yabyum24

Just out of interest, and because I don't know the answer... ... if it looks like a Dzogchenpa isn't going to attain the rainbow body, what's the plan B?

Hi Traveler, I don't know about thoughts becoming new building blocks of belief for an integrated ego. What if we could dare to go beyond even that? How deep would the rabbit hole go?

Spot on with the bubble analogy. This is the way I see time/space formed in our subjective way. When there is no bubble - there is neither subject nor object - neither time nor space. The bubble has two poles which both face inwards: subject and object. Two sides of the same substance but unaware of that fact. Like in a dream, everything we experience is mind-made. Subject (us) all other beings, buildings, sky whatever - the entire event is inside the bubble. This is volition/karma, rending non-duality apart to create the time-space bubble in which "we" can exist. You may like this: http://spiritual-minds.com//returntoshiva.htm Namaste _/\_

I agree but I'm not sure that thinking is an error (or fall) per se. It serves a function - the knowledge of good and evil - the expulsion from the garden (as it's portrayed elsewhere). This is the apple delivered by the serpent power of Shakti - the volitional impulse which conditioned our rebirth. So, the call is to re-enter 'the garden'. It's guarded by the flaming sword of the cherubim (sunset or sunrise), so is best entered during the in-between times of dawn or dusk (the colour of Shiva's skin). In the space between our thoughts and breaths. We seek the thing which would re-unite us with the Ultimate - the fruit of the tree of life (samhadi).

Like it. Nicely said.

A great question - or collection of questions. I'll deal with them, as far as I understand, or have seen. "If we substract ourselves here in this human form free from thought, which then surely leads to a deeper understanding in all directions and fills us more with the Universal intelligence - does this mean our Free Will is gone with it?" I guess that depends on how you define free will and how 'free' this free will is. Much of what we consider free will to be is a kind of knee-jerk habituated reaction to stimuli. 'Intent' is something else and becomes clearer when the internal dialogue is dropped. "Or What are thoughts actually? What is the real purpose of thoughts? What is the nature of thoughts? And why exactly do we identify with our thoughts these days in such an EXTREME fashion?" Thoughts are a function of the self-grasping mind. Their purpose is to chew up raw sensory data and help or egos digest and assimilate it in a way which gives us 'ownership' and feeds our self-identity. They can both react to and initiate feelings and are part of the wider 'nutriment' we take. "And what is the best way to USE thoughts after we un-identified ourselves and freed ourselves from it through constant practice, deeper meditations and other non-conceptional methods?" Do you USE thoughts or do they USE you? The balance of power shifts after un-identification takes place. "Every meditation practitioneer knows it: Thoughts are the Only 'thing' that prevents one from going into a very deep state of meditation." You would be surprised at how many people ignore that, or consider it irrelevant. "a thought is energy which is converted and transformed via intention and then directed into manifestation. Basicly a thought in it's true nature, we maybe used it 10k years ago was used Only to manifest AND NOT ENTERTAIN OR IDENTIFY" Spot on! The conversion of this energy into internal vocalization is something we develop as we lean speech. Babies and animals don't have it. They are, by default, in first or second jhana - but without awareness of it, as there can be no contrast for them between the two states. When (with full awareness) we rend ourselves from the stream of babble which we are welded to, it's a staggering moment. We can see that all this cr*p is anatta (or not self). A huge part of who and what we 'are' comprises of 'thoughts, feelings, opinions' etc. What about if you no longer have ownership of them? It's liberating not to be a thrall to this any more - then their nature as a key component of dukkha (or suffering) becomes apparent. They torment many people and cause great suffering. Cutting through our addiction and dependence on them is the first step in true meditation but it's not easy as most people (perversely) want to first collect even more thoughts in order to justify doing so.

awesome pics.

Without wishing to start any arguments, I'd like to ask what people here think? I've read his books and they ring true to me but there are lots of detractors with "evidence" that he concocted it. I can't believe that it's all made up but perhaps it's elaborated in parts or edited in order to get the events across. What do you think?

Hi Maki, I don't (fortunately) encounter many spirits, so I'm no expert but those I have sensed seem to be tied to a specific location. So, no, once we left the place I never saw it again. In any case, there is nothing interesting about them and I would be happy to never sense another one again. I honestly have no interest in them. There is some general stuff about Yidams on Wikipedia. You need empowerments for the practice but it's optional and you don't need it to develop samatha, so don't worry. Why would I want to stay focussed on an object for 4 hours or more? That's the kind of misapprehension which surrounds the topic. Briefly, meditation has only 2 components; tranquillity and insight (samatha and vipassana) or whatever variant spelling you like. You need both to work together. The tranquillity settles the mind, (like waves calming on a lake) so that insight can see deeper, (like looking at the bottom of the lake). Each stage enables the next. If there is no tranquillity, then insight can't get very far. If there is no insight, then the meditation is pretty pointless (and definitely incorrect).

I'm interested in exploring Nei Gung but there are no groups near me so I'm wondering if anyone can recommend a good book. I'm not looking for an academic thesis in theory, rather a guide with instructions and useful information. Hopefully from someone who knows their stuff experientially. I already meditate and have reached a deep level of internal stillness but I'd like to combine this with energy work and Nei Gung seems to offer this possibility. The movement side is covered with my Tai Chi, so it's more the mind directing chi 'thing' I'm looking for.

Hi maki, In my experience, being able to sense spirits has been a result of my meditation, rather than a reason for it. I have never sensed a single one which could have been beneficial but I have picked up on two or three which were evil and can (and did) cause illness and death. In one case I was out walking in a forest and came to a bridge. I relaxed into samatha, as the flowing water below helped. It was a beautiful sunny day but I became aware of a dark force. It was a shock to feel it, as it was so strong. When I looked up I saw a willow tree near by at the water's edge. The spirit was in it. I didn't hang around. Two years later I did the same walk again and was curious what I would find on the bridge. The force was no longer there but the tree was completely dead. On another occasion, when on holiday, we were staying on the top floor of a flat. On arrival we checked out the two bedrooms. I sensed a malevolent presence in the corner of one of them, so I put my kids in the other room and my wife on the side of the bed away from it. I generated as my Yidam and drew the mandala. No spirits mess with HYT Yidams, especially mine and they don't like being seen by us. The thing was Pig-Like and full of anger but it left us alone. We discovered that the wife of the landlord was recovering in hospital from cancer. She came back during our stay and we talked. She was frail but getting better and a nice lady. A month after we left she was dead. The spirit did not harm him but was jealous of her. How could I even tell them (or anyone else) about something like that? It's the first time I've ever mentioned this, but I think there are people here who will understand it. Other spirits are neutral and merely observe, they only operate on a shallow level and cannot access deep samatha, so you can get no useful information from them. I personally wouldn't go anywhere near them. In terms of chakra meditation, perhaps people here can advise. My main method is absorption into samhadi, which I got to by following anapanasati. Chakra meditation is not my strong point. Good Luck

If you specifically want advice on how to progress in meditation, then you don't need a spirit guide, there are some very useful human ones. What kind of meditation are you trying to develop?

I had a word with him last night and it turns out that some of the "warm up" stuff we do is qigong based. They also teach the eight strands, though he recommended I get familiar with the form first. A step at a time essentially. It's just my nature to be curious and impatient when I discover something new.

The source is still pure but has to be recognized. Some muddy it with reification and speculation thus: X exists. X does not exist. X both exists and does not exist. X neither exists nor does not exist. Start going along this path and you have moved away from Buddha Dharma.

Thanks for that mate!

I think I'll just start by looking at some basic Qigong. I've found a lot of free information on line (and vids) concerning the Eight Stands of the Brocade. That doesn't look dangerous and some of those moves are very similar to ones we do in my Tai Chi class in any case. I just have to be careful with low stances, due to a weak knee but it's something I'm aware of. My school teaches something called K'ai Men (a kind of Lee Style Qigong it seems) so I'll ask the teacher about that tonight.

A bunch of speculative views backed up by hearsay and misinformation.

Thanks guys, I'll drop that idea then.

"All of them has certain health risks." That is one thing I wish to avoid. Internal problems, I have heard, are the worst as they can't be cured by regular medicine.

What's blocking it here (Europe)? Simple, we don't live in California I can't find a Qi Gong, Nei Kung, Bagua, Mo Pai, Dzog Chen centre etc etc within a radius of 200 miles of where I live. The average (trendy location) USA person steps out of their back door and stumbles over these guys. At least that's the unscientific (perhaps slightly exaggerated) impression I get from what I read on internet forums of various kinds. I figure I'm lucky to have a nice Tai Chi group near me. There's a mix of ages and genders but it is weighted towards middle aged and older ladies (nothing wrong with them mind). The teacher makes a big deal of "energy" work. Holistic concepts were wiped out when the Roman Empire "civilized" our tribes and those tribes moved into the classic christianity/feudal development mode. Still... there's always raw nature we can visit. Empty our minds and feel ourselves bound to it. It's the same forest, wind, sea and sky our ancestors knew and that may be as close as we'll ever get to it.

The whole 'God' question is a tough one to answer, as it very much depends where you're coming from but I'll throw in my 2 cents. Simple answer (usually to evangelical types on my doorstep) "I don't believe in god". The truth is way more nuanced. I reject the idea of a "Sovereign" God, as such a being not only discriminates and judges but can also be offended etc. If there is such a being, then it has not attained samatha - or even tasted first jhana. It just rings like some kind of ridiculous projection that "believers" expect everyone else to believe in, in order to paper over their own insecurities. If your kid won't behave and doesn't believe in father Christmas or the bogey man anymore... well there's god you see. Many Buddhists counter by saying that emptiness is the "ultimate" without seeing the obvious contradiction there. Some even present nirvana as a post-death final extinction, akin the the western materialist view of death. This has to be total nihilist baloney, as how would you ever know? Who could ever "know" complete and utter extinction and return to tell of it? (Shaivite objection here). Their view is in opposition to the suttas where Buddha speaks of "consciousness without feature" - an unconditioned state. The earlier tantras speak of the mixture of bliss and awareness (awareness still there btw). By it's very nature, it has to be a state where the experience and the experient are indistinguishabe (Ksemaraja). But not extinguished. So by positing an independent creator god we create a "positive" concept or idea, something dualistic (me vs my deity). By positing a "nothingness" or annihilation/cessation of awareness we create a negative concept or idea. The final state is beyond any concepts because it is beyond duality and this is tough to grasp, when the only tools at our disposal to discuss it are relative concepts and ideas.

In one vid it says that his foundation practice is meditation. Does anyone know about the nature of this meditation?

I'm not a Christian, (so I'm beyond the pale for most of them) but I must say that whoever compiled Genesis did a very good job, it's just that 99.999% of people haven't got a single clue what it's about. So, it's left to the religious fundies and scientific types to thrash it out whilst both are misguided about the actual contents. Genesis isn't really a tale of the creation and expulsion, it is a roadmap to finding gnosis - and a very good one at that (if not way too cleverly disguised for most folks). You just have to know what you're looking for and it starts to open up. It took me years of study and experience in Buddhism and some knowledge of Shaivism to be able to see it, but it's all there.

When meditating outdoors, I am aware of some trees being aware of me. The ones which shed their leaves sleep in winter though, go deeper, to a place my mind can't touch them.

There's a lady who's sure...