dwai

All dharmic spiritual traditions are based on this. Take Buddhism for example. The Buddha didn’t set out to seek immortality or a rainbow body. His immediate concern was an explanation of why people suffer, and what the purpose of life was. And to find out how we can end the suffering. Hindu traditions consider the very cycle of birth and rebirth the greatest suffering. The nondual traditions seek to transcend this by ending the cycle (freedom), the dualistic traditions seek to transcend this by surrendering the little self to God. Wrt suffering itself, there can be multiple levels in which it can be looked at. For some, suffering entails some physiological disorder. For others it is grinding poverty. For yet others it is mental disorders. I’ll venture to say the greatest source of suffering in the modern world today is rampant materialism. I’m sure there tomes written on the nature of the modern society and it’s ills. So I’ll point only this one out. Materialism presupposes that happiness can be obtained by acquiring objects. Get the fancy car/house/partner/job etc etc (fill in the blanks here) and you will be happy. But it never ends. The acquiring becomes compulsive and we jump from momentary pleasure to momentary pleasure. Along with it comes the fear of loss and the aversion to it. Pleasure begets pain. Resistance to pain causes suffering. Really the materialistic outlook is a misplaced understanding of what happiness is, and therefore seeks it outside, in things. What is happening is that there is a primordial programming within us, which is supposed to get us to look inward, instead of being engrossed in the “world” and it’s objects. Suffering leads us towards this “inward looking”. More later....(if there’s interest).

In Temple style tai chi, we emphasize the Tai chi ball as a key component to the inner transformation and applications (martial, healing, inner-transformation). This is an excellent video by Sifu Mark Rasmus, whose system I find is the closest to Temple style that I've seen.

I know what he’s saying. That is not the same thing. Being the light doesn’t mean you know everything or that you become physically immortal. But everyone is entitled to their own fantasy

@Jeff once told me a very valuable thing. Don’t just connect to the light, be the light

That's very important. I think there's a misconception with regards to "know everything". What does "everything" means in terms of non-dual realization? Is there even an "everything" in nonduality? The saying "The realized sage knows everything without going anywhere" doesn't mean the sage becomes omniscient (though that is a siddhi that can be cultivated). The "knowing everything" means the realization that there is nothing that needs to be known, nothing to be sought after anymore, as there is completeness in non dual realization.

Could very well be. I like his way. I see what he shows (at least on his paid videos) as an intermediate stage of practice. I'm sure he intends it for such students as well. Sorry ...lets not skin any cats... I'd love to meet him in person. Maybe if he's visiting the US.... Yeah. Thats true. You will rarely find any temple style videos in public domain, though Master Liao's advanced stuff is available on streaming for pretty reasonable prices. If folks get an opportunity, watch some of his stuff in this series -- https://www.taichitao.tv/programs/course-taichi-and-the-martial-arts-part-1-advanced https://www.taichitao.tv/programs/course-taichi-and-the-martial-arts-part-2-advanced https://www.taichitao.tv/programs/course-taichi-and-the-martial-arts-part-3-advanced

I’ve been around the block long enough to know there’s more than one way to skin the proverbial cat If It works for you, Awesome!

This is restrictive beyond a certain point. I’ve seen too many taiji players not able to go beyond the physical level, and usually they rely on such props. Agreed. Though with proper relaxation it becomes progressively more tangible to work with the ball (real taiji ball, ie non physical). In our system the teacher feeds this to the students. There is a transmission that goes out when we are doing the forms and drills. The students pick it up by resonance, just like Sifu Rasmus says in his video.

http://www.searchcentertaichi.com/seven.html As Westerners we think of the hands as being "symmetrical" - but the secret is that reality is based on yin-yang so for males the left hand is yang and the right hand is yin. I find it fascinating that Mark Rasmus never mentioned this in his training vid. More quotes on that blog link - I cut and paste from a pdf. So that is the same secret as Yiquan training also - the "internal" martial arts are simply the Dragon and Tiger resonance as complementary opposites. Left hand is dragon, right hand is tiger. But that is considered for the lower body. But for "listening" then this switches around - the tiger is yang and the dragon is yin. This is alchemy. http://www.searchcentertaichi.com/aboutMHW.html Excellent observation! Opposite sides tend counterbalance. However, when we go beyond physical power application, there are different levels. For e.g., in application of something like taiji brush knee, the substantial palm is the one that brushes the knee. The empty power comes from the palm that is in the front. It feels like moving the energy around in a bubble — Qi bubble that @windwalker mentioned earlier. It expands far beyond our own physical body limitations. It boils down to supporting the 8 directions simultaneously. Like a ball expanding and contracting at the same time. This is centered in the LDT and it’s power radiates out, like when a pebble dropped into a lake generates ripples radiating outward.

Which hell? The Viking hell or the Christian hell? i already am in the Viking hell, and it’s called Chicago

It’s a good idea for sure. But best not to obsess over it. Joints will tend to open up just fine if you learn how to suspend the crown properly.

No fries?

@Pilgrim very interesting and thanks for sharing. There are many overlaps with the system of taoist mediation and tai chi practice I've learnt. In our system, the master "lights" your stove, so to speak. It happens with a touch to the third-eye. It triggers some deep and profound changes, which results in continuous bliss, 24x7 for months. Those who keep up the practice, stabilize in it and enter nirvikalpa samadhi repeatedly, and are after that able to remain in a sahaja samadhi. My master just calls it "emptiness" and it is a condition that is maintained physically as well as mentally. A state of non-attachment, non-clinging. Letting go of likes/dislikes, pleasures/pains etc. It deepens progressively with practice and time. When I first got a taste of it, I spent about 15 days spontaneously meditating in all sorts of places - in the restaurants, while driving, at the grocery store etc etc. The energy would move my body and I'd be doing spontaneous kriyas/tai chi forms etc. Then another 18 months in a state of split awareness. Like the two birds on a branch (Mundaka Upanishad). Constantly, one state was ever blissful, unattached, unruffled by ups and downs. The other was busy continuing on as most people's minds/egos do. Yet, the power of the silent/blissful awareness was so overwhelming that many old habits just died on the vine. My master told me that the "ego" becomes a faithful servant of what he calls the "spiritual mind". And it has, for the most part. Yet, I often am struck by how much deeper the vein runs in my master...

Yeah there are two ways to get to it. BTW, there is no imagination needed. There is already an energetic field generated by our bodies. Just follow the rules and relax, and the ball is generated. Even "engagement of joints and tissues" is a bit of an overkill.

Nice. I'd asked my first teacher about why we don't use a physical ball to train. He told me that it will inhibit feeling the energetic ball. So we don't use a physical ball in our training, purely energetic, which becomes as palpable as a real ball (and expands in size). Not passing any judgement, just sharing what I was taught. Any thoughts on that?

Personalities don't get enlightened. Enlightenment already is. Personalities have to relax to let it shine forth.

These are all valid, but have to be taken in the right context. The context will develop when the conditions are right. My experience on the ground shows me that is not the case. I’ve been on both sides of the debate since at least 2001, when I started writing a column for a massively popular Indian diaspora portal. I was labeled a “right wing” Hindu nationalist. I’ve been in such debates in large fora and the outcome is that I changed my perspective. It primarily happened after I met my master, and had what can be called an awakening. Once it happened, it became apparent to me that there is nothing to protect. The truth is always available, indestructible, cannot be sullied. Lot of protectionism happens in the spiritual traditions. In Hindu traditions it is called “adhikāra bhēda”. It literally means that there are certain prerequisites one has to have before even being accepted by the guru. While there is something to be said about the qualification of an ideal student, what this does is that it creates isolated silos which doesn’t do much for the common folk. The primary qualification required for spiritual knowledge is suffering. Unless one has suffered enough in their life, there will not be an overwhelming drive to find the solution (aka seeking). There are exceptions of course, but without suffering, usually dabbling in the spiritual path remains a hobby at best. And guess what the reality of most people in the world is today? Suffering, which ranges from physical to mental (more and more so with the urban middle classes across the world). This knowledge needs to be disseminated. How it is packaged must keep up with the times, at least at an introductory level. That doesn’t mean anything goes of course. The knowledge is not there for cherry picking and for people to take pot shots at others they consider “wrong”. A sincerity of purpose is required, and the primary cause of said sincerity is suffering. When you are suffering, you will sincerely seek its cessation. All philosophical masturbations are in the domain of the dilettantes. Those who are really suffering don’t have the luxury of such nonsense. You are entitled to your opinions , however I’ve seen enough evidence to know that it is never a black and white binary condition like that...

I think there's a tendency to label ideas (among other things) and reject those that don't fit our preferred view(s). While it is a good thing to have clarity of views, it is also essential to develop a subtle intelligence, which lets us glean the truth behind the covers. Sort of like "seeing the light shining through from behind the words". In sanskrit these are called "teekshna buddhi' (gross intellect) and "sukshma buddhi" (subtle intelligence). The gross intellect/intelligence is a result of genetics and social conditioning primarily. The subtle intelligence is a result of spiritual work we put in and contemplation on the paradoxes that are provided to us via life/teacher/texts (for e.g., zen koans). It is this subtle intelligence that will show us the way, help us to separate the wheat from the chaff, so to speak. If we were to shoot every message down because the messenger didn't fit our idea of what a "true messenger" should look and act like, we'd end up with a very ignorant society indeed (far more so that it is today). It is not a bad thing that there is more awareness today (be it via internet memes for all I care), than there was in the past about deeper spiritual topics. Even if that is at a superficial, it provides a seed for more profound growth, when the conditions are right.

Who is aware of all these different fragments? Be that one. That’s all the defragmentation we need. Abide as the witness to all manifestations

Very interesting. The Carlos Castañeda books contain a process called "recapitulation" (perhaps @manitou might have more thoughts about it). It involves doing a similar thing, sitting down and moving your head in a repetitive manner, remembering old events, and releasing traumas associated with them. According to Carlos' books, these memories trap our energy in them. As we release the traumas during recapitulation, it frees up the bound energies. It has been many years since I last read his books, so don't recollect exactly. Here's a link - https://toltecwarrior.net/2012/06/21/recapitulation/

The story of Hemachuda

Sublime!!!

I did say I should rephrase to "all those personality traits and conditioning"...its not a dance, but a change in syntax.

On this topic, I would strongly recommend reading this text in its entirety ( I did start a discussion on this topic in the Hindu sub-forum a while back) -- http://scriptures.ru/tripura1.htm However, let me quote a specific section of the text here, that covers precisely the same questions being asked wrt. different natures of different sages, even though they are known to be enlightened. This is from this chapter -- http://scriptures.ru/tripura1.htm#CHAPTER XV As is the way with these texts, the teaching is in form of a story or parable. Not having yet understood what was taught, Ashtavakra continues his learning from King Janaka in this chapter -- Read the rest of this chapter if you find it of interest Now on the topic of different types of enlightened beings (http://scriptures.ru/tripura2.htm - 17th Chapter) If you have read through the chapters and got to the point where the different "personality" traits of some enlightened beings is discussed, you will have come to this -- NOTE: Vasana is the sanskrit term for personality trait or predilection/tendency towards certain behavior.

There's no need to. Those personality traits that need to be dropped in order to prevent the obscuration of the true nature will drop.. Though, I should rephrase that to say "All those personality traits and conditioning that obscure our true nature" . Others, which don't affect the obscurations may or may not drop.