dwai

imho, it is important to "NOT SEEK" such an interaction. Just focus on cultivation/meditation and practice. With time, such beings may present themselves. Then it depends on what you feel. This is not at the intellectual level, but at a deeper, spiritual level. Typically, again imho, most people who seek out such interactions tend to delude themselves into thinking they are interacting with such beings. If you are not at a level where you can draw the attention of these higher beings/teachers you will not be contacted by them. My experiences have shown that these teachers will guide you if you want to be guided. They give you an option. Its up to you to choose or not. In my case, once I decided not to avail of their offer, they went away and did not come back to me. About the topic of choosing to opt for more "direct" practice, do you think these practices are made available without a human actor? There was someone who did it first...for those who follow after to even go about claiming "nothing this...emptiness that..." Key imho, to spiritual maturity and growth are - humility, sincerity and hard work. Nothing beats that...there are no short cuts and when you are ready, teachers will present themselves and offer you solutions. Don't fall for the "evil, sin, heaven, hell" type nonsense...there is no heaven, no hell. We make our very existence in our minds...and our minds can be heavens or hells.

Or drink bottled water...and pick a reliable brand. One I've observed is - Speed up just as someone ahead of you turns on the indicator to switch to your lane. Or better still as they get half way into your lane... If I had a dollar for everytime idiots do that to me, I'd be pretty rich by now...

Yin always has some yang and yang always some yin. It is experienced that way too...as we are expanding, there is also a contraction active. As we are contracting, there is also an expansion active. In fact any opposite cannot be "separate" from it's "other", because the "other" defines it. And vice versa...

was reading a book by Willard j lamb on Hua Jing. What he was describing was a lot like what my teacher teaches (albeit he doesn't use the Chinese terminology). Anyone care to share their thoughts on Hun, Po wrt to yi and Xin? Also about Hua jing itself? Thanks Dwai

Loved the quotes from Liu Yiming. Thanks for sharing...I will go through the other links as well. I've always wondered about my motivation for practicing cultivation/the spiritual arts. To this day I can't pin down what I truly want. It's like the end goal is not important, but rather the process of cultivation is more eminent...(at least at my current state of existence)

Based on my experiences with my teacher, we are charged up and cleansed of junk in our system just by being in the presence of a master. Yes they can transmit knowledge in a completely non-verbal way. My teacher teaches tai chi and Daoist cultivation but is a follower And devotee of Shri satya Sai baba. It might seem strange to many, but he says at high levels of development it's all just a flow of energy and emptiness.

Well depending on which tradition you are approaching it from, the interpretations vary. Advaita is not the ONLY approach Also it accepted (at least in India itself) that there walk many immortals, sthita-prajna among us in the world. They very well are living embodiment of the Gods themselves. So, I wouldn't find that possibility untoward. I know it will make some people react very negatively...but we all accept things as our experiences guide us. I am far more open-minded (imho) about things, given my experiences in India (where I was born and raised, and lived till I was 25) as well as in the West.

Well, that particular could be interpreted as being Shiva himself. As who else rules the wheel of energy but God himself? Another way to look at it is, an Yogi who has mastered the flow of energy within themselves, activated Kundalini shakti, can induce it in others. But putting it into context, considering the previous sutras, it becomes clear that it is indeed referring to a realized Yogi. But that said, based on practical experiences, it seems that, if in mundane life, we change teachers as our level of knowledge grows, why can't that model be applicable in spiritual pursuits as well? Often, people start hatha yoga practice for physical and health reasons. After some period of serious practice, they might move on to teachers who can teach the spiritual aspects. This is often also the case wrt all the classical darshanas. Thanks Dwai

Just sit and observe your breath for a few minutes at a time. Slowly build up from that. All you need is a repetitive action to help you meditate. The breath is good because you can do it without any effort. So sit on a chair with a straight back (not too soft) and close your eyes. Observe your breath as it goes in through the nostrils, and as it comes out. It will feel cool as it goes in and warm as it goes out. If your mind wanders, just gently go back to it. Meditation is not a competition, so don't try to force yourself. With meditation, only thing that will come up to bother you is yourself. Your mind-stuff...when it does, remember not to judge yourself and just accept without judgement. No matter how crazy the thoughts might be. Just observe and let it go. Eventually they will just go away...

I enjoyed that one...thank you for your vote of confidence... Oh how you've shown me and everyone else how much you know...how knowledgeable you are...how little I know. I have more important things to do than pander to an ego-maniac's attempts at self-aggrandizement.

Hi jeff, I'm not particularly knowledgable in the Shiva Sutras or Shaiva Siddhanta etc so I can't comment on it.

Ah I see. Misunderstanding. Absolute illumination is from a Jiva's lips (or sometimes silence) but only by God's grace But often a Jiva has to put effort to even reach a level of worthiness (yogyata) for the Grace. It is at this level, that it could be a Jiva to Jiva transmission.

Are you familiar with the concept of pramAna? In the astika traditions of Hinduism there are 3 forms of pramAna - Intuition Testimony of a reliable witness Direct experience When one goes to a Guru, they usually start with testimony of a reliable witness (Guru) and as their education progresses, they can use intuition to point them the way (even give them glimpses ). At some point, by God's grace they are granted direct experience. Not everyone can or does get direct experience. So then it depends on the tradition, lineage and eventually the final authority - prasthana tryayi to be authoritative source of the Truth. So yes, depending on the stage of your learning/development, you will acquire the knowledge from varying sources. In the old days, in a Gurukula, the Guru might not have been the primary instructor. His senior students would instruct the fresh students. As they progressed, eventually they'd work their way up to getting direct instruction from the Guru. So, then I ask you...in light of what I just typed out here - Why do you feel there is no Jiva to Jiva transmission?

There are detailed discussions around Guru parampara and sampradaya in the Bhagavad Gita. I'll find the relevant section and send you. Actually Wikipedia has a somewhat decent summary of the same -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guru-shishya_tradition Remember, Hindu tradition doesn't necessarily mean only Advaita Vedantic tradition. Even within the Advaita tradition, the transmission occurs in various ways.

Hi Gatito, Do you have any questions specifically around these or my commentary on them in general?

Who transmits? Could be one of many (i'll take them all if I can) -- A more awakened Jiva to a less awakened Jiva. A fully awakened Jiva to a less awakened Jiva Through the effect of past life karma, directly transmitted to the Jiva when the time is right. A sudden awakening purely by the grace of God/Brahman that causes the Jiva to realize Atman.

This is a mantra that was revealed to me during a tai chi retreat with my teacher at 3:30 AM in the morning. I woke up with the Mantra blaring in my inner ear. This is a beautiful mantra and wonderfully explained in the description of the youtube video itself. Of course, the way I heard it and learnt it was bereft of background music, but has the same tempo and rhythm. The way I heard it was without the "namah" at the end. Posting the description of this mantra (from the video description page on youtube here) -- Thus the mantra means that the three gunas, the three Goddesses are constantly moving in the paradigm of reality giving birth to all that is knowable as perceived by consciousness. Once we deeply intuitly the meaning we cease to say to the Goddess, " please don't change " . We make ourselves the witness of nature and free us from the pain of attachment.

With the Gayatri mantra it is not necessarily a case of literal understanding the mantra. The Gayatri has to be transmitted by a teacher, during upanayanam. It is whispered into the ear of the individual. But knowing the correct chchanda (meter) and laya (rhythm) is very important. Even in this example I provide, the chchanda and laya are correct (how I was taught it) but the pronunciation is marred as the person chanting is Tamil and mispronounces Sanskrit...

Thanks for sharing this. To be fair, it is more from an intellectual PoV that I am trying to understand this. My actual training and learning is directly experiential and my teacher transmits the knowledge non-verbally for the most part. It is strange that one day in the class I will be thinking of something and my teacher answers that after the class. Or he says "energetically, such and such a thing will happen" and later that week when I'm practicing by myself at home, I experience the said phenomenon.

Ayurveda is a preventive system and relies on lifestyle changes (diet, sleeping habits, exercise, meditation etc). It has a very rich (6000+ year old) pharmacological database. This database has been mined for decades by western medicine. And then they turn around and malign the source. Ayurveda was the first medical system to develop surgery, including reconstructive surgery. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sushruta_Samhita#Surgical_procedures_described https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charaka

I was referring to the author's usage of hun and po as compared with the article link I had provided.

interesting that this seems to indicate almost opposite of what the author suggests -- http://taoism.about.com/od/buddhism/a/Hun-Po.htm

When I dropped 40+ lbs I had a hard time finding the correct frequency. The energy was very light and floating. But still that's not necessarily a bad thing. However as we lose weight I think it also frees up emotional junk that's stored in our body. That could explain your turmoil. Just practice everyday, do standing meditation, Taijiquan form practice and if you can two person practice. Focusing on listening to my practice partners' energies and moving/flowing helped deal with other issues that surfaced as a result of the weight loss.

I got this in a response from a fellow traveller on FB. https://wulinmingshi.wordpress.com/2009/09/04/wang-jiwu-on-hidden-power/ Interesting. Since I've not done Xingyi, I have not encountered these terms. I can see the progression applicable to taiji too. As we refine further and further, the forces of taiji become more and more mysterious and hidden. My Sifu can launch people several hundred pounds heavier than himself across tens of feet at a time with just his two finger tips.

I know what real Fa Jin is. I have been on the receiving end of it quite a few times. However, it is also possible to train fa jin without having a partner and we do that (it also cleanses our channels when we do so). I looked through some of his videos and noticed that he does some drills that are similar to our (temple style) channel cleansing drills. Is there anyone here on TTB who has had a personal interaction with this guy (i.e. Willard J Lamb)? I think touching hands is the best way to know whether someone is full of shit or there's something to them. I'll ask on the FB Internal Arts Journey forum as well...