rex

Haven't read the book on Buddhist reasoning and debate but reading your replies is an eduction in reasoned, non-combative debate.

Big Belly! Big Belly!

I like reading liturgies of any tradition as they are instructive and horizon broadening. This liturgy on arousing kundalini (http://www.fellowshipofisis.com/liturgy/mel4_orig.pdf) is worth a read. It's from the Fellowship of Isis. The small print says that the ritual is to be performed by Fellowship of Isis members only, but a lot can still be gleaned from it nevertheless.

Feeding our demons - feminine approach to healing edit: tpyo corecrted

Taken in isolation no doubt. But as part of their training program (http://www.fellowshipofisis.com/notweb.html) and within their egregore? Are the officers doing more than just recitation? Are there essential performance elements of the liturgy that are left to oral instruction? As an outsider I don't know but its a good read anyway. Edit: tpoys

I've experienced something similar. I remember attending a teaching and the (Buddhist) teacher said something along the lines of 'Beware of spiritual people, especially Buddhists. The Dharma can attract some terrible people. Far better to hang out with simple country folk. Sure they are bit conservative but they can be relied upon.'

I wouldn't want to besmirch my teachers or their lineages by publicly associating myself with them.

What a super idea! FPMT Practice Dates: http://fpmt.org/media/resources/dharma-dates/ Download PDF calender: http://www.rabten.eu/downloads/calendar.pdf And another calendar in a different format: http://www.padmasambhava.org/practice.html Want to know good and bad days for cutting hair? https://www.google.com/calendar/[email protected]

Sorry wrote the first post on an i-phone and inadvertently posted a load of emails into the reply. I'll re-edit now

When some sort of stability is achieved with shamatha it is said that the channels and chakras go into a balanced state while calm abiding is maintained. Energy work and calm abiding should ideally reinforce each other and need not be mutually exclusive. One image of the relationship between energy work and calm abiding is that of the ordinary mind preoccupied with daily concerns is like a glass of muddy water. Calm abiding allows a temporary state of clarity as the dirt settles to the bottom of the glass when the water is left undisturbed. However calm abiding will not remove the dirt but energy work will. Some forms of vipassana will also remove the dirt but this is getting into Mahamuda and Ati Yoga on which I'm not quallified to speak. Energy work done before a meditation session may make it easier to get into the calm abiding state, while the calm state will help with riding the waves when strong energy is experienced. All the best.

When he says that he's expereinced what everyone else is going through he's not bullshitting. He's been through some terrible times to get to where he is today:

For Christians today is Ash Wednesday and the start of Lent. Anyone going to use this run up period to the first Sunday after the first full moon after the Vernal Equinoix for practice and preparation? I am. Seems like a good opportunity regardless of one's stated religion.

Very clear, thanks for clarifying your position, I 'get it' now. I appreciate subtlety, even yours in a strange kind of way But hey there you go again! Would you consider paying £125 for any of the following? (I would, there's overheads like hiring the teaching venue and instructor travelling and subsistence expenses etc.): 1) A taiji negong weekend 2) A taoist inner alchemy weekend 3) A silat tenaga dalam weekend 4) A hatha yoga weekend 5) A baguazhang fighting applications weekend 6) A shaolin qigong routine weekend 7) etc. Seems that no one seems to begrudge paying out for these but when it comes to buddhist stuff they cry foul! Not an even playing field methinks. For many buddhist events, granted it's in the small print, I've have seen words to the effect of 'lack of money should not be a barrier to attend - contact the organisers.'

I must apologise again to yabyum24 I didn't mean to imply that he had a malign eye. My motivation in posting in this context is quite specific - to call out subtle and not so subtle contempt for the traditons from posts that seemingly show interest and support but are really quite condemnatory. Job done. I leave the resulting fallout for others to judge. As luck would have it there's an introductory weekend in London in two weeks: http://www.yantrayoga.org/events/yantra-yoga-for-beginners-with-john-renshaw-in-london/

The identification and pointing out of a pattern of posting behaviour doesn't necessarily equate with hurt feelings. Apologies for not making myself clearer to Yabyum24 and others casting a malign eye over proceedings, it is an introductory weekend.

Then why come on to the Buddhist forum and snipe at every opportunity

There's five series of movements, each is designed to address different areas, the five elements, the five aggregates, the five emotions, the five attachments and the five capacities. Maybe there's equivalent functions in Taiji, qigong and standing, maybe there's not - I don't know. Some areas like the five aggregates and five capacities look quite specific As already mentioned there's specific breathing patterns co-ordinated with the movements, How about a nice weekend in London to learn?

Edit: tpoys

Ok thanks NotVoid. I train in a particular system but my dream states are very ordinary Edit: multiple tpyos

Fascinating account NotVoid. I suppose one way to fathom whether this is a physical phenomenon or some sort of thogal vision is by looking at your dreams and dream state. Do you have dreams of clarity?

Power as in capability - to effect change or influence in a given environment? Power as in being adapted - to maintain or extend structural (personal/institutional etc.) integrity in a given environment? Power as in just being - to be connected to a source of power and/or inspiration?

There's that. Just an interpretation, but is it saying that in the Eastern sense? For me this picture gives no sense of death as an intermediate phase between death and rebirth with karma determining the next rebirth. Perhaps it's also saying that death in the physical dimension leads to birth and a life in a non-physical dimension (corpse to foetus in the stars) and that death in the non-physcial dimension leads to a life in the physical (skull in space to baby).

This practice log outlines practices and perspectives covering many areas of related interest to this forum: http://salomesrevenge.freeforums.org/michael-t123.html

Great post too! Thanks for your reply; the questions were rhetorical but your respnses were appreciated nonetheless. Swedenborg was a polymath and I can think of no greater recommendation for his work than the reactions from the authorities whose feathers were ruffled, I'll have to check him out. Haven't read Patrick Harpur's material so that will also be on the 'to read' list. An interesting work is Michael Psellus' book on the Operaton of Daemons which is said to be a bridge between the classical Greek and medieval understandings of daemons. An old translation is available here: http://www.esotericarchives.com/psellos/daemonibus.pdf For a more (pricey) modern translation: http://www.amazon.com/Michael-Psellus-Operation-Daemons-Collisson/dp/0955738725/ I can also see a value in diaries/journals in that long term patterns may be discerned. Now what was that phrase I read somewhere - 'The Method of Science, the Aim of Religion' ?

Avoiding practical pitfalls in gathering together required paraphernalia is one value of the diaries. The other intrinsic value would be in the accounts of what actually transpired; the effects on the operator and physical environment during the working and any after effects. Were there any unintended consquences, like burst water pipes/blown fuses or householders not involved in the opeartion being affected? Did the nature and character of the spirits encountered accord with what was written about them? Did they relate material that could be passed on without breaking any confidentiality (perhaps this is why diaries are burnt instead of published). What happened when things went wrong or events made unexpected turns? Was this down to flaws in the physical preparation or the state of the operator(s). Could the wrong turn of events have been amusing or deadly? When things did go wrong what did it take to return to an even keel? Having a contacted a spirit was a short or long term relationship established? What was the basis of each relationship and in the case of long term relationships how were they maintained? What about any philosphical/religious implications? Is there any sense that the intelligences contacted were universal and wore different masks for different traditions or were they very specific to a particular tradition/world view? Assuming the platonic grand chain of being exists what is the nature of the relationship between the operator, the intelligences and Source? etc etc. Given the diversity of motivations and oulook out there diaries would make instructive if contradictory reading.