freeform

All religious paths have an outer ‘common’ face and a hidden ‘inner’ face. The common folk use worship, prayers and mantras as means of generating favour, luck or some sort of gain (in merit, in spiritual growth, a better rebirth etc). The hidden aspect of ‘worship’ is internal… meaning that one isn’t actually worshiping something outside of themselves - but they do use an outer form as a means to generate a state of deep inner humility which opens up the space necessary to allow the divine aspect of themselves to arise. This is what Buddha or Guan Yin or some other deity represents - a divine quality within. Observing these two approaches will look the same to an onlooker… ritual respect - whether its bowing or lighting incense or some other ritual. But what’s happening on the inside is very different. Its worth knowing that what you think you see is also subject to the outer and the inner form of seeing

I’m not particularly privy to the historical aspects - it just seemed quite evident that there’s a lot of Daoism within the type of Chan that I’ve seen practiced behind ‘closed doors’. And there’s certainly a lot of Buddhism in the (at least Northern) alchemical Daoist schools… A pretty incestuous world

Zen is derived from Chan which is a mixture of Daoism and Buddhism…

Yeah it’s interesting how things flow sometimes - and how other times they’re excruciatingly difficult to get out…

My thinking: “not much time - better write a short one and don’t worry about grammar and being precise with language” The result: a wall of text 😅

What I’ve learned for myself is: - Don’t try to change people - Set an example yourself - Realise that their personality is a protective mechanism - They are not their personality - there’s something deeper - Don’t judge people for their protective mechanisms - You don’t have to agree with them to accept them as they are - Learn to let go and not react emotionally - Find humour in the difficult stuff - Bing humour and lightness into all your relationships - Look for things in others to be grateful for - Offer genuine, deep attention - not emotions, agreement, disagreement etc Im not one for cutting off relationships, but would take space when required - particularly as I was learning the above points. As I changed, I found my relationships changed… when I reacted with humour instead of being upset or triggered like I had always been before - something changes - both in my recognition of my ‘self’ and in turn in the other person too. After some time, I could offer unwavering, unconditional awareness and acceptance as a form of attention - even when the other person is running through their automated inner script… When I did that, the calm, relaxed space that opened up in me would open up possibilities for the unfolding of something other than their automated script… people would often lose their train of thought because the automated script would dissolve… sometimes it resulted in tears… sometimes it results in this thoughtless space, sometimes laughter or a shift in mood etc. Must've been funny to be a fly on the wall when this first happened in a strong way with a particular individual… I was being judged and berated and told ‘what I needed to hear’… again… before - I would react by being hurt, or defensive or closed off… but this time I was silent (but anything but numb) - fully present and accepting of the moment (not the criticism) - hearing everything clearly, sensing everything behind the words but not allowing them to trigger any knee-jerk emotions in me… as the person continued, they’d get tongue tied, their breathing got heavy and strained, they started sobbing in the middle of a sentence (though fully there, I don’t react to this)… the tears dried up and it turned into an emotion of rage - garbled shouting, mumbling, trembling - everything tense - started with being directed at me but very quickly changed - as if I wasn’t even there anymore (but I was still not reacting, still fully present)… then stillness, no words, time just stopped. The person closed their eyes and sat there for 5 minutes or so in silence (felt much longer) then fell asleep - which is when I left them to it. Our relationship transformed after that (we never spoke about this event since)… in fact their relationship with others changed too. This is obviously a very unusual thing that happened - Im not suggesting it would happen often… but what I am suggesting is that by changing my own reactivity (which took time and practice) it helped the other person too. I travel a lot and come across all sorts of people - ones that I don’t agree with ethically - ones that hold beliefs and opinions that seem completely abhorrent to me. But by cultivating the above points, I find I can connect with people on a different level - and can relate positively even though it’s clear we don’t agree in many other areas. This has helped to reveal that we’re all the same below the surface - that we’re all connected in a much deeper way than our opinions, beliefs, thoughts etc. Its not that these things don’t matter (they do) - but you can’t make people change… all you can do is offer some connection and kindness.

That’s the one 👍🏼

His description of the unfolding of the state was completely aligned with genuine samadhi - mentioning details that are rarely mentioned (but certainly experienced). I’ll see if I can find the post I think he wrote a book about it…

Oh no no! Undeserved respect!! First of all I’ve not achieved this yet - that’s the next ‘test’ - the previous one was 36hrs or so. And not all of that time is in samadhi - usually various depths of absorption - though samadhi does have to arise for the sit to be possible past the first 8hrs I find. And I’m sure I get transmission from the teachers. I’ve only ever achieved samadhi proper outside of that setting twice. With this teacher it’s solely concentration that I do - no alchemy (though there were some ‘herbal pills’ and things that were given to me early on) No idea what’s next - I guess it depends how my test goes. Though I’m confident (especially since our meeting has been delayed by over a year - so I’ve had longer to prepare ). My relationship with this teacher is an unusual one. I came across the monastery years before I met my alchemy teacher… I did a standard silent retreat - and then a more lengthy retreat before leaving. But after a couple of years with my alchemy teacher he told me to go back there for instruction. This time they placed me with a different teacher outside the monastery. As far as I understand most of the other monks and lay practitioners practice Samatha and Vipassana with the aim of attaining Path Knowledge… But they also have a teacher who came there from a Weizza tradition - and my instruction is now exclusively from him. I’m not meant to take part in the day to day activities, sits and lessons with the others in the main monastery. He rarely teaches Dhamma - most of the time we just sit. I’ve been told what the Jhannas are, the various samadhi states, some of the mechanics behind transmigration etc. From this teachers perspective insight into causation, dependant origination etc appear as a result of and within jhanna states. He has a couple of other lay practitioners (no monks) that also follow this ‘alternative’ syllabus - but there’s no space for chit chat unfortunately. I’m very much in the dark about it all. Just do what I’m told

The emphasis on sitting for long periods sounds right though. Next time I see my Burmese teacher, I will need to be sat for 72hrs in absorption if I’m to continue getting instruction from him. Which is not a problem at this stage. I remember a few months ago on the forum someone reporting of their breakthrough with alchemy… they described the process they used - which sounded completely made up… but then they also explain the sitting in stillness for 12hrs a day for a period of 9 months I think. Which made me laugh because they clearly achieved samadhi as a result of the sitting and despite the made up alchemy process… (though I think the member might have understood their samadhi experience to be some sort of awakening or enlightenment).

Yeah it does. Though from what I could tell the teacher is (or was?) in a wheelchair because he ruined his legs through prolonged sitting. Not something that should be happening if he’s attained samadhi and breath cessation… Maybe this happened before that attainment? One thing I found funny about the article that @forestofemptiness linked is the harsh attitude and the writer getting kicked out for not meeting expectations… Both are pretty common in Asia for Buddhist teachers

That’s the most important thing really. Any external substances are only ever in support of an internal practice. Substances do not replace your cultivation practice ——— as an aside - I used to have a teacher that used various places, objects and environments (in time and space) to absorb Qi. However, I had a massive breakthrough in my cultivation when I met my main teacher who showed me that (95% of) Qi generation can only happen inside - and that bringing Qi inside from out is a mistake (it’s not problematic, just very inefficient). Happy to chat about that if it’s of interest

there are very few teachers who have authentic wai dan methods. Some teachers use Qi building pills - but they don’t use risky ingredients. These are more common. With a genuine teacher who uses wai dan, at the stage where the metals and other risky ingredients make an appearance, they will show you that they can change the physical fabric of substances (transmuting one substance into another in front of you - ‘water into wine’ type of stuff). Dont consume weird stuff from a teacher you don’t trust

Not necessary, no… but some teachers use these preparations to assist the internal process.

When you wake, your yang Qi starts to stir… if you lay in bed the yang Qi is not allowed to express as it wants and so it becomes stagnant. Over time this affects the yin/yang balance in your body and you’ll tend to become sluggish and low in energy.

Yes - while some traditions focus purely on releasing, letting go, dissolving etc. - Alchemical Daoism has an element of both letting go and building, creating, birthing and so on. It's quite confounding for those heavily invested in their own tradition (that they see as universal) - so I completely understand the 'how can that be so' type of reactions. Far worse is when there's no disbelief - but some twisted form of ‘agreement’ instead. This way Daoism just gets redacted, filtered, manipulated and contorted into something supporting their truth. Alchemical Daoism just becomes another branch of non-dualism or neo-vedanta, or shamanism, or sex magick or christianity etc. Why not just let a tradition be what it is? Even if you disagree with it. Even if you know better? Why bother with all the hassle and the mental gymnastics of hammering a square peg into a round hole? Now I'm confounded

If you're not feeling too depleted, then sure. If I'm ever unwell I do moving forms, but I kind of 'coast' on whatever level of skill I've developed - rather than 'work' on developing more skill. This way the form itself takes the lead, and I don't intervene, correct, refine or anything like that - just let it do its thing. This way it's not stressful or uncomfortable at all, but very pleasant and nourishing.

Generally if you catch it early, before the sickness has settled in, it’s best to mobilise Qi (taiji, for instance, would be great - especially if your jin is mobile). Once the sickness has settled in though, it’s best to just rest - otherwise, as you say, it can draw the illness deeper into the system, or simply stress your system when it’s already burdened. Hope you start feeling better soon

Well to be fair to Zork… He’s seen what I look like:

Well you know who to ask about that already

From a Daoist perspective, the manifest world (your experience here on earth) is an extension of consciousness. Physicality is one aspect along the full spectrum of manifestation… You’ve probably seen charts showing the electromagnetic spectrum with radio waves, x rays, visible light, radio frequencies etc - all based on a wave vibrating at different rates - so it’s similar in Daoism, but they don’t stop at the electromagnetic spectrum, everything from your consciousness to your very physical existence exists along this spectrum - your physical existence is just vibrating at a more ‘physical end’ of the spectrum. Through various means you may perceive various parts of this spectrum… the coloured lights are not related to the organs - they are the organs… you’re just experiencing them at a different end of the spectrum - one closer to pure consciousness than dense physicality. The source of this spectrum is beyond what we experience as the manifest reality. The source is the Dao and is expressed as your Original Spirit… because this is all prior to manifestation, it is known as ‘pre-heaven’ or ‘primordial’ or ‘original’. It’s a spiritual realm that exists before/outside of life or death - outside of manifest reality. Think of the Original Spirit as a singular point of light… as it goes through the gate of manifestation, it splits off and refracts into the five colours of light which step by step manifest into progressively denser and denser frequencies - including the emotions, personality, the different movements and phases of Qi… and your physical self. The green light for instance is the consciousness-level equivalent of everything from an upwards movement of Qi to various emotional qualities to various meridians to your physical liver to your tendons and ligaments. Thats the best I can do without writing a book. Which brings us back on topic because Damo explains all this rather elegantly in his books. Worth a read if you’re curious about the Daoist model of reality and spiritual cultivation.

These lights are the 5 elements experienced at a consciousness level. So at a physical level they manifest as the 5 organ systems… That means that the aliens got you

Can be, yes - it’s the interaction of Qi with your upper Dantien - and resulting Shen produced. But that’s not the main manifestation… it’s just something that can happen. The main manifestation of the MCO is what’s called the ‘jade fluid’ or ‘the medicine’ or other similar terms. Its basically a sort of (physical) liquid produced in your head that then flows down into your mouth. By swallowing it down, it rejuvenates your internal system, increases your Qi generation efficiency and prepares your body and mind for later alchemical practices.

I imagine that with his large school and all his public books and videos, he must get a ton of correspondence every day. So the fact that he answered you (and you’re not a student, as I understand), shows to me that he really cares about this stuff. Not at all how Zork represented him. (Zork explained that he now thinks I’m controlled by aliens, and doesn’t want to catch alien lurgies off me - and is therefore avoiding my posts - which is why I’m not tagging him - for the rest of you reading this… sorry but it’s too late for you - you’re now under alien control 👽)