dwai

Loss is illusory. Gain is also illusory. The process is also illusory

Yes it is!

Sunya means zero...void...empty...nada. It doesn't have any different meaning. It is a Sanskrit word that is also used in exactly the same way in all indian languages. Okay you win. Your emptiness is real...mine is just intellectual Lets all apologize to @Edward M for derailing his OP. I am sorry...please forgive me

I already explained to you what "real and unreal" mean in AV. Real is that which has independent Self-nature. Unreal is that which does not. So the physical universe is called unreal. No one denies its empirical reality. That's why there are two levels of reality per AV. The absolute level from the perspective of Brahman and the transactional level in which the material universe exists. Emptiness is a concept in Buddhism that deals with the same thing that makes AV label something as "unreal". The lack of independent Self-nature. The term Śūnya comes from the concept of svabhāva šūnya (of empty of Self-nature). That is the basis of emptiness in Buddhism. It is more about understanding

Agreed on Karika being an AV perspective. Gaudapāda was Shankara's paramguru, so teacher's teacher. So at least a couple of generations before Shankara.

Not sure what you mean. That is the view of Advaita Vedanta, and as I'm learning more and more, Kashmir Shaivism too. It is how I've learnt Daoism as well. In AV, what manifests is a product of awareness. Physical universe is a manifestation of awareness through the process of veiling. Read Gaudapāda's Māńdukya Kārikās. This topic is covered in great detail there (first section of this text is the Mańdukya upanishad). It also identifies it with Ishwara - God.

In the causal state, One is emptiness full of potentiality. In the subtle state, this potentiality manifests in the form of subtle forms (ideas). In the gross state, it manifests as the physical universe and all its content. It is all happening in awareness, using the "light" of awareness (of Brahman or Shiva). In other words, Emptiness and Form both appear and disappear in Brahman/Shiva. But Brahman/Shiva is neither emptiness nor form; as well as is both emptiness and form.

It is the "I" like in the appearance of self-awareness without any identities. It is also called the "aham-sphurana" or "I-I" or "I am". The identification as Tom or Dwai or Siva or Jeff gets superimposed upon the primordial "I" due to the mechanism of veiling. Brahman is the awareness (light) that is reflected in the "I". Or rather, the "I" too is a process that arises and disappears in awareness. It is not separate from awareness, but is made up of awareness.

From Shiva Sutras --

The One is essentially the arising of the sense of "I" in awareness imho. So in a way, One is Pure Awareness presenting itself to itself with a sense of self-awareness. As it arises, through various mechanisms (as posited by various theories about creation - like the five coverings aka pancha kanchukas, etc) it veils itself and a universe of subject and objects is created.

Awareness is not only empty but also full of infinite potentiality

This is an old discussion between us The transactional world activities are predicated on a combination of four processes that arise in and from awareness. Manas - The stream of thoughts is the mind Ahamkara - Identification of self with body-mind apparatus Buddhi - intellect (capability of thought generation) Chitta - storehouse of impressions and memories The act of opening or closing our eyes are predicated on the functioning of a combination of these four processes. At the end of the day, every activity only happens in awareness.

Mind means the stream of thoughts. That’s all. What you call mind is essentially what I call awareness

There is 100% awareness in deep sleep. I am aware. I don't have any experiences (no mind). But awareness is there. Deep sleep is not absence of awareness, but it is rather awareness of absence. This can be established using logic. Look at something. How do you see it? Using your eyes. Close your eyes. You are aware that your eyes are closed. That means you are not your mind. Now with all your attention, watch for the next thought to arise in your mind. You won't have any if you give it your 100% attention. You are now aware of your mind in action, and your mind stopped. You are not your mind. Nothing you do can ever negate your awareness.

The mind is just a process in awareness. So mind doesn't witness...awareness does. Its like saying "eyes see". No eyes don't see. You see...using your eyes. Same with the mind too...you witness, using the mind

That which illuminates the mind is the witness. Mind is just a process.

You are neither your conscious mind nor your subconscious you are the awarness that is witnessing all the drama and the comedies being played out by them.

If you're aware of the thoughts and also aware of articulating them during meditation, then you are farther along than you think. Key is to not resist or force anything. Just start your meditation with the thought "let whatever arises arise, I will just observe where it goes"...and then sit. Forget about the clock, method, etc. Just sit.

like light radiating from the person when meditating? Halo around the head? Nice. My student’s medical qigong teacher is a dragon gate student apparently... Quanzhen school iirc does focus on the alchemical/physical immortality concept. Had read opening the dragon gate a long time ago

That seems a tad convenient...could be a mind “trick” May I ask which Daoist system you follow?

See we agree on more things than it seemed initially.... Depends on how you do it. And also depends on the underlying knowledge associated with the practice. Always good to remain vigilant. There can be people who experience profound spiritual states of cessation and samadhi and still remain mired in ignorance because they are missing the knowledge aspect. So that is also necessary. Yes...i think the biggest trap of these experience-only ways is the risk of getting addicted to the experiences.

Not really. It’s a lot easier to live, period, if we live with a greater grasp of all our faculties (as opposed to oblivious of our capabilities) Usually it works quite sneakily. The ego has its way of trying to stay in control. Of course one should not be “concentrating” on the self/identity. But every activity undertaken in the modern world reinforces this. Even Spiritual practices when not tempered by an opening and expansion of the heart. That’s what the heart field practices do. Help us open and expand us beyond our limited self identities. Sounds amazing My Tamil siddha yoga teacher had a few students like that. They’d sit in the class in meditation and suddenly break into spontaneous laughter. Never happened to me... In any case, all these are essentially clearing of blockages and release of traumas.

I didn’t really connect with you. Wouldn’t do that without your permission anyway. I know few like that. Most people are so concentrated in their “selves/identities” that they can’t sense much. Very cool. Did it involve you doing some work too or was It more a transmission from them to you?

It’s just going to be sharing of presence. Nothing fancy. A demonstration of how the heart field works...I’ll connect with you and you can tell me what you feel/sense/see.

Only way is to dive in. If you’d like we could try a little experiment, but it’d work best in real time. If you have access to the slack chat channel of Daobums we could work there.