Bearded Dragon

Ok, I'll explain. Taiji is either translated as Supreme Ultimate or Grand Pole, or something like that. No phrase is really good it because it is NOT a thing. You could probably think of it like a singularity in terms of polarity, but not really because as soon as you start labeling it you put in in the field of duality and it's not there. It is your mind before any dualism. Since it is outside dualism it is also outside of creation. Having never been created it never dies. If Yang is a thing and Yin is no-thing (still a thing) then Taiji cannot be defined because definition pertains to duality. You say that Yang comes first then Yin. In actuality a Yin/Yang pair emerge from taiji at the same time. You could also say that you initiate yang (action) which at the same time defines the inaction (yin). The key part is neither the yin nor the yang but the Taiji of which is came from. There are other names like the mysterious female/pass. This is all to do with discovery of the self that never dies. Spirituality is working within duality to expose that which is outside duality. It is therefore important for anyone who claims mastery to at least have a concept of that which is beyond duality. I'll leave you to ponder that one for a bit.

It's hard to know what's going on when it happens. All the symptoms (vibrations, rising out of body, etc) are the same for lucid dream entry. Every time I have floated out of my body it has been into a lucid dream. Therefore, being a skeptic, I cannot confirm anything other than that unless I actually manage an OBE. Anyway, it's a lot of fun when it happens but I haven't had it happen for a long time. When I had time to spend a whole weekend on setting up my internal energy and posture then it came quite easy. Otherwise if I have any discomfort when going to bed it's almost guaranteed to not happen for me. The quality of your internal energy seems to be the key factor in the realism of a lucid dream. If it's not free-flowing and open then I would typically get a lucid dream where I'm all groggy like I've been drinking all night and can hardly stand up. The vibration on entry to lucid dreams was anything other than subtle, but not unpleasant. All I did was get extremely comfortable and get the feeling of melting into my bed. After quite a while (perhaps when hitting an REM cycle while being semi-aware) my whole body would start to vibrate all at once without intention to do so, then I'd either fall through my bed or raise up. This wasn't really under my control. It kinda just happened. I just went with it. I presume all of this would be a pre-requisite for astral travel as well. Some people apparently have success doing astral travel from a lucid dream so perhaps this could be easier. Unsure about astral travel but for lucid dreams I'd just work on having a perfect posture such that you are completely and utterly comfortable, then make sure your energy is flowing freely. Then just do nothing and wait. Perhaps just have the visualization of melting into the bed. That's it. I never needed an exit technique for that because you're not exiting anything.

I think I see what you're getting at now, TaoMaster. You need to put Taiji into the picure. I think when you do that your explanation will evolve somewhat. Pretty sure you're using taiji and yin interchangeably and in multiple contexts when this is not correct.

Non-doing is not such a difficult concept. I think where people go wrong is that they intentionally not do something. That is doing. Regardless, nobody ever does anything anyway. The point of the realisation of non-doing seems to be to avoid the buildup of karmic energy related to ideas of a separate self who does something. I think that's the only difference between doing and non-doing.

The unborn/uncreated mind is nothing at all. No attributes, no intuition, no knowing. These things come out of it. The mind doesn't go along with conditions because it isn't even in the same ball park as conditions. Come on, you know this already .

That's heading in the right direction. I thought in a similar manner at one point but I've changed my idea slightly. It's true that it's an instant phenomena. How could it be anything else since the present is the only time you ever do anything? Karma is merely to do with clinging to the energy of that instant rather than applying selflessly to the situation and moving on. Applying selflessly and moving on is merely acting on the potential of the situation in an instant without such a thought of the past or future. It is dealing with the matter here and now fully and completely. Passing out a few hundred dollar bills at a homeless shelter would be quite an ignorant plan, but who's to say it would be good or bad when actually carried out? You don't ever know what's going to go down. You might accidentally dish out your money at the local terror cell next door to the homeless shelter. Hardly "good karma" by the definition provided by the masses. Nevertheless one cannot state as a rule whether karmic energy would be generated. People can argue as much as they want about whether the past and future exist. It's beside the point here. Nobody could argue against the fact that the present is the only time you do anything. Therefore applying oneself fully and completely to the present situation is the highest virtue in freeing oneself from bounding karmic energy. One must learn to SEE in order to apply oneself optimally, but once you SEE you realise that everything is optimal/complete anyway. This is heading towards freedom from karma. If you want to take it back to yin and yang you could say that association with yin and yang is the binding of karma. Seeing that yin and yang are born from you but are not you (but still a part of you) is freedom from karma.

Just ignore him, Brian. He's like a typical religious nut..... taking a few facts and burying them in his own horrible ideas. My only hope is that nobody reads this crap and thinks it's worth anything. Any kind of cross-referencing or critical thinking will show its true worth so I don't think we have to worry too much.

The idea of having/not having is a dualistic concept to get over. The decision thing is an illusion by the way. You can think about it all you want but your brain will always crunch the numbers the same way. Your brain changes and situations change, so outcomes change. However in that instant of making a decision there is just the one outcome. This, I feel, helps to let go further. You can watch the autopilot go about its business in a deeper level of nondoing. This is confidence in the ability to be, without concern.

Anger is sometimes the fastest and most direct tool to get your point across. You just have to use it rather than let it use you.

Just don't go working on the other to balance it out. I tried that a few times and it always throws my back out. Balance is good. The bad side should catch up, or at least that's what I'm hoping.

I don't like "way/path" because it implies there is somewhere to go I don't like "void/space/emptiness" because it forms a nothing-something dualistic relationship I don't like "light" because of the light/dark dualistic relationship "Tao" is a good word for westerners. Nobody knows what it means. When you look up the meaning the meaning gets lost.

Wellll if you're attached to suffering how can it be anything other than a part of you? You are happy - it doesn't mean you're only happy. It's a part of you. You are suffering - it doesn't mean you're only suffering. It's a part of you. If you don't identify with it then it is not longer a part of you. Maybe it's a pretty intense feeling. Still, you can chose not to identify it even if it's taking up all of your attention. Inner peace is not something you have. It's receptive. Without state. It's not the same as happiness. It's merely a state free from conditional attachment whereby you are free to attach temporarily to whatever you want. Sounds nice, right? The question of what's left is obvious when you start working with refinement. After some practice things that at one point would be bothersome just bounce off. Sometimes you don't even notice these things anymore. Sometimes you do, at which point you are free to chose whether you react or not. This just continues until there is nothing left that sticks of its own accord. What I'm talking about is VERRRRYY ordinary. You can't be too quick to dismiss it for mystical experiences.

I see practice in two different ways. One way is that you're trying to achieve something. Maybe you get hung up on it. Maybe you try too hard. The other way is that you just do the practice. It's natural. You like doing it and anything that happens is a bonus. You don't think about it too much. The former is a backwards step in the enlightenment game. The latter is more or less going along with things, so it is a better function for return. In any case I see return as inevitable. Origin and return come into existence at the same time. How could it not be inevitable?

I like that approach as a baseline. Then on top of that it's helpful to be in undesirable situations as much as is helpful in regards to chipping away the negative reaction. Sometimes the difference between trauma and refinement is merely having the desire to be in the situation for refinement purposes.

The belief that thoughts and beliefs hold you back holds you back.

Religion, law, and social norms define good/bad. In reality there is no such thing.

I think you're creating too much of a rollercoaster of it all. Being spiritually awake is being removed from the effect of the polarities of life, such that you're free to re-attach in any manner when you see fit. All these should/shouldn'ts are barriers that you put up for yourself. Find the worth in every situation. Both good and bad situations are beneficial in terms of refinement if spun the right way.

You find peace in letting go. Then you lose peace by having the immense desire to get it back. The solution is to abandon the peace. How? Just know that in that time there wasn't anything different. Peace or no peace things are the same. Just BE. This is true freedom void of wants and needs, and true peace. Thusness/Suchness. The goal is not to achieve piece but to refine the self within all the ups and downs. You can do this by having no goal as your goal. This takes the pressure off. As such it doesn't matter what state you're in. It's not even that things will improve because things are already ok as they are. Alternatively you could live perpetually in peace in a cave, but upon leaving I doubt you'd have that peace. That's my main point. There are things that need refinement before it perpetuates through all circumstances. The refinement happens by itself by giving up on it. Not sure if that makes sense. I'm a bit distracted right now.

Anyone can make a webpage from a template. Just give it a go. It's a good start anyway. Building stuff from scratch is always going to be the most flexible with the most amount of control, but it's also expensive. Generally devs just go on to make their own template system anyway and in the long run it ends up the same thing as if you did it with wordpress to begin with. You get the dev for a while the they get busy and move on. Then you just have another template system.

'Just living in society' is not to be avoided. The unborn mind acting in society is the one free from duality. Stillness in movement.

If you're applying bandages rather than performing surgery. For me I can't honestly think of any way to stop my spiritual practices because it's never a matter of doing anything in particular. This is the benefit of using the world as your melting pot. You just do whatever and let go while doing it. Meditation is valid as one aspect of 'doing whatever'.

A question worthy of the pit. Actually, it's probably not even.

If you just do meditation I doubt there would be lasting effects. It has to become integrated into everyday life. The backwards thing is something to get over. There is no forwards or backwards. Being rooted in the tao is being free from such dualism. You are already this so the practice is just to realize it.

Subjective is the word of one idiot. Objective is the word of many idiots.

Maybe stop thinking of it as a drum. Forget techniques and everything that has been taught. Trust that it will come naurally. Devote all attention to listening. Attentively, emotionally. See what each sound triggers inside. Start from the beginning and really get to know each sound at a deeper level. This new vocabulary changes the way you play. On the piano I would just play one note over and over. Once I got to know it it would inspire the next. Eventually things would speed up into a jam but the beginning was always slow. Don't think. Feel.