dwai

I would say, stop over-thinking about this original chi business. In fact, stop thinking about it, period. The thing that leaks chi most is an over-active mind (emotions, constant noise in the head). Best is to take up a physical practice that will gradually develop inner-stillness. I'd recommend starting Taijiquan -- something like Yang 24-form will do you wonders, or the Cheng Man Ching form will be even better IMHO.

This! It has more to do with the preparedness of the student than the lineages themselves. Today's seekers are unable to overcome the urge for ego gratification for long enough to really absorb the teachings. There are of course those who quietly go about their lives even after 'attaining' their objective -- the noosphere it turns out, is not different from this samsara.

Yes, there is. Mostly along the same lines as, if someone stole parts to a gun and built one but not the bullets to fire the gun. Or worse, if they figured out how to make the bullets too, but didn't really learn how to shoot the gun -- they'll end up hurting themselves. Or even worse, let's say they taught themselves to shoot the gun too, but then didn't learn all the other associated soft-skills around handling guns (do's and don'ts). Guns, of course, are an analogy here, but the same idea applies to esoteric knowledge. Only, the risk of failure, or worse, the risk of success are orders of magnitude more severe.

Is feeling a flow rising up your spine the only evidence of Kundalini? MCO doesn't raise energy up the central channel, only circulates through the ren and du meridians, so not really intended to raise kundalini IMHO. Pranayama is one way to raise Kundalini, of course, but there are more esoteric ways, but it requires preparation (first the spiritual heart needs to be opened). Or if an adept/teacher initiates you by doing what is called a power transfer (aka shaktipat).

It is a matter of personal acceptance for people, as well as subject the the 'adhikara' of said individual. A very wise man had once told me that two teachers might share the same knowledge, but one would be right and one would be wrong. Also, a teacher might give the same knowledge to two people, but for one it will be right, while the other it will be wrong.

Tai chi stepping is done to maintain a single plane (no bobbing up and down)...and often involves rapid acceleration using what is called "attaching steps"...the stepping is done on a single plane to avoid telegraphing during movement, and to propel the structure intact, the heel first approach is very necessary. Moving with the ball of the feet first is structurally unbalanced, unless one has the balance of a ballerina, for the tendency would be to be to topple forward (the way I see it). Boxers tend to step with their toes leading iinm, because it helps them generate power by pivoting on the ball of the front foot (for something like a hook for example). Taijiquan power isn't generated that way. Taijiquan power is full body power (at a basic level). I've had many years of Goju Ryu karate before I took up taijiquan, and we'd move exactly the same way in karate as well...heel first forward, ball first backward. It seems like the eastern martial arts in general seem to have a different philosophy when it comes to proprioception. Consider for a moment that most martial arts evolved to empty-hand combat down from weapons-based combat -- it makes sense to move heel-first, because you don't want the combined weight of your body and the weapon (which can weigh between 4-20 lbs) along with armor etc to topple you over. Who knows? Maybe I'm wrong. Actually we have that kind of stepping too...but the entire foot glides on the ground (no weight on the moving foot). We do move forward too in a similar way (but usually not the lead foot).

That is really of no concern to me. Oh I see it alright. I think the point you're missing is that I don't think its your (or anyone else's) place to tell me what I can or cannot write, so long as I maintain civil and respectful language. I really am not looking to add you to my ignore list...so can we agree to disagree on this? And who is the arbiter of what is "okay" and what is "not okay"? If we have to constantly be worrying about what terminology is "approved" and what is "not approved", not much will get done. In any case, TDB is not the center of my universe, I stop by from time to time and like to read meaningful posts and share what I find meaningful.

I am really not interested in discussing this further. If people don't like what I wrote, please ignore it. I'm not going to take on the role of the latest Jeff whipping post.

FWIW, Sadhguru is legit. I know many high level practitioners attest to his abilities as a genuine dhyana siddha. And these are not some anonymous cowards on the internet either, but rather are very highly reputed and respected individuals whom I know personally (and their own capabilities as well).

It is not a "Jeffism". Why should I change what works for me because some folks don't like some other folks?

Okay...

No, sharing presence is not their invention. It is done by spiritual teachers across the globe, across traditions. It is very much a daoist tradition as well -- they just call it something different. Whether you like it or not is another matter, and it boils down to your personal preference. My teacher initiated me by sharing presence and it put me in a sahaja samadhi state for 18+ months continuously. It is called Shaktipat etc etc in other traditions. That aside, my note was intended for someone else, not those whom you are referring to.

Forward stepping is done heel first to ensure we are not committing to the step until it is “safe” to land. Reverse stepping is done ball of the foot first and for the same reason.

The Mandukya is very powerful. The process of inquiry automatically seems to result in recognizing the awareness that underlies the three states. In my case experientially, it resulted in many days continuously of being completely aware through dream and deep sleep state (though it is hard to articulate what that is like as the mind is not active then -- just a knowing of being). Of course Advaita Vedanta often relies on yogic techniques. One such is yoga nidra (yogic sleep) -- Swamiji has a video (on his channel) in which he walks us through the process of yoga nidra.

😃 For whom that this may apply — Better way to share presence is using the MDT. The Lower Dantien is good for things but not good for sharing presence.

Well said!! Many ‘Demons’ have supernatural powers too. The asura Rāvana (The villain of Rāmāyana) was a great scholar and had many siddhis. Yet his downfall was his enormous ego, which made his nature turn demonic. It takes a special kind of emptiness to be able to deal with siddhis (which are side attractions at best anyway...

Not that I don’t want to...thing is the videos would “pop up” on my radar, and I’d share then because they seemed to be needed at the point in time. Unfortunately I was unable to find the specific videos that have since been unlisted.

Seems like their purpose has been completed. However, here's Swamiji's formal youtube channel -- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZOKv_xnTzyLD9RJmbBUV9Q All the videos I've posted here are also available on his channel.

Develop a deep devotion for her and then in a meditative state feel her filling up your spiritual heart. You should feel a deep expansion. If you can stay concentrated on only her for the duration of your meditation, that’s great, otherwise keep bringing your mind back to her. Mother Kali is the destroyer of ego. If you surrender your ego to her, she will help you transcend your limitations (body-mind).

May the world always wake up to a Golden sunrise, no matter how dark the night might be. sarve bhavantu sukhinaha sarve santu niramaya sarve bhadrani pashyantu ma kaschit dukkha bhag bhavet Om shanti shanti shantihi May all be at peace may all be free from disease may all enjoy good health and may all be free from suffering. Om peace peace peace 🙏🏾

@Spotless is this the flu you wrote to me about? My wife and I got something nasty from our trip to LA in December. Laid me out twice in 4 weeks (Worst flu I’ve had in ages) and had a bad lung infection too. But not sure if it was CoVid-19 or something else. When I visited my doctor we didn’t yet know about covid-19 being around since November ‘19.

The best exercise I can suggest is to sit with spine straight and then bring your two palms facing each other (parallel). The palms should not be straight nor closed, but in between (see the video below for reference, don't over do the details too much...just get the general shape of the palms to be like that). Now hold the two palms with your elbows bent, such that you're holding a ball in front of your chest. Start with a small ball (maybe the size of a watermelon). Relax all your joints, and suspend your crown point (like it's dangling from the sky). Make sure all your alignments are in place -- since you say you're a qigong practitioner, you should know this well. Close the front and back channel circuit by touching your tongue to your upper palate (where your tongue touches when you say "love"). Line up the centers of your two palms like they are connected to each other (holding a water melon sized balloon). Now, inhale slowly into your lower abdomen and let your mind reside on the space between your palms. After inhaling, hold for a few seconds, and then slowly exhale, and as you exhale, coordinate your palms moving toward each other (like the balloon is shrinking and becoming more dense). Go from a watermelon size to a cantaloupe. At the end of your outbreath, hold your breath for a few seconds, while letting your mind rest in the space where the balloon is. Inhale again and expand back to the original size. Repeat this a few times. If you're doing this right, you will feel your palms are like two magnets, and you'll feel a repelling force as you're condensing the ball and an attracting force as you're expanding it back. Play with this for as long as you can, in a relaxed manner. I'd recommend sitting on a flat chair with a straight back for this exercise. Very soon you should start feeling a real tangible ball in between your palms. As your sensitivity to that increases, your qi sensitivity will also increase.

If you know what you know is right, where is the room for self-doubt? Direct experience trumps all other forms of knowing. Those who haven't experienced directly, can rely on other forms of knowing (or even delusional forms of knowing, such as imagining something). That is a different story. Abuse victims usually have no power and are unable to walk away/out of a bad situation. Why give some strangers so much power over oneself on the internet? Is there room for self-reflection for us in such a scenario? I'm not particularly pointing towards anyone. It's more a commentary on a trait I notice among most people, myself included. Even if we don't react, there might be a disturbance that is created when someone disagrees with us. We are in agreement