Apech

I'm ready for elevenses.

Welcome Linlin, Always nice to see another UK member

Can be arranged

I woke up this morning thinking - if God is ineffable/unknowable (stick with me I'm not usually a god botherer) - then it would be as true to say 'that which is unknowable is god'. In other words we have those things we know, those thing that we don't know yet but may come to know (the unknown) - and that which in itself is unknowable. So if we imagine ourselves on an island which comprises the 'known' world, and that the surrounding ocean is the unknown (with the flotsam and jetsam washed ashore being those new things we come to know) - then when we ask the question 'how did this come to be like this in the first place?' - or 'what is making this continue to exist?' - the answer is in the unknowable. So its a kind of puzzle to wonder how things came to be and how they persist. A religious person bows in awe at such a question but the mystic says 'I am the unknowable'. No idea why I woke thinking this - but there you go. Any comments?

I don't think it is possible to tell what it was - maybe something or nothing much - you would be better finding a competent teacher if there is one in your area.

https://mailchi.mp/dzogchencommunity/mandarava-ganapuja-tomorrow-monday-21-may-birth-of-buddha-anniversary-1305749

Abdominal breathing is the usual term but is a bit of a misnomer - since your lungs which take in air are in your thorax and not your abdomen so it is impossible to breath air using your abdomen. What is actually happening is that when you breathe in the diaphragm which separates the thoracic cavity from the abdomen pulls down causing the abdomen to swell slightly. At the same time the free ribs at the bottom of your rib cage expand out sideways. This 'massages' the abdomen and stimulates the LDT and the movement of qi. I'm not sure what you mean by breathing up to the solar plexus.

I'm not sure what qigong practice you are doing (I don't think you have told us) but it is important to focus first on formally learning the movements and so on and repeating them. Then after the results begin to happen. During this if you allow yourself to focus on the result/experiences such as tingling/heat/cold or whatever then your mind will lead you away from the process that the qigong is involving. So if you feel qi just note it and carry on. When you have advanced in the 'gong' side of the practice then the qi movement and so on becomes the point and if you can trigger the right process within yourself you may even be able to dispense with formal exercises. It's worth pointing out I think that there is perception of qi itself and also there are body/mind reactions - everything from muscle twitches to full blown emotional release - most of which are about obstructions and blockages. In the first stages the task is to cultivate the three treasures and remove obstructions and free up blockages so the qi can flow - or rather remove them through qi flow. If you want to feel qi in the whole body the best way is through breathing exercises - normal, abdominal and reverse abdominal etc. - I don't think there is any desired optimum time to spent on this - I think its a matter of personal predilection and experiment.

Hi, Don't force anything - even reverse breathing etc. Should be gentle and harmonious. Don't push or pull (in my opinion) but rather allow your body to establish a new rhythm with the different stages. If you can locate the LDT (which is actually not that easy for many people) spend some time just resting in it. Don't target experiences and don't force to the point of panicking. Perhaps you can see the irony of doing Nei Gong practice and then panicking when something happens. This is very common but points to inner conflict i.e. something in you wants it - but another part is scared of it. Nothing to be scared of, of course, except that forcing practice can disturb your energy. So take it easy and step by step and without urgency.

Another set of answers to add to your confusion

A very frightening conversation:

he usually does say that but when I said your name ... it was armageddon!

I told God what you said and this was his answer:

I am sensing a lot of deophobia on this thread. is the word god really so triggering?

'Mind is what you really are' - is a concept ... several in fact.

'Mind', 'waters' and 'the bottom' are concepts. So you are thinking.

Well ... if we say that the act of knowing something (whether an external object or something more subtle like a thought or feeling) is about recognising its function, then this comes down as I said to name/form. The world of the known (or island of the known) is made up of those things which we recognise. When it comes to the unknowable obviously by definition we can't know it in this way - because if we did we would have objectified it in a definite name/function. However if we accept that, that which gives us consciousness and thus the power to know in the first place is identical to the 'unknowable' there is then a possibility of turning the circle of attention back on itself so the unknowable recognises itself - and this is what our true nature is. And this is what I would call gnosis. Or at least that's the best formulation I can give you for now. What do you think?

Not really. Static means standing still. Only an abstract vision of the absolute might appear still - but this would be an error. Both eternal motion and eternal peace in the absolute since it is beyond all relative terms. Knowing something means recognising its name and form. Name is function and form is its substantiality. If we talk about infinite then it is beyond name since any quality you might give it, it also has the opposite, otherwise it would be finite. I agree that there is another kind of knowing (i.e. gnosis) but that is different.

Not really. the Northern Irish are mostly unionist which means they want to be part of the UK - so 'giving back' this territory would be against the wish of the people in that region. The act of union with Scotland was voluntary and not the product of invasion or takeover - and a referendum has been held on this in which a majority voted to remain in the UK.. The first Prince of Wales was in 1301. Both Scotland an Wales have devolved Parliaments where they make their own decisions as well as MPs at Westminster (so they have the best of both worlds). England massively subsidises both these regions over and above the investment in England itself. Rolling back 700 years of history is not a solution.

That would make God part of the unknown - so you could recognise god as a name/form. What I'm suggesting is that when people refer to god they are using the term to stand for what is unknowable - just as with the Dao - it cannot be named but for the sake of talking we'll call it god/Dao. There is a big difference of course between god a person and an impersonal Dao. But logically speaking if the unknowable is absolute then it would be both a person and not a person at the same time.

It's not me that makes that connection of God to creation - it's the Bible etc. 'local collective superego' that's very Freudian. And I have to say inadequate. But then I can handle it

So your personal practice doesn't involve thinking?

If it helps watch this from about 9:45 mins onwards. Chaos = unknown Cosmos = known Temple is model of the cosmos and so on.

Not sure I understand the question but ... heaven, earth, sun, stars, animals and vegetation are the known. Void and without form is the unknown and god the unknowable. In most of these ancient cosmologies there is up, down, and either four or eight directions which are characterised by the qualities of the known - such as the four elements and such.