Ian

By doing nothing. Truly nothing. The karma will then have no option but to play itself out, once you refuse to play. This may be twitches or movements or words or noises or just internal discomfort or impressions, but if you don't do anything voluntarily that's fine. Anything, but anything, you do is your karma, not you, and will make more. What's left when you die, well, much of it you experience in non-volitional realms where you just endure consequences and can't make any more karma. Then when you're clear enough you get another go in a realm like this. Or so I'm told.

I've met this chap, as has Sean, our webmaster. His take on various controversies about him was pretty humble and quite amusing. Which is not to claim that he is genuine in any particular way, but it does give me pause to think that "the truth" might be a bit overstated also.

How does that work with British summertime/daylight saving/whatever? You add one hour to these times?

Very interesting. I know a teacher who said that some of these things started happening to him, more or less by mistake, and it took him about three months to reverse it. There was a smell of eggs too, if I remember rightly.

Looks like the three final unconfirmed Europe dates aren't happening. The website has Max back in California for June 6-8.

Agreed, but even paying attention to what's already there, be it breath or sensations caused by gravity, can often require an effort of will. It's what my teacher calls creating limited karma to interrupt unlimited karma. Like building a boat to get across because, hopefully, it's easier to get out of the boat later than it is to learn to walk on water. Personally, I'm drifting to the conclusion that visualisation is a bad idea, full stop. But I do realise that other people are much more able at it than I am, to the point where pretty solid stuff seems to happen. I don't know if that means they've crossed a line into actualisation or whether they're just even more able to delude themselves than I am to delude myself.

Damn. This is really annoyingly accurate. I'm a urine. Nailed.

I was at Dao Mountain in 2003. One the last day, just before I left, I had a quick chat with Ron Diana, who was just driving off to the city. He said he was hoping to get back for the weekend, because Michael's parents would be there, and seeing someone with their family was often helpful in "finding out how they got that way." So yes, Michael is a very unusual teacher. He comes from a large family of high achievers, bank presidents etc. and seemingly can't help but present himself as a great success in all ways. Personally, for what it's worth, I think he's as sincere as most, is aware of most of his faults, but has a few blind spots that he's way too clever to let himself notice.

Welcome! Same teacher as Hagar. Only seen him once, but he's for real.

Just in case anyone hasn't noticed, it looks like a Friday night lecture has been added to the Geneva weekend, also at the same private house.

Michael Winn has much stuff about Saturn. He connects it with true earth stuff, and talks lots about it in his greatest kan and li. One is given drops of liquid that has had saturn pointed at it through a telescope. Or something. So long ago....

Bless you! Have a cyberhug!

Don't know about interpretations, but I visited there last year. It's a really nice place, what's left of it, in a deep valley by a winding river, and with strong and mellow energy lines. One picture is me looking out at the back, and the other is standing on the Devil's Pulpit with the Abbey in the background below.

I think you'd enjoy Sailor Bob at this point. See separate thread by that title.

When I saw Sean's teacher, Lui Ming, in England he said some very interesting things about transmission, which I wish I remembered better. The basic idea, I think, is that the transmission can be pretty much an independent entity and that the person provides a suitable window for it to get through to others. It sounded much more reasonable when he said it! Maybe if Sean has heard anything on the same subject, he might add something next time he pops in.

Interesting to see you call him Dynamo Jack. I only heard that name as an in-joke from people who'd been in Indonesia a while. Where did you pick it up? And welcome. Maybe people are holding back, because they're waiting for our own Yoda to give you a proper Jedi greeting.

Welcome! Nice picture. I've found this online book very helpful about what should and shouldn't happen in Buddhist teaching and retreats generally. May be useful. I've been on 3 or 4 silent retreats, and feel I've benfitted greatly from them. Like yourself, am less inclined now, though. Mainly because I can't keep vipassana style practice going outside the retreat atmosphere.

So I've been formulating stuff about the ideal state in which to practice. And I think it's vital, but very hard to talk about. I've heard it described as "half asleep, half awake", "alert but chilled", "as if you can't really be bothered", "presence but no pressure", "being meditated", and doubtless a few others I've forgotten. It seems like the vital elements are 1) Being physically present, rather than away with the fairies, (which would be too yin) 2) Not controlling, directing, supervising from the limited mind (too yang) It seems to me as if 1) requires a certain amount of "not 2)" and 2) requires a certain amount of "not 1)" And thus it seems that achieving this ideal state is in itself a form of alchemy. Enough yang to be present, enough yin to be accepting, and, ideally, not a smidge more of either. And hooking one up to the other until they get used to balancing without it being an effort, and gradually there being less and less of both, until ... But it seems we kind of have to talk round it. Because if I describe an ideal state, then I start looking for it, which makes me by definition with the fairies rather than with what is. And if I describe a method then I'm directing and supervisng. But I need to have an approach, at least to start with, otherwise I just sit and think about sex or misery. It seems to me to be about finding the least intrusive ways to interrupt what happens if I sit/stand and endeavour to do nothing. And it seems to be a continuum, in that there are definitely things I can stop doing, the stopping of which produces a closer approximation to this state. But in another sense the state is also an absolute, since there have been times when I was incontrovertibly there. Anyone got any formulations/approaches they find not too counterproductive?

Thank you, useful clarification. And I know it's not exactly science, but this was covered, like so many other things, in Psychic Discoveries: The Iron Curtain Lifted which I think is an update of "Psychic discoveries behind the Iron Curtain." There was a whole bit about blind people being trained to distinguish colour, and eventually text, with their fingertips.

I've never owned a car. I do drive, now, as we have a couple of work vehicles I can use. But stuff is small in Europe. Like there's nowhere in Oxford I can't walk to in half an hour. And our petrol costs about 4 times US gas, so it's usually cheaper to take public transport. In freeform's case he lives in London, where a car is a positive liability.

Yes! Only goal of meditation to discover one's true nature and all that. And "Directing to discover" is a yang-yin blend if ever I heard one. Yes again. Stay with the whole picture, as it were. And you're right - easiest way is to enjoy, find fascinating, said picture. I playing at the moment with the fact that sensation changes every instant. How could one possibly look away? Funnily enough, I had an experience with Sifu Yap once, where he was saying something along the lines of "eye cells are just cells" and a whole bunch of my arm cells just woke up all at once in a "yeah, we're just as good" kinda moment. And yes, whatever you see in the internal landscape, it sure ain't eyes doing it! But the sneaky bit there is "notice". It's more of a challenge for me, thus far. Am incredibly short-sighted and have lots of vision issues.

Yup! What I really like is the way he points out that it's already happening and that basically you don't exist, you just thnk you do! BTW, where in Oz does he live? I've got a couple of friends down there I might point his way...

There's this other planet, see, and it's frozen over, and all the animals are shivering in a tiny temperate band at the equator, and they really need your help, and that's where you're doing your melting work, to create a balance, because if that planet warms up there's a chance for this one to cool down a bit.... Any use?

I just started reading this. It's good. No practice beyond investigating the truth, but his definitions and frames of reference take away a lot of one's hiding places.