dwai

See! There...that's not so hard is it? There is no need for faith. My Self always is...even the monsters are my own creation.

http://www.medhajournal.com/index.php/en/resident-philosopher/951-consciousness-cosmology-and-science-an-advaitic-analysis

Having known and interacted with the author personally I can tell you that he is an advaitin in the traditional sense. He is also a student of Buddhist works (having studied madhyamaka under a guru who taught both advaitin Vedanta and madhyamaka). Yet he knows that the non-self of Buddhism refers to personal selfhood (mind-body complex, which we Vedantins don't call atman, but jiva). WRT Lord Shiva, he might not have mentioned him because he didn't have to. I Have heard many teachers speak of yoga without mentioning Lord Shiva. Sri Ramana Maharishi was an advaita vedantin and yet was a devotee of Lord Shiva. Shankaracharya was a pure advaitin and wrote verses for Lord Shiva, Govinda (Vishnu), Bhavani (Durga). I can only assume that is the case because while the concept of personal God (Ishta Devata) may or may not play a role in the individual Jnani's life, they consider Brahman/Atman to be it. All personal/personified identifications are subsumed in it, just as they rise from it.

The self that doesn't exist asks the Self that exists..who am I? When the answer results in silence, the self disappears and only the Self remains

The only question that matters in Self Inquiry is "Who am I?"

Qi is used but not directly. Qi is to be converted into Jin - power that is stored in our bone marrow using a technique called condensing (the qi). When this jin is issued for martial effectiveness it is called Fah Jin. All of the chinese internal martial arts when taught correctly work towards this objective. There is no need for physical effort beyond what is needed to maintain a sound structure. Imho, some boxers do use a crude form of Jin, though they don't know it. When a good boxer suddenly drops his weight and strikes, that is a fajin, albeit with probably 90% physical effort and 10% jin. Same thing when an advanced taiji person does, might be 90% jin and 10% physical power. A Master can do it with 100% jin.

There is no need for faith when one is established in the Self. What we seek to do with questions, answers and rationalization are all efforts of the mind. What do you have when there is no mind? That is where Pure Consciousness - The Self resides. The only role that "mind" plays in Self-inquiry and Self-realization is that it needs to be shut off.

He was presenting a philosophical perspective. He is a Professor Emeritus at University of Toledo and has taught both philosophy and theoretical physics for a long time. He also learnt Advaita Vedanta and Madhyamaka in the Guru-sishya tradition in India through his childhood and young adulthood. WRT Science splitting hairs...some of these are infinitely regressing. They will never come to "no further" till they change perspective, imho.

Imho, when the True Self is identified with, there is no duality. So no need for either "me" or "you". So the question is "who is being spiritual?" Krishnamurthy's position is one of extreme non-duality. When we are there or have had experiences of the True Self, it makes sense to agree with this position. Until then, we have to practice "spirituality" (it can mean different things to different people and not all will lead to the True Self). Do some do it for subtle (or not so subtle) self-aggrandization? Sure! The key imho, is to practice something (spirituality) that progressively loosens the hold that the Ego has, thereby obscuring our True Nature/Self. Eventually the mind turns back to the witness and becomes still -- and further more, from where consciousness itself rises (and disappears).

Taijiquan

Its not just a matter of "choosing" a field to work in. In my experience (been in the industry for 20 years now), if you don't like what you are doing, you are going to be miserable. I'd recommend finding something that you enjoy doing. For eg: some people love to develop software...as it is a creative thing for them. I have done some software development in the past and found that it truly does consume my creative energies when I "CREATE" the software (rather than just develop code based on some else's specs). But it all involves being sincere in learning and playing the role. If you don't enjoy IT, then find something that you do enjoy (or will enjoy). Perhaps become a journalist? If you want to stay with tech, become a tech journalist. Or anything else you enjoy. I told my teacher about my quandry wrt. practice time vs. work. He said we should do what is lotted to us in life (job, family, etc) without hesitation and to the best of our abilities. He said "treat these like the fires that burn your karmic debts". The way to burn these debts off, without accruing more, is to do the work without attachment to results, but to the best of our abilities.

@kongming in infrastructure fields (network admin/system admin) there is usually no concept of fixed schedules. Before I switched to what I currently do, I used to participate in pager rotation one week each month (might be even more frequent if you are in a 2-3 person shop). That means there I had to practice when I could. So I made it a point to sincerely wish that I don't get disturbed while I'm practicing. Funny thing is, 99% of the time the pager wouldn't go off during my practice time. However the trend in the industry is such that more and more IT companies are moving away from the ball and chain model of work hours. If you can be flexible with your schedule, the employers can be flexible with their's. It's more prevalent in the Silicon Valley than in middle America at this point. No idea how the situation is else where. Personally I too have been of the idea that we should be given a goal and asked to finish it within a stipulated period of time. If you can finish said work in 8h, there should be no pressure to have you justify the 32h you have not spent on it...you can and should work on self improvement (educate yourself, 'mediate a good 30-60m per day when you can).

I've been thinking about this very subject for a while now. Especially as I start getting deeper in the meditation/cultivation process, a sense of detachment has been setting in over the past 5-6 years. It is getting really profound now, so much so that I question (at times) the role of working for a livelihood when one wants to meditate and cultivate. IMHO, this is why people became monks and nuns and went to live in a temple or monastery somewhere. This provided them the support system and the discipline needed to practice. However, that said, most of us are householders and is not possible to renounce samsara and go live as hermits (at least not until we reach a certain point in time..for me for eg. at least until my kid is an adult). However, I've also heard Masters say that "it is easy to run away and become a hermit, but the true test of one's practice is when they cultivate while immersed in samsara"... So after prefacing my response thus, I want to say this - The primary objective (imho) of Daoist, Buddhist or Hindu cultivation/meditation systems is to let go of the Ego self and become empty and free. Free from what? Free from positions, from likes and dislikes, and just be and become an instrument of the higher intelligence (one may call it God, Dao, Brahman, True Self, Not-Self...). So the actions that happen through us are without volition. In order to do this, one has to work on letting go of the mind itself. Eventually it is a sort of surrender...with no concern for the worldly affairs one surrenders to a higher power. This is what guides and moves us. Until that can happen, it's best to find a profession that provides us with at least 2-3 hours of time when we can practice. I think this is possible in almost any profession. I practice either early in the morning, then again in the afternoon (sometimes during lunch) and then again at night. I work in IT and early on in my career, when I used to work with a pager (for support 24x7), I'd squeeze in an hour or so of practice anyway. It was harder to do. Now, I don't have to carry one anymore, so have a more predictable schedule to practice regularly. Now I practice 2-3 hours a day. My Teacher said I need to do at least 4 hours to progress further...but the need for long practice sessions (1+ hours) is less. As long as I get one 60-75 min session in the morning, I can break my practice up to 10-15 min sessions through out the day. Then I can do another 40-60 mins at night. I still seem to manage to deal with my familial duties (wife, kid, dog, cleaning, etc etc). It is important that the spouse or partner supports and understands the need to practice though. I am usually practice the long sessions before they wake up or when they are asleep. It is a matter of resolve essentially. If your practice is important for you, you will practice, come hell or high-water. Ask yourself what you can give up in order to practice? Do you watch a lot of TV? If you watch 2 hrs of TV a day, can you give up 1 hr and practice instead? Do you have an active social life? If so, can you cut back and practice instead? Do you sleep 8-10 hrs a day? Can you give up 2 hours of sleep for practice? and so on...

So in the Damo Mitchell thread I inadvertently interjected the concept of Indirect Method of training. There seemed to be some interest in it, so spinning off another thread about it. Disclaimer - What I'm expressing is my understanding of what I've been told by my teachers. So salt, grain, be forewarned. Direct vs Indirect Method In the Direct Method, the practitioner uses his/her mind to drive the Qi through the Microcosmic orbit and the larger circulation of the lower meridians, arm meridians and the microcosmic orbit simultaneously. This is subject to the ability of one's mind focus, and is known for skipping/bypassing blockages instead of working through them. In the Indirect Method, we generate an energetic Taiji Ball and move it and it's movement induces Qi movement through the meridians (including the MCO etc). This is a gentler and a more efficient way once the practitioner learns to generate an energetic Taiji ball. In the Indirect method, we don't over-exert the mind to spin the lower dan tien, etc. We focus on feeling, letting the mind settle into stillness. Anything that is forced (even if it is slightly) is too much and should be dialed down. All movements and all meditation should be natural and gentle. What does the "energetic Taiji ball" you described consist of, and how is it moved around the body? It's a ball of energy that is generated between your palms or one palm and the ground or one palm and the sky. If you press into it, it pushes back. If you try to pull it apart it resists. But you can press it, compress it, expand it, split it, and so on... As to how you move it...exactly like how you would move a physical ball Can the ball be taken into the body, or does it stimulate the internal energy structure by being moved over the surface? It is both within and without -- and I'm not speaking in parables here. The lower dan tien is always connected to the taiji ball(s). The taiji ball moves energies along the meridians. Depending on the sets/forms we do. If you have more questions or ideas/thoughts...please do share.

A real taiji ball is not physical. It is essentially one's energy vibrated at a higher (than ordinary) frequency. To work with it one has to become sufficiently sung, and sensitive. Once we can manifest it, it becomes palpable and helps us do things with energy that we can't do with physical solid matter. Just as one would do weights in the gym to strengthen the muscles, one has to work with these energetic tools to strengthen one's energy (qi and Jin).

IMHO, it's not the same thing and doesn't work on the same things a real taiji ball does.

When I'm in deep meditation the goal is to pinpoint the mind onto the Witness, thereby rendering it empty and still. Yet, the mind does wander from time to time. In such occasions I encounter some beings from time to time. One who showed up quite a few times recently is a woman, who is very radiant and exuding love. She seemed extremely familiar to me, yet I'm sure I've not seen her (at least in the way I saw her in meditation). She feels like she is a part of me or my family. The other striking one is the face of whom I would consider a shaman or tantrik adept. Yet, she didn't look like any human I've seen. Her face was rounder and smaller than normal human faces and eyes disproportionately larger (as compared to humans), shining with radiance. I didn't feel "love" emanating from her, but Power! Any thoughts on what they might be? Also please do share similar experiences you might have had as well.

My experience and understanding on this matter is as follows - Ramana Maharshi's way (or Nisargadatta Maharaj's way) is to turn the mind back onto the source. Self-inquiry is an intellectual process. But really, what it is leading up to, is to turn the mind back onto the witness, who is ever present and witnessing events unfold. When the mind is able to focus on this witness, it becomes empty, just like the witness itself. That is what is meant by Pure Awareness. There is no sense of time as in past or future. There is only the present moment. There is a clarity that results in the mind resting in the witness (I am), free of objects, opinions, etc. Initially it will still flutter and waver. But gradually it loses its hold (i.e. ego loses its hold). It is hard to do much when the mind is empty (at least for me). So there is a constant context switching between empty mind and active mind (to do mundane things like writing this note etc). But there is still a sort of subservience of the mind to the Pure Self in such a case. The Self is always aware...whether the mind is active or still/empty. It is just that when the mind was previously active, we deluded ourselves into thinking that "I AM the Mind...I AM the Body...etc". When the "I am" is apparent and mind rests on it, it pre-eminence of that one is clear. Then the mind becomes nothing more than a tool with which to navigate this material world. My 2 cents worth...

There also was a historical Ramayana. It was so far back in history that it is considered mythology now. BTW, Hanuman is considered as the Son of Vayu, the Air God. And this is interesting because Prana is composed of 5 internal winds or the pancha vayus.

This makes sense as I base my meditations by first energizing and cleansing the session with a shakti mantra meditation.

The mind is just a tool. Use it to understand intellectually what "enlightenment" entails. Then drop it and just be. For some, the intellectual step is required to intuitively come to the nondual understanding. But then the Mind becomes a hurdle, because the mind divides into observer and observed...subject and object. To drop the mind, it needs to be turned back onto the witness (subject). When the mind tries to observe the subject, it becomes empty of objects, since the subject is empty of objects. The practice is then the mind being constantly merged with the subject/witness. Eventually the mind just stops to move - it becomes still. Then all divisions of this and that, self and other, good and bad, all duality loses its "reality" - rendering the Self free from the prison of the mind.

Adi Shankaracharya had composed a poem in Sanskrit, whose translation I provide below. Though Shankara was a Kevaladvaitin (Pure Nondualist), he also said that for most seekers, before Pure Nondual awareness can be stabilized, a total surrender to a Personal Deity is needed. He composed other similar poems where the Deity is Lord Shiva, or The Divine Mother Bhavani (Durga). Without this surrender, the dissolution of the Ego self (or Jiva) cannot happen for most seekers. Shankaracharya was inspired to compose this poem when we observed a pandit grammarian sitting on the banks of the Ganges in the ancient city of Kashi, early in the morning, practicing his grammar formulae. http://www.hindu-blog.com/2008/02/english-translation-of-bhaja-govindam.html

Thanks rv I'm not particularly concerned or fixated about these things. I just posted to see what the bums think about these phenomena and also that they share them... This is just different from my having teachers visit me in dream state (which is what I experienced for the great part of my practice, especially initially) or seeing beings in waking state observing me while i practice (very rare). My teachers have consistently told me, don't fixate on phenomena. They come and go. The aim is to become empty...let go. Thanks to all for sharing their thoughts.

Just wanted to say my teacher said pretty much the same thing!