七星門

First, thanks for a thorough response, very helpful; & I am very interested in the visualization component whenever it is convenient for you.

"I have been and still am a seeker, but I have ceased to question stars and books; I have begun to listen to the teachings my blood whispers to me." Hermann Hesse

Zoroastrianism is kind of the mother of all dualism. There's also quite a bit of monotheism in very old religions, just after a different manner. The Egyptians, for example, appear on the surface to have a proliferation of Gods but properly understood these various Gods were only various aspects of a supreme unity, like facets on a gem. Same can be said of Hinduism to some extent,as well as of Taoism. "You shall have no other Gods before me" is a bratty child's admission that they are limited, that there are Gods outside themselves of whom they are jealous.

I'm struggling a bit with this one, too. Ostensibly, a wedding crasher. Why doesn't the bride & her family know who the groom's best friend is? Arranged marriage? How does he differentiate between the bride's party & the groom's party? Are they marked in some way? Are they segregated? If so, why can he pass between the two parties without being clearly identified as either? Are the bride & groom symbolic, two polarities brought to union? Then who/what is the interloper? Why five days? Five is symbolic of earth, the material in eastern & western traditions. In Hinduism it can specifically be linked to the physical body (annamaya-kosa, lit. "food sheath") that is nourished & created by food. In Taoism/Chinese Esotericism there's a clear link between the center/earth with five, it appears in the center of both the Lo-Shu & the Ho-t'u, interestingly Earth is the intermediary agent that links the pairs, said to be "mute, silent, unified, impossible to locate." If we then consider the Three Primes--Heaven, Man, & Earth--perhaps we can apply the three-fold division to the characters. Heaven, groom; Man, stranger; Earth (distinct from the agent, xing), bride. We can take it a step further, 3x5=15, the sum of any row/column/diagonal in the Lo-Shu, which itself signifies completion, earth, unity. We might also consider that "5" (五, wu) is a homophone for "Not" (無, wu), & after five days the stranger disappears. It is not too fantastic to imagine that there is connection to the intermediary agent, earth, described as "mute, silent, unified, impossible to locate."

I think this is very apt, of interest this is from the Liezi's Yangzhu chapter aka the "Hedonist Chapter" (tr. A.C. Graham):

I wondered the same, excerpting from the "jing, qi, shen" article in the Routledge Encyclopedia of Taoism.

Clinically it sounds like ideas or delusions of reference. This is almost certainly exacerbated by the use of Marijuana. It can be pathological, but it can also be the byproduct of spiritual practices & wholesome if the mind is adequately prepared. Certain crises are catastrophic from our limited view but transformative from a cosmic perspective, as cinnabar is destroyed when mercury is distilled. There's an effect I've experienced wherein every phenomenon is a dealing of the divine with the spirit. This sounds a bit grandiose & egoistic, admittedly it can progress to that if we grasp too tightly to our sense of self. If, on the other hand, we are able to make our selves permeable & dissolve the barrier between "in-here" & "out-there" it culminates in an apprehension of the essential unity of the Universe. All that said, without proper preparation this glimpse can drive you mad. Eliminating intoxicants is a good step, excess caffeine as well. Stop all spiritual practices, stop paying so much attention to the chatter of your mind, concrete activities are important. Look around you, what have you let go? Is your space clean? Is it as jumbled & disorganized as you feel internally? Day by day impose a beneficial order upon your surroundings, change your sheets once a week, make your bed every morning. (This alone is an anchor in the storm.) Pick up, reshelve books & discs, empty the trash, clean your shower, take your car to a wash station & clean it inside & out. Throw things away, clear away the clutter. Maintain this clarity in your outer space & it will translate to changes in your inner state. *The words and other con­tent pro­vided in this post, and in any linked mate­ri­als, are not intended and should not be con­strued as med­ical advice. If the reader or any other per­son has a med­ical con­cern, he or she should con­sult with an appropriately-licensed physi­cian or other health care worker. Never dis­re­gard pro­fes­sional med­ical advice or delay in seek­ing it because of some­thing you have read in this post or in any linked materials. If you think you may have a med­ical emer­gency, call your doc­tor or emergency services immediately.*

I can only hope that one day I'll be dumb & placid!

I think there's an overlap with epicurianism which is technically hedonistic as it declares that pursuit of pleasure & avoidance of pain is the ultimate objective in life. The definition of pleasure, however, is quite different than what is generally imagined when hedonism is used. The highest pleasure is freedom from anxieties & fear, the elimination of excessive desires particularly artificial desires, liberation from the fear of death & the Gods. Physical pleasure is rather simple, fulfillment of bodily needs while avoiding excess as moderation prevents the pain resulting from over/under indulgence. Passionate love is generally to be avoided, sex less so but shouldn't be frequently indulged. Needn't be Dionysian to be hedonistic.

The Royal Road. https://www.lachlanmanleyphotography.com/Landscapes/

Unfulfilled by me Elusive bridge of magpies 'Cross the Milky Way

Fasting definitely changes your relationship with craving. Returning the hunger/satiety response to a balanced state is foundational, IME, to eliminating excess.

That which is strong is enduring. Power is force residing in stillness.

It is a challenge, every day a test! In those unexpected moments I try to connect deep inside to purpose.

I try not to beat myself up too much. If I fall back on old patterns I try to focus on the entire journey rather than dwell on a [gluten-laden] way station. If I had gone from eating gluten everyday to now once every two months, that's progress. Maybe now I make it a full eight, but in three month's time I indulge again, but that's still progress. So long as I keep moving towards the goal, I'll eventually succeed.

I mostly drink green tea both natural & jasmine varieties. Nothing fancy, just Gunpowder Green that costs something like $15/kilo. Usually drink a light steep of jasmine before bed. I use an electric kettle & let the water become completely still before pouring it over a tea strainer in my cup then brew until it feels right, I imagine it's a couple minutes. Intuitively learning tea brewing is a fun adventure, which can be repeated with new teas. I never got into exact temperatures & brewing times, ruins the experience for me with all the calculating & worry. I prefer the second brew from the leaves over the first, it's less coarse, but happily drink both. I do have an everyman's oolong that I drink occasionally & enjoy. I would like to try some puerh eventually. I drank coffee & energy drinks at one time but coffee's very heavy & both are shocking to the system compared to teas. Green tea in particular is lightly invigorating with a subtilizing effect.

Sounds like he experienced insight but didn't hold onto it. “Wear the world as a loose garment, which touches us in a few places and there lightly.” St. Francis of Assisi

Are we talking about the Zhong-Lu dialogues? I haven't read them but IIRC from a history Zhongli Quan established neidan. If you know of English translations I would be grateful. An interesting point about scriptures/received texts (jing, 經) is that they were considered as a concretion of the yuanqi, inscribed on heavenly tablets of jade & gold, circulated amongst the divinities & only after a very long time were they transmitted to humans. I think this has roots in the Ho-t'u & Lo-Shu as divinely received writing that described the esoteric reality/organization of the world & the story about the origin of Chinese writing which had something to do with bird tracks, I can't recall the precise details, but importantly birds were seen as messengers between heaven & earth. In Daoism, at least beginning in the Lingbao & Shanqing traditions, the texts are considered magical talismans literally imbued with the divine & describe reality-as-it-is rather than reality-as-it-appears. There's almost certainly a parallel with Hebrew/Torah, but I haven't given it any thought until just now. Anyhow, Daoism has a well-worn tradition of divinely received texts, in fact starting with the Celestial Masters Laozi was literally the Dao taken human form to transmit the Daodejing. They're certainly not the Bible, but they're definitely not just philosophical expositions. Think of Immortals as Saints or Exemplars if it helps, but of the Zhongli Quan & Lu Dongbin corpus I don't believe they are considered received (feel free to correct me) but are rather instructional manuals.

Wishing Tree. People on the trail pound a coin in with the rock.

Legend of the red dragon https://www.artstation.com/p/vr1DO Sylvain Sarrailh

Baraka. It's my favorite movie/documentary of all time & should be required in the curriculum to be human. Century of the Self is #2 & if you live in the modern world it is invaluable. "Now remember, the first step in avoiding a trap is knowing of its existence!"

"The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." Churchill

Somewhat like Plato, I've thought. From Chaos (0) comes a point (1) but "this" implies "that" so a second point is born creating a line (2) but the tension between the two points requires a third forming a triangle (3). Add fourth point below the three & you end up with the most basic three dimensional shape (myriad things). Madhyamika is four-fold as well, working in a backwards order. Affirmation of existence. Affirmation of non-existence. Affirmation of both existence & non-existence. Denial of both existence & non-existence.

It seems the basic practice outlined in the article is mindfulness. Attempting to observe the phenomenon without being effected by it ("attachment") is not the same as the saying that the cause of the distress is attachment rooted in the grasping mind. What I mean is that the colors, tastes, sounds--sensory phenomena--act as things with which the grasping mind can use to anchor itself. The practice seems like more grasping, a very focused grasping, but grasping nonetheless. Sitting & forgetting (oblivion/emptiness/what have you) seems the cure rather than gritting the teeth & bearing it until it passes, which lends authenticity to the transient phenomena that arise as a result of attachment.

Between a green mint The monsters meet in secret Tiny lairs, unseen.