forestofclarity

I don't know you, and you don't know me, so this is just presumption to think you can "help" me by posting a bulleted list on an internet forum with bald, unsupported conclusions when I'm asking for specific information. I mean, c'mon, this is the internet. Why should I listen to you? This comment below sounds more like some made up pish-posh quasi-Western occultism, a poor imitation of Bill Bodri, or at worst, an attempt to sound like a Star Wars Sith Lord. It is like I'm standing in the rain and you're telling me I'm dry. I don't need some one else to confirm my direct experience when I'm wet. I know Swami Sarvapriyanda is telling the truth because what he teaches can be confirmed in one's immediate experience right now. In philosophical terms, it is knowledge that is epistemologically incorrigible --- it cannot be doubted. Once you've had a taste of the strong scotch, then siddhis and supernatural powers just seem like a bunch of watered down Busch lite banquet beers. Plenty of people develop crazy powers and end up sad and miserable. The point is to get out of the jail cell, not decorate it and make it pretty. If you want to party with your Busch lite, go for it, but don't think everyone else wants to.

I know the channel and the podcasts, I would more interested in the specific videos you were recommending since you have been pretty on point at picking the best ones out. No issue, though, I can comb as I always have.

Odd thing to say from some one attempting to troll an Advaita thread in the Hindu forum.

You won't catch this fish with that hook, bud.

Dwai, Your Swami Sarvapriyananda videos are stating that they are unavailable. Do you have a good link? To others, I think a lot of people just don't vibe with Jnani Yoga. It sounds intellectual, which turns off non-intellectuals, but it is actually very experiential, which turns off modern Western -type intellectuals.

My family is working through this free course on the Science of Well Being: https://www.businessinsider.com/coursera-yale-science-of-wellbeing-free-course-review-overview

Of course, the common shadow side of that equation is people tend to prematurely quit formal practice too quickly. According to some teachers, sitting or meditating is itself an expression of enlightenment.

The discussion on the presence/absence of thought occurs in the jhana sections, not the vipassana sections. The second jhana arises when the factors of applied thought and sustained thought drop off. One of the arguments in the Theravada community is how deep the jhana state needs to be. Teachers who support the Visudhamagga interpretation would certainly disagree with you, as according to them attaining jhana typically means the obliteration of any sense of body and mental talk. There are also people in the Tibetan tradition that follow the same trajectory (i.e. B. Allan Wallace). I learned a lot about this at Bhavana Society actually, and Bhante G was my preceptor into Buddhism. It has been some time, but by applying their teachings, many of us at their retreats were able to slow the mental process down to the point where you could watch a single thought arise and pass away. Of course, the issue as I stated is taking such things into daily life. I doubt it is possible to attain deep states of concentration outside of a retreat, which is why I tend to prefer the more open approach.

This is an interesting statement, and points to a fissure in meditation systems. While I agree with the caveat "at least not on the tantric and dzogchen paths," there are some Buddhist paths in which it is taught. The elimination of thought paradigm does have some basis in Theravada teachings, and also in Samkhya. If you look at some classic Theravada Abhidhamma based teachings, you will find references to eliminating thoughts as thoughts are karmic arisings triggered by craving/aversion/ignorance. In the modern day, Gary Weber has made a big deal about achieving a literal no-thought state. One of the earliest Buddhist blogs I found described a Thai technique in which monks basically tried to reach a thought free state, then attempt to extend it. In Theravada contexts, I have heard it taught both ways. Of course, there is another debate in the Theravada context as to what level of concentration is necessary to reach enlightenment (i.e. the Visudhamagga jhanas vs. Sutta jhanas). One thing that struck me about the Theravada/Samkhya type of meditation is that they are typically practiced by renunciants practicing very intense forms of formless samadhi. Most of that, in my personal opinion, is as applicable to the modern lay person. I think for most lay people, the more open, relaxed paths are the way to go.

What are you time a management secrets? I find I can only practice a few things, and I have little time for online posting. Do you have a job and a family?

If anyone is interested, I did end up taking the course at the center. I'm still taking courses there about 6-7 months later. Bruce will start teaching next week, so I cannot speak about classes with him personally. But the classes with his instructors have been exactly what I was looking for. The instructors and long-term students are all fairly nice and down to earth which can be unusual in my experience. The teachings have been pretty open. Unlike other classes I have taken, they explain fairly well what you are supposed to be doing. In fact, the teachers will go out of their way to demonstrate exactly how the body should move. The mechanics of Tao Chi are starting to make sense to me physically, including the phrase "each part is connected to every other part." Dragon-Tiger did not strike me as a great set of exercises initially, but over time I have found that it generates a lot of qi sensation, calms the mind, and promotes energy. I can also clearly see how 99% of Western tai chi and qigong is just arm waving. The emphasis appears to be on meditation and healing rather than martial ability. It sounds like this is based on a conscious choice on Bruce's part. This may be a turn off for many, but not for me. I have been in two fights in my entire life, both as a teenager. I have gotten more pain and bruising from full-contact sparring than any actual in life violence. However, mental distraction and physical age-based deterioration are always ongoing problems, so this seems suited for those. This is probably the first time I have been to such a class where everything was explained in a way that is easy to understand, and the arts still strike me as having unknown depths yet to be uncovered. It also reminds me of how much I miss the the organic, fluid, relaxing, intuitive "feel" of Chinese based arts/philosophy/Ch'an. I will say I am genuinely surprised at how positive the experience has been, especially in relation to how turned off I was by his general website/advertising.

To get back to OP, I've heard Buddhist teachers say that if God exists, then God is empty. I don't think that Buddhists (at least not all Buddhists) necessarily deny God, but rather the existence of nonexistence of God has no bearing on whether you suffer.

It is fairly common knowledge in Vajrayana, and can be found in most beginner books and is often mentioned in live teachings. A simple Google search will produce a variety of sources, from Khenchen Thrangu to Tsongkahpha.

You can practice it, but I imagine being a sutra method, the Vajrayana view would be that such practices would take three countless eons.

The traditional explanation I have heard in Shaivite and Buddhist tantra is that one must receive the mantra in person from some one who has successfully “activated” the mantra—- i.e practiced it to fruition.

Have you tried non-qigong techniques? Such as: limiting/eliminating caffeine; shutting down all electronics at least an hour before bed; adjusting the temperature of the room; meditating before bed, wearing an eye mask; etc.?

For me, what distinguishes Daoism from other spiritual philosophies is the focus on the embodied aspect of the teachings. Understanding wu wei is one thing, but having a felt sense of wu wei in the body is another. The kicker is that wu wei is actually the only way to really go. Considering the cosmos as a vast and interconnected set of relationships, there is no way to resist that--- it is like a fly trying to hold back a Tsunami. Even more so, all the thoughts and impulses we have, including the thoughts and impulses to resist, spontaneously pop up on their own. We don't sit at a work bench and mold them like an artist might mold clay cups and vases.

I didn't say it was illogical. I said I couldn't make sense of it. In this case, I mean phenomenologically, i.e. as a matter of experience. Analogically, perhaps the best metaphor to use is space given it is unchanging, attribute-less, etc. It seems to me that the term "chidabhasa" can be applied differently: 1. To "pure awareness" or "pure consciousness," i.e. the unchanging, objectless, awareness that is ever present like a golden thread connecting all experiences, and yet never apart from any object or experience which arises; or 2. Some sort of object. This could be the mind, the "I am," the ahamkara, etc. My feeling is that it is pointing to #1 in an effort to reconcile our experience with the proclamations found in the Vedas. Our experience is never universal. For example, I may experience a waking state centered on my body-mind; a dreaming state centered on a fluid body-mind; or deep sleep that is not centered on any body mind. However, I never experience looking out from some one else's eyes. Nor have I ever had the experience of looking out through all body-minds. So I suppose I would say that it appears to be saying Brahman + upadhis = jivatman = chidabhasa. In other words, Brahman under the limitations of ignorance is not really Brahman (the sun) it is a pseudo-Brahman (the reflection). However, you all seem to be saying that it is pointing to a #2. Commendation

Well, I decided to take a chance. I just finished the first week. The other night, I came home fairly late. My wife asked how it went. "Well," I said, "It was something I haven't had at these classes for a long time." "What's that?" she asked. "It was--- fun," I said. "You never say that," she said. It's true. I have taken different MA classes over the years, and with the exception of a kick boxing class in college, none of them have been any fun. They may be fun at some parts, but certainly the entire experience is more work than fun. Some have been informative. Some have been useful. But none of them have been any fun. Usually, they are hard work. Or boring. Or a bit of both. It was also easy. They have obviously put in a lot of thought on how to teach people. And also multi-layered, with a heavy focus on meditation and mindfulness of the body. The teaching seemed pretty in line with what I have encountered at some other reputable schools. Obviously, it just started, but just thought I would share some of my initial impressions. I may have a different opinion in a few months.

From a bio-evolutionary perspective, we as humans tend to develop stereotyped, abstract thoughts because it is quicker and more efficient than conducting a thorough individual analysis. So when we see something that looks gross, we don't eat it. The gross thing may be high in nutrition, but we would rather reject too many things than ingest something bad. One odd result is the phenomenon of seeing faces in things, like Jesus in a tortilla. We are wired in some ways to see faces, even if there aren't any, because it is better to see a face that isn't really there than to miss one that is really there. So do we see patterns because they are there, or do we impose patterns because it makes it easier to navigate the world?

Well, there are some fairly clear connections between the political right wing and occultism. Gary Lachman wrote a book all about it, talking about the "occult" influences with Trump and Putin. Many occultists have been a part of their inner circle. Steve Bannon was (to my surprise) a vocal supporter of Julius Evola. Putin has Alexander Dugin. Both Trump and Putin promote a chaotic, "truth is what I say it is" combined with an sense of absolutism that is useful in implementing a strong, facist type of government. This is not to say that they are practicing occultists in the traditional sense, but Trump traces many of his ideas to Norman Vincent Peale, who presents a sort of "occultism" for the masses. Mitch Horowitz out the occult influences on America in his book "Occult America." Both books are fairly straightforward examinations of occult ideas on modern culture and politics. https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Star-Rising-Magick-Power/dp/0143132067 https://www.amazon.com/Occult-America-Seances-Circles-History/dp/0553385151

Just to toss it out there, in Tibetan Buddhist circles it is considered extremely poor taste to speak poorly of the dead during the 7 week bardo period.

What is the criteria by which to evaluate that a person is awakened?

First, I would be careful about being too quick to judge teachers --- they will typically not live up to our book/movie conditioned expectations. Teachers aren't perfect. I wouldn't reject some one because they had a cough. Second, I worked with open source Kriya in the past. I have been the definition of a spiritual dilettante, jumping from practice to practice. I think there is a lot of wisdom in picking and staying with a single practice, but the problem is uncovering what that practice is. Some people pick a practice that doesn't really suit them, and so don't do it. The reason I became a Buddhist isn't because Buddhism is the best, greatest, etc. It is the practice that I kept doing, day in and out, over a long period of time. All other forms of practice eventually fell away. In my opinion, I think there could be a conflict. First, the visualizations are different. Kriya is more based on classical Indian models whereas qigong is based on Chinese models. While there is some overlap, when conditioning the mind into the tradition, it may introduce an element of confusion. I don't think this would be same if you were well grounded in one tradition, and then learned another. Second, the methods may be quite different. Classical India concentration practices may be more focused, excluding, and active than some Chinese models. It is possible that these would work at cross-purposes. So you may be building skills in one that you undo with the other. Again, I think this is less likely with a strong grounding in one practice. One way to experiment is to try one method for a short period of time--- two weeks or a month. Then try another. See which one you like. Some models suit people better than others and appeal more than others. No technique works in a vacuum. A final point is that if you really want to go deep into these practices, you will need guidance from a live teacher. So availability of a teacher may be another factor to consider.

I think there are two aspects of Daoist arts that we mix up: martial arts and spiritual arts. Personally, I am more interested in spiritual arts. I have spent a number of years in various fighting-based clubs. I am always unsure what to think about CMA (Chinese Martial Arts) students who talk about fighting ability. As I recall, in the heady, madcap 1990's the Gracie family decided to put to the test which martial art was the best. As it turns out, it is probably a combination of Western boxing, Brazilian jiu-justu, and Thai kickboxing. Usually CMA people who I have known to be fighters are already scrappers, but I have almost never heard of some one using CMA against an aggressive and unwilling opponent. Nor have I heard of a CMA initiate putting the slap down on well-trained MMA fighters. If that were the case, professional fighters would be training CMA. In addition, most people who actually fight a lot (i.e. police and military) tend to take up MMA rather than CMA. Most of the fighting discussed in this thread appears to take place between two CMA practitioners in a limited environment. As I recall, Bruce Lee realized this as a limitation of CMAs and adjusted his own fighting accordingly by drawing on other fighting styles. The only exception to this for me was a person who trained under Mike Patterson. He allowed for fairly free flowing sparring in his classes which often degraded quickly. A nth degree Tae Kwon Do black belt/instructor took a hit to the face and never returned. The teacher however, could take on MMA guys half his age. He had ability, but it only came with years of hard, full time training and exercise. I have heard of CMA folks who also fight, but it is not clear to me whether they were utilizing their CMA or if they were just brawlers. In addition, they seem to be looking for fights (most adults do not ever get into fights), which suggests that their spiritual development is lacking. And given that most people do not get into fights, many of these "in the world fights" may be against untrained, out-of-shape people.