Bindi

These layers are ingrained and dominant until they are stripped away, and the stripping away is a necessary process. But after they are stripped away I am still left with both a mind and a soul, my mind will disappear when I die, but my soul will remain as a distinct entity.

Agreed, if there is only non-dual God. In my duality though, there is a "God", there is my soul, and there is my Karma. To me my soul is distinct from "God", but it has the potential to communicate with "God" if I sort out my Karma. Ramana said there was a process, peeling away the layers of not-self I think, and I get that to an extent, certainly more than 'non-duality', to me there is a fundamental problem with all is God and I am God thus 'fait accompli'.

Doesn't something have to happen to 'get rid of' Maya or ignorance?

In Daoist alchemy or Neidan it is acknowledged that first effort is needed, until the last stage when no more effort is required. Trying to convince people who don't believe this is well-nigh useless, much better to just figure out for ourselves what we need to 'do' in the first two stages.

Nonetheless the historical Buddha taught 'Right effort', it can't just be dismissed across the board because dzogchen perceives effort as unnecesary.

I don't think "releasing all effort'" is Buddhist, as Buddhism requires "Right effort."

No, I really would love to see it, I'm not Buddhist, and I do believe in an immortal self. I would be surprised if Buddha said this though.

I'd love to see the exact quote about being immortal etc.

I like this as a very good brief introduction to the dantians and energy. Ideas about Daoist energy work and where you start are numerous, but I am also of the opinion that you start at the lower dantian, it's good to be clear about where you're going from the start.

You can listen to your dreams when sleeping, mountains of good information there, better than most words I've heard when awake

Yin and Yang as polarities works for me, two opposite but complementary forces that cannot disappear but can be brought into harmony and work together instead of one or the other being dominant.

I would say there are multiple layers of 'flowering' that occur at specific stages, it depends what system you follow. As part of the dantian system which makes sense to me, what happens in what order is vital, ideally there is a naturally ordained order in which they will unfold.

Pffft, seven chakras are just so yesterday, there are at least 22...

The Tai chi symbol is starkly black and white, which could be synonymous with dark and light. To inner sight black is the realm of the unconscious inward looking mind and white is associated with outward looking conscious awareness. Dark and light might be the attributes that best describe this polarity of conscious and unconscious in terms that our minds can understand.

I believe it is turning outward looking attention in, and I would say in towards what was until then mostly dark and unconscious in our mind. But I believe 'turning around the light' is the result of previous work at the heart level and is not a method to be practised as it happens naturally, just as the MCO opens naturally at a certain stage.

It seems to me that if you have collected enough basically wise sentences, an appropriate answer may often be imagined, and if the answer doesn't fit it can always be blamed on the question or the interpreter. I can't imagine any direct association exists between random answers to any specific question beyond chance.

I came across this quote, I think it's relevant to your point - "The only object of the ego of man, the seat of the ‘I,’ is to realise its identity with god. It is in this school of the world to learn this one lesson: to forget it’s limitations and actively to realise its oneness with all.” – Sri Dada

If cosmic cycles are referring to something matter-based, wouldn't evolution be possible if consciousness aimed to evolve beyond matter/time/space and therefore outside of the cosmic cycle?

'The blessed water'... I do see a relationship between feeling locked up emotions and 'water' increasing in the subtle body system. Was there a specific area or dantian in which you felt something break?

A very good overview of how to work with Daoist energy anatomy can be found here. Your black and white stripes are reminiscent of the Daoist yinyang concept, there is likely a lot of information deeper in that can't be accessed until the foundation has been set up.

Well he might be the only immortal to have a verifiable biography.

Yes, but when in the Hindu Forum do as the Hindu's do. I don't know what noumenon means either so I didn't have much to say about that.

To Ajna of course (we are in the Hindu forum after all)

You say divine grace both helped him let go of his own will/desire and was found in his surrendering, making surrender seem both simple and rewarding, yet it was after this that "in His anguish, He prayed more earnestly, and His sweat became like drops of blood falling to the ground." His anxiety appears to have actually increased, even though he had been "strengthened" by divine grace - he still had to work incredibly hard (agonizomai?) to align with God's will even then.

Again, just biblically speaking, "Jesus answered, “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able." I suspect a lot of effort is actually required to get through the narrow door, but on the plus side there are other doors available that are wider and much easier to get through. edit: the greek word used for 'make every effort' or 'strive' "is agonizomai, implying an agonizing, intense, purposeful struggle. It is the same word used in 1 Corinthians 9:25 of an athlete battling to win a victory. It is also used in Colossians 4:12 of Epaphras laboring fervently, and in 1 Timothy 6:12, of the Christian who "fights the good fight of faith." It is a struggle, a battle, an extreme effort. There is almost a violence implied. And appropriately so, because entering the kingdom is like going into warfare. . . . The message of Jesus cannot be made to accommodate any kind of cheap grace or easy-believism... It is only for those who seek it with all their hearts, those who agonize to enter. Many who approach the gate turn away upon finding out the cost." (John F. MacArthur, Jr., The Gospel According to Jesus, 182-83)