Sloppy Zhang

I must be in the minority here with this opinion, but I think psychic powers are awesome, and attaining psychic powers is one of the reasons why I got interested in meditation to begin with. *insert statement about not getting attached* What kind of irks me is how people bring up the topic of psychic powers but in the same sentence tell you don't worry about it. It's like when a friend comes up to you and says, "hey, you know.... uh, nevermind." And you're like, "what is it? Tell me." And they say, "oh no, never mind. It's nothing, don't worry about it." And you're like, "well now I want to know." And they respond, "it's not a big deal, just forget about it." They SAY it's not a big deal, but they are really just drawing your attention to it. It's even WORSE when you hear people say, "yeah, I have psychic powers, but I don't want to show you because you won't believe me/it'll freak you out/some other excuse." Maybe I'm just not advanced enough to understand.

Granted. They decide to put it all in crates and air drop it to you. They land right on top of you.... sufficed to say, it's not good for you. I wish I had a pen that actually worked.

I always have very powerful lucid dreams after I "deplete my jing" if you get what I mean

I was just joking c'mon And I'm not saying to just ignore it and hope everything will go away. I'm saying that you need to give your mind a rest and step back from the problem. Get the big picture. If you are already exhausted from what you are doing, doing more of it won't help. Thoughts are a big drain on energy, yes, but thinking about your thoughts and how they are such a drain only makes the problem worse so if you can do a practice without thinking about thinking about how it will affect your energy, well then there you go but you can't do it when you are in such close proximity to the problem, which is why you need to take a break and step back. At least, that's been my experience.

lol, sykkelpump, you sound a lot like an infomercial "place your order in the next 5 minutes, and you too can get this amazing product" SB: don't over think it. Sometimes more practice ISN'T the answer. When you go to sleep (or eat, or anything), LET GO, and go to sleep. Don't worry about energy, or cultivation, or whatever. Give energy practices a rest for a couple of days (weeks?) and start living a life without thinking about all of it. Seriously. In the "holosync, brain stimulation and jing" thread they're talking about thoughts taking up jing. I think it does. If your whole day is spent thinking about what energy practice you are going to do, if the food you eat is giving you the right energy, where your practice is taking you, etc etc etc, it will tire you out. I cannot stress how important it is to.... stop stressing. I used to do a lot of work with lucid dreaming, which involved a lot of "being aware", centering my awareness, etc etc. I had tons of lucid dreams in a very short amount of time, yes, but I was tired ALL THE TIME. I was always "on", even in sleep! So I decided to quit worrying about it and have a more "relaxed" awareness. I actually feel well rested when I get up in the morning! So, cutting it short before it gets too long.... take a break. Come back to it fresh, and don't do anything that will make you "tense" (physically or mentally), it just drains your energy.

You know.... I don't really care. And here I am deleting posts which I didn't think I'd do But it's not like I said anything too enlightening so....

Granted. Now we have a society full of 300 year old + extremely obese people. Our machines have eliminated the need to move around at all. The world population is now 5 times what it is now. Our resources are gone, and on top of that, the machines start to rebel (had to throw that in ) I wish I had a doughnut.

Psychic abilities, physical and spiritual immortality, possibly enlightenment (though after I've had my fun with the first three).

that was from a movie. And capoeira...... well I don't have the body type to do it, so I can't comment. Train hard in what you like.

I got the non-colored kunlun book. Still very interesting. The Kunlun method itself seemed pretty good, but the other practices didn't seem so great to me. The Kunlun 100 Days celibacy seemed kind of dangerous.... "orgasm while pressing down on the perineum, do this for 100 days. After that, ejaculate. If the semen is red or brown, go see a doctor right away!" ......... so putting that in there kind of made me seriously question it a bit. Same with some other opening the heart practice (there's a thread on it).... it was basically holding your breath until you "felt the bliss"..... which to me sounded like "wait 'till your body starts going into shock for lack of oxygen"..... Those were really my only two main concerns with it. Everything else seemed pretty cool, but nothing that couldn't be found in another system, and nothing that didn't have some sort of similar practice in another system. But maybe I'm just ignorant of some of the finer points to the related practices.

So how do we get psychic abilities from these? Everywhere you look is, "relax, follow your inner compass", etc etc, how does that jump to psychic powers? Quick reflexes and tough hands after years of training is one thing, "psychic abilities" is another. One of them has been recorded, replicated by others, shown to work numerous times, etc etc. While the other has been claimed to be true by a number of people, but none of them have ever come forward and solidly shown them to work like they say they can work. It's not that I don't believe but..... if you start a thread saying "awakening psychic abilities" I want to know how to awaken them not just relax and "follow my inner compass"

If meditation isn't your cup of tea, just focus on being aware of your thoughts and your actions throughout the day. Eventually you'll come to a point where you're in the middle of a conversation and you're thinking, "whoa, hey, I'm about to tell him to eff off..... why? Because I think he's pissing me off...... why? Does it help the situation at all? If he's just a psychic vampire he's feeding off me..... how about I just not give him the satisfaction? It doesn't bother me, everyone else but him likes me, so it's not a problem with me..... it's just him...." Then as you get better doing stuff like that, you get better at letting go, and less and less affects you.

Seems to me the common thread is to either 1) bust out some psychic powers or 2) raise an army. So, mewtwo, if you want to start your own religion, do one (or both) of those options

EVERYTHING could be attached to and inflate the ego. One could argue that your very post comes from the ego because you want other people to think you are "above" everyone else and not looking for special powers, that you are further along the path than everyone else! (that's not to say that you are or that I personally think that's what you're doing, I'm just saying). People can be attached to being non attached. Psychic powers can lead people down "the dark side"..... but so can knives. So what, are we just going to stop cutting our bread now???? Are we going to eat cows whole? No. We're going to use knives properly and not be enticed to use them to kill people we don't like. Same with psychic abilities. Speaking of psychic abilities- how do these methods get us psychic abilities?

Now, I don't claim to be very advanced in any of the system that I practice, in fact, I'm a beginner in both, but what I study are the methods of Franz Bardon's Hermetics (from the Initiation into Hermetics book), and of B.K. Frantzis (I'm working through Opening the Energy Gates of Your Body as well as Relaxing into Your Being). On the whole, both of these systems (to me), seem very compatible, and the more I read of each system the more I find that they share many "big" ideas, such as the development of a human in an even fashion (for example, don't neglect the body because you are trying to develop the mind). But, the little details seem a bit different. Now, maybe they aren't so different, and as I get deeper into the systems I'll find more, but these are my thoughts as of now, and I'll just be using a couple easy to see examples. In Bardon's system (and from what I've studied of other western magick/occultist systems) there's a lot of visualization... well, not visualization per se, but it seems there's an emphasis on building up "stuff". Here's what I mean: there's some exercises in which you develop the mental senses. So, in your mind you visualize an apple. Most people in most systems do that and just stop. But Bardon teaches to also develop tasting the apple, feeling the apple, smelling the apple, and hearing the apple (well the last one is kind of hard to do ) but the point is, rather than just visualizing you engage in ALL of your senses (senses within the mind) and develop them evenly. But in Frantzis' system it's all about dissolving and getting RID of that stuff. In fact, there's a youtube video in which Frantzis talks about dissolving mental images within the mind, and that those images actually cause tension in the mind and potentially in other parts of the body, which of course can cause blockages and some other problems. I've also studied a little bit of zen, which is also about getting rid of those images and stuff from the mind, getting rid of all the things that aren't really there. But in Bardon's system (and again, from other things I've studied/read about), the case seems to be the opposite: you seek to gather and accumulate those images and other things. Now, again, the major points seem to be the same, and the more I read and study the more "big issue" similarities I find. But this issue seems to be a split. Now there seem to be some very high level, or at least very experienced, members from both systems on this board, and from western and eastern traditions in general, so I'd love to get some insights from all of you. Thanks

I try to. On busy days where I don't really have the time or inclination to meditate seriously (sometimes I just take a nap ), I do try to at least be aware of my thoughts as they run through my head, to be present, mindful, etc etc. Even if I'm not actively trying to quiet it down, I try to be aware of what's happening.

Dr. Masaaki Hatsumi talks about it in a few of his books. Basically, according to him, learning the specific hand signs and trying to use them is pretty pointless, and won't get you very far. The "secret" behind the kuji is having experienced a full life. In the context of martial arts, having fighting experiences where you've felt fear, where you've felt courage. Being in situations in which time is a crucial factor. Having to hide your presence, or having to discern the hidden presence/intentions of others. If you live a full life, fully experience it, be in the moment and cherish it, learn as much as you can from everything that you can, then you will already have the powers of the kuji. After that, it's just assigning a name and a hand sign to something you already know how to do. At least, that's how I came to understand it.

I've made and eaten qi food before. Was really craving a burger, hadn't had a good one in a long time...... So I sat there and focused, held the image of it in my mind, felt it in my hands, smelled it, handled it like it was really there, and ate it like it was really there..... I felt full and no longer craved a burger

Well, the fact that you're aware of it is a good step! It means it hasn't "slipped" past you. Now I guess I could share my techniques of overcoming the ego, but that just might be me trying to show off all the experiences I've had and trying to become some kind of messiah and everyone will say, "oh, that zhang is so advanced and has such good advice!" In all seriousness though, for me it boils down to self awareness and examination and contemplation. If you are posting in a thread you have some experience in, for example, why are you posting? Is it to help? To share? To prove to others you know what you are doing? If you don't post, what will the effects be? Get into the habit of doing this as often as you can. Again, not to brag (but really I kinda am, aren't I? ), but I realize that a lot of the posts I'm about to make don't seem incredibly necessary when I stop and think about them, so I wind up never posting in the first place. And, once again, the fact that you're aware of this means you're on the right track to begin with

Actually your post was very interesting and even though you don't know the works of these guys, your comments were rather appropriate for their general direction. Much appreciated Great insights, actually. I like what you mentioned about the apple, and stepping into awareness through the object.

go ahead, please. I feel really bad for the guys over there in that forum. That Wan guy has pretty much marketed all that junk to 14 year old kids who want to play naruto in real life and then manifest a girlfriend, it's kinda sad.

Hmm.... veeeeerrrrrryyyy interesting Thanks sereneblue!

Nah, that's okay, it was a good post, and yes, I've seen BKF's videos on youtube Sometimes it can get confusing, especially with generic sounding terms like "tension", then you've got actual tension, metaphoric tension, etc etc, it can get confusing But I do like your posts