dwai

Love the creativity

Touché 😃

You're assuming an inferior-superior narrative here The phenomenal world, which a result of duality, is indeed not apart from the non dual. And really, the non dual doesn't give rise to the dual. The dual just appears to be. How can something that is an appearance be anything apart from, or inferior to that in which it appears. Is a movie inferior to the screen?

Dwai is also my real name (part of it at least) That’s the way to be - start as houtian and then realize you always have only been xiantian, in which houtian merely appears to be

The Shankara in that chant is Lord Shiva, not Adi Shankaracharya, who is associated with Advaita Vedanta (minor detail fwiw)

Try telling that to ~ 1 billion of Hindus who live in my country of birth, not to mention the millions of those who live all over the world now.

If it were in reference to folks like myself, I think The Dao's bum would be apropos

Hinduism is a relatively modern umbrella term used for multiple traditions, of which six are the primary schools of philosophy that originated in India. Of these, two are considered Vedic - Purva Mimamsa aka Mimamsa which deals with the ritual parts of Hindu tradition, and Uttara Mimamsa, aka Vedanta (which is what I primarily practice). The others are Samkhya , Yoga, Nyaya and Vaisheshika. Also included under the Hindu umbrella are the Tantras (including Kashmir Shaivism, which seems to have some followers here).

I'd suggest changing the "Vedic" to "Hindu" as it is more apropos the topics currently there.

You are right of course It took me a while, but I eventually figured out that when I want to avoid "noise", I post in the tradition-specific sub-forum. I don't see this forum as merely a place where people come and argue with each other (there are countless other such forums on the internet for that). TDB has a power that is developed when many like-minded individuals join in what is called a "sat-sangha" (Satsang), aka company of the Good. Overall I think the forum has evolved for the better over the years since I've been coming here. There have been occasional disputes, and a resolution has risen out of those disputes, with greater clarity and understanding for all involved. But who knows, maybe its time for another evolution? As we say in Tai chi, we go from no form to form to no form.

Is there any other Way? The Way IS for fools like me

My 2 cents worth...I found the noise generated by certain people to be very distracting when it comes to having meaningful discussions. I think having separate sub-forums for specific traditions makes sense. I'm not sure how often people do visit the Hindu or Buddhist sub-forums for instance, but it makes sense to maintain that compartmentalization of the knowledge provided therein, and give people the option of staying away if all they want to do is argue about things they either don't know enough about, or don't agree with.

I've supported her. Like I supported Bernie last time. I don't have any hopes of her getting the ticket...

From a Hindu/Vedantic point of view, people whose objective is Self-realization spend time on serving in the world. Not so much about social issues and politics, but in the trenches, helping people, animals, nature. Some might do it in the form of teaching the wisdom traditions, others do it in form of humanitarian work. The objective is to serve with no expectations of anything in return whatsoever. A natural progression of developing in the Self-realization path is the awakening of genuine love and compassion, and selfless service.

I was surprised to see a banner stating "No more Right wing Bull shit". I don't visit the site very much these days (albeit I do resort to muscle-memory induced typing of thedaobums.com due to years of habit ). I think its Sean's prerogative to guide his forum in a direction of his choosing. Personally I don't have an axe to grind either way. I do recognize that the ground realities are far more nuanced and complex than simple black or white positions when it comes to how people form their opinions etc about anything, be it left/right wing politics or which spiritual traditions they follow. The "rub", so to speak is in what we identify with, in terms of positions. The moment we take a position (and we all do from time to time), forms an "other", thereby polarizing our interactions in the world. It might sound idealistic, but really, imho, spiritual work is in eliminating those positions, little by little. However, there still are things that are wrong, simply due to the pain and distress they might cause to others. That is something we should avoid, as part of our spiritual practice (imho). In that light, the point @ralis made about how damaging words can be, rings very true. I hope good sense prevails and the participants of this forum reclaim their spiritual objectives and work on self-improvement/cultivation (or "non-self" improvement )... Just wanted to say that I appreciate everyone on this forum. I learn from you all each time I come here, though off late I mainly learn to let go... Love, dwai

Bija means seed. These are seed sounds that are associated with various chakras. Chanting and meditation on these will work on activating specific chakras. Each chakra has a presiding deity associated with it. And each bija sound is also associated with the deity. David Frawley is a highly respected practitioner scholar in the Hindu tradition. He does a good job of explaining this here — https://www.vedanet.com/mantra-yoga-primal-sound/

The conflation of Awareness and Mind is the cause a result of this misunderstanding. Knowing oneself as Pure awareness is a result of the direct path and is called awakening. Being able to enter another's mind and possess them is a result of attaining a yogic/tantric siddhi (para-kāya pravêsh). This has no bearing on the previous.

So simple, yet so many don't like it, as it is bereft of any "Methods" There are no "recipes" and no elaborate activity/ritual associated with it. This is the direct path...but not everyone is ready for it due to lack of mental clarity (chittashuddhi). In traditional vedanta circles, there is something called Adhikāra/Adhikārī Bhéda. This means that there are some qualifications that a seeker must have before s/he can use the direct path (or even Advaita Vedanta teachings in general). There are of course other qualifications for practice of any path (e.g., Tantra, etc). Varyingly, I find that it is relevant to some people and doesn't matter to some. It has to do with the degree of chittashuddhi/antahkaranashuddhi of an individual. I'll give an example of a student of mine. When I first told him about the direct path, he wasn't ready yet. He could understand intellectually what I was telling him, but not really 'get it'. After about 2-3 years of working with me, he was able to clearly 'directly grasp' what the direct path tries to teach points to. Entirely to his credit, he diligently practiced tai chi and taoist neigong as his sādhanā, to purify his mind and intellect.

Finally! Ok now can we resume the taomeow taiji corner?

Thats why it is dependent on the individual’s level of clarity. I know you know It wasn’t meant for you. It was meant to avoid straw-man arguments that often ensue as a result of using certain “trigger” words. That part is pretty clear - it is a process of the mind, called “ahamkara” in the Vedantic system, which does the identifying. Depends on the level of clarity. If the realization hasn’t matured, bouncing happens. But therein lies the way out too. That which knows there is the bouncing, is what is always there. That’s why we meditate and practice, to become effortless in abiding as that.

Sorry if I'm adding cross-talk, here. The biggest hurdle to "enlightenment" is the belief that "I am not enlightened" (or in the case of the buddhist, "Not I is not enlightened"). (yeah I know this gets many folks riled up and up in arms and what have you...) Really the difference to me is like "ocean and waves". The ground is the ocean and the thoughts are the waves. It is a matter of identification. Which in turn is a result of the chronic patterns of thoughts that have been allowed to develop. All difference of traditions aside, the process really is the same across the board -- 3 steps, from a practical perspective. Realize that you are not your body, mind/thoughts, emotions and feelings. That gives us the ability to strip away the habit forming parts little by little. Realize that thoughts, emotions, feelings (aka mind) and the body arise in you ("not you" if it makes one feel better). Realize that you were already and always the empty ground/essence of knowing and being, and that everything is already of your own nature (empty), and hence not different/not separate from you. That which knows that normal daily living is being experienced in a meditative on one day and a non-meditative state on another, is that ground of awareness/clear light/Dao (etc etc).

Jing to Qi happens when you deliberately start qi cultivation. What we are doing is essentially increasing the vibrational frequency of the jing and converting it to qi by the method of cultivation we choose. There are pre-heaven and post-heaven energies. The pre-heaven stuff we are born with and cannot be increased, it keeps decreasing until it dissipates (when the body dies). The post-heaven stuff comes from food and environment. No. We sink the Qi and drop it into/store it in the lower dan tien. Then there is Jin (also called jing by some traditions), which is generated by burning the qi and storing it in the bone marrow throughout your skeleton. This is akin to horse power generated by burning gasoline. The more we can condense the qi, the greater the jin we accrue and store in the marrows. This gives us more "power". The process by which we can get to this "creating and storing jin" is emptiness. We have to drop literally everything. Let go of all concepts, all thought, etc etc. That is when we start vibrating our qi at an even higher frequency to become shen or spirit. But this doesn't mean that we don't already have Qi, Jing and Shen. We are born with them already. We are not necessarily making "new" stuff. We are uncovering what we already have, through the process of meditation and systematic cultivation. The way I understand it is, jing, qi and shen are all essentially part of the same continuum. They are not "different" substances. They are just different vibrational frequencies of the same energy. Eventually it becomes apparent (via direct experience) that there is only one energy, and every "thing" is that same energy vibrating in different frequencies.

Thanks. I didn’t know of this one. I’ll check it out