Kali Yuga

I have a good question here. I'd like it if Ya Mu and drewhempel would chime in, its something that I think is very interesting... My question is, how are your meridians and energy body related to everyday consciousness? What impact does the way that one chooses to think and act and feel in normal life have on these things? Is it merely something of "i need to cultivate".. and then its done? No more work, I've cultivated through my practice now I have nothing to be concerned about? Or is it something deeper, a way of thinking and living? What effects do thoughts and emotions have on the energetic body? I'm very interested to understand how this works.

This is quite simply one of the most retarded threads i've seen here in awhile. lol

hey guys, Kali here again. Anyway, I was with the self-made yogi that made me totally interested in yoga and such through his working with my energy and healing it a year ago,last night. He was one of the reasons that I started training in tetada kalimasada. Anyways, I'll tell what he did again. It seems that I am quickly unbalanced off of my solar plexus chakra. I was with a group of nature-loving friends and we were road-tripping. This yogi was my friend and part of our group but I never discovered his capabilities until he said that he could feel my nervousness, and offered to take it away from me. Of course, I thought that it was proposterous that he could even attempt such a thing, but I was open to see if he could really do it. Anyways, he applies pressure on certain points around my body and has me breathing smoothly. Then he extracts energy the nervous from me and throws it away with a whirling and twisting motion of his hand. He does this for a few minutes and he gives me some form of energy, and my mind became very blissful. I rarely see my friend so I made a point to show him a good time around town last night. It was after my kalimasada practice and we went to a bar to hang with another buddy of mine. Anyway I notice that the feeling in my solar plexus becomes unbalanced and nervous again. These sexy type marlboro demo girls come in to sell cigarettes. I don't know if its them, or the environment, or what. I tell my friend "can you feel this here in my solar plexus"? He takes a moment then say that it reaches him all the way from where I sit. He then procedes to extract the energy and I feel a bit better. A bit later I feel it again but by now I've learned to do the same thing. I begin doing it to myself but he stops me. He says that I shouldnt do that kind of thing on myself. He says that there is a reason why this is happening and that something is wrong with my consciousness, and until I correct it the problem will still persist. He also says that he thinks he felt something wrong in my intestines. I get this feeling every now and then. Right now its in the right side of the plexus. I breathe diaphragmatically 24/7, it helps to lessen the effect but not totally dissipate it. A bit always remains after it gets started. I used to be depressive and socially anxious but I've overcome most of that a time ago and the deep breathing really helped. This feeling in my solar plexus is markedly different from social anxiety. I'm just wondering if any of you bums have had this symptom before? Like being anxious and unbalanced, but not anywhere else in the body, only the solar plexus. What kind of treatment, exercise or regimen would one suggest to correct my problem? My meditation practice has helped me become much more balanced and given me much more power in my daily life, but this has been a chronic problem. Would appreciate advice especially from those who have had this type of symptom. Kali

Yeah this is exactly my problem too. It wouldn't work with 4.0 so i had to download 3.0. I asked santi on facebook if i could join and after me adding him on skype and me clicking the link nothing happened. The link said I connected to the chat but nothing. I did this over for a dozen times. PMed santi for help but i guess I was distracting him cuz he said he had a class to teach. I really wanted to join in. Oh well.

Very true. There is great power in not giving it all away at a glance. Most people who show off generally are very insecure and power-minded. I used to know a person who could meditate for 4 solid days with no food, sleep, or water. He was a bit psychic and could feel other people's emotions even from a distance. He once offered to cleanse me of nervous energy back in the days when I did not cut out a path. He claimed he could feel it in me. So I dared him to do his little magic. He took away all that nervousness and replaced it with an extremely blissful feeling that placed my thinking to a standstill. He was always a showoff to some degree; although I find it ironic that he was a big part of the reason why I am here right now. He had made me re evaluate everything that I believed about. I just find it funny; the same person who had such knowledge about energy was completely clueless about women. He had a date once and he never quit pestering me as to what to wear and what to say etc. And he's the same person who told ME to let go of fear.. Just a few of my memories.

This is what I find most interesting. Are all these things physical things, with spiritual implications? Or the other way around? Are all of these things inside myself, or are they outside? What is the real mechanism behind phenomena such as this? Is it all just physical? Or extra-dimensional? Maybe both.

I don't think that anything that happens is really a "miracle", because obviously if it can happen then it is just a singular application of the total gamut what we schooled in the Rosicrucian Traditions call COSMIC LAW. Its is not a miracle; it was intended to be possible. The problem is not that things happen outside of universal law, but merely the fact that we humans are have assumed that we already understand the cosmic laws when in fact are most totally ignorant of them. We are so hypocritical sometimes. When something happens that defies supposed law of nature like raising the dead, levitation or making something from nothing, obviously it is our understanding of these laws that is lacking. Ignorance breeds suffering. But in the same paradox, the whole universe in itself is a "miracle". Know what I mean? But as for healing miracles, I believe it is all about understanding your own energy. For example, before I formally started following a path, I was very susceptible to a common colds that sometimes would last for 5 days. Now that I cultivate and develop awareness of energy, I can very easily cure myself of said nasty cold within 15 minutes to an hour. Its a piece of cake, if you only know how to. Other people would think that this is a kind of miracle. To me its just part of my life, nothing strange about it. Different strokes for different folks.. Kali

Wow, I thought I was the only one who experienced all of this. Mine is a bit different though, because mine doesn't exactly "bubble" or make moving sounds, air seems to get trapped down in my gut and when I eat it makes me feel a little weird and slightly uncomfortable. I have to try and sort of press the air out sometimes by trying to puke (but not really puking). Sometimes when I press on my belly I can get it out and it doesnt sound like a burp but more of a guttural thing. Some days I have it and some days dont. More chi kung horror stories, when we return.

You do NOT want to get involved into Michael Laitman's supposedly "scientific" version of Kaballah. It's a hoax spread through heavy net advertising and mass-media. Remember the other Kaballah cult in which Madonna and other famous people are in, the one which dupes dumb celebrities and other people into buying commercialized, ransom priced "holy water" and "magical red string"? The one which has celebrities like Britney buying ancient Kabbalistic texts on the premise of owning them alone will bring "great fortune"? This one's not too far off. You see, the problem with his Kaballah stuff is that it grows ever more complicated without getting to a point. It gets quite cultish. You read the articles, they seem nice, you watch the videos and they are high quality and the next thing you know you're driving 100 miles to go to one of Laitman's seminars, which also seem quite nice. You really like the group, they all seem so nice and friendly so you keep on going and going to their meets for months and months, until you penetrate to the top and find out whats really going on and who these people really are. You wanna be part of the group, but unfortunately theres an "inner circle" which doesn't accept you until you slowly devote more and more time to the group. They don't want you to associate with people and become more and more demanding. They want even more of your time and don't want you to associate with people they deem "not ready for crossing machsom". Don't be deceived by the videos. The videos on the website are extremely well made and placed. Everything you see is PROPAGANDA intended to get you hooked. For instance, look at the *graphical diagrams* in the beginning of the videos and on the website, the ones that look like a cartesian plane. These are created for the sole purpose of trying to deceive you into thinking that all the crap you're reading is actually logical and empirical. Of course which it is not. But nevertheless looking at the diagrams alone makes one feel that it has a scientific basis, and voila, a sheep is mislead. You see, their methodology is to seduce and confuse you with things you don't understand, like hebrew language and foreign sounding terms. All the while dazzling you with their videos of this and that. Also, look up the term "machsom", single-handedly invented by Michael Laitman himself. It has NOTHING to do with Kaballah but is just a fabrication conveniently made by Laitman himself. Don't believe me? Look up the terms machsom and kaballah on google. There is not one single website, or text out there that talks about "machsom" and kaballah, without being an afilliate of the Laitman group of organizations, aside from personal blogs. Now, don't you think with all the material we have on Kaballah from the last 1000 years that not even one text would have mentioned the term "machsom"? Not one. You see, he defines machsom as to be the barrier between the normal and "higher" perception. All this is fine. And then you go to what separates between people who have and haven't crossed "machsom". They beat around the bush endlessly in circular logic and use foreign-sounding terms and talk about "steps". But the point is if you don't believe all Laitman and Co. say, you'll never get there. Michael Laitman also claims to be the direct lineage descendant of a so and so kabbalist, of course which he is not. His teachings even go as far as to contradict the teachings of his "lineage", although his stuff is so well-placed you would never find out. Michael Laitman is an elitist, racist, homophobe, and quite frankly an opinionated stuck-up false guru. He thinks all other forms of faith are below his cult. If you don't subscribe to his own set of dogma, you never cross "machsom". Sound familiar? *cult bells ringing* If you want more information on this or other groups, check out the Rick Ross Institute of New Jersey, at www.RickRoss.com, an organization devoted to investigating and providing information on destructive cults.

Hey Witch.. Haven't read the whole thread (just too darn lazy) lol.. But I've been in almost the same exact situation, while trying to help a friend who had an entity obsessed over her.. But I have to ask, does he practice meditation, magick and witchcraft like you do? I've performed an exorcism before, but yes it was a dumb thing of me to do without having protection beforehand. It was my best friend's girlfriend. For some strange reason a common kind of entity here in the Philippines likes human women, and tries to seduce her and lead her to his dimension when she sleeps.. They have a tendency to go for the rather polite and quiet and lonely type of women. She was slowly losing sanity and the demon was turning her against her lover and family. With two friends holding her down (she became extra strong for such a small girl) we were able to kick spiritual booty using salt and the bible. No kidding on this one, almost all folk traditions including the Catholic church use salt in their exorcism and protection rituals. Whenever we put salt on her body, in her mouth or hands she would cry and scream like bloody murder. But of course it really wasnt her but the other thing. Speaking of Catholic exorcism, an acquaintance of yours would probably die before the Church does anything, all of which need the recommendation of the Vatican and all, good luck with that We were exhausted after the whole thing and it happened at night.. The very next night all three of us heard sounds and things that go *bump* in the night. All three of us had surreal nightmares of a something attacking us and much more.. You could say we were cursed. It kept on going on and on until we got together and did a cleansing/protection ritual. That's usually the problem, once you interfere with an entities work, you end up becoming a target. You might want to make him a protection charm/amulet? Better if he can make and consecrate one himself. Also, keep incense or something else burning in his place. Smoke clears up the energy field, hence the huge number of folk cleansing remedies involving smoke.

Hello taobums. Kali here. Recently I have been fascinated with the possibility of astral projection. It just seems so awesome, the mere possibility of it, being able to change forever one's paradigm regarding the world and what constitutes reality, could happen. You're talking psychic? This is the whole kit-n'kaboodle right here. I have been practicing trying to achieve this phenomena but I have not yet succeeded. Only time will tell. I had almost succeeded months ago when it was not even on my mind - I was laying in bed trying to get to sleep, but I couldn't. Then I thought to myself "wow, wouldn't it be cool if I could leave my body?" because for some strange reason, I could "feel" the outside of my body. I just started to "leave" my body - the spot where my consciousness is concentrated was moving almost to the point outside my body. But I chickened out because I was afraid of what I might experience. Afterwards I found myself near the edge of a nervous breakdown, shivering with my whole body, probably due to the shock. Now I try and practice to achieve this manually but to no avail yet. The only phenomena I have achieved so far is feeling a bit sunk down into the bed - and consciousness saturating on the back of the head and around the cerebellum. It made me feel quite disoriented and I didn't continue - it was the exact same feeling I had before when I was sick with a fever and taking medication. I didn't seem to be in coordination with the body and time felt so slow, yet so fast. I would speak and have the compulsion to speak so fast and yet the sound comes out normal. I wonder if I'd have to get used to that. Kudos to all the occultists who achieve this on a regular basis - it seems to be no ordinary feat. It might take me awhile to achieve this. I seem to have a theory that a true "higher initiation" lies in waiting for me in that plain. I was wondering have any of you experimented in this state of consciousness, or if it had happened to any of you spontaneously. Now please don't go around spewing garbage you made up in your head so you can be another l33t or internet k3wl.. My particular purpose of all of this is to explore a completely different dimension in which my higher self exists, and is closer. I am partial to meeting "spirit guides" if such things exist and using the knowledge I can gain there on the astral plain to further my spiritual evolution. But I will at the same time have a skeptical analysis just to keep a level head. I also wonder how this relates to chinese & taoist thought. Is it not true in taoist thought that one has to build an "immortal body" with "shen" in order that will have continued existence in the afterlife? But doesn't this beg the fact if one can leave the body anytime that the immortal body already exists? Many thanks for your joining in. Kali

Sometimes I think that the more I try to learn, the less I know, and i'm sure at some point most of you know what I mean.. It's just that reading manuals and guides and discussions on energy this and energy that don't seem to help, you know? Everyone's like, shen conversion this, semen retention that ,full lotus this, chakra orgasm that.. And a bunch of other stuff that I don't really know lol and I'm stuck trying to read and study full-body diagrams on energy pathways and etc. I just find it funny that we have to rely on diagrams on things like this if it is our own bodies wer'e practicing with, I mean its OUR bodies right, shouldn't we be able to know about energy inside it from ourselves? From my own point of view, talking about energy and its pathways and examining diagrams when one hasn't internally "got" what its all about, is mental masturbation. I feel that all these diagrams and such should come as result from one's own insight and awareness into ones self. Because from experience talking without having the experience doesn't really help. Thats why I am now officially quitting all this babble regarding this or that or doing this or doing that.. It might be a rudimentary meditation but I am quitting all of the other kinds except this one. I will just sit and cultivate awareness in my body and equanimity in heart and mind... I'll just sit there. And feel my body. If anything extraordinary happens, then good. If not, well that my gamble. This will be my one and only meditation from now indefinitely. And screw all this talk about retention. You guys can sit and talk for days but never come to agreement on it. Thats why instead of listening to you guys talk about it I will just experiment on my energy levels and sexual activity to see for myself. More arguments=mind garbage for the empty mind to have to clear out. Less talk more practice. And oh yes drewhempel if you must know I DO sit in full-lotus, usually for about an hour or two. I don't know if its really the most advanced posture you claim it is but for me its just the most solid and comfortable seat for me, better than siddhasana for stability IMO. It just helps me go deeper quickly but I don't know if its the end game for sitting. I think that it's the lotus in combination with gyan-mudra in each hand that generates the focus.. On a note I tried doing MCO before but strangely the energy won't follow a straight elliptical path up and down. I get the feeling that my energy wants to twirl around up my head and down and twirl around my legs rather than follow the straight up-down and around path of MCO. Its very disorienting but it just feels easier that way. It feels like floating in dead-space on a kind of wobbling tilted axis with very fast revolution time Usually I can feel sparkly warm energy in my body after a session of kalimasada but it just amazes me how hard one must work to cultivate and feel it in daily life, especially to come to a more "scientific" understanding of it.

Yeah. You know, the strangest thing is I'v been on this path for awhile but I'm starting to realize that I find myself back at the beginning. I feel that maybe everyone goes through this at some point or stage. A true seeker makes his quest his whole life; he constantly obsesses over it and absorbs any and all things he can learn. But he gets to the point where he must realize that he cannot find all knowledge outside himself - through other people, books, talking etc. It's like a so called guru I know. He talk and talks and talks.. And you listen and recieve great insight. But then he keeps on talking and talking... and you listen but you feel nothing. And he continues talking and talking and talking.. and you begin to resent him. Greatly. The guests buy him food and crowd all over him and worship him. And then you start to realize that he is no real guru at all. The only guru he is is his mouth, not his inner being. There comes a point on the spiritual path where one ultimately becomes alone - more alone than he ever is in his entire life. And I guess that point is the one where he begins to realize that everything taught to him is empty - except the things that he finds within himself. ...You get to the point where all the books and tapes and audio that helped you become loathsome to you and the only alternative now is to seek within- not without. Of course to put it into proper perspective he would never reach this point without his prior knowledge seeking. But there are new beginnings, even within a beginning. Wouldn't you agree? Just a few thoughts. lol

Hey guys.. Kali here. First thread. ohh yeaah. ;-) Anyways, I was wondering if any of you Tao Bums here have learned to percieve energy and how you did it. I mean, chi or prana or whatever you want to call it. The human bio energy field. The thing is, sometimes I can feel and see other people's energies, but this is rare. But then again, I am relatively new to all of this energy cultivation business. I have been doing an indonesian form of cultivation called Tetada Kalimasada for a few months now, which is a form of tenaga dalam. Sometimes I can see part of another person's aura but it seems not to be the full-fledged vision that other people have.. I don't see colors just a vague sort of whispy light. And most of what I see is the etheric double anyway. Sometimes I don't even see that. I used to be able to see this on a regular basis but lately it seems to have dwindled. Has anyone developed this ability to a high degree? I can also feel my energy but only after a long session of cultivation. Your thoughts please.

Ever eaten Balut? (embryonic chick egg almost fully developed, steam boiled) Lol. When I first treid it here in the Philippines I almost puked. Now it's just another everyday snack. I guess it's always the first time that gets ya. BTW yeah I can imagine not being able to eat turtle. there's something about them that's just not animal. lol

And instead of helping a newbie "enter the void", we slowly make this into a thread of who's the hottest, sexiest babe. Normally I would object. Normally. Not today though. Ohh yeaah. Let the games begin!

Hi CowTao. Kali Yuga resonates with me deeply because all the world's a battle, and we have to play out our own roles in it. It is true we live in a deeply "sinful" age, with humans killing each other an an unprecedented scale and forgetting the Source from which all that is comes, and all that is goes. We have made the greatest mistake possible by identifying with bodies that rot away, possessions that come to possess us, and minds that enslave our consciousness. We have forgotten who we are and to what purpose we have journeyed here. We live in a darkened age with more people suffering than ever before. We must strive to awaken or die, over and over, like a nightmare that always goes on with you awakening from you sleep, only into another nightmare. Yet in a realm where such suffering and ignorance pervades, it is here where the most possible spiritual progress can be made. To quote Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in his poem "A Psalm of Life", we must not be "dumb-driven cattle, but heroes in the strife!". To answer your question, both are separate things but one may progress from the other. A person who practices vegetarianism out of compassion may be hurtful and bigoted to his fellow human beings. A person with a pure heart may eat animals but shall be blameless among both gods and men. If your heart leaves you to believe that vegetarianism is the best way towards purity, then that is what you must do. Only your inner self will teach you what lessons you must learn, there is no "one size fits all" dogma that you must subscribe to achieve a purer soul. You must have the RIGHT REASONS for pursuing any particular path, if the "right path" is made for the wrong reasons you will fail to make progress. It is less of a logical construct and political correctness, and more of a following of your feelings and intuition. This is also why I believe that the greatest spiritual progress can be made not in some far away, mountain monastery trying to destroy your passions and feelings and practicing austerities that you might not even believe in, but in communion with other people in the villages and in the cities living the life that most other people live. It is the most "spiritually hardcore" path in my opinion because you are subjecting yourself to the test all the time. It requires you to make hard spiritual choices at every moment and to question everything that you practice and believe in, all the time. And life among non monastics is much harder because everything that happens is much faster, the pain and suffering comes much faster, choices are much harder, propelling you towards even more seeking of your true self in effort to stop the suffering. You can ignore the suffering and prolong inner evolution, but that is your own choice to be stupid. It all boils down to your choices. This is the benefit of the Kali Yuga. It's an inner and outer free-for-all for the most hardcore spiritual seeker. Kali

Vegetarianism. I think that vegetarianism should be practiced as a health concern only and not as a spiritual path. Not all cultures are vegetarian, and if you make them eat vegetarian they will suffer because it's not what they're used to. It's like expecting a bear to stick to a diet of bean sprouts. My guru's guru told him that you should eat whatever you're used to as long as you remain healthy. It's a fact that Jesus, Krishna and the Buddha all ate meat. My guru told me something that just blew my mind the other week, He said Jesus didn't say blessed are the PURE IN FOOD, for they shall see god (through their dietary practices) Jesus said Blessed are the PURE IN HEART, for they shall SEE GOD (through their purity of heart). It is completely superficial to think that you can eat your way to heaven. It is your HEART that will lead you to higher realms, not your gut. If you practice vegetarianism out of compassion, then that is your choice. Don't attempt to force it on others. Don't expect it to amount to great significance. May your hearts always be pure so that you will realize true love. Kali

Aaargh! The goat won this round! I have to do more jurus. Need more energy. That goat is GOING DOWN..

Last night I had a weird experience. As usual I was pondering on how to develop my psychic faculties, particularly regarding auric vision I talked about in my thread before this one. As I was laying down on my bed going to sleep, drifting towards sleep but still conscious, I had something which was like a thought, but somehow feels now like it came from a different level say something to me. "now the last step in your training requires you to realize, that you yourself as much as all else, is a body of light." Somehow intuitively I did this... and then it hit me. Somehow I could feel an energy field, sort of like a light, all around me expanding and making me feel a strange vibration. The vibration was different from normal sort of sleep paralysis, where I usually feel afraid and the vibrations are much heavier. I felt a powerful spiraling vibration deep at the base of my spine spinning clockwise. It was so powerful it felt like I was "hanging by my balls" to use a crass expression. Now I have absolutely NO experience with this kundalini phenomenon but from what I heard and read it can be quite dangerous to an unprepared person.. Gopi Krishna's name comes to mind. I was literally paralyzed and my arms felt like jelly and were almost flapping about. I told myself that I can't allow this to continue (I was a little bit scared at the moment) but the sensation and paralysis continued but eventually stopped. Now I don't know much about this thing which is why I'm prompted to ask you fellows what you know and if any, what your experiences with the kundalini are. Is it really dangerous? Was this a sort of opportunity I missed? I know nothing about this, it just happened last night and I was hoping for a little guidance. I had only read about kundalini but never expected to experience it save for maybe years from now. Also, on a subtopic, why do you think that these sort of things always seem to happen when I try to go to sleep? I almost had an OBE one time too while trying to get to sleep but I chickened out. These sort of things always seem to happen to me not when I am actively looking for them but trying to sleep. Would appreciate your thoughts.

I live in the Philippines. Yes, those are things we do in Kalimasada. I've just reached that level where I'll begin training to do those things. I haven't done any of those things yet but I can attest to the things that other people say about Kalimasada. I've seen a fellow student break the bottom off of bottles with nothing more than a tap. The lifting of people on thin sheets of newspaper and the bulb bouncing are all true. There are a lot of psychic things that they practice. But so far the most astounding thing I've seen is when to practitioners "duel" each other with their own energy, no contact whatsoever. They literally repel each other with their energies, there was one time I saw an old man get blown off of his feet. I didn't believe it was true until I saw it for myself. Although they aren't really the total aim of the practice, since they are "tests" of your own energy reservoir and ability to hold the alpha or deeper brainwave state. And the energy duel is part of self-defence. But the eating glass things is another group. Really, the Philippines is a country with a lot of such kind of practices but one has to look hard since the Spanish conquerors have done well to wipe out any shamanic practices that were the heritage of the Filipino people. The Philippines has a lot of things like "psychic healing" and a lot of things to do with the occult. Those fellows who eat glass are just on group but there are many others, I believe one group is called "tad-tad" where they use their energy to protect themselves from things that would otherwise kill them outright, like a sword slash to the belly or a gunshot.

I think I understand what happened now LOL. I wasn't able to correlate the events lol. Most likely my kundalini had a brief awakening because of the cultivation practice we do in tetada kalimasada.. You see how we practice is that we do a certain set of movements under a kind of yogic breath (tenaga dalam) to store the energy in our chakras, as our master put it. ..But every so and so you need a "connection" where the Grandmaster will fine-tune the energy in your body for you. I guess he did something with my first two chakras or something, thus the kundalini experience out of nowhere. But if you have no stored up energy then it won't do much. I guess it means that I made progress and that some masters are MUCH more powerful than you give them credit for. I mean, our connection didnt last two minutes. He walks over, asks me to assume the triangular breathing and puts two finger on my lower belly and makes a circular motion with them. A slight tap, then I'm done. I didn't even feel anything. I guess I didn't think it was that significant when it really was. I kinda wonder how he even knows how to do that, amazing. More rep to Grandmaster! Lol

LOL. I actually think the world needs more lovers like that. But anyway I never really believed all that much in astrology until yesterday. I was reading Witch's section on her personal cultivation and she said that one the best sites on the web to go to for astrology was astro.com. I decided to see what all that was about and it literally blew me away. Those free tests had my total personality pinned down to the dot! I was pretty darn shocked and almost had a breakdown because it brought to light all the things about myself that I'd been repressing that I'd known to be true. Just try it. See how it fits you. Kali

Magic. A lot of books nowadays which people classify as psychology nowadays can also be forms of magic. The first, very first thing, which got me started on this kind of path was a book called The Silva Mind Control Method. It was my first practice introducing me into meditation but the concept itself and the practice was surprisingly advanced. Back in those days it took real effort for me to go into meditation. In fact I believe it was Silva who coined the terms Alpha Beta and Theta (the states of brain waves that characterize the meditative state of mind, the awake state of mind, and the stages of deep sleep). In the book The Silva Mind Control Method there it illustrates a method there which you use your mind to manifest a thing into your future. In the book it states that you should be aware of your first few "rituals", because these have a great tendency to manifest. Of course, at first I doubted it but my very first practice resulted in a humongous, coincidental manifestation coming in the form of me hooking up with a girl I had a huge crush on. I was a shy chump back then so something like that happening had huge meaning. But you see afterward I thought about it, and all the coincidences piled up so perfectly on top of each other that I could not conclude that I just got lucky. It was completely ridiculous. It usually is that way when you start with it because when you turn to magic often its because of some deep longing on some level and the results can be shocking. Anyway, Mal has a good reference because the Hermetic Dawn is where the modern day tradition of magic started, and most occult Rosicrucian organizations are almost always patterned after it. But what Mal also states that sometimes ceremony and method overlap, is true. The Silva Method has no trappings of the sort, just a practice and anything ceremonial you add is just your own. I wouldn't recommend Kaballah because it can get incredibly complex for someone who is new to it and it is more of a system of correspondences than an actual practice of magic. Kaballah is a system of analogy and helps one to understand the layers that make up what we term, existence. But like it is said, the Tao that can be spoken of is not the true Tao. But enough said. My advice is that you go out and explore the different traditions like Rosicrucianism, Wicca, Druidry or even Silva's method and see what ultimate fits in with you and how you feel about it. Give yourself time. It doesn't matter which one as long as it has a good appeal to you, whichever appeals more will be the most effective. Peace, Kali

I was going around Scribd hounding for books and things to read because I'm such a pirate and a bookie.. Anyway, I found this article in there where a man tells his story about how he trained in some sort of martial art and chi kung-ish stuff under the tutelage of a buddhist monk. Evidently what he was doing was somehow related to the Five Animal Frolics of old-skool kung-fu. I have no real knowledge about it but what I've read says that you invoke the energies pertaining to the animal within yourself to gain its powers and characteristics. Much like how there are so many styles of kung-fu revolving around animal-forms.. There's a lot of description of the practices of what the monks did with their energy which I find quite interesting. Read about the Red Sand Palm technique. Anyway, the man somehow finds himself developing strange phenomena happening to him, constant early-morning sleep paralysis, stomach troubles, mental stagnation, and so on and so forth. Somehow he ends up in an Islamic country and his acquaintance takes him to a sheikh. Before he knows it the sheikh ends up performing exorcism on the man. Supposedly due to his training in those forms of martial arts and chi-kung it allowed entry of Jinns (demons found in islamic culture) into himself. I found that quite interesting but the further he goes on in the article he starts kind of turning it into some sort of satanic crap. The later parts seem to be a mish-mash of some reputable, and some not-so-reputable sources and sometimes twists the words of the authors. He goes into cultivation and meditation bashing and ends up sounding like one of those orthodox christians who will say *insert sentence* will damn you to HELL! Another interesting thing I found was that he goes into a discussion of the shamanic origins of kung-fu. But anyway, here's the link. http://www.scribd.com/doc/14897428/CHI-or-...-r-JINN-Related You might need a grain of salt or two. What did you think about it? Here in the Philippines, the ancient culture was rooted deep in shamanic practices, before it and all other true Philippine culture was almost completely eradicated by the Spanish a few hundred years ago. There are many stories here of ancient spirits that live in the trees and forests. Many folklore practices revolve around not angering said spirits. However, I don't doubt possession phenomena anymore, having witnessed the real stuff happen to someone close to me. Of course if you've never seen crazy things like it you're entitled to the doubt. But I can say that a spirit entity can be a powerful being and a real BITCH to get rid of if you a have no idea what you're doing.