Sunya

i get something similiar sometimes, as i'm dozing off I try to be aware as long as possible, and many times this happened,, where its just as you said. a click, its a very sudden shift, where I lose bodily consciousness and sometimes I see static or darkness and there usually accompanies a sound like a very loud sound like WHOOOSH. and this only lasts a split second because the sudden loss of bodily awareness freaks me out. fear sucks.

how do you KAPers like having 400 practices to choose from? it doesn't get overwhelming having such a large arsenal of artillery ?

Hi, so is this your definition of "success" as you've used it with sincere Kunlun practitioners? becoming open to the astral, subtle realms? is enlightenment in your opinion dissolving the physical body and remaining in the astral form? thanks is any of this really "truth" or is all this digging just creating more muck to sift through. the creation of prettier clouds instead of seeing the clear nature of the sky? I'm not judging, just curious, but it seems that those who think they are having success with Kunlun are just having interesting paranormal experiences and equate that with some sort of progress. not that theres anything wrong with that. and its pretty clear that these are the kind of people that Max would attract anyway given Chris's marketing style of instant enlightenment, instant bliss.

http://dharmaoverground.wetpaint.com/thread --- really good forum. started by daniel ingram who has been discussed here before.

western psychology has only touched the surface of mind. it focuses just on conscious and subconscious, but there are much deeper levels of mind. transpersonal psychology is getting there, LSD has helped, but its still far away from getting to the essence of mind, or the state of enlightenment.

Hey, if you practice Vipassana I highly recommend you to read Daniel Ingram's free ebook, he attained very high realization through insight practice, and has some very useful information to share

Let's not forget, becoming a monk isn't the only way to achieve seclusion, focus on cultivation, and guidance. I'm thinking of doing a 3 year Tibetan retreat. its closed off and you have a Master who guides you, its for ordinary people. They have the centers all over the world, usually in the middle of nowhere.

I tried it and did it for about 3 months, a year ago.. and recently tried it again. first of all, this may have hindered the whole process, i just don't believe that it leads to enlightenment, as I define it, so I never put my complete faith in it. and secondly, as just an energy practice, I didn't get any effects from it beyond my lags thrashing about like i'm John Bonham taking a solo. I agree. I dont know too much about the scandals, but i'll definitely admit that the whole marketing and bullshit around Max made it seem very ingenuous, and i couldn't put any faith into that.

i used to play Everquest pretty obsessively years back, where I did lots of raids with my gnome rogue and had some really exciting moments killing dragons and giants with big groups and then moved on to Dark Age of Camelot and got my PvP fix, well it was more RvR, Blizzard basically copied that from Camelot. same concept, but more fun because there are battle grounds and you can control/siege castles for added bonuses to your realm. much better than turning hunting grounds into battle grounds where high levels can easily kill low levels (the reason why i left Warcraft) I can easily see myself getting addicted again if I ever played one of the newer ones. These games are designed to be addicting.. .but hell lord of the rings online does look pretty sweet, i always loved the movies.. maybe i can try it this summer.. just a taste...of my precious...

I dont know what you mean by information on the market. I don't really read much New Age anymore. I think its definitely hard to know if a teacher is the 'real deal' or not..and this is why I walked away from couple teachers I had of the whole Advaita Hindu Kundalini thing because theres no authentication. I'm with you that you need some 'proof' of their realization. but how do you get this proof.. by 'feeling'? this doesn't always work, and how do you judge accuracy? unless you are highly realized yourself, you can not judge a teacher. I'm completely deluded, with no spiritual powers and clairvoyance. so I go by authenticity. In the Tibetan system this is easy to do, because there are unbroken lineages. All the teachers are legit who are authorized to teach in a given lineage. that's the beauty of Vajrayana. the 4 schools of Vajrayana (Sakya, Nyingma, Kagyu, and Gelug) are like 4 hospitals with slightly different methods, and the lineages are like successions of Doctors, each with slightly different styles, but all of them trained meticulously through completely systematized methods, and have shown necessary signs of accomplishment. no one with the title Rinpoche is not highly realized. I don't know many Hindu or Chinese lineages with such scrutiny in preservation of authenticity, teachings, and method. but that's my personal opinion. Tibetan Buddhism is tough though, you have to be serious and know what it is you want. there is no mule! this instinctive nature that you talk about is ego, likewise this instinctive nature gets angry at someone who kicks you, and really possessive with someone who satisfies your desires. it isn't real. if you want to think in terms of method: the purpose of bodhicitta, compassionate mind, is to counter act this instinctive nature.

I know what you mean Lin,,,.,. dissatisfaction was my primary fuel. still is, but i'm beginning ngondro (preliminary practices) in Tibetan tradition, and i'm really starting to understand their purpose.. you build dedication. devotion, and bodhicitta. part of the ngondro is contemplation of the 4 thoughts. the Four Thoughts that turn the Mind toward the Dharma are Precious human birth, impermanence, samsara, and karma. 1. the freedoms and advantages of precious human rebirth 2. the truth of impermanence and change 3. the workings of karma 4. the suffering of living beings within Samsara #4 is important because this is the foundation to compassion, without compassion, bodhicitta (awakened mind) one will not go far on the path. dissatisfaction is due to impermanence.. change is never satisfying, and desires are never fulfilling. the root of dissatisfaction is clinging to the self, this is indeed dirty fuel. the best fuel, the purest fuel, is bodhicitta.

neigong is the only 'validated system' ? what have you been smoking my friend? have you not look at all into other traditions? the Tibetan system is very complete and powerful, validated by the many realized practitioners. there are also systems of Vedanta that are very powerful, and the West have a powerful arsenal as well. I prefer the Tibetans, they know what they are doing. You need to study and figure out it is is you actually want. enlightenment is just a word, people have different definitions. You said you want to stop the birth and death cycle? well first of all how do you know that this cycle even exists let alone that you can stop it? furthermore who is this "me" that wants to stop the cycle? does that "me" exist? if you have 3 masters I don't know what you're doing here. you should go talk to them about it.

ah theres Daniel Ingram's playground I need to go there more often.. Adam, other good Buddhist forums are E-Sangha and http://buddhism.sgforums.com/

good question.. i'm interested too

make sure to get the remastered version

yes i agree... personally i see nothing wrong with joining a monastery... as long as the intention is pure and its not done to escape the real world and the people living in it.

thank you More Pie, you've taught me through your posts why the Mahayana school of Buddhism evolved from Hinayana, and is viewed as higher (Greater Vehicle vs Lesser Vehicle). i mean no offense by this. i also feel the same way sometimes, dealing with people can be tough when you don't have much in common, but i've recognized that when I act/feel this way.. it's just my own self-contraction.. my own selfishness being projected. I suggest you study the Bodhisattva ideal and try to understand why it is higher than the traditional Indian (Hinayana) model of escape to a cave and 'transcend'. "samsara is nirvana" "form is emptiness, emptiness is form" these are important, very important. that which you are trying to avoid is that which you are aspiring to, kind of ironic. edit: VERY ironic. do you get what I mean? I can try to explain if you don't understand Buddhist terminology

http://www.apple.com/trailers/fox/streetfi...legendofchunli/ fight scenes look promising

Ok, not so much danger.. more like is this prudent at this certain situation in this persons life? teach a 2 year old safe sex and what happens? he will try to awkwardly have sex with some other girl and it will just be very...strange. completely out of place advice that will just confuse the child and if anything waste his time, and yours. likewise teaching advanced methods to everyone will have the same effect. you think everyone desires truth? 99% of people have no interest in transpersonal method. but when a person does have interest, when they have the past experience, the karma, to drive them forward toward practicing these "secret teachings" then, they will naturally gravitate towards the opportunity to practice them. i'm just playing devils advocate, i'm in the middle on this one. I think highly realized people should be more open with their experiences and if you are psychic or can project energy, show your gifts to people that you trust so they know it is real. openness is necessary, but when it comes to "secret methods" that will do nothing but confuse, or even harm, people if they are open, i think there is a reason for the hesitance of teachers to be open about them. your example of weight lifting is good, but weight lifting just makes your muscles big. if a really secret, powerful technique that can give you telekinetic powers but has serious consequences if you do it wrong was introduced to the masses then any 10 year old after watching Xmen will try it and probably fuck themselves up.

i'm not really sure what this "secrecy" is that all of you are talking about? who said there is secrecy in Bodhidharma's transmission? transmission means transfer, a transfer of energy.. of wisdom.. could it be possible that this transmission isn't possible through words? all of the Buddha's teachings in all 3 vehicles are out in the open, the only exception are the secret teachings of Vajrayana and some methods of Chan/Zen and this is simply because it wouldn't be prudent to teach a beginner these methods until he is ready, just like you don't teach a kid how to play guitar with his teeth and smash it on the floor until he's learned his chords and scales. this is called skillful means. the secrecy is just in the method, and its only secret until you are ready to receive it.

dude, what? i don't think he's talking about having a wild time and letting the ego free. completely different liberation. you're talking about liberation in the Nietzschien sense, liberation from morals, convention, and servitude as a response to Christian conservatism. are you seriously going to equate that sort of liberation with Taoist/Buddhist liberation of spirit?

I heard that Sean has been gone because he's working on the new layout for the site and renaming it to Christ Bums