dwai

Not yet. Ok, I did watch it and its good. @blackfence IMHO, it is not necessary to distinguish between the "preserver of Self-identity" and the "function of the Antahkarana, i.e. ahamakāra". The "preservation of self-identity" is just a result of the superimposition. But it takes a significant amount of contemplation and meditation/practice to come to such an understanding. And the funny thing is, each and every "individual" has to traverse this journey themselves. In my experience, it is easier to explain the different aspects of the mind and if the seeker is sincere (and ready), will find their way to the proper understanding.

Ego is a function of the mental faculties which superimposes the self-identification on various things. "I am" is simply the root of your mind. But ego is "I am this, I am that" (such as, "I am a doctor, I am a martial artist, I am a man, I am a woman, I am rich, I am poor"). What we call mind is made up of four components -- The thought field (Mind) -- aka Manasa The identity maker (Ego) -- aka ahamkāra The storehouse of impressions, thoughts/emotions/feelings -- aka chitta The intellect -- aka buddhi In western thought, there is no such clear distinction and all of them somehow are considered to be "mind". The mind itself is not conscious but runs on the reflected light of awareness/consciousness. It is merely an instrument and the ego is a functional component of that instrument.

What I'm referring to goes beyond just peng. There is no "you" and "outside" at that point, for all practical purposes. When a hand moves, it displaces energy in the space within which it exists. How much is displaced depends on the depth of mastery. Its sort of like being in a swimming pool and transitioning from being a little person in an ocean to a whale in the ocean to eventually becoming the ocean itself

100% correct. It's not wrong or bad to be wealthy or materially successful, so long as there is no craving/clinging. Neither should one be averse to a reversal of fortunes either. Acceptance of the current situation is a very practical approach to life. Accept what is, then work on what you want to do. Eventually, we'll notice that the doing has become not-doing.

Actually it goes beyond rising up through the internal lines as well. It comes back from the surface. The Qi goes down the legs, and returns back through the crown point, but not from "inside" the body at all.

My teacher had told me that there is a cycle of 3 x 7 years in the formal training circles. Seven years of physical/body training, seven years of energetic training and seven years of consciousness training, and then back to physical body training, and so on. So on and on it goes...refinement upon refinement. Somehow, I'd forgotten all about it until i just re-read your post

The karana sharira (causal body) is where the seeds of karmic potentiality reside and manifest in regeneration of the subtle/astral body (linga sharira) over and over again. This in turn gives rise to the sthula sharira (physical body), which acts and thereby generates fruits of said action (karma phala), which is stored in the causal body. The causal body is essentially the Self, covered in a veil of tamas (inertia). Not knowing this, and in fact, since most people are oblivious to their causal or even their subtle body, they begin to scratch the surface with kundalini practices -- but it usually won't have any effect beyond some "high" experiences. If one doesn't have a map to get to an unknown place, odds are that they can't reach their destination. There is a tendency in most "energy-path" seekers to consider energy as the end-all/be-all of practice. This, imho, is reversing the relationship between awareness and energy. Energy work needs to happen to clear, declutter, and focus the mind. The mind needs to be involved because without the mind, knowing can't happen. What needs to happen is that the mind becomes transparent, into what is called "No Mind", which is actually a non-grasping mind. When the mind is in the non-grasping state naturally, reality as it is, is known without any efforts. Chit Kundalini awakening is in essence the purification of the mind so that it rests in the non-grasping mode naturally. This is also called "sahaja samadhi".

The Sun never fails to amaze, inspire and awe us — the giver of life, light and warmth. And like the outer Sun, the inner sun — Atman, the Self is amazing — without it, there would be no Sun, Earth or in-fact the Entire Universe. http://www.kamakoti.org/shlokas/#gsc.tab=0

Chit Kundalini awakening is a sign of Jivanamukti, or liberation while embodied, afaik. Para might correspond to videhamukti, but that's my extrapolation.

It makes sense.

Here it is --

The differences in arising qualities manifest during experience. One is in the domain of Prana (Qi), while the other is in the domain of Consciousness (Chit). They are inter-related, but are different stages of development (Prana lower, Chit higher). Not really about control, but it certainly has to do with the mind's limitations.

It's not. They are different in quality and process of activation is different too

Yes, it means one is not in the human body. There are (at least) 14 other realms besides the one we inhabit after all

There are three kinds of kundalini. What is most commonly known is called “prana kundalini”. A more subtle kundalini is “chit kundalini”. The awakening of this is also known as “enlightenment”. This awakening will also imply prana kundalini is awake. There needs to be sufficient purification of the mind via past life good karma and/or present life purifications for chit kundalini to awaken. There is also another called “parā kundalini” which is beyond the scope of embodied humans.

Our mind is actually made up of four sub-components/functions. Thought field (mind) storehouse of impressions (memory, feelings) intellect (ability to perform abstract conceptualization, creativity and computation — the 1+1=2 kind of function) the identification mechanism (ego) The what people generally consider intelligence is essentially faster than average recall of memory. The answer to your questions imho are as follows — Some people are born with less mental muck (due to karma) and therefore have natural clarity. Because they have natural clarity, they are able to process stimuli better than others. Because they have clarity and thoughts are not scattered as much as in others, their jing/Qi is more focused. Think of it like a flashlight vs a laser. Now depending on how they use said mental clarity, defines how they are able to translate this in the spiritual world (or not). Because the ego is the identification mechanism, it tends to attach to stuff as “this is me, this is mine”. Here too karma plays a role. If karma is conducive, the individual would be able to take that mental clarity and become able to abide in awareness progressively for longer durations until they realize their true nature. Or they could just remain as super successful individuals in the material realm.

There's always emptiness...more is better

I'm very selective in what I "like". And neither do I with you. I think you're a good person and have a lot to share (even when I don't agree with things you have to say). In fact, other than a few trolls (who're now gone), I think everyone else is also good and has a lot to share. Be well...stay safe, stay healthy and more jing/qi/shen to you

If you feel that way, its your prerogative. I didn't gang up on anyone, unless you consider me a gang all by myself

Pray tell me where I "supported" any attempt to discredit other members?

I think he only initially pointed out that you "liked" someone else's comment after you responded to his OP. When I first read that OP, It seemed he was ranting about some of the "immortal sages and all-powerful masters (of gas)" who had come to roost here...and perhaps there are many others like me who read that post and felt the same way. But I think the point being missed is that this is not about just a single instance, but a pattern of behaviors that are becoming far too frequent here off late (and I'm not narrowing it down to any one person, just to be clear). Someone else's 'bad behavior' doesn't give me carte-blanche to behave in a similar manner. That was on full display with GSMaster's inciting flame-wars or Starjumper for that matter. What happened as a result? Otherwise productive members like Nungali got banned too! Just because they couldn't resist the urge to retaliate.

I don’t see any double standards in calling out public stoning and ganging up against any individual. People are welcome to draw any conclusions from this that they want to — I can see some people already have.

Agreed that was wrong on his part. That’s why I chalked it down to an off day . I’ve seen that about you and it’s a sign of your own maturity, which I applaud. The thing is, escorted out is one thing, ganging up is another. Fact is, none of us world any power here. So it either becomes a collaborative environment or a combative environment. It is up to us to make it one way or another. if you consider the likes of gsmaster and the other trolls like gatito being recipients of the ire of many level headed bums, then you have have something of a pattern. Otherwise it is only a ‘personal feud’ — which is wrong. Whether we choose to handle it like adults or not is what remains to be seen. Then it becomes a learning experience for him, and for others too. Whether we consider someone to be awakened or a master is entirely up to us. And yes, even ‘awakened people are people too. Maybe less susceptible to impulsive/compulsive behaviors than non-awakened ones. Ive had my share of disagreements with spotless and many others too, over the years. But it never resulted in ‘public stoning’ style retribution that’s on display here. Two wrongs don’t make a right — as that saying goes. Two wrongs are just two wrongs. Anyway, my intention here was call out what I felt was unpalatable behavior. People are of course free to behave however their little hearts desire. I think I’ve already responded to what my issue has been with ganging up threads such as these.

Of course my original message was in response to what seemed akin to wolves packing up to attack a prey...(only an analogy, not calling anyone either wolves or prey). I've noticed this quite often on online fora -- people seem to get 'inspired' (and I use that word loosely here) by one vocal/active person to start picking on someone who's not really around to defend themselves. This is classic bullying behavior (ganging up) - I think the technical term for it is "mobbing". I fail to see how that kind of behavior is conducive to any civilized discourse, which is why we are here, aren't we? I actually saw Spotless' post which seems to be the source of rancor here. I don't think that he was targeting Earl, who took it personally. It seemed more like a diatribe against self-appointed 'sheriffs' (I believe that was a term used in that thread). It is personal opinion unless we keep seeing repeated patterns of actions that seem to vitiate the 'fish tank' so to speak. I don't take this forum (or any form of social media) that seriously or personally for the most part, so my 'sun won't rise or set' depending on how or what someone calls me here. I find 'mobbing' very distasteful -- having experienced it firsthand in real life when I was teenager (in that case it was physical). It reflects poorly on those perpetrating the 'mobbing' imho...(which is why civilized people dislike gangs too). I frankly expect better from people, especially spiritual cultivators. I am all for a good discussion or debate when it doesn't drift off into ad-hominem attacks etc. But I guess we each have to figure out (or maybe have already done so) why we come to a forum like this. Is it for camaraderie? Is it to grow and share? is it to learn from others/others' experiences? Or is it something else? Feel better about oneself by putting someone else down? Feel better by ganging up against an individual just because you don't like them or based on some imagined slight? How we react to others speaks a great deal about us. Do we deal with compassion or with anger? Do we hit back or let it go? Life is complicated as it is, and I prefer to pick and choose my battles -- mostly they are within...and certainly not worth picking one on an internet forum, where 90% of the people hide behind handles and anonymity. I think I answered that above. Okay...understood.

I'm sorry you feel that way. If I had to be that way, I'd just keep reacting to everything life throws at me....which off late has been plenty. But I've said my bit...be safe my friend..and be well.