JustARandomPanda

One more addition: https://isha.sadhguru.org/us/en/wisdom/article/dont-school-breath I included the above because of Sadhguru's comments on Chinese Buddhist breathwork vs. Indian Buddhist breathwork - nowhere else have I found any mention of this split

One other resource: Here is a link to a Sadghuru quote from Mystic's Musings on Patanjali's Yoga Sutras https://ibb.co/wdBRVwc < Read This! https://www.ishafoundation.org/public/ebooks/mystics-musings-preview.pdf Apparently the Yoga Sutras is itself a Yantra and if you read the entire thing certain new dimensions may open up!

Just thought I'd drop by and post a link to some transcripts I did of some Sadhguru talks. If you're interested in how to attain to the Pragna Halos...you might want to read all 3 transcripts. Enjoy! https://happypanda.dreamwidth.org/?skip=20#entry-3294 and https://happypanda.dreamwidth.org/8581.html

In the interests of transparency I have to admit I no longer do these chants. They are quite powerful. For me that was true. However, I now firmly believe it is better to have a guru initiate you into Name Chanting rather than picking one of more willy-nilly from a book or video. At the time I first made this post I was unaware of some of the debilitating downsides to this practice if one doesn't have the backing of a guru parampa overseeing it. Not least is nasty karmic backlash that is completely unnecessary. Sadhguru actually has a Sadhguru Exclusive video about this. I had no idea at the time I made this that the need for a guru parampa prepared to go to war and defend their "young fledglings" is an actual "thing" - if you catch my drift. I was quite shocked when he said it's a real thing that gurus have to (to paraphrase) go to war with...uh...not-so-kindly...higher (ie...demonic) powers sometimes on behalf of the disciples under their care. Some of the downsides of doing certain practices without a guru parampa are echoed by Rajarshi Nandy in the following video. Actually it's video 1 of a 4 video set that gives a good overview. Some nasty side effects could include things like...attracting not-so-magnanimous "beings" to put it mildly. Or you might tick off not only the deity who's name you are chanting but..uh...other deities who are adjacent or related in some manner to the deity (or Buddha) who's name you are chanting if you don't do it correctly. Apparently being ignorant of how to do things properly doesn't excuse you from the backlash the Universe throws at you. So I guess I would say..if you do decide to Name Chant DIY anyway...proceed at your own risk. It's easy to get enthused about the benefits as I was. Much less easy to hear people speak about some of the not-so-great downsides. FYI - the other 3 videos in this set are just as amazing - including one on Possession as explained by Yogis and Tantrics. (good reminder not everything of the more subtle Planes is all sweetness, kindness and light).

The subtler aspects of one's Being / Soul is busy converting back to one or more of the physical elements though I don't know the group Chinese term for such. An analogy would be like a multi-cellular animal devolving back down to a single celled one. Simpler life, fewer possibilities. Evolving from single-celled to multi-cellular gave Life new opportunities and arrangements to radiate out from its earliest life-forms and now displays diverse possibilities all over the planet in every kind of environment. The same thing would be happening to you (that is, devolving into fewer future possibilities for ones life trajectory and expression) if you draw the breath too deep below the navel.

Revisiting this thread because I learned something interesting about why one ordinarily shouldn't draw the breath too far below the navel. I'm uncertain about the exact cut off point but Sadhguru says if the breath is drawn too far below the navel the practice turns Tamasic. It increases inertia in the body and dullness of the mind. Or in Daoist terms - the practitioner's store of Chi is busy converting back to Jing and their store of Jing is converting back to...well I'm not sure what the Chinese term is but I figure readers will get the idea. Which I guess defeats the entire purpose of doing one of these practices. I'm guessing exceptions to the above general guideline should only be done under the advisement of a guru. As a general rule I would probably stick with the navel or possibly 1-1.5 finger-widths below it at most. Master Nan Huai-Chin's advice seems like a good guideline. But people's bodies vary so what might work for me might end up being wrong for someone else. I'm not qualified to say more on this but thought readers might find the above extra info interesting to consider. Especially if they're doing a breath practice learned from a book or video.

New Request Any help is appreciated. I posted my dilemma here:

Hello DBum Mods/Tech Support I need help recovering my old account name and practice journal. Old nic is JustaRandomPanda. None of the email addresses I've tried work nor does the password reset. Can someone assist me in full recovery? I'd like to keep the old nic. Recovery of the account and private practice journal is priority right now. I especially need the old account to use my new email address and give it a new password. Don't know who the Mods and Tech Support is these days so anyone who can assist me in this - especially in full recovery of my old DaoBums private practice journal - is appreciated.

Try the following free resources and see if it helps. Mantras Explained - Benefits of Chanting Mantras and the Science Behind It and Nada Yoga: The Science of Sound and For your specific question of quieting the mind I would recommend the following as it sets you up for experiencing causeless joy in the body and mind you have now as long as you keep at it - or if you fall off the wagon you keep getting right back on at every opportunity. and and for quieting the mind - which this kriya will take time but I can personally vouch that it works: and finally so that you can build a strong Ida and Pingala which also helps quiet the mind: Definitely recommend some type of simple joyful physical exercise at least a few minutes a day as well as stretching a few minutes a day if you don't already do so. Eventually simple stretches can be developed into their own specialized discipline alongside Qigong/Neigong or Yoga. The traditional Chinese fascia discipline is Jibengong and the traditional Yoga/Tantric equivalent is Angamardana. See: Angamardana – Mastering Your Limbs One of many reasons for Jibengong/Angamardana can be read in the following: Issuing Power into the Physical: The Role of Connective Tissue Best wishes

Wanted to say hi to the board. I'm currently a fan of Master Nan Huai-Chin and Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev. My daily routine is mostly Upa Yoga these days but recently I've done name chanting as well. Upa Yoga is for the physical component that I was missing with the name chanting.

I'm now interested in it after reading the following Blog entry Issuing power into the physical: the role of connective tissue Is there anyone here who practices this Gong Fu? If so, what has been / is your experience of it?

I found the Sadhguru video that discusses the latitude/longitude and time of night for optimal "spiritual seed"-sters for Sadhana. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cJVqRUrxok&list=RDCMUCcYzLCs3zrQIBVHYA1sK2sw&index=4

The following is a partial transcript for the talk Sadhguru gave April 21, 2020 Sadhguru on Karma Life is karma. If you want to become NishKarma - that means - people think No-Karma - if you want to become No Karma - there is no such thing. You can become very minimal Karma. So is a Couch Potato NishKarma? No no. Lethargy is a tremendous amount of Karma. It takes a lot of work to be lethargic. In a sense you will have to generate a lot of explanations for everything and convince yourself that you don't have to do anything about it. Right now there is virus going on. Somebody is dying around you. You have to [flits hands to wave away] - tsk - do something within yourself to not to respond to that. Otherwise it's natural for you to respond to it. So being a Couch Potato is not Nishkarma. Well a yogi can become almost like a hibernating state where everything is minimized. But still he is not free from karma. He might take less number of breaths per minute. You may be taking 12 to 15 breaths per minute. When somebody simply sits (SG demonstrates cross legged position with hands palms up and open on each knee) they may just go down - maybe 3 breaths, maybe 6 or 8 but below that you can not go. You can even stop breathing a while for some time but it's only some time. If you stay without a breath, not by holding, just by lowering the metabolism then slowly a different level of karma will begin to pick up momentum in the body. When it picks up anyway - you will breathe. Again it may go into breathless state, again it will come back. So this way you can minimize but still you're not free. You will have to get up to drink a little water or put something in your mouth. When you put something in, something has to go out. All these things are karmas. So what is the way to handle this? Well what do you think we've been doing with you? With Inner Engineering? What do you think it is? It is simply this, many of you...(laughs)...almost all of you when you did the online Inner Engineering program you still have not done any practice. Or you went through the program first 2 days, no practice yet, first 2 days we're still talking to you suddenly after 2 days you feel a new sense of life and freedom. This thing has happened to millions of people. I know this. Suddenly you light up. Not because all your old karma went away. Just those 2 days you did not create too much fresh karma. Suddenly it's feeling so light and wonderful because you are not creating an unnecessary burden upon yourself. So what was the trick? There are various aspects, let me not go into all the aspects now. The simplest thing is this - your ability to respond. See, whether I should do something or not, if I think about it - right now, many people are struggling with this - let us say somebody around somewhere close - let's say somebody is infected in Coimbatore. [Looks up wondering] "Now should I do something or not? Why should I do? Why should I do anything? He must have a family. Let them do." But if we just put up that man's suffering in front of you you will have to do a lot of work to not do anything. But to respond in which ever way you can. Not everybody can go and save everybody's lives. But at least do whatever you can. It's very simple. The amount of karma you have to do - mental karma - will come down dramatically within your mind - simply because your response has become indiscriminate. Indiscriminate in response but not indiscriminate in action. Because you cannot afford to be indiscriminate in action. In action you are always discerning because action requires physical capability, energy, intelligence, means to do it, time to do it, many things are involved. And these are all limited commodities. Nobody can do indiscriminate activity. If they do indiscriminate activity they will die very soon. And that is also a bad karma. Yes, it is. Activity is not indiscriminate but our response is indiscriminate. Wherever it is I would like to do something, if possible, everything that is possible, will do. But what is not possible we at least have a little intention. Just because of that you came to the program and you felt such a sense of freedom. People have been asking me, "Sadhguru, how will the online program work without the practice?" I want you to know before you came for the Shambhavi Initiation already you were feeling fantastic. Simply because you stopped creating fresh karma. Old karma did not go away in those 3 or 4 days. Just that new load is not happening. For the old karma actually just living is enough. Sitting here, living, breathing, heart beating is good enough to start dissolving the old karma. A few things need a little more nudge but most of the things will simply go away if you sit here and breath, live, heart will beat by itself. You don't have to do anything. Or are you doing? [flutters hands into various mudras]. Some of you think you are doing everything. The whole issue of people when it comes to their health - whatever - because everybody is an Internet Doctor now. No? They've done a lot of research. The doctors are having hell. Because every patient who comes knows more about the damn thing than the doctor is supposed to know. Doctor knows something more profound because he spent 9-10 years studying and experience of treating people. But these people looked it up after they came to know they have this particular ailment last 3 days they've looked up everything that's on the Internet. And now with all kinds of questions they go with their own prescription. "Please give me this drug. Other drugs I will not take." A whole lot of them coming to the doctor saying, "I will not take this drug. I will take only this." This is supposed to be a very educated patient. A highly educated patient means you are going to be a lifelong patient. You need to understand. Yes, if you become a lifelong doctor it's a good thing. You become a lifelong patient, very qualified patient what is the point of that? This is simply because you think you are doing this [activity with hands] you have to check your heartbeats, everybody is wearing a band... ***edited for brevity**** [SG digressed a bit about how a great many people these days have turned into excessive neurotic worry warts about their own health] **** All the time being worried - what is happening? What is happening (health-wise)? This itself is sickness. Too much concern about health itself is sickness and it's a terrible karma. This karma will have an enduring effect on you. So this is all that happened in the first 3 days of Inner Engineering, online or otherwise. All that happened is that we gave you little tools with which you stop creating new karma and suddenly it felt so wonderful. You did that little homework, ok? What happened today? 5 things to write down. Just because of that homework you paid attention to what you are doing and what you're not doing, suddenly tremendous sense of liberation. If a two and half hour program can have such an impact on you, if you pay a little more attention, in this lockdown time, you can just learn how to not create karma. Simple this, your response is unbridled. You don't decide what is worth responding or not worth responding. It's not your business. A bird, a grasshopper, and a human being, man, woman, child, doesn't matter, you respond. Do you have to act? No. Action is always a discerning action, because there are quantities involved in action which are not unlimited. Our energy is not unlimited, our intelligence is not unlimited, our actions in no way can be unlimited they're always limited. But our ability to respond is limitless. This one thing, just this one thing, if you do you will not create any karma today. You will not add up load. Just not adding up a new load, you will see it feel like liberation. That's the kind of damage you are doing to yourself. Why do you think when you were a child you are like this (gestures at his own smile) still you had warehouse loads of karma on you but still you were grinning. Now you become like this (serious look). "A virus, Sadhguru. Virus!" Even before the damn virus came most people were looking so grave, it looked like they walked out of it. This is because every day building up this rubbish endlessly. Every day. Whatever happens you build it up. Build it up. Build it up. Something happens, something doesn't happen, for everything you create a mess, within yourself and that load of mess, just garbage. You're like a garbage truck I'm telling you. Yes. But now it's a lockdown. You don't have to pick up any garbage. That's a good thing about a lockdown. You just simply - you don't be selective. Who are you to decide what is worth your attention and what is not? Whatever created this, who ever created all this do you see a blade of grass is created with as much care as this big tree or yourself or an elephant or a tiger? A little creature, a tiny little insect that is going there is better decorated than you. Hello? You have to put on all kinds of dyes, they're all very well painted by themselves. So whoever created - has creation paid any less attention to these tiny, little creatures than yourself? No. So then who are you to decide what to respond to, what not to respond to? Your ability to respond always has to be unbridled. If you're not getting what I'm saying, well we can't come and teach you now. There is Inner Engineering Online. Just go through this 3 days, just first 3 days what is being said there, let it sink into you, soak it in completely. You will see in 3-4 days time you feel like you are floating simply because no new garbage. That's how it feels. So please make it happen. There is no need to go on adding up trash load upon your head.

Hmm... Well my knee-jerk response is that I assumed it was an emotion that was so amazing it could lead to tears of joy. But now I'm wondering if perhaps that is wrong? I do on occasion feel a slight bit of joyfulness at night when I chant. However, it is sporadic and never sticks around and alas I still have monkey mind though not nearly as bad as it once was. I agree with your entire post above. I could imagine someone much further along than myself being ok with self-identifying as this or that. If they want to say "I'm a so-and-so." I'm totally ok with it. In many instances I can see how such could be helpful depending on the situation it's being said in. I just don't see myself as being that far along the spiritual path and the more I practice the more aware of just how "unconscious" I am of so much about everything I call "me". OK. Truthfully I don't really know if someone posting on DaoBums is further along than myself or not of course. Which is why I posted earlier about not holding other's opinions in higher esteem than my own - or vise versa.

I would like to request the re-activation of my PPF. Thanks