Seth Ananda

I would add to some already great replys to: - Make a stand for Total Authentic Expression. Its good that in the past you 'called it as you saw' it, but was it done from a Bonehead 'I don't take shit from anyone' kind of place? That is a very different place compared to having an Inner conviction to live for and from your Truth as best as you can and as best you are aware of it... You can stand firmly in your centre this way without becoming some ridgid old world male cliche. And women will love it

Rofl! Damn you I nearly fell off my chair!

I tend to make Very Large stew's to last a day or two. Soak overnight: 1 cup of Orange lentils, I cup of green split peas, and 1 cup of barley. I fry up some garlic, ginger and onion, when cooked well I add 2 more cups of water and wait till simmering, then Spice! I often go with: Mustard seeds, cumin, Basil, Curry powder, Salt, pepper, and sometimes a spoon of honey. In go potatoes and large mushroom chunks. Slow Cook, A nice addition here can be nuts or seeds... Later, the cups of soaked grains, and carrots, Beets [a must IMHO] and sweet potato, Add more water as needed... Later Broccoli and cauliflower, Later Green beans, corn, and Last 1 large bunch of Parsley and sometimes also a bunch of coriander... A whole bunch of either or both is so delicious its not funny well my friends all love it

I sometimes stay with friends way out bush in a tiny little town called Gafney's Creek. It's a (or used to be) mining town with only 8 permanent residence. Some how or other there are packs of wild dogs roaming the area, I guess people just dumped pets they didnt want and now years later they are a gang of Terror. When we go out we carry a rifle, and if we see bear bear coming at us, well... I went walking with my Maori house mate years ago and he got attacked by a pit bull. He had to kill it with his bare hands to get it off his leg... gruesome! I guess this partially explains how i Feel about dogs. I enjoy them on a case by case situation. But as for how I would do things differently? well if I was the cop and he is telling the truth, i would have done exactly what he did. Why risk leaving an dangerous animal alive. Sure the owner might hate me after but if we are engaging in hypothetical's, I would assume that i am potentially saving the life of a child he has or may one day have. If it was both our dog's fault, and mine would not listen to me, well i cant decide between shooting both Bear bear and Fido - or just going home.

Heheh, I am sorry I should have explained myself a bit better. I was not at all meaning that clitoral and G, C or V orgasms are the same... All i was saying is that anatomicly the clitoris is actually still responsible for A large region of female pleasure. Its sort of like its different regions have different 'poles' of energetic experience. and yes, clitoral orgasm is not a requirement for Tantra. Its Interesting to note that the most external part of the clitoris is responsible for the most 'superficial' orgasm, and the Cervix, deep inside is well, Wow! Have Fun!

Nice to see some female practitioners discussing here. I personally think that ALL men should also read Tantric orgasm for women. Its simply the best book on the subject. I only partially agree with the clitoral perspective being voiced. Yes, for some women, excessive clitoral focus results in the typical - Tense up, have a 'Genital Sneeze' type orgasm, but there is certainly nothing wrong with enjoying liberal clitoral stimulation during love making. The clitoris is easy to use in 'goal oriented' sex which yes, is not usually very Tantric. Deep penetration in non-friction based Tantric sex usually stimulates the clitoris anyway. Also, the clitoris is a Large gland. It connects to the pubic bone, has the small surface poking through to say hi, and has two 'legs' which divide just before the urethra and Run either side of the vaginal canal. Its shape is more 'tetrahedral'. What people call the female G-spot is actually an Intersection of the internal body of the clitoris and the Prostatic material which clusters around the out side of the urethral stem. [i have seen detailed Autopsy photos of all of these regions] (women do not actually have a prostate gland but they do have some fibres that are what develop into the prostate when the child becomes a man.) So G-spot pleasure is actually clitoral pleasure and prostatic material pleasure. any stimulation to the clitoris serves to engorge the 'g-spot' and vice versa... Many of the best Yoni massage techniques which bring about Deep healing and may result in the female Ejaculation, use internal and external stimulation. All I probably should have said is that from a Tantric point of view, All of a Woman is Divine. Shakti Bless you all [bows] Seth Ananda

Having seen a really Nasty dog attack, I personally am all for shooting dogs that get enraged and won't obey their owner. people [in my opinion] are way too lax with their pets, and we just let dogs and their owners get away with way too much all because having pets is an excepted part of our social convention. so a dog got shot... what about the millions of cattle that got slaughtered that day and that often lived in hideous conditions their whole life? My friend had a sheep for a pet. I had always thought sheep were dumb animals, heck I grew up in the country. But this sheep was amazing, and so smart with a very funny personality. It would run back and forwards playing fetch games just like a dog, and it seemed to understand our conversations.... Just cause we think Dogs are somehow different.. and then put ourselves above the Asian country's that view dogs as just another food source...

Hey Mal, they're here this weekend doing level one in melbourne... Email martin if interested. [email protected]

Thanks for your lengthy and enjoyable posts Xabir, and good luck with the Army. My only Observation to add is that Recognising the Non personal reality we are Is good for the body. I wont give us Ripped ab's or better cardio, but When you are stable the Self, all the experiences that come and go, that would normally cause us much stress and anxiety, just come and go... Objects rise, objects leave, without the stress. And the body slowly, by itself, starts to unwind all the things it has been holding on too and slowly [without help] enters a much deeper state of relaxation. Seth

As far as I am concerned, If you want or believe there will be a rotating chi field some where in, on, around, or even next to your body - there will be. Try it. You can have all the spinning merkaba fields, Falun Disc's, rotating chakras, and Imaginary umbrella's that you want. Thats all they are. Chi with a mind construct behind them. Feels pretty cool, but other than that who cares? Most schools seem to stick with their one special one... I feel that a possible benefit is, that as the thing is maintained by your belief/faith energy [and possibly by that of the others involved] You can feel the wheel doing its thing in an ongoing manner, out side of your practice. This then confirms the practice to you, helps you stay focused, and add's more motivation and belief. To me the falun energy is no different to Heavenl Qi. I happily mixed practices, and my healing energy went through the roof. I did not even get slightly sick for two years, and was able to just refuse to get migranes after a while. The energy from my palms was laser like and I unintentionally made a number of my massage clients climax while treating them during the 5 min reiki I used to at the end of a massage. Lol, no claims to be Drew here, and I have never offered or deliberately given a 'Happy Ending' to anyone but Girlfriends of mine.

I agree with Sloppy on Opening the energy gates being a superb intro. Also the pressure in the head after practice, according to Li Hongzhi, is your chi energy being pushed out of your body as its replaced by Falun energy. To me what they call Falun energy is no different to Heavenly Qi, although they spat chips when I said that to them. But still, most people experience those sensations at first when doing Falun. I Still think Falun is great, its just a pity the founder is a Nut bar, and the Members are Fanatics (most of them I met any way). Fanatics cant enter into two way conversations unfortunately. My other Love has been Zhineng which is very gentle but has plenty of capacity to get mind blowing as you are ready... I think in the USA its called Chi-lel? Actually off thread, I think someone here said part of both those systems are in or were taken from Wang Liping's system? anyone got details? Seth.

Ahhahah Great response... Spot on...

Cool, and thanks for the point on the Kua, maybe ill reconsider the splits stretches.. It would be nice to have more ham flexibility. Lotus is just my favourite meditation position. I think though its really Important to protect the knees and I do that with the hip stretches... if my hips are tight there is pressure on the knees. when my daughter was a baby she would grab her big toes in her fists, while on her back and just sort of roll around [still on her back] stretching out her ham strings. I copied and found it a really good way to work on them as i could ease in and out of the strong pressure really easily. That was good for me cause I hate the ham stretches... Anyone tried any similar 'Baby Yoga'?

Weird, I am not that flexible in hams but have no trouble with them in Full lotus. I don't see how spending alot of time on stretches that have nothing to do with loosening the things that get tight in Lotus would help one get into Lotus. Did these (all the ham stuff) actually help you get into or spend longer in full Lotus? The stuff that works for me is the stretches that loosen the hips and buttock region, and at its simplest just sitting legs crossed with one leg a bit further forward, and just stretching/reaching forward slowly drawing stomach to the floor. The tightness I feel there is what I aim for with any other stretch I may do that hits those areas. These loosen everything up enough for me to be able to spend up to an hour or two in lotus no problem. If it has been a while and I am having dificulty, i just do them again and 'Presto!' all good again. I am wondering if deeper into the stretches you showed would do the same thing, but I am not flexible enough, and can't be bothered working towards that. If I need Lotus, I want quick results. heheh

I have only felt that during an experience of extreme murderous rage where I tried to kill a man with a spoon. My liver started Vibrating like crazy. For me it Indicated some deep Anger issues I needed to deal with... heheh

In a world where size can increase or decrease in scale endlessly, Big or small become irrelevant. I like to think we just are...

I tend to think that the 'I' sense is a simple result of Awareness. Since we cant deny that something is having an experience we say 'I' am experiencing... I also tend to think that Awareness is the primary Nature of the universe, and that It can't be 'Known' as it is what 'Knows', so arguments about its Nature are pointless. This is kind of similar to the Nagual theory. So where am I going with this?.... hmmm... I guess that If everything can be seen to happen within Awareness, and logically there has never been an experience or thought or perception out side of Awareness, Then awareness and the resulting I sense is what we are, But we cant cling to it the way Hindu traditions may, and nor can we Infer Its empty Nature the way Buddhist teachings attempt. It is simply Mysterious. As it is our tool for knowing, and all we can logically see that it does, is experience, Then any talk about its Nature is pointless. Any assumed experience of it - such as someone who says they experienced their Self, are simply talking about a glorious magnified level of experience, within awareness, and a the opposite scale within awareness would be simply an experience of complete clouded Ignorance and confusion. Deep Sleep is just an experience of lack of perceptual objects and sense of self. Dreaming is an experience of a different to physical world with many possible variations and subtle states... So I do not think the I sense is a problem. there is existing awareness and we need language to talk about that. Within awareness we will probably experience many points where the I sense comes and Goes, such as when contemplating that all experience is within awareness, we will often move to a 'space' of just 'experiencing' without an I sense being Involved. lol looking back on this I wonder if I should post it... Its early and I am not even sure if I stayed on track with the thread... anyway it caught my attention...

Nicely Said. And Vajra, If we have a conversation, I dont want you to swallow my Idea's but I do want you to think about them before you reply on automatic. Do you even read the whole post and try and get a feel for it or are you So pumped up on Southern preacher Juice, that you just answer paragraph by paragraph as you read? And you are As bad as any Southern preacher because (as them) you believe there is no way for you to be wrong. This makes conversation Impossible cause you wont 'LISTEN' as you 'KNOW' that everything someone else says is Wrong. That is a Disgraceful attitude in a spiritual seeker. I myself (dons Halo...) am very happy to be Wrong as that will bring me closer to the Truth. In fact I hope I am wrong about any of my Ideas as that would mean even greater expansion... Seth. P.S. Vajra's Hell and Damnation preaching is near endless cycles of Delusion and Suffering in Samsara, till we agree with Him. Why don't you start passing round a plate?

Sorry Vajra That was the worst reply to what I wrote yet. I can't be bothered with someone who has zero ability to read another perspective. You are still trying to keep me in a camp that I am no longer in, and because you think you already know and understand my perspective you do not actually, really read what I am saying. I have never had such a lengthy reply that babbled so much nothing, and that completely comprehended Zero of what I was suggesting. If you had understood what I was saying you could at least have argued and made points relevant to my perspective, which I was hoping for. Now I realise you are just as bad as any Fundamentalist preacher your deep south has to offer. Fail! Over and Out.

I wish... Maybe when they come to Aus...

Mostly Good Info but I disagree a bit with the relaxation comment. At least after some progression in these arts, You can not be Too relaxed. The more you learn to completely relax everything the more arousing/electrical/slow everything becomes. I have been practising Tantra for the last 16 years. When I was younger I thought that making love for 5 - 6 or more hours was some 'Super Human' effort, requiring athletic stamina and superb muscle mastery. Thats because I was still tense, so it was all effort and mechanics... Now It is Deeply relaxing and will easily go all night.

Hi CowTao, I always like your posts by the way and your name is very Cool. Seth is my real name but Ananda is what my Yoga friends dubbed me along time ago. I am yet to change it by depol, but probably will soon as it is my daughters last name legaly. Scarlet Ananda. I had a late night and my brain is getting tired after answering Vajra and watching Scarlet, so sorry to not answer properly this time... I think I explained a good part of my perspective on the subject in my reply to Vajra. Have Fun!

Thank you Vajra I feel like you actually read my posts properly this time and are trying to engage rather than just speel of some dogma. Please note also, as you continue to make reference to my Hindu beliefs which I do not have... I do not consider my self a Kashmir Shavite any more but still hold a fondness for aspects of that tradition. All I am interested in is Truth and finding what I can be Certain about if anything... without be[lie]f. So here goes... "Yes, you can. Awareness is not a thing in the sense of elements, but it does arise due to a configuration of elements, it's very deep and complex how a human gives rise to consciousness, then has awareness to one degree or another." I am afraid I cant agree with you. awareness can not have degrees. In your or my experience awareness is always doing what it does... being aware. Wether it is aware of the experience of being in a drunken stupor or of a universally expanded sense of self, or an intuition of emptiness, awareness is doing one thing and one thing only, and that is experiencing. It is not bigger or smaller, and it can not be focused on or surrendered too, as you have sujested I believe or practice in past threads - As it is the part that experiences, it can not become an experience itself. From what I can tell so far, all we can do is Let our selves be clear about our relationship to it. Lets just really enter the Experience and In that way we are being what we are, rather than Identifying our self with an element of experience, like our mind or body. I think we maybe have a diferent understanding for the word awareness. You and many traditions think of awareness as something that Is expanded when in mystical states, or diminished when in mundane states but I believe this is just a value judgement on elements of our experience. If one looks closely and carefully without what the textbooks have told us, one can see that yes, Awareness is just an experiencer... No matter what the state. "While on the other hand animals, bugs... etc. They all have consciousness but not awareness to the degree that a human being does. Rocks, don't have consciousness at all, but are still made of sound and are arisings of collections of thought co-ordinating the basic elements into coagulation as a rock over and over again through endless time and evolution." Sorry Be[lie]f's beliefs beliefs and assumptions. This is just you following your dogma and speeling some belief. All you know, and I mean Really 'Know', is what is happening within your awareness in any given moment. I guess you are not happy with the ordinary elements of your experience, so feel you must play with your internals to change the 'scope' of what you experience, such as contemplating emptiness to get that -Deeper clearer Bliss- that you mentioned, but if your consciousness were truly open you would not need to do that, for right here would be just fine... "It's so deep and complex to have a direct experience of what dependent origination means, but it can all be understood in a single moment beyond concrete thought." Yep, an experience within Awareness... "According to Hinduism, a rock is made of consciousness in a dense form. But, Buddhism does not see this way. Hinduism takes the expansive consciousness that happens in meditative states where the individuals awareness permeates space through the fact of emptiness as a ground of all being. Buddha called this a mis-interpretation of the experience." Not sticking up for Hinduism here but, The rock does Take place within awareness. No awareness no rock. and when I experience a rock can I really say it is separate from my awareness? where does awareness end and where does the rock begin? "No, you don't have to believe, but you have to transcend your current interpretation of your experiences in spiritual pursuit thus far in order to understand what the Buddha was getting at and why he said the Vedas are not authoritative. Also why he said that interpreting a cosmic Self into the cycling of the cosmos is just a high level delusion. He did say these things and there is a reason why. In Buddhism, awareness is indeed a phenomena, but it is the phenomena that makes Buddhahood possible." Not Interested in Interpreting, Nor in solely experiencing some divine state, though they are nice, but temporary experiences (for me, at least at the moment...) and am comfortable with the possibility that Awareness is forever Unknowable or a mystery. "Yes it is. In unconscious states of sleep, I am not aware. Of course if I were enlightened these unconscious states of sleep would be filled with awareness as my dense karmas would have been wiped away through the practice of awareness. Also, in the state of infinite nothingness, I am not aware. It's only afterwards that I say... "Oh, there was nothing and no one aware", only in contrast to when I become aware. Are you always aware of the experience you are living? How about that mosquito that bite's you on the back of the leg while you are sleeping. Are you only aware of that when you wake up?" You are never not aware. In your awareness you go to sleep, you may change while dreaming and then you wake up. All this change but no lack of awareness. where in your experience do you not experience? In Deep sleep do you have an 'actual' experience of not existing... Do you ever truly cease to experience. I know from a physicalist perspective the world 'seems' to go on while your awareness comes and goes within it, but from Awareness's perspective, (Which I say is the only true authority, as it is the only way we can have an experience of 'Knowing') It is the world that comes and goes within Awareness. "Your belief system allows for many assumptions that do not make sense upon deeper investigation. Because you have consciousness, does not mean you are aware. Through the practice you do develop more awareness. It is a phenomena that arises dependent upon practice." Wrong. I do not engage In be[lie]f systems. All I am Interested is is what I can see without beliefs being necessary. please read back to my description of awareness so we are both on the same page about what we each mean when we use the word Awareness. "Buddhadharma is a paradigm shift from the philosophy you think explains everything so well." Be[lie]f's. "You think these are beliefs, but Buddhism is a deeply intuitive process of methods for the sake of unraveling ones true potential and the philosophy that expresses the findings." All the unraveling happens within awareness or none of it would happen. Its all a temporary experience within awareness... "In certain states of sleep we are not aware of the world and in certain states of meditative absorption we are not aware of the world at the same time that we are having these inner experiences. It is only through the fact of connecting moments and awareness of these that memory works. But awareness is NOT constant, even if consciousness is still available, but at times consciousness is repressed and stupor is experienced maybe in one state of sleep or meditation or another. Of course if you have constant awareness, even in deep sleep where you have illumination or your awareness goes to higher realms or you consort with various deities or whatever. That's fabulous. But, this doesn't mean that everything is made of one consciousness. All of it, including the elements and individual consciousness' arise and flows, cycles and evolves within the vastness of inter-dependent origination and is all empty of inherent existence." Be[lie]fs and assumptions. Look, just examine your own actual experience. You never have awareness of NOT experiencing. everything fades out and in within your experience. Everythig, from Higher worlds to getting to drunk at Gana Puju, it is all an experience, and awareness just experiences it. "I think you are clouded by your beliefs Seth. I can say the same thing about you that your be"lie"f's lie to you. You think subtracting everything from awareness leaves God, cosmic awareness." lol, I do not think this at all. I am not Interested In beliefs. I wonder about the experience of what I call God but am perplexed. God in the mystical traditions is an experience but that puts it under and within Awareness which makes me doubt the whole God hypothesis as an authoritative source... Brings up many more debates in my head... You on the other hand Are clouded by your be[lie]f's. You constantly bring them up in a justifying or explaining manner as I pointed out. How about we both get really simple and just look at what we can see. I am not Inhibited by the fear of being wrong because I do not believe, so I do not need to defend my stance. Also this means I have nothing to loose. You on the other hand have a lot of time and Faith and energy Invested in being Buddhist, which makes you afraid to really get down and even contemplate the Basics of our experience. but I Invite you to 'transcend' all that and get child like with me "But how deeply aware of the cosmos are you, personally? Where is the proof that there is this God that wills everything to be and is the underlying principle behind everything outside of having experiences of expansive consciousness and deities whispering in your ears saying this is so? Yes, there are Gods that have vast awareness, some think that they created everything out of being the first born. I know, I remember being a God like this and having this vast awareness. But, the truth is, is that as vast as my awareness was, it was not the same level of awareness of a Buddha. I was un-aware of other universes and other dimensions outside of my own experience. But, others were not un-aware, and others were aware of me as I was aware of lots and lots of beings traversing through my domain like ants on a table. Many ants are not aware of your presence as you stand above them, watching them come and go, until you put your finger next to one of them. Awareness is a phenomena." I think I already answered most of this. At different points in your Experience dimensions will come and go... And I am not talking about God, I am talking about simple self Knowledge. "Our consciousness permeates our body but we are not always aware of all the nooks and crannies of it. Our consciousness is a conditioned and karmic arising. How conscious is a tree body? Of course our mind stream is subtler than our physical body and our body arises within the karmic stream of our individual mind." Still within awareness, so Irrelevant. "You do all the time. Your body consciousness is having the experience of walking on thousands of micro-organisms, but are you aware of it all the time?" All I am having Is the experience I am Having. That is all I can be certain of. The Micro organisms may have their own awareness of this event (blessings on them) but their awareness is no different to my own. This brings up the subject of Oneness of awareness. But before we broach that, let me point out once more that If I ever experience life from their perspective, It is not awareness that changed, but just mu experience within it. "Inter-dependent origination is not a theory. It's how the cosmos works. It's deeply subtle, more complex, profound and simple than you are aware of." Wrong again. It is a theory. Your Awareness is limited to what you experience within the present moment, including your subjective memory's and your subjective mental models for understanding time. Dependent origination is a mental theory you paste over your observation and then Interpret the world from, and you can carry (cling) to that on any experience level, subtle or gross, within Awareness.

Sorry Vajra, I do not know how to quote you bit by bit the way you did as I am a bit of a ludite, so I will have to do it in this broken up possibly harder to read way... "You didn't get what I said. Basically, awareness which is a product of consciousness, takes place within endless interdependent origination." How? If awareness is a product of consciousness, that makes Awareness a 'Thing' but as one look shows, awareness can not be experienced, as all it does is experience, and there is nothing at all to suggest that their is a difference between Awareness and Consciousness. You Can not have an experience you are not aware of. "Until you have a direct experience of inter-dependent origination beyond concepts, you will not understand. It must be contemplated upon. Including the formless states of samadhi and integration of these states through the wrong view of top down metaphysics. God being the top and everything else being the down." That's just spiritual one up-manship. You are basicly saying I have to believe you first, and I have Zero interest in belief. Awareness is not a Jhana, awareness is what is aware of a Formless Jhana or samahdi experience. As i Keep saying Awareness is not a thing. "Because you take up the state of concept-less awareness, one of the formless states as a source of everything, you miss the wisdom of the muni. Your awareness is a product of your consciousness, which arises dependent upon the DO chain of events within a very subtle span of experience like spanda, moment to moment. But, you take up awareness of this through a sense of focus or surrender as a Self and you miss the point of the teaching. Your awareness of DO must also be emptied through DO thereby one doesn't even grasp at the experience of Buddhahood as an abiding Self, this to is relative." Same same, awareness doesnt arise or recede, It's not a thing. If awareness did arise you would be able to tell me about having experiences of no awareness which is not possible. Once again your fancy be[Lie]f system is clouding your actual experience of reality, where you are always Aware of the experience you are having. "It's the mis-interpretation of your own experience that clouds your ability to read what I have written. Awareness is increased through wisdom and decreased through lack of wisdom. Through prajna your awareness expands, or through samadhi as well, even without prajna, but then this is where Hindus get it wrong and take up the result of meditative focus or surrender to the bliss expansion experience as a Self. It does seem as so when as you come down from the formless states everything seems to coagulate as if from the light of your experience. But, this is just an experience of consciousness expanding awareness made possible through the fact of non-inherent existence of everything, thus consciousness can proliferate beyond the individual who is empty through a focus of awareness, because everything is really transparent, including consciousness." You will need to contemplate this and not just brush it away with the top down theory you identify with, where you think that everything is a product of one awareness through a process of metaphysical densification and proliferation of multiples through the will of this one awareness to become many, for the sake of lila or play?" You Seem to be existing in a paradigm where the world exists, and your awareness comes and goes from it. If we forget all our be[lie]f's and just observe this is not posible. The one constant thing in any ones experience of the world, or the many Inner states available, is that we are aware of the experience we are having. That - if you really look, without believing anything - Is absolutely certain. So much closer to reality, and true to the one certain thing about our experience is that - Awareness Exists, and the world and our body's come and go within it. See its the other way round to the world existing and awareness coming and going... Awareness exists and all different experiences arise and recede within it. Once more you cant have an experience you are not aware of... "DO of the Buddhas intuition does transcend "that" interpretation." Dependent Origination is secondary to awareness. You can't know any Theory - ever -at all without awareness. Seth.

Everything you say takes place within Awareness. Using complex mental Ideas to defend your Be[Lie]f system doesn't change that. You In no way approached or attempted to look at the questions I posed. You also tryed to make Awareness quantifiable: "Ones consciousness breeds more and more awareness dependent upon it's level of liberation from selfhood and the individual consciousness arises dependent upon everyone else's unique and infinite mindstream based upon a particular congruence of the elements..." In Simple easy language, without your beliefs clouding your mind, can you show me how awareness is a separate quantifiable substance that can be Increased or diminished?