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When you do Taiji, assuming you are pretty good at it, you forget yourself, yes? There is no doing by you, the form does itself, thru you. Of course, someone looking at you will go, "Hey, there's Steve, see how awesome he moves!" So it appears that there is this guy called Steve doing this beautifully awesome set of movements, but you, you yourself, cannot know where the movement takes you. When you act consciously to observe what you are doing, what happens? Odds are you will fumble and stumble, or overdo something. This is seeking. Giving up and giving in to the form, complete and utter surrender to the dynamic flow, without expectation, without fear or self-consciousness, losing the 'self' in the process, this is the pinnacle, the ultimate path of 'non-seeking'. The seeker drops away, yet 'you' are still here! There is no 'self' present to open to anything. Everything is already open... but 'you' and 'I' can never see this. Only when we get so good at forgetting this conscious self, to experience total open-ness without ideating the experiencer, that all is done, and yet, in reality, there is no 'one' to do anything - all is done. We simply allow it... or not.

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Along comes Mazu, another Zen guy, who says, "The Way does not require cultivation --- just don't pollute it. What is pollution? As long as you have fluctuating mind fabricating artificialities and contrivances, all of this is pollution. If you want to understand the Way directly, your everyday, natural mind is the Way. What i mean by everyday, natural mind is the mind without artificiality, without subjective judgements, without grasping or rejection."

As Fo-yan said, "If you seek, how is that different from pursuing sound and form? And if you do not seek, how are you different from earth, wood and stone? You must learn to seek without seeking." That leaves us with the question, "How?"

This is simply wonderful to hear, RV! Wonderful indeed.

Spontaneous presence, naked awareness, effortlessly free from contrivance, that's Rigpa, with the flip-side of this state, clouded by afflictive tendencies..Ma Rigpa. Though I am not sure if you're searching for other terms besides this one... 'Rigpa' as per Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rigpa

http://www.tibetanmedicine-edu.org/index.php/n-articles/vajra-body

Oh? Wow... fantastic! Actually, in the higher teachings, the Buddha taught that since there is no ego from the beginning, there is nothing to deconstruct. The construct was/is artificially built so that people can remove the idleness, see themselves as useful and worthwhile, by reinforcing a sort of dummy that was not there to begin with. Funny, isn't it?

This is in line with Buddhist psychology - there is no ego at the beginning. Excellent!

"Psychology is singularly adapted for the use of youth; it has a large vocabulary and is, in its essence, a grand, riotous, complicated, smutty story. It also moves along tramlines and is dressed in uniforms. Youth, terrified by the roaring, multitudinous manifestations of life all around it, feels safe with psychology." -- James Briodie Its becoming clear the usefulness of (mis)understanding the ego and all its associated functions. If only it was so simple to attain and maintain a state of clarity, all the associated dilemmas of not doing so will have been rectified ages ago. Heck, even the psychologists/analysts need their own kind to help them deal with their misunderstood and mistreated 'selfs'. Nonetheless, its big business, and understandably so.

Call me childish, but i think Donnie Yen can whoop Jet Li's ass anytime!! haha Incidentally, True Legend is about the rise of the founder of Drunken Fist kung fu. Pretty spectacular martial arts in the movie! Get it! Milarepa i enjoyed too...

I recently watched two very good kung-fu movies. I think you will enjoy 14 Blades (with Donnie Yen) and True Legend. Got them both from Amazon for peanuts... a couple of euro each is all.

This is bordering on romanticized speculation.

There are scores of active posters here, with as many different takes on which is the best way 'out'.... who are you going to believe? Spiritual confusion is one of the underlying condition for what you are experiencing, so its practically unsound to compound the situation with an extra load of well-intentioned suggestions from equally well-intentioned members. I am familiar with what you have described, but under no circumstances would i attempt to offer advice, for the simple reason i do not know anything about you (in person, that is). If you were a member of my meditation group, it would of course be a different matter. Depending on your path, i suggest you seek advice from a counsellor or authentic spiritual teacher in your area.

You ought to try consulting Andrew Harvey with your situation. Generally, a person experiencing these states are subject to heightened imaginings, so i am sure Mr Harvey would be the right person to determine whether this is what's happening with you, and if so, you would be in great hands. A man of realization, so to speak.

The greatest teacher is oneself. This is hard to dispute... its like saying the greatest source of light and heat is the Sun - who can say otherwise? Sometimes, though, knowing that the Sun is the greatest and the brightest source of light is not enough. Just like using a magnifying glass to channel the energy in order to ignite some wood or paper, one needs tools to bring up, to magnify, to concentrate and to harness the sun's power. Hence, we cannot always say that mere knowledge is power. Its perhaps more accurate to say that knowledge contains only limitless potential for power. So there is a great teacher inside each of us, but without a magnifying glass, or using one that is improper or weak, bringing out the best from within this teacher could become a laborious drag, and many give up, disillusioned in their believing or increasing faith in the simple knowledge that they are their own greatest teacher. Just some thoughts.

"Its good to enjoy things, enjoy life. People think that leading a spiritual life means that you have to put yourself through great self-torture for the teaching...but why? The point is simply good intention." - Chogyal Namkhai Norbu

Wow! Loved it. Gave me the bumps... wish i had such expressive flair. Could write a book or two if i did. (great to know that Mr Songs was not temporary ejected...)

Interesting... one would think that its precisely these things that increases the desire for people to want to seek enlightenment? The very reason why you are trapped under the very same delusion that you think the wasters are confined by? You just happen to frame it differently, but fundamentally, its still influenced by dualistic notions.

:lol: (sorry... just could not help it)

Course they can... all i said is it just takes longer, from their timeline that is, not ours. If they can't, we can't. Since we can, they can, too. Simple. The caveat is that we can make choices to do it right this time round, a human privilege that unfortunately not many are willing to cash in.

I am only speculating, in the same way most of what you write are - you keep assuming the gods do this, that and t'other... so i am merely trying to communicate with you at your frequency, is all. You dont like this mode of relating? Then please refrain from throwing up so many assumptions eh?

Ah! Marblehead... but you do agree that Taoist Philosophy is an all-encompassing, non-exclusive one, right? I stand corrected, but am i wrong to say that the Tao rejects nothing? (wish i knew a better way of putting this across - sorry). Otherwise, the consequences will be tending towards dogma, i would assume. I like a system of philosophical thought which allows for a broad spectrum of considerations, which is the precise reason why i am here instead of the other 'exclusive Tao country club members-only' forums.

For one whose senses have been purified, then whatever filters thru those senses would also be purified. This is why some people can see the good in manure, while some others can only smell the filth. This applies to all things and circumstances. Its for this reason that many who come into contact with genuine enlightened beings report that they feel total acceptance, as if they are being cradled in the presence of pure radiance.

Depends on who's doing the living, i guess. Btw, even the gods and beings from the outer dimensions have procreation. Not sure if they have 'families and friends' the way we understand the concept, but certainly, from what some people have said here and elsewhere, they appear to demonstrate a desire to inter-mingle. I suppose they would also have the desire for power and other impermanent things - otherwise why would they even bother to make themselves known to people, like yourself, for example? I am thinking whether its possible that when you make contact with these beings, whereby they agree to give you a pass into their dimension, if you will also find dissatisfaction and a lot of unease happening among the majority of these folks? Sure, they would have their own sages and saints (which i am sure you will get to hear of), but who knows, when you get there, you may have to again seek for another 'Lost Horizon' to meet these so-called higher masters, only this time, it wont be as visible because of the different dimension of time/space. The reason i am speculating in this way is because you seem to have carried over some gross karmic attachment from a previous existence in a different plane to come to this one, only to begin your search all over again. Does not make much sense, does it? As a friendly reminder - Of all the different realms of existence, its only in the human one that awakening can take place, because its only in this realm that past karmic tendencies have the potential to be diminished by doing the right practice, thru following the correct path that leads to the cessation of ignorance and suffering. Not saying that beings in other realms do not have the same privilege, its just that they have to bide their time and ride out their past karmic accumulations, whereas only as humans can work be done to speed up the process.