doc benway

“In the castle of one’s body Dwells the heart, abode of enlightenment. Inside this temple The precious, immutable mind-essence, Nature of Samantabhadra, the dharmakaya, Shines immovable and unseizable by concepts. Although it abides as such and is one’s natural possession, There is a difference whether it is recognized or not. The wisdom of one’s instant presence exists primordially, But since instant presence is covered by the darkness of ignorance Wisdom does not manifest And one becomes slave to the ordinary actions of illusory vision. The undefiled state of knowledge is one’s natural possession, But since one is polluted by the dirt of the mind Thoughts cannot dissolve in the original base. As long as thoughts do not dissolve in the original base, There is no way to perceive nakedly one’s instant presence. Pointing out primordial wisdom: Look inside, backward, at the essence of your consciousness. If, when you look, you don’t see anything and find a condition of emptiness, this is called the dharmakaya. In this condition that is empty and beyond thoughts there is a clarity which shines naturally: this is called primordial wisdom. Recognizing that instant presence, while manifesting everywhere, has no substance, is the primordially existing enlightenment. Enlightenment is not outside: if you search in yourself, it will be found. You don’t need a particular method for searching; just look at this essence and set yourself in your natural condition. There is not even something to set in its natural condition, but just be in a condition of pure emptiness. You must not have doubts about this. If you are confident, that is enough!” ~ “CLARIFYING THE REAL NATURE - The Upadesha That Reveals Nakedly the Wisdom of Clear Insight” ~ excerpted from The Golden Letters teachings by Drenpa Namkha

I believe it's meant to represent the author, Shardza Tashi Gyaltsen Rinpoche. He is said to have achieved the rainbow body in 1935. You can tell it is a tantric practitioner by the phurba, a ritual dagger, being held in the left hand with the mudra of a wrathful deity. The rainbow lights emanating from the heart represent the attainment of the rainbow body of light. The book has very detailed instructions regarding both tantric and dzogchen practices, among them tummo, thodgal, even sexual practices. It's a fantastic resource but not really well suited as a practice manual without personal instruction.

Dan Brown and Geshe Sonam Gurung have recently published several important translations of Bönpo Dzogchen texts. Anyone interested in Yungdrung Bön should check them out. Two key texts of the secret and utmost secret cycles of the Oral Transmission from Zhangzhung are included, as are key works by Shardza Tashi Gyaltsen Rinpoche, and the the core text of the A-Khrid cycle of Dzogchen teachings. Here is some info on the currently available publications. https://www.pointingoutthegreatway.org/books/

My 60th birthday!

Very nice post. I'd like to add my answer to the OP's question: Is Gendao worth having on this forum? YES

We know your slogans quite well. So much so that we feel as if we are talking to an algorithm. Your choice to ignore scientific evidence from other effective systems and believe non-scientific evidence of video demos is your prerogative. Certainly we hope in the future you may see the wisdom in being a bit more open minded. But we are not holding our breath.

I would say that all properly done qigong is spiritual. If you are bringing clear attention to the body, breath, and mind you are attending to the spirit, cultivating a deeper and purer connection to the source. You can also bring different intent to the practice, eg martial or healing, and one can be careless and distracted, in which case spirituality is abandoned. Telepathy comes from listening deeply and with enough openness and sensitivity. I think there’s also a component of proclivity or blessing when it comes to telepathy.

I did get your implication. My peace is not disturbed by this thread. I have no interest in stifling expression. Everything that can be said about Mo Pai, good and bad, has been rehashed on this website in innumerable threads over the past decade. None of that has changed the tenor and content of this debate one iota. I'm simply suggesting that continued discussion of the topic with its adherents is futile. They have amply demonstrated they are immune to rational thought and common sense when it comes to the topic. Minimizing is intended with respect to this specific subject matter. If not for debate here, I wonder how much attention it gets anywhere? We are keeping it alive with this very thread. I believe the number of people who actually commit to the practice is quite small. I do not think they are growing. Otherwise they would not continuously return here and maintain a presence despite the hostility. This is probably the only place they have any success recruiting. It does not take 55 pages to discuss the risks of their training fragments. All it would take is a pinned FAQ and the occasional response to unsubstantiated claims. That said, if y'all want to continue the discussion and arguments in perpetuity here, I sincerely hope it brings some sort of fruition. I'm just raising the possibility that there may be more valuable and productive discussion to be had with the DaoBums than Mo Pai. Peace

Roger that No Yes, all I have to offer is my assessment. Take it or leave it. I've seen this dynamic play out with the Mo Pai folks many times. Always the same. Interesting to equate this with childhood experiences of abuse. I guess anything can become a touchstone for deep reactivity. Very true Yes, wasting my time apparently. I started, erased, and reworded my post a few times over the past few days... weeks? before finally posting. I think it's like Taomeow pointed out to me once, I have this thing where I try to protect people. I guess we each need to dance our little dance... Here's mine

Sorry if I annoy anyone with my comments but this is ridiculous. If there's anything at DaoBums less worthy of a practitioner's time and energy than arguing about Mo Pai, I don't know what that would look like. Sean intervened with the political threads because the subject matter has actual impact on the lives of people. Mo Pai is irrelevant to the lives of everyone but the handful of folks who choose to practice its 2 introductory levels. It is of no consequence whatsoever to anyone else on Earth. I suspect Sean chooses not to bother with this thread, other than to maybe check what page it's up to and chuckle once in a while. No one every learns anything or changes their opinions regarding Mo Pai. The only possible personal growth that could come out of this 55 page argument would be if someone could actually let go and move on, never returning to this pointless exercise. The only value to this thread is to see how much time and energy people, who consider themselves practitioners, are willing to invest in beating the dusty, powdered bones of a long dead horse's corpse. Life is short, does anyone really need to spend precious seconds, minutes, and hours in this endless discussion? The Mo Pai crew are clearly not ready to give up on their dreams and no one else is likely to ever understand their obsession with a few fragments of what may be a useful a system... This is not about Sean. It's about those who can't let go of a dead and pointless argument. It's about looking at ourselves and our choices in life as reflected in our behavior here.

Something also to keep in mind is that while reading about Buddhism will give you knowledge about the subject, some meditation experience is the most direct way to taste the actual meaning, IMO.

Humanity closely mimics a malignant tumor to me in so many ways. As we get more populous, conflict is inevitable. We even love killing each other when population is sparse We are killing off so many other life forms, including ourselves. It breaks my heart and yet there's a farcical side. I am trying to live fully, love as much as possible, relish the freedom and peace I currently live in, and cry sometimes. Not sure what else to say. Oh yea, VOTE and FUCK TRUMP

It's easiest for most people to recognize the meaning of meditation when the body, speech, and mind are quiet. Otherwise, it is too subtle to notice and literally everything is a distraction. You can stand in one place or sit in any stable and comfortable position (floor, meditation cushion, chair, toilet, couch, bed, whatever)... There will be some aches and pains, it's not a gimme... It takes adjustment, tolerance, openness, and fortitude. Mind doesn't want to release control, body is not used to so much attention, inner voices are relentless... When you find the right way of resting the mind and body you will identify less with the currents and more with the underlying, stable presence.Then with practice, we can be stable with any activity. The teachings say to start practicing with supportive activity (prayer, mantra, circumambulation...), then progress to neutral activity (walking, eating), and finally challenging activity (extreme emotion, conflict...). Start easy when your ability to rest in authentic presence is like a small candle. Challenge yourself gradually and eventually your presence is like a campfire and ultimately a bonfire, fed by the challenges of life. You can even reach a point where practice continues in dream and deep sleep - eventually into death. Most important, start with an accessible and proven method and the support of a credible teacher and loving community. And remember, life is very short; we don't have too much time to fuck around.

Or to criticize... Fortunately, IMO, Max seems to elicit little discussion anymore.

l Hi Nicole, No, we did not get into any discussion on the significance of the mountain range itself or the associated deities. I was told that the practices originated in the Kunlun region. The name of the system translates to something like 'In the Footsteps of the Kunlun Immortals' school. Beyond that my instruction was all about practice and experience with very little attention to theory. PS - Ralis - this system has nothing to do with Max Christensen.

Happy New Year Nicole! I received training in a Daoist system known as Kunlun Xian Zong Pai. My teacher is from Taiwan where he studied with Master Liu Pei Zhong. Master Liu passed away around 1977 but his temple is still on Taiwan and I believe there is still an active community of practitioners there. The temple is called JIng Xiu Gong 靜修宮 Here is a link to some photos of the temple - https://www.google.com/maps/uv?hl=en&pb=!1s0x3442ac16de50a2f7:0x4d1e3b254932c36a!3m1!7e115!4shttps://lh5.googleusercontent.com/p/AF1QipN2rzAFnv129W3Dz5puE4X7AUj0AqkZVOzw3Nd0%3Dw426-h320-k-no!5s静俢宮+-+Google+Search&imagekey=!1e10!2sAF1QipN2rzAFnv129W3Dz5puE4X7AUj0AqkZVOzw3Nd0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiHs57B8-LmAhWjtVkKHeYqCw4QoiowCnoECBcQBg

I have adopted this instruction - absorb what is useful and discard what is not. I find it valid from the perspective of my Daoist training, martial arts training, as well as my Bön Buddhist training. Lineage holders from each of these disciplines have taught me this way and it has served me well. On the other hand, I wouldn't say this is the "true heart of Daoism in a nutshell.' For me, it is simply a useful instruction in how to learn and how best to apply ourselves to spiritual and martial training. Nevertheless, I can see how others might hold to this as a fundamental principle. Two things I would offer that, for me, are a fundamental truth or heart of practice are emptiness and openness. In Daoist praxis this is wu wei which I like to define as non-interference; in Buddhism it is emptiness or sunyata, the recognition of the basis. A corollary is openness or clarity, meaning to maintain direct connection; Daoist practitioners might refer to this as ting, listening. I have found both of these experiential principles to be equally fundamental and relevant to Daoist cultivation, martial arts (internal arts in particular), and Buddhism.

Precisely If you practice skillfully, and for long enough, you will have all sorts of experience, both good and bad. There will comfort, discomfort, pain, bliss, fear, boredom, excitement, physical movements, emotional release... no limit to the types of experience that may arise. Getting too focused or analytical with any experience is an obstacle. Everything needs space to arise and move through you. Leave it all just as it is. Add nothing, suppress nothing, but fully experience everything with openness and most important of all, be kind to yourself. When the really big stuff happens, it will be clear.

I find that the biggest obstacle to developing a relationship with Qi is expectation. We bring so much baggage to the equation - our personal bias, our interpretation of literature and scripture, our hopes, the ideas of others... All of this drowns out the subtle whisper of direct experience. Any pain usually comes from excessive effort, from forcing. Connecting with the flow of Qi is like listening to silence. Sounds get our attention easily, we’re used to that type of focus. We’re not used to connecting to silence, it’s a different kind of focus. The best advice I can give to anyone struggling with a connection to Qi is to be quiet, open, and leave all preconceptions and expectations behind. If you have the good fortune to connect with a credible teacher, trust the practice and try to lessen dependence on the conceptual mind. Good luck!

In the Bön Dzogchen tradition, the way of "developing" intuition is by gradually releasing our habitual over-identification with body, speech, and mind through meditation. As all of the distractions subside, everything we need is already there. In reality, we develop or create nothing, we simply open to the deep inner source of all insight and creativity. A very accessible resource for this is the book Spontaneous Creativity by Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche.

Anyone interested in forgiveness should check out Aamir Kahn’s film Rubaru Roshni.

No need to feel ashamed. No need to panic. The dan tians are conceptual, energetic structures. They do not tear or fracture. Yes, very likely If you are truly interested in Daoist cultivation, it is necessary to have an experienced teacher with a credible lineage. Books and anonymous participants in online fora are of little value.

Congratulations Dwai! I will definitely buy a copy of your book.

Present situation excepted (it's a little too confusing), I'd like to say that I think I get what Sean is doing here and (more or less) why. I deeply appreciate his commitment to championing basic human rights and values in his moderation choices. I also appreciate him managing this space solo... it's not a trivial task. Thanks Sean, Welcome back Anand Love to the rest of my friends here!