lino

Bodri's material isn't sufficient so I suggest investigating Sutras and general Buddhist teachings. The sutras and general buddhist teachings is what allows small incremental gains. It also allows me to notice the small incremental gains. I'm also in the mundane but the mundane eventually gives way to the magical. You aren't impure just because you got sidetracked. Don't kick yourself just because you had to stop for a little while. Just start anyway.

Brother, From what I understand, "Peace of Mind" is one of the elements of Happiness or "Ending Suffering". At first, I thought that it was important to see the worlds beyond...superpowers and stuff like that. Now I see that it is more important to eliminate defects in order to reach a happier state. It isn't a "magic" fix but small incremental gains can be made every single meditation. The small incremental gains may be "mundane" but that is how everything starts. A meditation isn't just a "concentration" exercise, it is a mode of investigation...so escapism isn't really possible. Through the investigation; finding the cause and effect is possible. The cause and effect creates the conditions for compassion to arise. Investigation leads to internal defects being corrected. Small incremental gains are made anyway because there isn't a permanent self and evolution is always happening. I considered that the ego or the unconscious that it puts up internal resistance because it wants an immediate change. The immediate change is worth investigation because it is what discards limitations, bad habits, or unwholesome states. I found that ignoring the lower nature is not what I want. I want to strip it of bad habits, limitations, or unwholesome states so that it can be happier and further integrated. The lower nature is smarter and more pliant than everybody thinks. I also found that "intellectuality" and "reasoning" have to occur in order for "application" to be successful. In the gym, I found that the resistance is the indication that I am getting somewhere. I also found that in meditation, resistance is where I am getting somewhere too. If the same thought keeps popping up then it requires investigation. I gain peace by investigating the resistance and seeing what I could do at the current time by trying to apply Teachings.

To some of us, it ain't our thing.

????

Have you been around him, face-to-face, in order to draw that conclusion?

What ticked me off is a number of things: 1. I have a habit of falling into bad moods and attaching to them for days on end for years. 2. I wasn't on an exercise regiment. 3. coffee habit 4. Smoking habit. 5. Used ephedrine to work out in my younger years. The body converts some of that ephedrine into meth. 6. I was down to one meal a day because it felt more comfortable for breathing practices. All of these things mount up. What's worse is that I've been feeling all aspects of aversion, ill-will, and hatred and these aren't good for the body. If I had to do it all over again the way to have started (I think) before cultivating was to have started exercising vigorously for at least three months. Five days a week. Two days for strength/muscular endurance and three days for cardiovascular training for 30-45 minutes a day...enough to show sweat on half a t-shirt. After the first three months start some sort of insight/mindfulness practice until I would have been to squash any bad mood and quit smoking and drinking coffee. Start some sort of sitting after two months. Also, if I have to choose, exercise would have been picked over sitting if I was pressed for time. Figure, a person can hum "Om Ah Hung' to themselves all day long, while doing something, and not get tired of it. These three primordial syllables help clear the body of unwholesome stuff. The 10 fetters of Buddhism can be tied to TCM/5 Elements theory. After clearing the 10 fetters a person can become an Arhat and they could have never experienced "emptiness".

Oh? How would you like to have the "hallucination" of a "new world" open up and find out that these "hallucinations" have some control over your body and can make you feel like you are physically burning...or feel like you are getting stabbed at and cut? What would you do in order to make it stop? I found out that "anti-psychotics" DO NOT WORK. I was into something that was WAY OVER MY PAY-GRADE and may still be in it more than two years after the fact. Also, I didn't take drugs. It takes years, decades, and maybe centuries to become the stable person that would be able to handle that kind of situation. Do you really want to expose Hydro to needless suffering that he or she may not be able to handle? The "bad trip" from the chemical may end but do you want to get stuck in the "new world" for years trying to find a way to get out? Keep in mind that there are over 2 million schizophrenics in the US. Go see what kind of a lifestyle they live. Do you want to be responsible if Hydro's quality of life takes a dramatic and crippling drop? It may not hurt you because you'll never see Hydro or what happens to him or her...since what you see is what I see, a whole bunch of text on the screen of a computer. Do you want to see the possibility of Hydro getting the thorns without the roses? Also, you just aren't dealing with the temporary "effects" of a drug. You are dealing with the dramatic weakening of the body's energy field which would take months and maybe years to recover from. Why do you think that a master or teacher says not to do it?

When the thoughts slow down and there is a longer pause in between <--- I consider that hitting a state of peace It might be "mundane" but the "mundane" is what gives birth to "magical states".

A person worth listening to had said that "Liberation lies beyond conscious awareness". So breaking down the barriers is a given in order to get where we are supposed to go.

I don't know but I think that the mind is trying to discard everything when that happens so that it can get closer to a state of peace. Maybe it is why we get bombed and is a good sign.

Also About the "pains", you observed "suffering". I'm still trying to get a handle on observing "no self", so I wouldn't know how to observe it. The whole point is to "end suffering" so something that you might want to do to become stronger for a sitting practice is some exercise. Try using Trunk's web page and also youtube and search for "yoga", "pilates", or whatever you think would be beneficial to you. From observation, I see that highly cultivated people got to where they are because an incredible state of health allowed them to experience the "magical" states. You could go extremely far, even with 0 money put into it. Don't limit your meditation to just "sitting"; try walking, standing, and lying down.

The progress that you are making isn't bad. Your brain jumped from topic to topic so you should have noticed the in-between. One topic ended and you observed "impermanence".

"Low punch", I don't think so. Telling somebody of the consequences that they may experience is the best thing that anybody can do for another person. My family is still hurting from the stupid decisions that I made. I have one medical bill to worry about because I was put in the wrong hospital. I thank a higher power that it wasn't several medical bills. The person may not be able to AFFORD a bad trip if the so-called "remedies" don't work. As far as "knowing your mind" you are disillusioned if you think you "know your mind". It has taken highly cultivated people years or decades for them to "know their mind".

Please use some foresight. Think about how many people in your own family you are going to hurt should something go wrong. Your family is NOT going to enjoy taking you to the hospital should something go wrong. I'm speaking as a person that is still in a crisis, hopefully the tail end of it. It has been going on for a while. Good Luck and please be mindful.

He puts too much emphasis on "sitting" when there is sitting, standing, walking, and lying down... as per Shakyamuni's discourses, as per the Theravada Canons. Shakyamuni may have been the MOST successful teacher of all time since he helped, at least, 500 people attain arhatship and produced doctrine that produced even more. Also, Bodri puts emphasis on merit but seems that isn't putting enough emphasis on stuff like being happy, love, and compassion. The good feelings build off of the TCM and the Five Elements Theory, since certain specific bad feelings get stored in the organs. He could have connected Traditional Chinese medicine to the 10 fetters in Buddhism.

Um...Uh Santiago is more "capable" than you think. Just to give you a clue on how "capable", most of the his students don't live anywhere near Miami.

I said "probably", if you haven't already

my "title" was "weenie" before. My new title is "Maha Butthead".

The "happiness" that you get is not something that I want. Much less something I'm looking for. The "happiness" that you describe seems "external" and depends on result.

Wow. You definitely invested a lot of time in "that". Something I definitely won't do. I rather spend my time on being happier. The beginnings of warmth in the midsection to answer your question.

Uh You got it right but... they aren't vulnerable to ANYTHING even when they "transition", they don't die that is why the virtues of not depending on the outcome and patience are emphasized. They already taught us that there isn't a "permanent self" so with enough patience the outcome is going to turn to something more desireable anyway.

Okay Let's go with your "shen/chi/jing" model You have the thought that everything was better when you were happy --- shen process You intention becomes to be happy no matter what the circumstance --- chi process You become happier, healthier, and you start eliminating and de-powering needless shit --- jing process Your "thought process" affects you down to the atomic level <--- that's not mystical or out of the ordinary

Water (no matter how MUNDANE) weathers down everything. Then what is weathered down and be eliminated or excreted. This stuff isn't mystical.

The shen/qi/jing thing...I feel is inaccurate. It was more like brain fluid going from the back of the head and down the spine. Yes it did dissolve obstructions.