practices to offer spiritual support to the dying and to prepare for a peaceful and conscious death. This workshop and training program brings together Tibetan lamas Geshe Chongtul Rinpoche and Tempa Dukte Lama, Zen priest and medical anthropologist Roshi Joan Halifax, PhD., and guest speaker Susan Hunt, MD. The workshop faculty presented compassionate care from a spiritual perspective and taught practices to support the dying and to prepare for a peaceful and conscious death. The Bon Buddhist teachings on death and dying invited us to explore the meaning of death in ou...

Facing Fear How can we meditate when we're too scared to get on the cushion? Lama Tsony gives us advice on practicing with fear. By Lama Tsony Lately I’ve been dealing with a lot of fear during my meditation practice. It seems to come from nowhere, and it either focuses on a specific attachment or it manifests as a more existential, nameless sort of thing. How can I deal with this? Fear is what happens when reality collides with our personal fiction. Our practice is based on expectations—expectations about who we are, why we are practicing, and what our practice should be. As our hope disintegrates, it may be replaced by fear. Our characteristics, personality, all of our beautiful plans and ideas are like snowflakes about to fall on the hot stone of our meditation practice. Maybe you’ve poked through boredom and have had a first taste of spaciousness. Until your experience has become stable, the fear remains that your dreams, your life, and your base could fall apart. The more you...

One Hand Near One Hand Far is a very powerful healing technique developed by a chi kung master named Dr Zia Gang Sha. You can find more about him by clicking the tiltle of this entry and it will take you there. I posted this information a couple of years ago but I think it is time to do it again. Start by being aware of the lower dan tien. Move your awareness from lower dan tien to the laboring Palaces. If you have a place in your body that hurts or needs help place one of your hands, we will call this hand the near hand, about 4 to 7 inches away from the painful area. Point your first two fingers of that hand at the painful area. Imagine that energy is flowing from your lower dan tien to the Laboring Palace of the near hand. Then guide the chi from laboring palace out through the two pointing fingers into the area in your body being treated. This is One hand Near. Now take the other hand which we will call the far hand, and place it about 12 to 20 inches from your lower dan tien. Aim ...