Jetsun

My interpretation of flood myths come mostly from reading Gurdjieff in that I think the flood myths are both literal and allegorical, for example he says the myth of the flood of Atlantis is real and also it is allegorical of the time in your life as a child when everything was mystical and magical, but then that perspective gets sunk into the depths of your subconscious when it is not accepted by society, so flood myths also represent the flooding of the mind.

In the Chinese way everything has its "proper place" which stifles innovation and creativity, which is why the Chinese government spend so much time trying to steal industrial secrets and ideas from Western companies and why the majority of their innovations are just copies. Whereas the more American relaxed way breaks down barriers and allows freedom of creativity, which allows for example a 15 year old school boy to create a revolutionary cancer detector for a science project which gets taken seriously by John Hopkins University http://www.social-consciousness.com/2013/02/fifteen-year-old-invents-cancer-diagnosing-method.html

I can emphasise with a lot of what you say as I have a similar mindset. One thing that really struck a chord with me was when I heard Adyshanti say "you are not a problem to be solved" as that is how I had been treating myself. For me this was an important point as all the work I had been doing to try improve myself was just sending the message to myself that I was not ok, so I realised that most of the self help industry is a huge scam or just another racket where what they sell you to improve yourself helps helps reinforce that you need to improve yourself, so they sell you another negative feedback loop which helps keep you stuck. Many spiritual paths are also the same. Real meditation and spiritual work is different in that it needs to be done without expectation of results, or for the benefit of others or in devotion. Although I can't say approaching meditation without the need to achieve anything is easy but that is most of the challenge. Maybe studying a bit of Adyshanti would help as he is the Zen do nothing kind of path which might help clarify a few things oh and never trust anyone who says my way is the only way or my technique is the only technique that can help.

The US messes with many Islamic countries for profit and strategic reasons which feeds the belief that the Crusades never stopped and that it is being done for religious reasons. So you could say that it is national Karma coming back Essentially the way to best come to terms would be to find something to replace dependence on oil, but of course there are so many other different aspects which contribute

I think anger can be an expression of love, or when there is a lack of love anger can come in to correct the imbalance to restore love, if it is the moment. Hatred on the other hand is usually about things in the past and projecting old things onto the present moment, so I don't think hatred can be an expression of love.

It is an interesting film, my opinion on it seems to differ from a lot of people though, my impression of Norbu that he was kinda depressed and his son seems like a decent guy and well suited to run a big organization but I didn't get the impression that he had done a lot of practice, he started studying late and then practised in his car while driving to work etc, my understanding is that it requires a lot more than that to become a master.

The Dalai Lama describes in his autobiography that when China invaded Tibet the CIA supplied the Tibetans with arms, he says how funny it was to see some of his old monk friends trying to handle rocket launchers, so at that time he wasn't forbidding people from defending themselves. What he does say though is that what you do shouldn't be done out of hatred as it leads you to the hell realms, anger is risky too as it can easily lead to hate but really it is doing things out of hatred which has to be avoided. Which is why he says he supports the self mutilating monks as long as they do it without hatred in their hearts and have a pure intention. I wouldn't say Islam is diametrically opposed to Buddhism either, the Dalai Lama explains quite clearly his position on this in most his recent books how different religions suit the different dispositions and understandings of individuals. Although the indication is I think that Buddhism is needed to gain full enlightenment but you can get up to a level of high Bodhisattva without it, even through Islam.

I think thats normal after a release of tension, probably means you have healthy sexuality, tension builds the body and mind tenses then its released and you feel good. Those who feel terrible after release probably suffer from guilt and shame which makes them feel weak, so it is a mental issue rather than a physical one or one due to loss of jing.

I once heard said that the only reliable way to see if someone is if someone has spiritual advancement is to see how much gratitude they have when eating their food. I don't know if it's true but I thought it was an interesting thing to contemplate.

Thanks for sharing your experiences, I started to ready Chunyi Lin's book after reading your blog it's a really good book.

"How can you remove yourself from yourself?" Is a good question, but also how can somebody else remove yourself from yourself? Seems equally as difficult

My opinion is that if a Buddhist completely denies material reality then they have fallen into nihilism which is not the middle way, rather Buddhism teaches that everything in material reality disintegrates with time just like the body does, so everything is of the same nature as the body including our sense of self, the problem is that our minds get into the habit of viewing things as permanent when in reality they are not. When we view things as having permanence we try to hold onto them, when we really see that its nature is impermanent then we see that such attempts to cling are useless. So the only reason why we may not die in concert with the body is because our minds have got into the habit of delusion of viewing things as permanent, so one possible way to correct this is to retrain our minds to see all reality in the way it really is. I know i'm talking about Buddhism a lot in the Taoism section but generally I don't think Taoists are particularly strong in this issue, as many of them were completely obsessed with immortality which in my opinion is misguided attempt at denying the reality of death, so it is just another way for people to deny the reality of what is rather than accept it.

I think you are onto something important here, trying to become more cognizant of dying is an important aspect of many paths, from Orthodox Christianity to Buddhism. G. Gurdjieff said being constantly aware of your own death and of all those around you is all that is required for complete spiritual transformation and understanding to occur. How to do it? from the Buddhist perspective you train yourself to observe the death of all things in your meditation, so you first see your thoughts pass away and your emotions, then your beliefs and concepts, then if you practice enough you start to see death and rebirth in everything all around you at all times in the outside world outside meditation. So you start to see the Dharma in everything, which after a time might be enough for you to realize that you and your self are subject to this same impermanence so you begin to live cognizant of your own death. So it might just be a matter of doing enough practice that your life begins to reflect your practice.

Working with intense emotion can be incredibly tiring, especially if you haven't processed it all yet as your conscious mind is doing all it can to deal with the situation and maintain control while these emotions are being stirred up. So I'm not at all surprised doing something like talking to your deceased parents sent you to sleep. I'm not so sure such such a practice is that healthy though at least not doing it in an occult way and without proper support, you may be digging up emotional content when you aren't fully ready to process it yet .

There are many healers who deal with this sort of thing in most countries of the world, if you are in the UK I can recommend a few. Otherwise there are all sorts of things you could do,for example people have used bathing in natural springs and holy waters for thousands of years for purification, then are little things like smudging and using crystals which contribute. Or there is a Hawaiian Shaman Ho'opoonono (sp?) prayer I can give you which is meant to be very powerful at releasing such things if you are interested. Many people read that article and put themselves in a Jenny Lamb shaped prison after reading it, I have spoken to one or two others on this site who were convinced that she was the only one who could save them, which I think is a shame.

Err I think you should examine the history of Chinese civil wars, it is said as many as 30 million people died as a result of the Cultural Revoltion and some people estimate as many as 100 million died as as result of the Taiping Rebellion!! which is more than all countries involved in the Second World War put together, then 16 Million in the White Lotus Rebellion in the civil war before that. Historically it's probably the most dangerous country on earth to be a citizen, which is why the Communist party are so afraid of civil unrest.

I didn't know that about flax, that is interesting, I think I will have to re-evaluate my wardrobe and bed linen, much of it is cotton but they often mix it with other things.

Gurdjieff talks about the negative effect of clothes in one of his books, I thought it was a bit of a joke at the start but apparently has to do with pore breathing and taking in prana correctly as babies pores are not fully developed so you have to make sure they are kept completely clean so they don't get blocked; but adult pores with their clothes and sweat can easily get blocked which reduces the efficiency of the body and increase the stress on the lungs and kidneys. Not that Gurdjieff walked around naked but he ensured him and his students take a Turkish steam bath every week to counteract the negative impact of clothes on the body.

I didn't say the ego was bad or we need to get rid of it, we just need to see the truth. But your questions are good, would we know how to survive day to day without the thoughts which constitute the ego?

Personally I think the vast majority of people are completely and utterly controlled by their thoughts and one of the main things which keeps people asleep and in delusion is the belief that they are in control. It is one of the main tricks and survival mechanisms of the ego to convince you that you are controlling the mind rather than realise that it is controlling you, but nobody will believe you if you tell them that as it is threatening to their pride and sense of self.

For a lot of time it was probably not just an ego trip but a superego trip, where I used the teachings to spiritualise my superego, so I would go around telling myself I should be compassionate all the time and shouldn't think certain things and should think others, trying to be a certain way in the world which I thought was better than before. Fortunately I've got over that, most of the time.

The Divine Mother has always been worshipped as the sustaining soul and force of the universe. Although some of the faces she wears are well known - Kali, the Virgin Mary, Isis, for example - many of Her embodied forms have chosen to work quietly in the world. In turbulent times such as these, several incarnations of the Divine Mother move among us, each with Her particular task of healing or protection, or transformation. One of the most widely revered and loved of these Avatars of the Divine Mother is Mother Meera http://www.saieditor.com/stars/meera.html The consciousness of mankind is being prepared for great leaps and discoveries in a gentle way wherever possible. ... God is giving man a great chance. Many divine persons are here. We are showing man a way out; we are offering him the divine Light, the divine Knowledge. We are bringing down into the consciousness of the Earth the divine Consciousness. Now man must choose. Man is free; God will not force his children to do anything. He wants their free love. Mercy and love are always there. Nothing can and nothing will interfere with my work. If the whole world came to me, my work would not be interrupted or deflected for a moment. I am working on all planes. I am working everywhere. This Earth is only one of the planes where I am working. How could anything disturb my work? Great changes take time. They have to be worked for, aspired [to]. Man has to do a great labor; God will not do everything. When people become conscious of the presence of the Light, the transformation can go faster. It is working anyway, but few people are conscious. More will be conscious soon, many more, and then the work can be done with greater efficiency. But, in the meantime, enjoy the Light. It is here; let it change you. The transformation will come in its own time. ... It will take time and go slowly. Its foundations have to be made firm. Nothing must be avoided. Those who love me will work with everything in the world all the darkness and all the difficulties. Do people imagine I do not work, or that the realized man does not work? Divine work is the hardest work, and it is without end. I am asking people to take on the whole difficulty of matter and of reality. I have come in a body to show this is possible ... I have not come only to be a refuge; I have also come to give joy and strength necessary for change. - MM

It might just be the ego talking when you are of the view that you should choose new thoughts, or create new thoughtforms which are somehow better than the other ones

Aren't things like aspirational prayers and practices like generating compassion a form of choosing new thoughts? Your new thoughts create better pathways for your thoughts to flow down which create a better result or effect which leads your mind into more agreeable and workable realms. A lot of Buddhist practice has both sides, you are mindful of your thoughts so they don't dominate you plus you create new thoughts which leads to better rebirth in this life or the next.

I once heard that the Nazca Lines in Peru were made so Shamen could prove to themselves that they shape shifted into a bird, as it is only a birds eye view which can make out what they are.