9th

Ive seen the raven character a number of times in dreams, usually either semi or fully lucid ones. In some of them he was also humanoid shaped. For many years I thought I was seeing like a pterodactyl-man type creature, but after a while I realized it was the part man part raven character. You can tell because its the same "character", it has the same vibe and so forth. Last time I saw it, though, it was a giant raven with eyes that looked like a starry sky. Then later he turned into a friendly black cat. Good times.

rats, beat me to it... four score and twenty pages of history stuff

i have heard stories of regular treatments with oxygen chambers curing all sorts of things, long ago - but it was just stories by the time i heard it interesting to hear some closer hand perspectives one of the ideas about dolphins (and whales) being so funky is that they are mammals with bodies built for supreme breath control

in the trees, barely by the hive honey pot drippings scattered seeds by the branch wind makes its place amongst the leaves and the air breathes a sigh rolled across the ground, dust spread, braced and takes a dive into the earth

Yeh, it seems pretty obvious - but Descartes had an agenda. You should look into his stuff on the pineal gland, its pretty freaky.

Or a bit of the hanky panky, nudge nudge...

Yes, this is very clear. "Killer instinct" is not necessarily protective, and the instinct for self-preservation is not necessarily the "killer instinct". What you speak of is the ultimate equalizer, the path of "one-taste". However, for mental health professionals such terminology may not carry the same spiritual connotations. It is a matter of perception. This is why the ancient sutra of the Arahantavagga speak of those who "having comprehending food" are "independent of nutriment". Again, the shadow of esotericism and "secret" teachings flits around the corner of your eyes. The great equalizer belongs to dangerous realms of the mind, but not necessarily depraved or degraded realms - although it does not prohibit such relations. If you've been there once, you'll never be the same again. It is intimately tied to practices of sorcery, and as far as I know the only person to address it in the mainstream was Castaneda: The most essential thing that people dont really understand about "magic" or "sorcery" is the great depths of their own doubts - and the implications of doubt in general. Power flows through you, it doesnt come from you. Impedance is the measurement of facility (or lack of it). If you are creative enough to understand the relation of equalized perception to existential resistance, you will understand why the manipulation of reality is in direct proportion to its resolution.

I am eagerly awaiting the appearance of some dimwit of a monk (or barring that, half such a monk) richly endowed with a natural stock of spiritual power and kindled within by a raging religious fire, who will fling himself unhesitatingly into the midst of this poison and instantly die the Great Death. Rising from that Death, he will arm himself with a calabash of gigantic size and roam the great earth seeking true and genuine monks. Wherever he encounters one, he will spit in his fists, flex his muscles, fill his calabash with deadly poison and fling a dipperful of it over him, drenching him head to foot, so that he too is forced to surrender his life. Ah! what a magnificent sight to behold! The Zen priests of today are busily imparting a teaching to their students that sounds something like this: "Don't misdirect your efforts. Don't chase around looking for something apart from your own selves. All you have to do is to concentrate on being thoughtless, on doing nothing whatever. No practice. No realization. Doing nothing, the state of no-mind, is the direct path of sudden realization. No practice, no realization - that is the true principle, things as they really are. The enlightened ones themselves, those who possess every attribute of Buddhahood, have called this supreme, unparalleled, right awakening." People here this teaching and try to follow it. Choking off their aspirations. Sweeping their minds clean of delusive thoughts. They dedicate themselves solely to doing nothing and to making their minds complete blanks, blissfully unaware that they are doing and thinking a great deal. When a person who has not had kensho reads the Buddhist scriptures, questions his teachers and fellow monks about Buddhism, or practices religious disciplines, he is merely creating the causes of his own illusion - a sure sign that he is still confined within samsara. He tries constantly to keep himself detached in thought and deed, and all the while his thoughts and deeds are attached. He endeavors to be doing nothing all day long, and all the while he is busily doing. But if this same person experiences kensho, everything changes. Although he is constantly thinking and acting, it is totally free and unattached. Although he is engaged in activity around the clock, that activity is, as such, non-activity. This great change is the result of his kensho. It is like water that snakes and cows drink from the same cistern, which becomes deadly venom in one and milk in the other. - Hakuin Ekaku, 1755

you should go back to horse stance for a few hours

It can indicate an over-development of mindfulness practices, especially if it coincides with slowed physical movements and delayed reaction times. Its somewhat common amongst long-time meditators. Technically its an aberration, although it is often just a stepping stone from natural unconsciousness to natural consciousness. Its like driving your car with a foot on the gas and a foot on the brakes at the same time. Usually people who practice movement arts like qigong and taichi tend to bypass this issue.

You've never seen stars? They look like shiny, silvery streaks of light, moving in curvy directions with short tails. They sorta look like shooting stars a bit, I think the reference is fairly astute.

but fun, all the same... weird scenes inside the gold mine lone and level sands

The name "Chod" was provided by a Tibetan yogini, Machig Labdrön. She claimed to have received the transmission of this rite from the mahasiddhas. The ritual itself is a variation on a fairly universal shamanic initiation, in that the practice is repeated until penetrated to its ultimate depth. Shamanism tends to be rather pragmatic and goal-oriented in terms of community service, and shamans are not primarily focused on their own self-cultivation or enlightenment. So they are less particularly interested in the revelations and insights for their own sake - although I tend to doubt they have any less understanding about inner truths than yogis and cultivators. At any rate, chod takes the rite of shamanic initiation and makes it much more personally focused. The siddhas which gave birth to vajrayana were tantrikas - yogis and yoginis of all castes, all shapes and sizes. They belong to an entirely practical tradition that is incredibly ancient, having to do with the specific workings of existence. In fact the tradition itself was not named specifically, as the word "Tantra" in that sense is a modern invention. This tradition is the origin of descriptions of nadis and chakras and so forth. In fact the tantrikas classified hundreds of chakras, and mapped the energetic microcosm of the body in very exacting details, mirroring a cosmic macrocosm of many numerous gods and goddesses and spirits and demons and angels and all that kind of thing. In the same way zen (chan) was born from buddhism mixing with taoists, vajrayana was born from buddhism mixing with tantrikas. To your question of "how far back it goes", you could say "all the way". You may have heard of the interplay of Shiva and Shakti, and its relation to ideas of yin and yang is no accident. Tantrikas of the classical age would be most related to the rishis who sang the rigveda. Here is the twist: The possible conflation of Rudra and Indra is a topic for another day, because at that point you need to rope in the other thunderstorm and lightning gods like Zeus and Thor and so forth. On that note, take a look at this carving of Buddha accompanied by Vajrapani: So yeh, in regards to those reciprocal influences I think its safe to say: it goes pretty far.

http://www.gurdjieff.am/in-search/index.pdf

For the world to end, it must first begin...

The kind of Dzogchen which "rests with no support" belongs to vajrayana proper, which is not really practiced at large, regardless of what people say or believe. Mahayana methods are much more commonplace, it is the primary form of buddhism which prevails in the western world especially, but also amongst most Tibetans as well, especially in modern times. Vajrayana is risky - thats the point, thats the method. It is literally "playing with fire". I had a teacher that described the vehicles in this way: Hinayana sees a poisonous plant, and pulls it up and burns it. Mahayana sees a poisonous plant, and puts a fence around it with warning signs. Vajrayana sees a poisonous plant, and makes a medicine from it. The systematization of progression through all three vehicles is the purview and great innovation of the Tibetan culture. However the origination of vajrayana and the unique practice of this third vehicle came from the mahasiddhas of India, and understanding the environment in which it arose and was transmitted is key to understanding the differences in practice which seem paradoxical to modern peoples.

Thats an interesting answer