Tibetan_Ice

Hi SotS Yes, it is quite a revelation that DM is training in laxity, isn't it? Alan Wallace even says that mantra is not a tool to be used to realize shamatha. That is not the purpose of the mantra. And you know, the very funny part of the advice that Yogani gives, which he gave to Carson when Carson said that sometimes he would dissolve the mantra and then find himself in this wide open space, was to correct him and tell him that that was not the AYP practice. Yet, that practice is one of the higher Dzogchen preliminary practices.. So, Yogani's ignorance and reluctance or inability to learn something new is actually preventing AYP members from realizing true progress.. TI

Hi Creation Ahem,, did you just take off you sheep's clothing? That's a pretty big word there, "karma".. Here is the official word on the reason for Secrecy: link: http://www.wisdom-books.com/ProductExtract.asp?PID=18670 Gee, I didn't think that publicizing truth made the truth any less potent. Nor does it cause the truth to be lost. There are so many teachers that have published books about Dzogchen and Mahamudra... are they responsible for degrading the instructions? Is that what "The Flight of the Garuda" is doing? Are Alan Wallace, Osho, Eckhart Tolle, Padmasambhava, Dudjom Lingpa etc etc etc all causing the degradation of the teachings? Because, some of those teachers' instructions are the same instructions as are found in Tsokyni's book. (present moment, stopping, using anger, shocks ... ) Further, I am glad that this book is restricted. Any book that advises a person to drink alcohol in order to help them realize rigpa, in my mind, is not acceptable. I did not find that much original content in the book. Upon second reading, I have actually found that once I got over the "restricted book" enamoring, the content is self-contradictory in places, confusing and somewhat mystifying. For example, telling someone to get as angry as to want to kill someone in order to dissolve that state just to become aware of rigpa, is, in my opinion, not a healthy practice. Osho mentions the same practice in his "Book of Secrets". ( I don't like Osho and don't recommend him, but I did read his book). Also, the book cautions against the practice of Thogal because there is a possibility that the visions may be taken to be real, causing attachment and ill effects.. Kind of a dissapointment. There is only one page on Thogal. Believe me, there is allot more I could say about the book.. I kind of regret having spent $50.00 on this book. It reminded me of when I was a teenager, going to a show just because it was 'restricted'. Meanwhile, the movie was second rate, but it did expose some skin.. I suppose that was good enough at the time.. And, by the way, karma is empty too. If you want to grasp at that word, then good luck. TI

Hi Dwai Why memorize when there exists the akashic records? TI

Have you ever played the game where you get ten people to stand in a line and then you tell the first person a sentence? Then the first person repeats the sentence to the second person, the second person repeats it to the third, and so on. The reason why it is so funny is because the last person's sentence never resembles the original sentence.. TI

Hi Dwai I don't know if age matters or not. Maybe the oldest teachings have the least amount of distortion/editing/revamping/interpretation/complication.. I don't know. But the Bon practices are very simple. Perhaps they are the root of everything else. Who knows. I like simple. Like Tenzin Wangal says "Silence, Stillness, Openess/space - connect with heart". Simple. Five lights, five elements.. simple.. I mean, look at how people have changed the Bible throughout the years. Old testament, new testament, Other versions, loss of meaning of words in translations etc.. History didn't start 2013 years ago, nor 5000 years ago.. 17,000 years is allot older, wouldn't you agree? TI

Hi Creation, You know, you are a fairly literate person. From viewing some posts you have written, I would say "above average". I think if you wanted to know if there was any issue, you would have written down that question instead of "Isn't that a restricted book?" LOL... Sorry, I'm so used to being attacked on this subforum that I've forgotten to give the benefit of the doubt. I ordered the book through Amazon, paid the $50.00 plus shipping, and they sent it to me, straight from Nepal. I do not see why the book is restricted, other than it seems like a ploy to charge more. If you asked me about content, I would say that you can get the same content from Eckhart Tolle (being in the present moment), Tenzin Wangyal, Alan Wallace, Dudjom Lingpa and Padmasambhava. Nothing really new in there. But, the package had some really cool Nepaleese stamps on it! And, the books says that there is a baby rigpa, and a mother rigpa too.. It is a good book. Lots of detail about meditation techniques. I would recommend it to advanced practitioners. TI

Hi Gatito Thank you very much for the information, links and invitation. I appreciate it. The webinars seem to start in March. Are there any in February? Jean Klein.. his biography says" I wouldn't say that this is total illumination, because I have experienced that a few times now and I'm not fully enlightened.. Yes, there is joy, and immense bliss. And everything feels like everything is 'you'. The conceptual mind is gone, but it's still there, waiting in the background to come back to life. You 'are' everything. Everything shines and radiates. It is the best state in the whole wide world. Like looking into the face of God. And if someone could please show me how to make that permanent, I would be eternally grateful. TI

This movie is actually very interesting. Not only is the idea that dark matter pervades the entire universe something new and novel (made me wonder if dark matter is Buddhist emptiness, or the Brahman or God, or the thing that connects everything), but the graphics are sensational. Fractals, animations, closeups of flowers nadis, chakras.. what more could you ask for? There are four parts to it in all. The only part I didn't like in the whole movie was when it called the Holy Spirit "kundalini". Everyone knows kundalini is bottoms-up and the Holy Spirit is top-down However, the movie is pretty good. I guarantee, if you are even slightly spiritual, you won't be bored. TI

"The other unusual experience I had was almost a hallucination" Ekman continued "We were in the conference room and there were other people waiting for their chance to talk to you. I had this visual impression that Eve and I and you were encapsulated. Looking out into the room was like looking at the world through the wrong end of binoculars. Although people were quite close, maybe four feet away, it appeared to me as if they were hundreds of feet away" "Sometimes you actually experience that kind of vision - distant vision" the Dalai Lama replied "As a scientist, I do not know how to explain it. But that does not mean it is not susceptible to scientific explanation. I just do not know where to start." Hi Jetsun, I'm very glad that you posted that story. I'm glad because I have had some experiences exactly like that and now I'm thinking that they are significant. Three or four years ago I had been meditating at work. I usually spent my morning 20 minute breaks in the enclosed phone booth. At that time I was also doing Kunlun and was having some extraordinay visions of the land of ocean, sun and sky. Anyway, the meditation session ended and I got up and started to walk back to my desk. I noticed that I was not where I usually was. Instead of being me in the center of my head, the point of awareness of me was about 4 feet behind my body. I was looking at my body, at the surroundings through a kind of large tunnel. I was in this kind of space and the 'world' was out there. It was like looking through the wrong end of binoculars all right.. The effect lasted for about 1/2 an hour. At the time I couldn't understand what was happening. I thought that I had fallen asleep and that I was really sleep walking. I remember sitting in my office, typing, being active, but just watching myself from behind my body. At the time I was very glad that the effect wore off after 1/2 hour. Last summer in the park where there are beautiful trails, I was practicing an Eckhart Tolle practice, that of changing your perceptual focal point every 1/2 second.. The teaching is that when you first look at a 'new' object, it takes the conceptual mind a second or two to analyze it and kick it. If you change the object of attention before the conceptual mind has a chance to kick in, then you are effectively remaining in non-conceptual awareness for as long as you keep moving your gaze. I was walking along the trail and I was moving my eyes every 1/2 second, looking at different points on the trees, on the ground, in the bushes. Not fixating, not giving the conceptual mind enough time to grasp... I did this for about 15 minutes on my walk back to the car. I remember that towards the end of the 15 minutes, the scenery seemed much clearer and brighter. I love the trees, the trails, the flowers, the greenery, so this practice was also opening my heart quite a bit. Then I went shopping. When I walked into the supermarket, all of a sudden the whole scene seemed like a dream. It is like I receded into this vast open space and the normal surroundings ( the grocery aisles, the produce etc) were appearing like I was looking at a dream from 50 feet away through a large tunnel. I thought that I was going crazy or had become mentally unglued.. I fought with myself for a while to get back into reality and the dream-like-haze went away after a few minutes. I had shopping to do, and then-and-there was not a good time to have some kind of mental haze attack or bout of conscious sleep walking.. It actually scared me quite a bit. Well, now I realize that by walking in the woods, not fixating on anything, changing my gaze every 1/2 second, I had succeeded in precipitating a state of rigpa/awareness which must be what manifested about 10 minutes later as I entered the supermarket.. I have had more than a handful of such experiences. I've always thought that they were some kind of halucination or mental state of conscious sleep.. I've never given them much attention.. Now I'm thinking that they are more significant than I originally thought. The story about the scientist has made me re-evaluate my experiences. Perhaps this is the realization of emptiness? That life is really just a dream? TI

Hi DreamLight Fugitive Thank you so much for writing all of that, for taking the time and responding to my questions. I found this link of one of Swartz's chapters from the book. http://www.stillnessspeaks.com/assets/blog/1/How%20to%20Attain%20Enlightenment%20Chapter%202%20for%20Chris.pdf It's just not for me. My vocabulary and understanding is totally different. He doesn't appear to be teaching Ramana or Nisargadatta either.. Not sure what he is teaching. I am glad you are getting some value out of his writings. How old is Vedanta? Bon, a type of Buddhist Dzogchen is reputed to be over 17,000 years old. TI

Hi Creation Let's play a quiz, sort of a game for all the "Buddhists" who come from Dharma Wheel.. It's called "who said this?" ? TI

Ground, Path, and Fruition -Teachings 0f Tsoknyi Rinpoche on Mind And Mind Essence by Tony Duff

Hi Boy, Gee, would you want to learn brain surgery from someone who wasn't a qualified brain surgeon? I will be honest. I am posting in this sub-forum because the experiences that Dominicus has posted are so similar to mine that I feel like I finally found someone I can talk to and verify my experiences with. And what did you do? I was very resentful that you attempted to degrade his accomplishments and level of attainments by suggesting that he was adding too much subjective awareness to the mix, and that he didn't really get it. I mean, who exactly are you and how can you make those kind of statements? You said, in response to Dominicus' post: So, first you insult Dominicus and then you suggest a teacher that might help him... and a pretty sketchy one too. I see Dominicus as far more advanced than most of the prominant spiritual teachers out there today. You know, I had examined James Swartz a few years ago, when I was examining the 'spiritual teachers' like John Wheeler, Sailor Bob, Rodney Stevens, Francis Lucille, and others, Ken Wilbur (not exactly sure if that is correct for Ken, but ...) ... I really like Francis Lucille and I'm not really sure exactly what he is.. or that it matters.. I tend to pay more attention to practices rather than labels.. As a matter of fact, I even posted a comment about neo-Advaita here: http://thetaobums.com/topic/22023-neo-advaita/?p=314240 and that was a year ago. And then, you have the arrogance to ask me why I am posting in a Vedanta sub-forum. Are you intimidated that I quoted some Buddhist teachings to support my beliefs? Or perhaps you are just curious? I don't want to start a war.. So now I have to justify my pedigree? I have been meditating, doing yoga and spiritual practices in one form of another for over 40 years. I started out with James Hewitt's "Yoga, Youth and Reincarnation" book, learned the postures and pranayama, practiced until I sweat and could hit samadhi every time after 15 minutes of meditation. That was when I was 16. This is a brief list of the major spiritual activities that I have been into throughout my life: Don Juan -Carlos Casteneda -every single book he wrote. Out of Body Journeys - Robert Monroe Eckankar - Paul Twitchell Kundalini - Gopi Krishna Rosicrucian -for two years Kriya Yoga - SRF - Yogananda Paramahansa Yogi. - 3 years Tibetan Book of the Dead The Bhagavadgita Many new age books on chakras and crystals. I also used to cut and polish gemstones. Nisargadatta "I AM THAT" -read it twice. and three of his other books. Krishna Menon, Goenka, Eckhart Tolle -most all of his books, CD's. Old Testament - Bible, New Testament - Bible. Gurudeva - Merging with Shiva (Raja Yoga) I was trained in judo and karate and took Tai Chi for 1 year. My kundalini woke about 8 years ago.. I have over 50 pdf's from various spiritual teachers on my computer, including Saraswati, Ennio Nemis, Dalai Lama, Gyatso, Buddha - Anapansati, Dada Bahgwan, Ramana, Mark Griffin, Visuddimagga, Edward Muzika and Rajiv Kapur, Ken Wilbur, Mantak Chia, Robert Adams, Adyashanti (no like).. Osho (no like) etc etc etc.. My guru is Sri Anandi Ma and Dhyan Yogi. I was initiated in 2008 - shaktipat in absentia. Read "This House is on Fire". http://www.amazon.com/This-House-Fire-Life-Dhyanyogi/dp/1883879523 I have four versions of Patanjali's Eight Limbs of Yoga. I was banned from AYP after 4 1/2 years because I did not support the watered down crappy teachings and brutal stupidity of trying to appeal to the lowest common denominator of seeker, by oversimplifying practices and mixing in the wrong type of meditation with kriya yoga concoctions. I own and have read over 300 books on Hinduism, meditation, Buddhism, Kriya Yoga, Raja Yoga, etc. etc.. I have been meditating 2 to 3 hours a day for the last 5 1/2 years. I have missed only two days during that whole time. Since leaving AYP, over a year ago, I have been studying Buddhism, Alan Wallace, Dudjom Lingpa, Padmasambhava, Dzogchen, Shaila Catherine, Ajahn Brahm, Tsoknyi Rinpoche, Tenzin Wangyal for correct practices in breath meditation, and for knowledge about the spiritual experiences that I have had. I have found that Buddhists have much more exact details for practices, maps and theory than any other spiritual teachings that I have found. But maybe some Buddhists are too picky about miniscule details, or maybe they aren't really Buddhists?.. I mean, Buddhism is a plethora of lineages, divisions and distinctions. So, I feel like I have spent enough time doing spiritual practices that I can post in the "Vedanta" sub forum. What I have found is that no matter what background you have, no matter what your spiritual belief system is, you can usually tell where the person has been and what they have achieved by the kind of experiences that they write about. That is all that matters. It is easy to pretend or deceive or stretch the truth, especially in annonymous forums and on the internet. When someone tells you that they have learned that there is a channel which leads down to the heart, and they can describe the experience and the effects, to me that speaks volumes. If someone tries to justify their authority by holding up a certain experience, and if I have had that experience too, then I feel I can assess their professed level of attainment. A big one for me is whether or not the person comes to visit me in the astral plane, dead or alive. So now, perhaps you could tell us about your background, that we may assess your level of competency and whether or not you should be posting in the Vedanta sub-forum? LOL AUM NAMAH SHIVAYA TI

Hi DLF It sounds like you have had some interesting experiences too. I see no distinction between experiences and knowledge. Knowledge is gained through experience. Insight. In my opinion, you cannot know something without experiencing it. It sounds to me that Swartz has told you not to seek the experiences, but seek the knowledge? Isn't that the neo-advaita trap? Just intellectually understanding that we are one doesn't cut it. Just understanding that there is nothing wrong with right now unless we think about it, as Sailor Bob says, is only part of the equation. You have to experience it to know it. Perhaps you could explain how Swartz supports the acquisition of knowledge, if not through experience.. Perhaps you could try this little experiment. Construct a simple thought in your head and then look squarely at it, into it's essence. Notice that you 'know' the thought. Follow that aspect of "knowing" the thought back into the part of you that knows. Do not assess the thought by using other thoughts. As you examine the thought, you might see a golden kind of light, a clarity and luminosity. Follow that light.. Follow it down, down.. You will see, it goes directly to the heart space. This practice is not so easy to do. It had taken me weeks of meditation/investigation and clearing of that particular pathway to the heart in order to ascertain a direct link between "knowing" and the heart space.. The problem with the term 'enlightenment' is that everyone has their own definition of it. Whenever I've read most neo-advaitan writing, I've always thought the term enlightenment had been redefined, watered down to the point where enlightenment was just a state of awareness, easily obtained by anyone who could simply 'let go'. First, most neo-advaitans separate the siddhis away from our natural state as something that is not desirable, nor any indication of achievement. Most Neo_advaitans never talk about healing others, reading minds, walking through walls etc.. To them, enlightenment is simply understanding that they are awareness, or so it would seem. Granted, siddhis can be developed on their own and have been for hundreds of years by hundreds/thousands of people. However, the powers or siddhis, which are part of the enlightenment process in my definition of the term 'enlightenment' arise because of the true understanding of reality. In my own words, it goes like this. In a dream, you can do anything you want. You can fly, walk through walls, shapeshift into a horse, manifest objects,, you can do anything you'd like. Normal life is also a dream, it is not real, just like a dream. If you truly understood that, had real knowledge of that, then the same extraordinary things you can do in a dream can also be done in this reality. However, I am not alone in my beliefs and definitions. Have you ever studied any of the Buddhist teachings? Ever hear of rainbow body?, Milerepa, Naropa, etc.. Dzogchen, Mahamudra teachings? link: http://www.abuddhistlibrary.com/Buddhism/A%20-%20Tibetan%20Buddhism/Authors/Gampopa/Mahamudra%20-%20The%20Very%20Essence%20of%20Mind/Mahamudra%20-%20The%20Very%20Essence%20Of%20Mind%20-%20By%20Gampopa.htm So, if you don't want to believe all that and stay with your definition of enlightenment, that is fine with me. It's just not for me. If someone volunteers themselves to be a teacher, to claim to be enlightened and to be able to show others how to become enlightened, then I have the right to assess the person, his/her teachings and gather as much information as I possibly can in order to help me with my decision. It is my right to judge, assess, examine critically, sense, evaluate and form opinions. I know it is hard when somebody else says that the person you idolize, whom you have been following and looking up to as the "real thing" is not the real thing, or has their doubts. Let me ask you these questions: How much money have you spent during your communications with Swartz? Has he ever visited you in the astral planes (like Ramana did for several people)? Has he ever given you shaktipat or sent you energy/bliss remotely? What exactly has he shown you that brought you a step closer to enlightenment? Buddha is said to have 'awoken' some people in the span of one or two weeks. How long have you been associating with Swartz? If you don't want to answer these questions, that is fine with me. I'm not interested in arguing or belabouring these points much. All the best.. TI

Hi SoTS But do you have a manual or instruction book? From what you have said, you are focusing on the sensations of the general breathing.. Most breathing instructions recommend not spreading your attention too wide, because you will never get a nimitta (mental representation of the breath) like that. So it is recommended to pick a spot, like just below the navel, or at the nostrils to fix your attention on. It is easier to see the nimitta at the abdomen, but there is too much motion of the abdomen to refine the attention there.. You can pick and choose which area to focus on depending on your assesed mental state of agitation. I think it is important to have good instructions. There are a number of teachers.. Alan Wallace has online podcasts and guided breath meditations. It is great.. http://archive.org/details/IntroductionToDzogchenRetreatWithAlanWallace2012 His book called the Attention Revolution also contains instructions and the stages of meditation. Shaila Catherine's "Focused and Fearless" is great. So is Ajahn Brahm's "Mindfulness, Bliss and Beyond". Personally, I follow Allan Wallace's shamatha breath meditation instructions. I have been successful with them. And, like he says, you have to focus on the mental representation of the breath (which is the nimitta) until you get the counterpart sign. You will never get the nimitta by focusing on a wide field of physical sensations, you have to find your mental representation of the breath (nimitta) by fixing your awareness at one point. It is like you imagine a flow going up and then back down in your mind, directly in front or just below your nostrils with your powers of visualization while not controlling the breathing at all. The mental representation of the breath is the nimitta. After you succeed in maintaining stable continuous attention on that visualization the background starts to get brighter. After a while, all of a sudden you will start to see a bright light, a sun or star, or wad of light behind the nimitta in the background.. That is the counterpart sign. When the counterpart sign is stable enough (ignore it until you can no longer ignore it), it will move towards you and engulf you. Then, you've succeeded. It is important to get a map, otherwise you waste allot of time. TI

Hi SoTS, That is so wonderful to hear. Mantra repetition is not a shamatha practice. Isn't it funny that AYP can't understand that.. and it all gets back to Yogani's defective interpretation of Patanjali's last three limbs of yoga. Actually, there is no practice in AYP that develops sustained, directed attention which leads to samadhi. And there is no advice from AYP to strive towards 24/7 awareness either, and that is what every other spiritual teachings says is part of the formula for enlightenment.. AYP says "do your practice like brushing your teeth, then forget about it". So strange.. If you don't mind me asking, which set of instructions are you following for your anapana practice? TI

Hi Vmarco Malikshreds is right. You do see "God" in everyone, in everything, in the grass, the trees, everywhere. I know. I've experienced it. And yes, it is actually "seen" through the physical eyes. How you reduce "seeing God" to the belief that you are seeing God is beyond me. When the conceptual mind is stopped there is no access to beliefs. The luminosity of Clear Light comes out for display. You too would think that you see God in everything, in everyone, had you ever experienced it. The term "God" is as much of a belief as the term "the diamond". To say one is a belief and the other is real is just plain ignorant, narrow minded and biased. If you see "God" in your practices, that is great! You are doing things right. TI

Hi Boy, you said: "TI: Swartz calls none of those experiences enlightenment. Vasanas and samskaras do not apply to the Self. Sai Baba et al. are manifest. How is this difficult to comprehend?" Are you supporting the notion that that Sai Baba and the other beings have not erased their vasanas and samskaras? Perhaps Sai Baba is a bad example, because he was reputed to be a fraud. I mean, are you supporting the notion that realized beings in the universe still have vasanas and samskaras? Because that is what Swartz said. As well, I did not say that Swartz called those experiences enlightenment. But he could have. His interpretation of enlightenment, that we are awareness is not my definition of enlightenment. Mine is much more rigorous and includes powers like the ability to walk through walls. As a matter of fact, I was just reading a buddhist manual that was saying that once one reaches the stage of the One Taste and develops that state, one can walk through mountains, rocks and houses. And that is not the final stage. Does James Swartz seem like the kind of person that can walk through walls or leave footprints in stone? In your definition of the Self, I assume you are referring to the One, the one being in the universe that is everthing. True, that being does not have vasanas or samskaras, or maybe 'we' are it's samskaras and vasanas? But to say that all actions in the universe are the result of vasanas and samskaras of the manifest life forms in the universe doesn't seem right to me. First off, there is the belief that a truly enlightened being, in the more rigorous definition, has burnt all the vasanas and samskaras away (like Buddha). Actually, sorry to say, I think that James Swartz is a fraud. He may have had some interesting experiences but his definition of enlightenment as 'the realization that we are awareness' is the typical line that most inauthentic neo-advaitans blather out every chance they get. (note: I said "inauthentic". I'm sure there must be some authentic neo-advaitans who can walk through walls.) If you read this next excerpt from an interview with Janes Swartz, you might draw some conclusions like: The man is trying to sell his book by promising that you get enlightened just by reading it. That is, if you are qualified.. link: http://conscious.tv/text/26.htm And you know, anyone who writes a book called "How to Attain Enlightenment" is implying that they are enlightened. Anyone who declares that their book will make them enlightened has sorely redefined the term "enlightened" and rendered it's true meaning almost sterile. That's just my opinion. You obviously feel differently. That is your right.. But if I were you I would find someone else to hold up as the epitomy of enlightenment or change your standards. TI

Hi ॐDominicusॐ Thank you so much for taking the time to write all of that. I appreciate it. Yes, I found that one too. I've watched myself sleep, watch the mind churn and dreams occur from a third person point of view for a total of about three weeks. It's hard to get used to that. I'd prefer to have a normal sleep. But, most mornings now, I'm aware of my self before I wake up. Is that what you call those? I've seen visions of these rectangles of colored light, like geometric patterns. They are very pretty and remind me of archetypes. I've never thought that they were mandalas. No, I don't think so. I was capable of thinking so I suspect my coarse consciousness dissolved into the substrate and then the subtle consciousness in the substrate consciousness (alaya) took over and that is what experienced the experience. No, it wasn't the Aerial Toll House. I didn't meet any angels or see any demons at that time.. There was no other presence there. However, I have had multiple dreams when I was a kid about flying over a sea of naked 'reddish dirty' people in a place of rock, fire and semi-darkness, all standing up. The few times that I flew over them too closely, they'd grab me and try to hold me down. Really freaked me out. I don't know what released me, but I'm glad that it did.. I think the astral/mental/causal bodies qualify as a bodies. Otherwise, why would angels and other beings appear, helping people on earth? Have you found the place at the base of the skull, somewhere near the medulla where, if you focus on it, your breathing stops dead? I have found such a place but I'm afraid. I've heard in Taoist writings that there are certain points you have to stay away from, otherwise it may kill you.. Didn't want to get rid of the body just yet. I have experienced the 'point of view' totally separate from the body, mind, dreams etc.. Most mornings, before I wake, I am like that. Just this tiny little point of view, everything is dark and not much is happening.. I can see the little cloud of thoughts in the mind churning, the dream world appearing separately, I can hear myself snore and watch the body. The point of view is from about 2 feet above the body.. I've always thought that it was the point of view from the astral body, floating above.. but now I'm not sure.. Yes, I know what you mean.. I know that I once lived in India, when they had steam locomotives (ha, maybe they still do? -no offense to anyone). I spent allot of time in this wooden square building that was three stories high and the middle of the room was wide open. People would sit around the balconies and have debates of some kind. But I don't remember much about it. Gee, I was just listening to James Swartz's youtube and he has described the same thing that I've experienced several times now.. I call them 'satori moments'. Funny, I don't think that that is any basis to declare 'enlightenment'. Do you? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uvp6qRQwSE He also has had an experience of coming out of the third eye and becoming everything (while taking a shower). This is not so hard to do. If you train your awareness to move around and expand into the surroundings, occaisionally you notice that you really do seem to be the car, or the tree or become the person whom you focus on. I don't think that qualifies as enlightenment. I think it is just a taste of the localized third eye action, some kind of astral projection, especially because he maintained a singular entity-like point of view, not one that is simultaneous and all-encompassing (includes all the infinite planes). I do recall that Yogananda Paramhansa Yogi had a similar experience to the one Swartz describes.. But who am I to say. Here is James Swartz's list of gurus: http://www.shiningwo.../About Me 1.htm Hmm. I'm thinking Swartz's understanding is not so great.. In this video, he claims that everything, all actions in the universe, is controlled by vasanas and samskaras, even in the high gurus like Sai Baba and others.. I thought enlightenment was being free from vasanas and samskaras. They should have all been burnt away. If they aren't then that is not the real thing. Is it? Well, he is entertaining anyway.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcFwgPzQ_rY TI

I see where you are coming from, Alwayson. You think you are a scholar. My understanding of a scholar is someone who has learned to correctly place big words that aren't truly understood into sentences in order to satisfy the conceptual mind while leaving the desire for true experiential knowledge and understanding barren and cold. It is often used as tool to gain power and control over others, and boost one's own self of importance and virility. And it appears that that is exactly what you do. You play your little games, referring to arguments such as "it's a translation", or "he really didn't say that", or "you don't understand", or imply some falsehood and wait for the other person to blather or expose their intellectual weakness. And it is great if you can quote someone else who you believe is an authority on a specific subject... saves you from having to understand the propositions yourself and makes you look smarter. Isn't that what it's all about? I've seen it myself all too often. It is found in most academic institutions. It's all intellectual posturing, ass smacking bullshit tactics to try to elevate the intellectual mind above all else. It's a good thing the intellectual/conceptual mind has to bow down and roll over before any samadhi can be realized. But then, that is only known through practice, isn't it? Such a powerful thing that has to be left behind.. No, you don't need a transmission for tummo to work, although most books explicitly state that you should have a teacher. What you said is the absolute worst rendition of tummo that I have ever heard. It clearly shows that you have no understanding of the practice of tummo, yet here you are, spouting off again.. Scholar.. Have you even read any books on tummo? Where did you get your defective interpretation, Alwayson? Oh, let me guess.. Does It come from Malcolm or something you read on the Dharma Wheel? The central channel is not the arterial system. Nor is the purpose of tummo to slow the heart, suspending the karmic winds. The desired outcome of slowing the heart is to shut down the senses, to temporarily keep the five hinderences or obsucations at bay. But that isn't what tummo is for. That is what other practices such as shamatha or pranayama are for. Think about it for a minute. As you've suggested, if the heat is transfered through the circulatory system and you slow or shut down the heart, how is the heat going to circulate? And, Tummo is about heat. Fire. You take the mixture of apana/prana blend in a little vayu from swallowing and compress the mixture at the navel. Then you take the heat produced by the mixture and take it up your central channel/sushumna to burn karma and blockages. It's not about stilling the winds. It's about purifying and burning obstructions and blockages, so at a later time if you want to dissolve winds into the central channel, you can. When the heat reaches designated points in the sushumna, the kundalini drops melt producing great bliss. But the bliss is a by-product. So is the heat. The purpose of tummo is to realize emptiness, and realize it quickly. 　 　 If tummo were a strictly physical phenmenon of compressing the 'vayu' and 'ojas' into the arterial system then you would always have to tense parts of the body in order to feel the effects. That's not how it works. I can "cook" myself by simply maintaining the proper posture and activating the lower tan tien. No compression, no tensing, no forcing anything into anything. I can also heat myself up quite nicely just by focusing on the third eye. There is much more to tummo than the physical compression of vayus and ojas into the circulatory system. In some versions of vase breathing, you release the locks and tension after the kumbaka and you have achieved some heat below the navel, before you take the heat up the sushumna. If what you said is correct, how then does the heat travel up the spine without the tension of the locks and physical exertion? Once you know about the lower tan tien, the cauldron, the vase, the bright orange ball below the navel, you can heat up anything you'd like. It does not require a circulatory system to transfer the heat. Nor does it require a physical interaction. When the standard practice of tummo is done correctly, the flames do not follow the arteries, they go straight up the sushumna. You can see and feel the fire, the flames moving upwards. You don't visualize Blazing and Dripping, as you've indicated. It is the fire that rises up the central channel that hits places where the kundalini drops are normally 'frozen'. The drops melt and that causes the drops to drip and blaze. If you are proficient in the practice, you can slow the drops down as they drip down the central channel and sustain the bliss if you are into that kind of thing. 　 The problem with Malcolm's map and yours (apart from the fact that you don't understand the mechanics of tummo), is that it does not acknowledge the etheric/astral/mental structures that are enacted during practice. Tummo cannot be reduced to physical biological functions that occur by manipulating parts of the physical body. That is only the introductory learning phase. And if you don't believe me, read "The Bliss of Inner Fire" towards the end of the book. (link below) 　 Chakras are not meeting places of veins and arteries and nerves. There are no veins or nerves protruding outwards from the body, yet the chakras extend outward, past the physical body. There are no veins or nerves extending outwards from the chest as when the heart chakra expands to encompass a really large area. Granted, there is a correspondence between chakras and the specific locations in the physical body where there are nerve plexuses or organs, but that explanation is only for scholars who are attempting to convince non-believers that chakras really do exist. Tell me, Alwayson, where do the chakras go when you astral travel? Do they stay with the physical body or do they go with the astral body? Why is it that you can open and close chakras by moving your hands inches away from the body, without touching the body? No nerves or veins outside of the body is there? If you had ever practiced tummo for any length of time, you would know what I'm talking about. And if you are practising a form of tummo where you are going to pump your circulatory system full of ojas to point where your heart will stop, you are practising some weird unconventional practice that I have never heard about. I wouldn't want to stop my circulation when I have a fire burning bright on the inside, would I? If you want to learn about tummo, the kundalini drops, the blazing and the dripping, I would suggest you read "The Clear Light of Bliss" by Gyatso. You should like that since the book contains the big word "Tsongkhapa" lots of times! http://www.amazon.co...a/dp/0948006218 You could also read "The Bliss of Inner Fire" by Lama Yeshe. http://www.amazon.co...a/dp/086171136X But then, I'm sure you have your own books and you'll find some scholarly excuse to blow off these suggestions as 'inferior' or 'new age' or any of the other ridiculous arguments that you come up with. But for anyone else who wants to learn about tummo, or vase breathing or how to clear the central channel, you might want to take a look. One word of caution. If you sit down in a meditative posture, take a deep breath, see a white moon at the brow and are quickly engulfed in hot flames, shut it down immediately and seek a teacher. Instant combustion is not just a myth. And then you have the audacity to suggest that Not only do you not have correct understanding of tummo, you don't have correct understanding of Karmamudra. How can you say one is superior to the other? Maybe you should go take a break from posting. Might do you some good to reflect on gross karma you are incurring here with all your ridiculous posts. TI

Hi Alwayson, You know, what you have done here is to take Jeff's private PM to you and posted it on the forum. Did Jeff give you his permission to do so? I was reading this on the Dharma Wheel, the other day... You are lucky that you betrayed his confidence at TTB, instead of the Dharma Wheel because had you done that on the Dharma Wheel, you would have been automatically suspended for 7 days. These are the rules at the Dharma Wheel forum: link: http://www.dharmawheel.net/viewtopic.php?f=109&t=3591 TI

Hi C T I just received my shipment today all the way from Nepal! That's right, my copy of Ground, Path, and Fruition came in today. http://www.wisdom-books.com/ProductExtract.asp?PID=18670 I must say, I have never seen a book which contains such excellent explicit instructions. I even got a shock/shower of tingles, when I first picked up the package. Also, I've discovered an excellent page on Pointing Out Instruction. That's what I like about the wiki, it presents both sides of the story. It seems there is a break in the Buddhist sects about the idea that the transmission is necessary. link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pointing-out_instruction I would much rather learn about these things, that my viewpoint about the need for transmission is reflected in the Gelug and Sakya lineages, from non-biased writings which present both sides of the arguments, rather than from a$$holes like Alwayson and his cloneys who abuse you and think there is some kind of battle to win. Anyway, thank you for recommending this book. I appreciate it. All the best. TI

Hi, This is a recount of today's meditation experiences. I was sitting in my lazy boy, listening to the 29'th podcast from Allan Wallace's Dzogchen retreat. The instructions in the meditation were concerning sending un-pointed awareness to various locations surrounding the body (like up, to the right, to the left, down and then center). It was much the same practice that is found in his book called "Mind in a Balance". At one point, I decided to just flex a little kundalini. I quickly focused on the lower tan tien, the little orange red ball just below the navel, then lightly flexed the lower locks and directed the energy to go down to the perineum, then to the tail bone, and then up the sushumna to the third eye. This was performed on an in-breath. This resulted in a gush of ecstasy and some minor heat and electric vibrations in the head, arms and up the central channel. I then became somewhat orgasmic and spent the next two hours in a state of low orgasmic bliss. I mention this because I feel it may have had some relevance to the events that transpired in the second meditation of the day. During the second meditation of the day, I decided to do 1/2 hour of breath meditation and 1/2 an hour of "watching thoughts dissolve". I performed the necessary preamble, set my Insight Timer for 1 hour with an interval bell at 30 minutes, did my dedication of merit to all sentient beings and proceeded to focus on the breath, specifically at the region in front of my nose, but not forcing any exact location. No sambhavi, no tongue on palette or any mudras or bhandas.. I was going to focus on just "Knowing" the breath. My goal was to achieve at least one minute of consecutive awareness on the breath. There are many ways of watching the breath. Some teachers recommend fixating on the sensations at the nostrils. Some recommend just keeping the attention just above the upper lip. Others, like Ajahn Brahm, suggest not locating the breath anywhere. What I have learned is that by "knowing" the breath, the mind forms a mental representation of the breathing. This mental representation is known as a nimitta (mental sign). For me, it looks like a white cotton ball kind of light, which goes up on the in-breath and down on the out-breath. It is thick and is very helpful in establishing where the breath is in the up-down cycle. I watched my breath. I also noticed the other little white light that resembles a small star. I have always wondered about that because often times I would see that other little white light appear when performing mantra repetition. I've also seen it when performing breath meditation by focusing on the navel area. That little white star seems to appear next to any location at which I am concentrating attention. For this meditation, I was putting allot of emphasis on the out-breath, the downward motion of the breath and the very bottom of the breath where it stops just slightly, before turning back upwards. The emphasis on the out-breath is to help release thoughts from the mind. You can see it work. It is the body's natural function. Whenever we want to release bad or frightening thoughts, the body always takes a deep breath and then 'sighs' it out. That is the understanding that I have. So, I was focusing on the out-breath more-so than the in breath and watching the cotton ball of the pale light of knowing the breath go up and down. For some reason, it was easier to maintain a constant stream of attention on the breath this time. I was succeeding now whereas in previous meditations, I was perhaps obtaining a minute of unbroken attention. As well, I could see the little star in the same region as cotton ball light. As I watched the breath go up and down, putting emphasis on releasing thoughts (but not willfully interfering with the natural motion of the breath), I noticed that the surrounding mental landscape started to brighten up. The background looked like there was a white cloud behind the scene. I just kept focusing on the cotton-ball-mental-representation-of-the-breath moving upwards and downwards, putting emphasis on the out-breath, releasing a bit on the bottom of the exhale. It was actually kind of easy to mantain unwavering attention on the breath, going up and down. Then, all of a sudden, I dissociated from my body. I could feel my locus of physical location start floating about. Then, the cotton ball light of knowing of the breath started to drift closer and closer to my witnessing consciousness. It got bigger and kind of floated about. I thought that I must have been at the point where the body drops away. This is a typical experience, sometimes my arms come right out of the physical arms and the feel like they are wrapped around my abdomen, but when I look, the arms are still on the upper thighs.. The 30 minute bell went off and I was going to watch my thoughts for a while, but I decided to stick with the breath meditation, because it was going so well. I don't often succeed at maintaining a steady stream of awareness on the breath as I have only been doing serious breath meditation for about 3 months. I heard it takes about 6 weeks of practising 8 hours a day before you can watch the breath without willfully controlling it! As the visual image of knowing the breath at a specific location (cotton ball of light) came closer, the center of the little star opened up and I could see visions of scenes, faces and colors in it. I ignored the display and kept focusing on the breath. The visions of scenes and faces got more intense, and numerous. They started whizzing by rapidly. I ignored them once again and went back to watching the breath go up and down. Gradually, my breathing was becoming slower and slower. The in and out breaths were maybe moving 1/2 an inch up and down, whereas before it may have been moving 2 inches up and down (relatively speaking). The breathing became very shallow and almost nonexistent, but I kept focusing on it. Next, the top of my head opened up and I saw the black descending from above, had the fear of death and thought I was going to melt downwards. However, I was so sick of bowing to this fear that I just ignored it and went back to focusing on the breath. Empty threats! I went back to watching the center of the little star. Then it happened. All of a sudden, I found myself in this wide open luminous space. Very vivid! Nothing much in there, like hanging out in open space. It felt like normal consciousness, like I was just sitting there, doing nothing in particular, but looking out into this dark self-luminous space. The monkey mind, the incessant commentary that the mind does was gone. Not totally realizing what had happened, I thought I should go back to watching the breath, so I looked at the same location where the cotton ball light and the little star had been. Instead of a white cloud-like substance moving up and down or the litlle star, there was a black crack that sort of looked like a spider's web or series of connected straight lines, with a bit of light coming through the crack. I was confused, but I sort of knew that I had succeeded in penetrating through to somewhere else. I was confused because I expected to see some kind of white light. There only remained this wide open space, and a kind of fracture in it where the breath focus had been. It looked like a crack in space was closing, and the lights were on the other side. Now, I have been in that wide open space probably as many times as I have fingers and toes, but it was by restricting the breath, slowing the breath through pranayama. I had no idea that this space is waiting for you on the other side of sustained focus on the breath/nimitta. I sat in this space for about five minutes, trying to perceive as much as I could. Although the monkey mind was silent, I still had some thoughts coming up, like "this is boring", "this is beautiful to look at", "not much to see", "did I wake up?", "I thought I was meditating", "where did all the thoughts, visions and light go?". The thoughts were few and far in between, but there were still thoughts. It never occured to me to just stay there for a while. My timer went off and then I got up. There was not much difference between the type of consciousness that I feel in normal life and the type of consciousness that I felt in that experience, just the scenery changed. I wonder what that space is. Is it the fifth jhana, the Dimension of Infinite Space? Sort of sounds like it. Continuation: The late afternoon meditation was quite strange. When I sat down and started the meditation, the first thing I noticed was this vacuous space in the center of my attention, where the normal mind is usually located. Next, I noticed that there were very few thoughts. My awareness was so intense, it felt like I had drunk about 10 cups of coffee and was downright wired, but very clear. I tried to focus on the breath, but I could not manifest any kind of cotton ball light from knowing the breath. I tried various locations, watching the breath at the navel, directly at the tip of the nose, but nothing would appear. I was back in the huge space. Next, I turned my attention to the third eye, that is, I focused on the place where the third eye usually is. I did see some light and some scenes, but they were so clear, bright and colorful that it kind of shocked me. I thought, "I don't need any more stimulation right now", and simply receeded back into the vacuous hole in my head. I remained there for about 50 minutes watching the luminosity, just 'being' and then got up and continued on with my day. Later tonight, I finished the 30'th podcast of Alan Wallace's Dzogchen retreat. Coincidence or what? The last two questions from the retreatants were concerning the nimittas. According to Alan, and this is the first time I hear of this (and I've always wanted to know about it), the mental representation of the breath is called the nimitta. It is how the mind percieves the breath. I've read in other books that the air nimitta is white light. So this is making more sense to me all of the time. The second light, (my little star) is called the counterpart sign. Alan described it exactly like I have described it above. It is a little bright light that appears as the mind becomes more stable. And, Alan says that once it appears you switch your attention to it and remain on that light until you achieve shamatha. Buhdagosa (sp?) said that. Other masters have said that. And that is exactly what I did. The question I've always had is this: "is the cotton ball light (mental knowing of the breath) called the nimitta or is the star called the nimitta? The answer is, the mental knowing of the breath is called the nimitta (technically it is called the air nimitta) and the little star is called the counterpart sign. This was very important for me to know because I didn't quite know the difference and neither Shaila Catherine nor Ajahn Brahm explain the difference between the two, or if they did (which I doubt), it was just not that clear. So, I do believe I have achieved shamatha!!! The next goal is to remain in that state, on demand, for three hours, as recommended by Shaila Catherine. Then, I can proceed to practice more advanced techniques, with the power of a stable and pliant mind, realized though shamatha. I am so thankful that Anamatva posted the link to Alan Wallace's Dzogchen 10-day retreat. I feel that had I not found that posting, I would not have realized shamatha. (and the 5'th jhana), and gained a better understanding of the whole process. Thank you, thank you, thank you, Anamatva. Best Christmas Present ever! http://thetaobums.co...b-alan-wallace/ TI

I see where you are coming from, Alwayson. You think you are a scholar. My understanding of a scholar is someone who has learned to correctly place big words that aren't truly understood into sentences in order to satisfy the conceptual mind while leaving the desire for true experiential knowledge barren and cold. It is often used as tool to gain power and control over others, and boost one's own self of importance and virility. And it appears that that is exactly what you do. You play your little games, referring to arguments such as "it's a translation", or "he really didn't say that", or "you don't understand", or imply some falsehood and wait for the other person to blather or expose their intellectual weakness. And it is great if you can quote someone else who you believe is an authority on a specific subject... saves you from having to understand the propositions yourself and makes you look smarter. Isn't that what it's all about? I've seen it myself all too often. It is found in most academic institutions. It's all intellectual posturing, ass smacking bullshit tactics to try to elevate the intellectual mind above all else. It's a good thing the intellectual/conceptual mind has to bow down and roll over before any samadhi can be realized. But then, that is only known through practice, isn't it? Such a powerful thing that has to be left behind.. No, you don't need a transmission for tummo to work, although most books explicitly state that you should have a teacher. What you said is the absolute worst rendition of tummo that I have ever heard. It clearly shows that you have no understanding of the practice of tummo, yet here you are, spouting off again.. Scholar.. Have you even read any books on tummo? Where did you get your defective interpretation, Alwayson? Oh, let me guess.. Does It come from Malcolm or something you read on the Dharma Wheel? The central channel is not the arterial system. Nor is the purpose of tummo to slow the heart, suspending the karmic winds. The desired outcome of slowing the heart is to shut down the senses, to temporarily keep the five hinderences or obsucations at bay. But that isn't what tummo is for. That is what other practices such as shamatha or pranayama are for. Think about it for a minute. As you've suggested, if the heat is transfered through the circulatory system and you slow or shut down the heart, how is the heat going to circulate? And, Tummo is about heat. Fire. You take the mixture of apana/prana blend in a little vayu from swallowing and compress the mixture at the navel. Then you take the heat produced by the mixture and take it up your central channel/sushumna to burn karma and blockages. It's not about stilling the winds. It's about purifying and burning obstructions and blockages, so at a later time if you want to dissolve winds into the central channel, you can. When the heat reaches designated points in the sushumna, the kundalini drops melt producing great bliss. But the bliss is a by-product.　 　 If tummo were a strictly physical phenmenon or compressing the 'vayu' and 'ojas' into the arterial system then you would always have to tense parts of the body in order to feel the effects. That's not how it works. I can "cook" myself by simply maintaining the proper posture and activating the lower tan tien. No compression, no tensing, no forcing anything into anything. I can also heat myself up quite nicely just by focusing on the third eye. There is much more to tummo than the physical compression of vayus and ojas into the circulatory system. In some versions of vase breathing, you release the locks and tension after the kumbaka and you have achieved some heat below the navel, before you take the heat up the sushumna. If what you said is correct, how then does the heat travel up the spine without the tension of the locks and physical exertion? Once you know about the lower tan tien, the cauldron, the vase, the bright orange ball below the navel, you can heat up anything you'd like. It does not require a circulatory system to transfer the heat. Nor does it require a physical interaction. When the standard practice of tummo is done correctly, the flames do not follow the arteries, they go straight up the sushumna. You can see and feel the fire, the flames moving upwards. You don't visualize Blazing and Dripping, as you've indicated. It is the fire that rises up the central channel that hits places where the kundalini drops are normally 'frozen'. The drops melt and that causes the drops to drip and blaze. If you are proficient in the practice, you can slow the drops down as they drip down the central channel and sustain the bliss if you are into that kind of thing. 　 The problem with Malcolm's map and yours (apart from the fact that you don't understand the mechanics of tummo), is that it does not acknowledge the etheric/astral/mental structures that are enacted during practice. Tummo cannot be reduced to physical biological functions that occur by manipulating parts of the physical body. That is only the introductory learning phase. And if you don't believe me, read "The Bliss of Inner Fire" towards the end of the book. (link below) 　 Chakras are not meeting places of veins and arteries and nerves. There are no veins or nerves protruding outwards from the body, yet the chakras extend outward, past the physical body. There are no veins or nerves extending outwards from the chest as when the heart chakra expands to encompass a really large area. Granted, there is a correspondence between chakras and the specific locations in the physical body where there are nerve plexuses or organs, but that explanation is only for scholars who are attempting to convince non-believers that chakras really do exist. Tell me, Alwayson, where do the chakras go when you astral travel? Do they stay with the physical body or do they go with the astral body? Why is it that you can open and close chakras by moving your hands inches away from the body, without touching the body? No nerves or veins outside of the body is there? If you had ever practiced tummo for any length of time, you would know what I'm talking about. And if you are practising a form of tummo where you are going to pump your circulatory system full of ojas to point where your heart will stop, you are practising some weird unconventional practice that I have never heard about. I wouldn't want to stop my circulation when I have a fire burning bright on the inside, would I? If you want to learn about tummo, the kundalini drops, the blazing and the dripping, I would suggest you read "The Clear Light of Bliss" by Gyatso. You should like that since the book contains the big word "Tsongkhapa" lots of times! http://www.amazon.com/Clear-Light-Bliss-Mahamudra-Vajrayana/dp/0948006218 You could also read "The Bliss of Inner Fire" by Lama Yeshe. http://www.amazon.com/Bliss-Inner-Fire-Practice-Naropa/dp/086171136X But then, I'm sure you have your own books and you'll find some scholarly excuse to blow off these suggestions as 'inferior' or 'new age' or any of the other ridiculous arguments that you come up with. But for anyone else who wants to learn about tummo, or vase breathing or how to clear the central channel, you might want to take a look. One word of caution. If you sit down in a meditative posture, take a deep breath, see a white moon at the brow and are quickly engulfed in hot flames, shut it down immediately and seek a teacher. Instant combustion is not just a myth. TI

Laugh all you want Alwayson. What does this mean "the Dalai Lama is no longer practising or transmitting the genuine teachings of Je Tsongkhapa’s tradition." Why do I find writings like this next quote? And the date on this next article is Dec 15, 2010. The book that Alwayson was reading is dated 2010, so it came out before this next article: http://dorjeshugdentruth.wordpress.com/tag/dorje-shugden-controversy/ Are these lies? Who exactly is lying or not understanding what is going on here. Still falling off your chair laughing, Alwayson? Since you guys are so smart, where specifically does it say that the Dalai Lama rescinded his ban and mended the Tsongkhapa lineage? Was there a news release? Give me some proof.