Giles

Again, a substantial amount of projection on your part mixed with various straw men. I've not referred to "every Buddhist monastery around the world" nor have I suggested that they should "crumble into the sea". That's all entirely in your own imagination my friend. Furthermore, I've never stated that the Buddhist monastic lifestyle is generally lavish, although some of them certainly qualify for that description. Nor have I advocated that monks in general should get jobs in McDonald's, have I? In fact, I've just pointed out the glaring inconsistency of what a particular individual, Upton, whose services you're advocating, has published on her website regarding "dana" and suggested that this troglodyte should earn her living more honestly. However, it may well be the case that she's entirely incapable of so doing. 🤷🏻‍♂️

There's certainly a plethora of projecting there, my friend. I've never stated that you must practice meditation only under a teacher" or that your teacher [should] be one who does not even allow students to generate merit through donations.

They do indeed and most of them get it by holding down real jobs in the real world instead of repackaging and trying to sell what was given to humanity for free by the Buddha. Well, if you're happy with it you should certainly continue down the path of funding her lifestyle for her. How lucky that she's got people willing to fund her ongoing escape from reality. It might indeed. Alternatively, that might just be your projection.

If Upton could only learn from herself and practice what she's preaching about the Dharma being priceless...

Apologies @stirling! 😬 I've made the mistake of multitasking today and because both their names begin with "P", I've mixed them up... 😳

Ah, "dana"... That term certainly crops up a lot in the realm of the commercial peddling of what was originally given freely by the Buddha. Let's examine this a bit more closely, shall we? On the webpage that's blatantly labelled "support-my-work", Upton states: So far, so good, on the face of it. 👍🏻 Unfortunately, she then proceeds to do a complete volte-face by asking for payment for her "gift" which she then also admits is actually her "work": I'd invite her set an example to her students and lead by example by getting a proper job and volunteering to teach meditation in her spare time instead of leeching a living off desperate seekers. Firstly, you've actually just admitted the truth of the matter here - that she does indeed charge for her time. Secondly, sadly it is indeed commonpractice. However, just because plenty of other meditation teachers also do the same, it certainly doesn't mean that it's an ethically or morally defensible practice.

Did the Buddha levy a charge for his teachings..? 🤔

Indeed. Furthermore, you'd probably be wise to take @stirling up on his very kind offer.

From what I've seen and read, this particular Chinese folk religion seem to have a lot in common with Christianity.

@Rheor, I've just received an email from iRest notifying me about this upcoming course in pranayama with Richard Miller. https://www.yogakula.com/events/pranayama-with-richard-miller and it occurred to me that it might be of some interest and use to you. Best Wishes,

Indeed. The premise is clearly ridiculous.

@admin This poster, @-ꦥꦏ꧀ ꦱꦠꦿꦶꦪꦺꦴ-, appears to be correct and although the subject of the OP could be viewed as including spontaneous qigong, it's roots appear to reside in the Nath tradition. That being the case, please relocate this thread either to the General or to the Hindu subforums. Thanks in anticipation. 🙏🏻

That's pretty worrying. 😟 Does this guy seriously believe that the discarnate entity that he's been encouraged to allow to possess him is Jesus's Christ? 😯 If so, why hasn't anyone put him straight about the fact of the matter?

Thanks Antonio. 🙏🏻 That seems to be an extremely reasonable sum for the outstanding quality of what I've seen on the FB page. Unfortunately, I'll not be joining you in class, as I'm practicing a form of qigong that might be incompatible with what's being taught. Very Best Wishes, Giles

Interesting, thanks. 🙏🏻 How much is the one-off lifetime fee? Would you mind providing a link to the relevant website, please? Thanks again in anticipation. 🙏🏻

Bump for @stirling, who is well-placed to answer your question.

FWIW, I share your reservations. As a viable alternative, you might find Jim MacRitchie's (completely free) Eight Extraordinary Meridians Training Program to be a useful entry point into what seems to interest you. https://www.globalqiproject.com/eight-extraordinary-meridians-training-program/ If you're prepared to pay a fairly nominal sum, you could probably do a lot worse than trying out the first couple of methods of Ren Xue Yuan Gong (which starts to get seriously esoteric when it reaches methods 5 and 6).

No need to apologise. I actually stated that:

Well... This thread's gone seriously off topic at warp speed... 🤣 However, some of it's certainly pretty interesting. 👍🏻 That video led me to this one, which i found even more interesting: So, thanks for the derail. 🙏🏻

I've edited that post because I originally posted Wise's books in the wrong order. I intended to suggest that people start with the second book that she published, Awakening the Mind. Her untimely death is indeed tragic, not least because the torch that she carried seems to have been extinguished to all intents and purposes. The High Performance Mind CDs could be pretty useful and the tracks are available for download quite cheaply from Amazon. Her second book has some detailed meditation scripts that may similarly be of some use to those who cannot afford to purchase a Mind Mirror EEG biofeedback device.

Thanks for starting this thread. 🙏🏻 Hopefully, I'll learn quite a lot.🤞🏻 For anyone who stumbles across it, here's the link to where I derailed the Psychedelics thread in response to @Shadow_self's introduction of EEGs into the mix. I'm going to start by hypothesising that there are two broad categories of neurobiofeedback, although they do have some overlap: Medical/psychological/psychiatric Spiritual/psychotherapeutic Personally, I'm not particularly interested in the mainstream psychopathologising medical/psychological/psychiatric model because I consider it to be fatally flawed due mainly, but not solely, to its commercially motivated vested interests. What interests me is the Maxwell Cade/Anna Wise "lineage" of spiritual/psychotherapeutic neurofeedback, which evolved from an investigation of healthy individuals. I recommend that anyone interested in this branch of investigation starts with Wise's Awakening the Mind: A Guide to Harnessing the Power of Your Brainwaves. The other two introductory texts I recommend are Cade & Coxhead's The Awakened Mind: Biofeedback and the Development of Higher States of Awareness and Wise's The High-Performance Mind: Mastering Brainwaves for Insight, Healing, and Creativity (both available to borrow from the Internet Archive Library: https://archive.org/details/texts).

I'm wondering if we (those of us with an interest in neurobiofeedback) would like to migrate to a thread that's specifically for the purpose of discussing that topic (because this thread's title is specifically about the use of psychedelics for cultivation)?

That's actually a back-handed compliment, my friend. OK. I'll take you very seriously on this one. Firstly, from what you've stated, it actually appears to be deeply personal for you. You've battled the establishment and lost your career over these sorts of issues. Secondly, it's not quite so personal for me and, from my perspective, it's crystal clear that you're speaking your truth and, moreover, it also appears to me that you're doing doing so in a remarkably emotionally literate manner. Thirdly, we're probably comparing apples and oranges here because my primary interest (and expertise) as far as neurofeedback is concerned relates to its use as an adjunct to psychospriritual development in the field of (humanistic) psychotherapy (i.e. health) rather than its use in the field of (mechanistic) psychology/psychiatry (i.e. psychopathology). Fourthly, like you, I'm seriously unimpressed by the use of the chemical cosh, in all its varieties. Perhaps we can make a new start? All the Best to you, my friend, Giles _/|\_