dwai

I like the relaxed approach to wisdom and spirituality in Daoist systems. The whole "not taking ourselves too seriously" resonates well with me. I am a practicing Hindu-Daoist (or should that be Daoist-Hindu? ) And I find lot of parallels between the Indian philosophies, especially Advaita Vedanta and Daoist philosophy. Also, my Tai chi lineage heavily relies on Lao Tzu and The Dao de Jing.

It's just a precursor to deeper stillness. If you stay relaxed it will take you deeper.

my 2 cents worth would be to not try and raise Kundalini by reading techniques off a book, doesn't matter who has written it. Find a good teacher and learn under his/her guidance. When I started Tamil Siddhar Yoga, my teacher wouldn't let me do asana practice for first 6 months. He would make me lie down on my back and do what he called merudanda shuddhi (purifying the spinal column). Doing the simple techniques that were part of the purification was so intense that my head felt like it would burst. Until eventually one day it stopped feeling that way. Then he started asanas for another 6 months. After the first year he introduced pranayama. Not the way most popular pranayama is taught. First thing to learn was glottis control - how to lengthen the inhalation and the exhalation. After that was breathing inhalation and exhalation in a specific ratio. After several months of that, he introduced internal breath holding (antara kumbhaka). After a few months of that he introduced bahya kumbhaka (external breath holding). The pranyama was done while cycling through hand mudras. The combination (and culmination of practice) raised the kundalini safely and soundly. It is not dramatic and explosive if we do the practice right. Along with yoga practice you have to follow the yamas and niyamas (do the right actions and follow the rules). Read Patanjali's Yoga Sutras for details on the 8 limbs of Ashtanga Yoga if you haven't already. It is very easy to get carried away and think we can read books and learn this stuff. But this is dangerous if not done correctly. Of course there are those of us who think they are doing this stuff but actually are deluding themselves. That is dangerous too, because they think they have attained something and then teach another generation of charlatans. Case of the blind leading the blind...so CAVEAT EMPTOR

All these roads lead to the same thing. It is dependent on the make up of the individual. Not everyone is ready for Advaita teachings. Having an Ishta Devata (Deity of Choice) helps the individual open up his/her heart in love (Bhakti Yoga). The four paths of union with the ultimate - Bhakti for those who are devotionally inclined (this is the majority imho), Karma for those who want to follow the path via selfless action, Raja for those who want to use techniques - asanas, pranayama, the ashtanga path and finally Jnana, for those who follow the path using their intellects (this is the minority and the hardest of the paths). The Bhagavad Gita has sections for each path. In each one Sri Krishna says that it is the best way to get to him (Brahman). What that means essentially is that all the ways are equally valid. This is why we don't see many incidences of religious violence among the various hindu traditions. Plurality is the way of the Hindu.

I have found that this might be an apt statement. Teachers are human beings too and in general don't like to waste their energy. So, if a good student appears, it makes the process of investing and expending time and energy worthwhile, imho.

Having been a professional teacher in the past (albeit of technology), I must say that finding a good student isn't just about working hard. It is also about finding someone with aptitude and intelligence. I must have taught a few hundred students over the course of the three years I taught. Based on that and my personal experiences as a student, here are some types of students I categorized -- Students who feel entitled to the knowledge. Such students may or may not work hard towards learning it, but just take it for granted that since they paid the teacher (or the institution), they are entitled to all the knowledge of the teacher. Students who really want to learn, but don't have an aptitude for the subject. Their motivations vary from "everyone is doing it, so I must too" to "I really want to learn it for x y or z purpose". These students usually work very hard and diligently (but not necessarily in a smart manner) and achieve certain degree of proficiency (but mastery eludes them). That said, sometimes aptitude comes with experience/age. So, if these students persevere, they might eventually gain some degree of mastery on their subject of study. Students who have an aptitude for the subject, but don't want to invest time and effort in it. They are tangentially in category 1 (since they feel entitled to the knowledge). Such students may or may not be successful. Many of these are easily frustrated and might even give up on pursuing their study. The reluctant student who was forced to take up the study (by an eager parent perhaps) - they seldom last. Students who can empty their proverbial cups and really set about learning. These are serious students and are a rarity (at least in my experiences). They grasp the subject intuitively and are smart and methodical about how they approach the study (and practice). As a teacher, I preferred category 2 or 5. These students remain etched in my memory as a teacher and I have remained in touch with them over the years still (In some cases). I think these categories might be applicable to all forms of study.

Lord Ganesha is the God of Beginnings and a remover of obstacles per the puranic tradition. But also, because he is the deity of the Mooladhara chakra. For Kundalini to awaken and begin her transit to the Crown point, the Moola needs to be awakened first. Sri Ganesha is the presiding deity of the Moooladhara chakra and his bija mantra is "Lam". Why that is relevant (the Kundalini part) is because rituals in the Hindu/Vedic tradition is actually a simultaneously internal and external process. The external acts of fire sacrifice (Yagna) needs to be complemented by internal processes. So, imho, when Sri Ganesha is offered obeisance externally via ritual, there is an internal aspect to it as well... Hindu traditions have other aspects to them wrt deities. The Gods and Goddesses are aspects of the absolute and represent various specific characteristics. Hindus have the ability/freedom to choose their "Ishta Devata" (or Deity of choice). Once the choice is made, they then follow the path prescribed for that deity (until it is time to then follow another deity). So, deities are like teachers (as they contain the potential of specific characteristics that will then unfold in the seeker). But also, at a cultural level, Hindu culture never developed the "my way is the best way" malaise, because there was an effort to syncretize the various systems (of the deities) into an organic familial setting. It is common knowledge that Shiva, Vishnu and Shakti have their respective systems/traditions. But folklore assimilated them into one family. So, in some traditions, Vishnu and Brahma are the sons-in-law of Shiva and Parvati. Ganesha and Kartikeya are their sons. Sarasvati and Lakshmi are their daughters. Vishnu's wife is Lakshmi, Brahma's is Sarasvati, and so on...

Why put pressure on ourselves? Those who have to practice will. Those who don't, won't. The Dao will stay the Dao.

hehe I've not fought anyone with the taiji sword (actually since i couldn't fly the sword out there, it was a long piece of bamboo), but chased territorial crows and kites from my home's terrace in India... (they apparently didn't like me intruding in their space and did a few fly-by's till I started the sword long form

The problem is people don't have the patience to train the Qi and Jin aspects of Tai Chi. I've been studying with my teacher for 12+ years now. I've been doing tai chi for close to 14 years. I also have a background in Karate and Aikido (sorry about the TMI background stuff)... And what I know feels like a fraction of a tip of the proverbial iceberg... I had to literally empty the cup over and over (and still do) to learn more deeper aspects of Tai Chi. When I push hands with my teacher, I feel like a helpless infant at times...because no matter what physical level stuff I do, he always gets me energetically. I think I'm getting better at it, but there is a difference between someone who has studied authentic style tai chi for 40 years and someone like myself (a neophyte) Qi is real, Jin is real (and no, fa jin is not merely a technique), they can be cultivated (and the folks in my system do it) - but it is a slow and excruciatingly simple process of decluttering and unlearning...

*sarcasm alert* But..but...it's all Woo Woo Taiji, Bagua, Xingyi are after all internal arts. What internal means is external alignments of course. It's all mass and momentum...don't you know?

Start doing Tai chi or Bagua. The moving meditation and body focus (initially) will help ground you and balance out your energy. Also, do get a medical check up done to rule out any physiological ailments.

I'm a big fan of David Frawley. Excellent article...I have read it before.

What we do is close our eyes and put all mind intent into the lower dan tian. This will send the qi there. Then the LDT should collapse into itself until it becomes an empty point. This will also result in qi sensations in the extremities to disappear.

So you've been focusing on rooting and felt a moving sensation there. People feel this differently. I used to feel like a vacuum suction type feeling in the bubbling wells...like there were suction cups there that were connected to the earth with a magnetic sensation. That goes away with time as you get more used to it. You aren't losing energy. Remember, even when we send the Qi into the earth, the earth filters it and it comes back to us via the crown point. So, it's better to develop Crown point suspension as opposed to rooting, especially if you are doing any internal martial arts, imho.

How do you know your Qi is seeping out and you're losing qi? How do you feel when you get the sensation that makes you think like you're losing Qi? Leave the fear part out. Other than that? Do you feel weak, tired? Do you not feel a difference? The part of the feet you mentioned is where the bubbling well is. Can you describe what kind of Qi development practices you have? How regularly do you practice and how long do you practice?

Based on what I've seen (online), Adam knows the internal aspects. But only way to know for sure is to push hands with him and meet him in person

Reading through the Nisargadatta Maharaj thread I noticed that the subject of what "I am" is was broached. Most assumptions/assessment of the "I" and the "I am" in case of Advaita Vedanta are based on incomplete or incorrect knowledge of the technical terms there in. There are the terms - "paramatman/ishwara and jiva" and then there is "brahman and atman". Since Advaita Vedanta very correctly demarcates the two levels/degrees of reality/existence, it is therefore an incorrect premise to assume that the "I" (or Atman or Self) that is being referred to in AV is actually the Egoic self (or Jiva). In the traditional sense, the Jiva is that which lives (and as a corollary thereof, ceases to live). It therefore is in the realm of vyavaharika (mundane) reality. Atman is that which is Paramartha (absolute/ultimate). The vyavaharika level is dualistic and there is a separation between the Jiva and Ishwara and everything else in existence (or the living being and God). In the advaita level (paramarthika) there is no duality. So there is no separation...the Atman is also the Brahman. A very interesting discussion on this topic with Bhagavan Ramana Maharishi might help shed some light on this topic (albeit it isn't directly answered, but provides the right cues towards thinking about it) http://benegal.org/ramana_maharshi/books/tw/tw186.html

During the times of Adi Shankaracharya, the intellectual atmosphere in India was that of debate and discussions. And teachers would have to grow their following by publicly debating and defeating others (sometimes a series of debates). They had to first learn the opponents positions in great detail and then formulate their counter arguments. Shankara led the way in assuring that Advaita Vedanta (or the Non-dualist interpretation of Vedanta) came to the forefront of the Indic spiritual and intellectual spectrum in those times. A lot of his arguments were very cogent and I suspect led the Buddhist camps to refine their theories and teachings as well (to bridge the logic gaps that Shankara exposed). Advaita Vedanta interpretations too have developed and improved because of their contact and interactions with Samkhya, Jaina and Buddhist philosophical frameworks. These "fights" should be viewed as intellectual and academic (to a certain degree) interactions and usually their result was favorable for all parties involved, because honest and sincere introspection leads to both acknowledgement of flaws and fallacies, as well as course corrections and adjustments.

Yes that's what I meant to say. It should not be exhausting, but if we think too much, it is In other words, it seems to me that people tend to "think" about "thinking from the LDT" than just feeling. The OP used the title "Dropping the brain to the LDT". That seems like a bad premise to start with...

I noticed that it is very important to sink the chest. Lot of qi gets stagnated there. Rounding the back (thereby sinking the chest) results in that dropping down. Proper alignments are needed. The "rounding of the lower back" is also important, but it is not overtly physical. Standing with the toes pointing slightly inward (or at least straight ahead) will do the "rounding of the lower back". This allows for two things imho - relaxation of the Kwa and letting the qi flow better from the ground to the LDT. But imho, the "thinking from the LDT" is different way of approaching consciousness. It is developed by practicing things that exercises the LDT (push hands sensitivity stuff - developing ting jin and tong jin). It can be mentally exhausting to constantly have to "sink to the LDT" initially. As we relax more, the qi will naturally drop to the LDT and the LDT-based awareness will develop. It is like my teacher says "Feeling" (not thinking).

And to lighten up the discussion, here is another type of "I am" --

Yes, the Self (tadekam) is not the antahakarana (chitta, ahamkara, etc). Very nicely put there... Any attempts to "capture" the Self in dualistic terms will naturally lead to contradictions and errors because there is never an elimination of the aberrations (vrittis). Dr. Ramakrishna Puligandla, in his book "Jnana Yoga - The Way of Knowledge" describes this very nicely. He says "the mind is a field of objects". It is phenomenal, and it (since it) has a beginning and an end. The Self is not that. A lot of our problems are a result of misunderstanding the original words. I see this with Tai chi practice more and more so now. Words are like the forms of Tai Chi. They take us close to the essence but if we get caught up in them, we miss the essence. The essence is a feeling. It is not rational (we rationalize it after the fact -- which is another vritti). But it is not irrational either. It is non-rational.

I think that is inevitable. The sages realize this and stop "fighting".

I think the consternation is rooted in the cacophony that usually ensues once Buddhist concepts are discussed