dwai

thanks buddy. I know you, and like & respect you, so I’m responding in detail below. I’ve attended retreats and lectures in person with him — he is the real deal — — an enlightened being. His approach is that of Jnana yoga, which relies heavily on logic and intellect to take one to the precipice of the unknowable. Then the truth is grasped directly, suddenly. we have to keep at it — Advaita way is direct, but we have to put in effort, until it is not needed. What is the effort in the Advaita way? Listening to the teaching (like these YouTube Talks, If one can’t find a teacher in person), contemplating on them, and meditating on the pointers provided. Sort of like how one would meditate on a zen koan. However, Advaita Vedanta is not everyone’s cup of tea. So, caveat emptor. It takes a specific type of purification of the mind to understand it. It took me about 15 years of practice (taijiquan, Daoist meditation, yoga) before my mind cleared by the grace of my master. Once the mind cleared, the pointers of Advaita started to not only become clear, but also manifest spontaneously. I’ve written a bit about this in my ppf here, as well as in my novel. I do like to share it here, because some folks here already get it, some are on the right path and some others are seeking. Also it has been my direct experience and realization - both via taichi and yogic and Vedantic meditation. Those who can understand it, or are on this path will be benefited by it. Those who don’t, can do whatever works for them. If someone asked me with humility, I can guide them too. now when it comes to the issue at hand — Usually when someone reacts so violently (as Gas Master did here), it means they have felt threatened at some subconscious level by it. The ego doesn’t like the truth — it makes it feel vulnerable and so it lashes out. Usually, under normal circumstances , If someone doesn’t like what he has to say, they should just start their own thread and explain why, if it means so much to them. Unfortunately all I saw is a belligerent bully trying to shout/drown another voice (maybe of a different opinion). That clearly is the handiwork of the ego. I don’t need to defend the Swami here — he is a renunciant — a monk who has given up his personal history at very young age, to become a voice for the truth. He won’t give two hoots about what someone hiding behind an internet alias thinks about him. He might feel sad for that person, but to each their own Karma. Of all the Vedantic teachers I’ve encountered (and I’ve seen many), Swami Sarvapriyananda is in my humble opinion, the best there is in the world today. But this takes a little “cup emptying” to realize. wrt Realization of the “truth” - only taiji or some internal martial art is seldom the answer. Neither is only doing yogic asanas and breathing etc. Even meditation is insufficient for most. Without the right pointers at the right time, one will remain blinded by the veil of maya. I hope that answers your question.

Just ignore the trolls.

That’s fascinating - a geomancy gadget. Do you have more info on this (knowing you, you surely do )and would like to share?

Go on...tell us all how awesome you are. That is all this has been leading up to, hasn't it? Son, there's nothing you can do or show me that I've not seen before.

Wow! Someone is mighty crotchety today. Thank goodness for the ignore list

I used to think that way. However, i think we and our circumstances (culture, society, etc etc) define our own limitations. The limitation is only in the mind. If the mind opens up, the universe can fit in it quite happily.

Its just an ego bristling with self-importance that is making such posts. I've reported it, because this kind of commentary is disruptive and takes away from the intent of the practice and the threads related to it.

It is a matter of experience. If and when we have it, all theories fall apart. I am quite hesitant to engage in these type of discussions, mainly because those who argue about the materialistic view, don't understand either mind or consciousness. Not saying that is the case with you though. I think I'll bow out of this topic now...when someone is ready, they will know it.

Another good way is to have someone apply pressure on the acupuncture points in the way of say zen shiatsu. In my experience if someone can feel Qi, they will feel the activation/flow in affected meridian. This (what you outlined) is a better litmus test for beginners than see if they can feel “energy” outside their body. Most beginners are closed from heart and above — so they can’t feel energy. For them, ‘energy’ will trigger emotional responses. The ‘outside the body’ sensitivity comes when there is higher level of sung.

I've got a goodreads giveaway starting from 19th Jan - 19th February, where I'll give away 100 free kindle ebooks of the novel. http://bit.ly/36Zokt8

Stick to what sails your little ego boat. Keep doing what you’re doing. When the body decays and falls away, you will realize the delusion of your ways. 😇

You think you, me and all sentient beings are separate. We are not. The awareness that operates through these body-minds is nondual, and is the source of all manifestation. So AI can operate in the same way the mind does, but will always require a conscious subject to make it conscious. Because the mind can only reflect consciousness. The problem arises because each mind thinks it is independently conscious. Maybe that’s a topic for another time...

The mind doesn’t constitute consciousness. Consciousness is reflected in a subtle substance called the mind

matter doesn’t manifest consciousness. Consciousness manifests matter

So long as I don’t have to struggle to survive, I’m all for AI to do the bs work and I can focus on more human pursuits that require a consciousness BTW I am quite convinced that AI will never result in Self-aware consciousness.

I think It’s more on the students — usually people who operate from a strong sense of self are too closed off. They use their will to power through things (which is how most modern/urban/western people are - to me they are one and the same...even in Asia or other parts of the world). It has to do with the dominant culture they subscribe to. But I’m sure you have your reasons to feel the way you do. Do share your thoughts

I’ve met only a handful who can. I think it’s got a lot to do with the age of said beginner. Usually in taiji the beginners are a bit on the grayer side (or hard style martial artists).

Try this first --

I'm not surprised about that... I've come across this perspective earlier too. The folks I heard referring to the mingmen only don't de-emphasize the LDT. In any case, the LDT is connected to the mingmen anyway. In my experience, the energy flows out of the LDT into the mingmen, and then circulates up the back and into the arms/fingers. In the tradition I train in, we initially (by that I mean intermediate level) focus on the LDT and the spine (different ways of generating and releasing power), and eventually give up that focus entirely and focus on the surface of the weiqi field (and more). Beginners usually don't feel anything and should work on just getting their movements and postures right for a long time.

This is probably a warning against exerting attention on the LDT, not simply resting the mind on the lower dan tien. Most people invariably overdo their focus -- as is the way of the doing mind, and especially the modern mind -- going overboard. Resting on the LDT is simply like laying your palm on a tabletop. How much effort is required to do that? Never come across one -- can you share some names/references? This is 100% sound advice.

You don't know something. Why not empty your cup and ask if you don't know?

Reverse breathing is used for a specific purpose -- to generate heat in the lower dantien. Why do you want to do that? If you're only starting to become sensitive to energy and want to work on the LDT, just regular breathing, with the mind resting in the navel region of the stomach should suffice. In my case, the LDT 'fired' up while doing the "embracing the tree" standing meditation form, while looking into the horizon. There was a beautiful sunset and the sky was lit up like a brilliant painting with splashes of blue, orange, red and gray. Suddenly, I felt a twitch in the lower belly, and a swirling smokey sensation started inside the stomach -- that was my first conscious experience of the lower dan tien. With time, when you do standing and/or qigong/moving meditation, the energy will start pooling in the lower stomach. When you start getting a sense of the energy pooling there, fine tune your sense by letting it condense further down into a denser ball of sensation. Eventually, you will get to a point when the ball will become like a golf ball. The ball has a tiny hole in it, which is where you let the energy feeling go into. You might even see it in your inner-space, the energy pouring into that tiny pinhole of the golf ball like oil fills into a bottle with a narrow hole (or like when you fill the liquid soap dispenser in your bathroom from a larger container of liquid soap). It could also seem like fine silk threads falling into a ball of silk. IMHO, don't focus on reverse breathing. Develop your LDT naturally using moving meditation and zhan zhuang standing.

*bump* and just did a price drop -- Ebook is now $2.99, Paperback is $8.99

They are all appearances. Stay with pure present awareness and let all thoughts, emotions and feelings rise and fall away. Let what comes come, let what goes, go.

A question that I’ve asked and others I know also have — in fact it is a frequent question in the process of nidhidhyāsanam (Advaita Vedantic practice/meditation) : “How can I stay constantly aware of my True Nature?” Swami Sarvapriyananda answers beautifully —