dwai

Both energy and states of mind are contagious. They affect each other. Have you ever noticed, if you walk into a room, sometimes you get an uneasy feeling, especially when there might be people already there that are hostile or angry/feeling strong negative emotions towards each other? The room literally starts to vibrate with a low frequency energy and if you stay in such a place too long, you will start getting negative thoughts too. conversely, if you go to a place where the people are very serene, spiritual minded and loving towards each other, a sense of great ease and relaxation eventually sets in your own mind. Direct transmission works that way. From one mind to another. Sometimes via energetics and sometimes directly mind to mind. In response to OP, that is how direct transmission works. It stems from this one fact, everything that is, is a modification of consciousness or awareness.

I find BBC being extremely biased in the case of India. They still suffer from a colonial hangover in that regard. I don’t think this is off-topic as media is a part of the problem that’s being highlighted imho. Not sure about the UK, but in the US, there is certain polarization in MSM, most blatant of them being Fox “News” vs MSNBC (old story). But this extends to NYT, WaPo etc etc, even the WSJ. Similar trends can be seen in Indian media too, where the long entrenched leftist media has gone bonkers with the two term clear majority wins of a “Hindu nationalist”. This has given rise to “right wing” media to counter the left. There are only two victims in such scenarios. The facts, and the consumers of said news.

I think it is not specific to Trump at all. This phenomenon is visible in other parts of the world too. I think the first reason is a growing dissatisfaction with the entrenched mainstream media (MSM) which has more or less got taken over by doctrinaires from both/all sides of the spectrum. And most of them aren't really journalists anymore...they are socio-political activists, with a mission to convert as many as they can to their perspective. The second reason is, that people are far more detached from each other physically, becoming progressively more virtual (social-media heavy), and hence the dehumanization of the "other" is very easy, along with the process of building echo-chambers (the various socio-political bubbles we see prevalent today). Whatever is trending in the echo-chambers becomes "news".

The massive upsurge in conspiracy theories and supporters of them thereof can be correlated to the phenomenon of manufactured news from across the globe. This is not a new thing, but what used to be annoying but seldom dangerous gossip and rumor mongering in the past has become almost always dangerous from both individual as well as social group perspectives. The basis for destabilizing the status quo is generate FUD (Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt). We have that in plenty in today’s social media fueled fake-news/alt-news delivered environment. Add a pandemic in the mix and that makes a deadly combination! I honestly think that most people who buy into these conspiracy theories aren’t looking to belong to a “unique” club, but are victims of systematic brainwashing on social media.

The knots in the upper back are a very common occurrence. Are you the kind of person who internalizes your emotions? If so, there can be knots formed around the shoulder blades, usually on the left side, often right below the shoulder blade. I find that it can asleep induce knots to form above the shoulder blades too. One trick my chiropractor told me is to find an empty space/isolated place outdoors and just scream or vocalize and express your frustrations, and don’t suppress them. I found the issue going away. The interesting thing to note is that a problem there often affects the jaw (TMJ), lower back pain etc.

This is an interview of the popular teacher “adyashanti”. I know many people have conflicted opinions about the guy, but I found this interview to be very direct and spot-on vis-a-vis awakening/enlightenment. https://tricycle.org/magazine/taboo-enlightenment/

In the Hindu tradition we have what are known as the four purusharthas or human objectives. They are dharma, artha, kama and moksha. Dharma is the “way” of harmonizing individual with The universal. There are guidelines provided by sages who’ve gone before us on how to avoid going against dharma. Artha is the domain of material well being — when pursued in accordance with dharma, it is helps maintain the right conditions to continue following the dharmic way and facilitate the eventual attainment of moksha. Kama is the domain of sensual (all kinds of senses) fulfillment. Again when done according to dharma will lead to a healthy being, in mind, body, and spirit. Moksha is the highest pursuit and all of the above when done right will naturally put the individual in the right trajectory for attaining liberation (from the world of suffering). So yes, we can fire on all cylinders, but they need to be guided by dharma.

I used to have serious stomach issues with black coffee. Switching to a cappuccino has resolved it. Somehow, the fats in the milk neutralize the effect that the acid in coffee was having on my system. According to Ayurveda, Coffee increases the pitta (fire) dosha. We consider Mango to be similar and traditional wisdom always had us having some milk/yogurt along with mango to neutralize its fire. I suspect that is also the case with coffee.

I've not read your mo pai thread comment, but the condensing into the marrow is a beginning process. Once the condensing process is "kickstarted", it will naturally condense into the lower dantien. In fact, after some practice, the condensing process will happen whenever we do the form. But the condensing to bone marrow is a critical beginning practice (i.e. beginning of advanced level taiji, imho). There should not be physical squeezing...just a compression triggered by the mind alone imho. When I condense, I send my mind intent into the marrow from all directions, creating a pulling force, which draws the qi/breath etc into the marrow. I think this is called "all body pore breathing" in some other systems.

it’s a copy of samsara, with its ups and downs, good and craziness But I think the in-person idea of @steve is absolutely wonderful. It’ll be great to really meet each other face to face, warts and all. Let’s do it!!

Dragon tears?

When you look around, do you see things staying unchanging or are they constantly changing? Everything changes. Change is the reason for this world to exist. If there was no change, there would be no world.

Okay, Good luck going down that path

Why not learn to distinguish between wants and needs. After one's needs are met, the wants can be turned towards more altruistic objectives... Instead of, "I want that red Ferrari", why not make it, "I want to help my fellow human live better lives by helping them fulfill their needs." You get the drift, I hope? Why do you equate life and worthiness of it thereof to it being "enjoyable" (I sense you conflate enjoyable and pleasurable). That's why I asked, what do we consider pleasurable? The criteria for "pleasure" varies. Some might find a life of sensual fulfillment pleasurable (wine, sex, material possessions). Others might find pleasure in more subtle things (art, music, food, etc). All of them are in the end a pursuit behind ephemeral things.

If you contemplate over suffering, it’s root cause is resistance to change. The resistance to change rises from constantly clinging to that which is pleasurable and trying to avert that which is painful. With that in mind, why should one go about selfishly seeking pleasures in life? You know that no thing lasts forever. So whatever gives you pleasure now can become a source of suffering later. What is pleasurable can become painful, depending on a few factors.

What we are is awareness. And have you ever known awareness to disappear? One might be inclined to say, "In deep sleep, there is no awareness"! To that, my response would be, "Not at all. In deep sleep we are still very much aware...only there are no objects to become aware of." Let's explore that a bit further. What is it that makes you think that being selfish will lessen the suffering? Also, how does one go about finding joy and pleasure in life? What do joy and pleasure even mean to you?

Hindus have a "no-self" too. That which is discarded via negativa (neti-neti) is the "no-self". It so turns out, that (and anyone can verify for themselves) that all those aspects we normally consider as being the "Self" are simply ideas and rise from memory. Heck, without relying on memory we can't even tell if we are male or female, or even what species we belong to, or whether we even have a body or not. @old3bob you already know this...posting just to keep the discussion rolling. You've made some great points!!

If we're going to do it in the US, how about somewhere in Colorado in the summer? Guess what my first google search produced @manitou? https://www.findthedivine.com/retreats-online/sunmountain-center-yoga-wellness-retreat-center-in-manitou-springs-co/

I too have similar concerns wrt. "new age" teachers. But not all of them are delusional. There is certainly something to be said even if a teacher only can teach to the under-grad level. The key would be if they recognize that and/or guide their students to more accomplished teachers. I've seen many such on batgap.com. But the kind of dialectic approach (if I get what you're driving at here) taken by the Advaita (& Neo-Advaita) crowd is not really very different from the Upanishadic times. The students still asked the teacher many questions over a period of time -- that is part of the practice (manana, nidhidhyasana to use a vedantic terminology).

He's referring to a distinction between Enlightenment and having mystical experiences which are like enlightenment but may not be permanent. I find more people gravitate towards mystical experiences rather than realization (myself included for a long time in my seeking process). Mystical experiences occur to a personality/ego. Enlightenment results in the clear and complete knowledge that the personality/ego does not have any intrinsic existence -- it is just a process that appropriates/affixes identification.

In order to understand that, we have to consider the following -- What we generally consider as knowledge, is on the basis of a framework of categorization. A framework of categorization is essentially a way to identify and label phenomena (things, emotions, experiences, people, etc) -- let's call it a Categorical Framework. This categorical framework varies on the basis of many criteria, such as genetics, region, environment, culture, species, etc. Some things we inherit from our biology. Others can vary widely. There are only truth-claims in the context of categorical frameworks. Two frameworks can produce completely different interpretations/inferences about the same observed phenomenon. Take TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) vs Western Medicine for example. Each has a very different approach, and often quite radically different worldviews (categorical frameworks). Is that to say that TCM is wrong and Western Medicine is right? Or vice versa? No...we can't, because ymmv depending on what the nature of your ailment is. If we start considering cultures, etc different from those we consider our native ones, there will be radically diverse perspectives.

There are several centers above the crown as well. Without knowing your background it is hard to suggest anything specific around that. Eventually, all the centers will merge into a single "super-center" -- but that is an advanced thing IMHO.

@Moderator team should this Buddhist Deity thread should really be in the Buddhist sub-forum? But yes, there are literally thousands of texts which extol the benefits of chanting Hindu Deity names. Here are a few -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lalita_Sahasranama https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kali-Saṇṭāraṇa_Upaniṣad https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vishnu_Sahasranāma#Merits_of_recitation I've experienced very profound effects of chanting a sacred Vishnu mantra given to me by a Yogi in a dream 18 years back -- both spiritually as well as in my everyday life.

Actually it proves nothing. Yes, many traditions are woven together into a complex tapestry that form a cohesive religious, social and cultural fabric. I don’t get this compulsive reductionist approach to things. Most Indians don’t think this way. And last I checked, the India is no longer colonized. Let us continue to define ourselves in whatever way we’ve done for millennia. As a Darshana, Yoga is precisely as outlined by patanjali. What other yoga (in that context) do you know about? What we call ourselves is a matter of convention and usage. Yes Hindu dharma IS Sanatana dharma. It is patronizing to tell Hindus what they can call themselves or not. As a practicing Hindu from a long lineage of Hindus, I would find it offensive if it took internet posts seriously. Who gave anyone the right to go about meddling with how 1/5th of humanity refer to themselves? That is very good. But I don’t buy into the post-modern humanism paradigm. It has been weaponized by communists (I know...some will roll their eyes). It is perfectly okay to be proud of and celebrate our differences while we manage to maintain a diverse cohesion (as people have done so in India for thousands of years). Wrt the caste system, Varna wasn’t a hereditary thing to start with. Jati is. We see it in all cultures, just that most other ancient cultures only exist in history books — the Indian one being the only exception. Haha I thought you were referring to the Nagas who were the offspring of Rishi Kashyap.

Yes there are many different intepretations of the Vedic knowledge systems (Vedanta itself has multiple philosophical variants). And there are the Tantric Agamas etc. Some people consider the agamas as non-vedic, and many traditional scholars consider them part and parcel of the Vedic tradition (continuation thereof). So modern Hindu temple practices include both vedic as well as agamic practices. So agreed on multiple maps and systems I've highlighted the part of your post that I found odd. Now agreed that there was no "Hinduism" during the times of Patanjali, but he is very much a part of the "Hindu" traditions (as they are construed today). Patanjali's system was Samkhya, which is essentially the backbone of modern Hindu cosmology. And Yoga is also an integral part of the Hindu way of seeking (one way out of many, but an integral part). So mostly (and most) Indians don't consider Patanjali's yoga as non-Hindu. There ARE some western ahem "yogis" who try to appropriate yoga and therefore try to separate it from the Hindu dharmic family. I'm curious about the "Naga" part though...can you elaborate? Try telling that to the 1 billion Hindus who self-identify as followers of Hindu dharma for thousands of years of unbroken lineage. The Shad-darshanas (http://veda.wikidot.com/shad-darshana) have been considered the six philosophical schools that constitute Hindu dharma.