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There's the Shin-shin-toitsu-do system of Japanese yoga which emphasizes mind body unity: https://archive.org/details/JapaneseYogaByH.Davey_201905/page/n7/mode/2up I don't think the description on the archive.org site is quite accurate, I think it's wholly Japanese but I could be wrong.

This is echoed in Mahamudra with the Four Faults of Natural Awareness: So close you can't see it So deep you can't fathom it So simple you can't believe it So good you can't accept it Taken from here: https://www.naturalawareness.net/mahamudra

Considering different perspectives may help, like these Stoic shots: https://dailystoic.com/stoic-quotes/

As a rule of thumb I believe the Buddha was not in favor of displaying miraculous powers and disapproved of their use to gain converts. However there are stories of him demonstrating miraculous powers on occasion: https://buddhaweekly.com/15-miracles-15-days-chotrul-duchen-day-buddhas-great-miracles-buddha-reluctant-use-miraculous-powers-displayed-15-miracles-help-correct-errors-six-prideful-teachers/ Some stories are from the Mahayana Cannon although the historical and doctrinal legitimacy of such sutras is debated between different adherents. This article discusses Buddha's miracles as found in the Pali Cannon: https://www.academia.edu/5824084/Miracles_in_Indian_Buddhist_Narratives_and_Doctrine

Which reminds me of this: "Violence is not a way of getting where you want to go, only more quickly. Its existence changes your destination. If you use it, you had better be prepared to find yourself in the kind of place it takes you to." - Hilary Bok

Another article on the subject: https://vajranatha.com/

Great video! 'Feeding Your Demons' is not Chod proper, but an accessible adaption of the principles for modern secular use in personal integration and healing. Depends what exactly "working the Qliphoth" entails. It could cover a range of motivations with very different goals, from the sinister, to the misguided, to the redemptive. Chod is altruistic and redemptive. When the bone trumpet is blown it is an invitation for actual unseen guests to arrive, some of whom will be dangerous with a penchant for blood and trouble. As the article concludes, Chod is about restoring the relationship with oneself and others, both seen and unseen: "In that light, Machik’s emphasis on altruism toward nonhuman spirits, especially hostile beings and meek spirits, is powerful. The practice of Chöd unveils and strengthens our immense capacity to be present with whatever arises, no matter how difficult it may be, without shutting down. We become increasingly courageous and caring for all things, human and nonhuman, while waking up to what is. Our hearts are cracked wide open and we become fearless bodhisattvas to the world." I don't imagine that "working the Qliphoth" is for the naive and unprepared. Similarly to be safe Chod needs transmission and preliminary training. As it happens the article's author has a book on the Chod foundations: The Heart of Chö: Volume One - Chö Foundations

Another interesting piece from Lion's Roar, this one is on Chod: Welcome to the Charnel Ground

I see the shadow as both dark and light. It includes everything that we want to hide from others and ourselves, as well as forces that we're completely unaware of, but make themselves known to us at crisis points or certain critical moments in our lives. At these critical moments of crisis there can be an awareness of how the personal shadow is linked to the 'collective unconscious'. They are moments of great opportunity and also risk: "According to Jung, the shadow is experienced by the subject's ego as the infer­ior, base and primitive side of the personality – one's own dark side. As he points out, however, this is not the whole picture, as contained in the shadow are potentialities of the greatest dynamism. It depends on the preparedness and attitude of the conscious mind whether the ideas and images connected with them will be experienced as constructive or catastrophic." Ann Casement This thread has spurred me to reopen these two books on this theme: https://www.amazon.com/Embrace-Daimon-Healing-Psychology-Feminine/dp/1939812038/ https://www.amazon.com/Lilith-Historical-Psychological-Aspects-Feminine-ebook/dp/B007LPK07U/ I think we can get too bogged down in intellectual terminology, Jung uses the term sparingly and advocated the use of poetic language for navigating through the work of shadow assimiliation: . . . the ‘realization of the shadow’, the growing awareness of the inferior part of the personality, which should not be twisted into an intellectual activity, for it has far more the meaning of a suffering and a passion that implicate the whole man. The essence of that which has to be realized and assimilated has been expressed so trenchantly and so plastically in poetic language by the word ‘shadow’ that it would be almost presumptuous not to avail oneself of this linguistic heritage. In Jungian work integration of the shadow is the first stage in the work of individuation and lays the ground for recognition of the anima/animus. Whatever terminology one wants to use the essential theme is integrating energies of great dynamism and vitality to assist in spiritual integration and transformation. I'll end with some favourite quotes which describe this outlook, shadow isn't even mentioned and the first quote I find quite poetic: “Holy places are dark places. It is life and strength, not knowledge and words, that we get in them. Holy wisdom is not clear and thin like water, but thick and dark like blood.” C.S. Lewis, Till We Have Faces "Our roots are in the dark; the earth is our country. Why did we look up for blessing — instead of around, and down? What hope we have lies there. Not in the sky full of orbiting spy-eyes and weaponry, but in the earth we have looked down upon. Not from above, but from below. Not in the light that blinds, but in the dark that nourishes, where human beings grow human souls." Ursula K. Le Guin “There is no coming to consciousness without pain. People will do anything, no matter how absurd, in order to avoid facing their own Soul. One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious.” C. G. Jung

Charlie Morely is interesting in this regard. His YouTube channel is worth a browse, though here’s one that’s attention grabbing:

Last two paragraphs of this blog post has something on connecting to realised beings: https://voxhermes.wordpress.com/2020/07/02/teachings-from-tibetan-buddhism-on-the-kali-yuga/

Here's an interesting little piece, three practitioners discuss acknowledging realised beings and including them in their practice: https://www.lionsroar.com/forum-unseen-realized-beings

Am I who you think I am? A different version of you exists in the mind of each person that knows you. [Not my idea, just something I picked up.]

Documentary on Tibet's Secret Temple: Time flies - this was five years ago! Documentary too long? Particular sections viewable here: https://artvideolibrary.net/

My condolences on your recent losses. This book may be of interest: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0096QZ4Y6/

Good documentary on the library and its collections on Prime: https://www.amazon.com/Ritman-Library-Amsterdam-Joost/dp/B0722LXY8Z

The Kundalini Support Network might be able to offer help and advice, their web address is https://www.kundalinisupportnetwork.org/.

Bruce Frantzis has put out a series of Taoist meditations to help in these strange times. There's fifteen videos so far: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZGxERtakiPYPJxR-KLETDnz_ruOY7hAU

Yes of course, thanks for the reminder (I'm not being sarcastic). This book has been on my to 'get list' for far too long now: https://www.amazon.com/Secret-Map-Body-Visions-Structure/dp/8878341398 While the Five Skandhas describe the make up of ordinary beings, the true natures of the Five Skandhas are the Five Dhyani Buddhas. On a very basic level of undertanding - which is all I have - Body, Speech and Mind can be related to the three kayas - Body/Nirmakaya, Speech/ Sambhogakaya, Mind/Dharmakaya - which may also correlate to the Sounds, Lights and Rays in the Dzogchen teaching. So there we have it, three interconnected maps of the human being/any being according to Sutra, Tantra and Dzogchen, going from the particular to the universal and beyond. Looks like I've done a u-turn on my previous post - it's good to talk

I'm not a scholar in any tradition, though I don't think kaya would be a useful comparison when mapping the ontological levels of a human being between approaches, assuming of course ordinary beings are being mapped. Kayas are used to describe the emanational bodies of wisdom beings and whole realms of existence like Nirmanakaya and Sambhogakaya fields. Rupa (form), the first of the Five Skandas which make up an ordinary being along with the model of the Eight Consciousnesses may perhaps provide some possibilities for correlation.

There’s a parallel with the four competencies. pāmara - unconsciously incompetent vishayi - consciously incompetent jigñāsu - consciously competent mukta - unconsciouly competent

Don't know if this TV series has been mentioned, The Midnight Gospel, it's mind blowing, especially from episode 4. It touches on and discusses many topics of interest to this forum.

I watch it with my daughter. It's so fast paced that we have to stop and go back to take in what's being said. I'll have my notebook ready for the rewatches. The last episode has some great instructions on getting out of the head and into the body. Never heard of Duncan Trussel until this, thanks, I'll check 'em out. Outrageously so in places - it's a delight!

Join Lama Tsultrim this Sunday, April 26 at 11:30am (Pacific Time) for Feeding Your Demons® practice to work with what is arising for us around the Coronavirus (COVID-19). This livestream practice is open to anyone and will take place on her Facebook Page. Time: 11:30am Pacific Time / 12:30pm Mountain Time / 2:30pm Eastern Time / 8:30pm (Central European Time). Visit this link for time-zone conversion to find the event time in your area: http://www.thetimezoneconverter.com/ We look forward to practicing with you this Sunday on this page: https://www.facebook.com/lamatsultrimallione/

Introduction to feeding your demons: https://www.lionsroar.com/how-to-practice-feeding-your-demons/