Spotless

Hello to all! I have been meditating for about 40 yrs. My third eye opened many years ago and I can offer comments on all of the tag lines that I have included in this topic. Currently I have taken up Qi Gong I am not well versed within this discipline though I can feel and follow fine movement within me and without. When I was 15yrs old my lower dan tien became very active one day and an intense warmth moved throughout my body - I was literally steaming (on a ski slope) with this hot ball inside me just below the navel and in a bit. This happened again when I was about 36 yrs old during a difficult breakup with my girlfriend. Recently I was creating Qi Gong exercises for myself before I knew they existed as Qi Gong - what a wonderful teaching it is! I appreciate practical discussion ( since the original post I have studied with a Qi Gong and Kung Fu Grand Master 4-6 days a week in addition to personal practice)

You can refer to: Opening of the third eye and other byproducts along the way I'm pretty sure you can find that somewhere in there.

Bump - would really appreciate any input here.

Open or closed

Please look them up - fairly simple concepts to read up on. I do differentiate between gross subtle and subtle in the sense that the gross subtle bodies are typically fairly easily seen and active and formed in most people while other subtle bodies are generally not easily seen, active or formed. Gross subtle would be the chakras, various energy channels - the majority of what is written about. In most adults the gross subtle bodies are relatively undeveloped with generally two main centers in which trance awareness is most vibrant.

In science one can "believe in the current paradigms" of understanding - but the belief in them is always a hinderance with regard to new emerging conflicting paradigms. Whereas one can work within existing paradigms while not being IN belief of them - and this will make one a truly real scientist rather than one in which "science" and existing paradigms are a religion. This is splitting hairs - but they are real hairs and not simply semantics. Ask yourself - if you were not invested in Beliefs would it destroy your enjoyment of them? How many times have "your" Beliefs sat as walls to the expansion of Self within and without? What is the difference between your prior Beliefs and the Beliefs you now "possess" (that now possess you)? You can constantly upgrade your Beliefs and defenses and entrenchment - just keep in mind that a thousand sages have said "I know nothing" yet no one takes them as fools.

First hand experience teaches many things - upper most - it can show us how our assumptions and beliefs expect something often very far from what was experienced and teach us to put beliefs in an increasingly flexible wrapper. Experience also strengthens the bonds we have to our inner gyroscope - but at the same time it can strengthen positioning and one-sided-ness. It is easy to become prey from ones own beliefs and like a slot machine using the strength of Intermittent Positive Reinforcement - one can easily be cemented into a premature death of rigidified patterns.

One can read all sorts of teaching and delve deep into practice and not have any Belief IN the doctrine and teachings. One can engage in the deepest practice having not set aside a single note from a teaching or Belief system - while not being in Belief of even one sentence. Belief is in the past and is an illusion - that is not to say that one cannot consider the apparent offerings of a Belief system and it may be that going through the motions of Belief while not IN Belief has very real and considerable benefits - not simply on a placebo effect. The mundane level of any teaching is the Religion - the Belief. Some go no further - and some have gone further in spite of the Belief system. Religion is mundane teaching set in trance dogma - with a hint toward escape and a heap toward solidarity.

Let's hear from those not quoting their teachers but from those with experience - and if any can actually See - please speak up. Throughout many of my posts there is a strong advocacy for caution regarding Breath techniques - (in fact this is probably the only case in any of my posts in which I express virtually no need for caution other than those sited in my original post here). In many cases these practices are abused and cause considerable short and often long term damage. The damage is easily seen to the inner eye and frequently easily seen in the behavior and difficulties of those that have brought it upon themselves. All sorts of damage to both gross physical, gross subtle and subtle bodies are highly visible to those that can see inside these bodies. They are very clearly seen in the outside auras as well. With some 45+ years in looking at these energies both in and outside of the gross physical I have yet to see anything resembling a burned out LDT - whereas in fact that particular area typically is the least affected within the physical localizations regarding energetic damage from poor practice methods and energy work and manipulation. It is possible to have considerable teaching skills and a considerable level of competence while actually having achieved far less than assumed. And teaching is as frequently premature as fruit falling to the ground before being eaten. Those in truly secret practice and unable to discuss it, do not mention the fact or use it as a carrot - but that does not mean they are not somewhat advanced - and it may be a testament as to how young they are in their studies since they are not allowed to share what they think they might know precisely because they have not mastered either the teaching or the abilities to impart it properly - or it simply may be something "new" and being tested. Among the most secret teachings are those that only find fertile ground in advanced subtle bodies.

Buddhism can be looked at as a belief system on the one hand and as a practice on the other - some would argue that the Belief system can also be a practice - I would argue otherwise - true practice requires at least the mindset of non-investment in Belief/Faith. Though practice can lead to loss of Belief / Faith systems - which would indicate proper practice and openness. (I do not consider myself an expert in Buddhism from any historical perspective nor from any belief perspective) Buddhism as taught by Buddha's asks that one not believe but rather do due diligence to Inner practice and find your answers - your Self. The teaching is essentially one of pointing to practices and how one thinks and behaves in order to free oneself from the trance of Samsara - that which finds us lost and with a consistent awakening to dissatisfaction in life (often coined as Suffering - though this is a poor choice of a word for the lay person and in general). The last paragraph could be said to be true of most if not all Indian originated practice based spiritual teachings.

The Lower Dan Tien LDT can be breathed into by anyone with no real worry of any ill effect whatsoever. Obviously one can do something "wrong" but it would have to be pretty intentional and generally hyper active and in most cases over a fairly lengthy period of time - pretty much someone skillful enough to do damage would not do it because in order to be capable of doing damage you would pretty much have to be smart enough and practiced enough to know what in general not to do. Breathing into the LDT in general by everyone - even those with little or zero information regarding its benefits - will enjoy tremendous benefits, The only "fear" is basically from the Martial side of the equation and even then the Martial side of the equation is intrinsically crippling to a considerable amount of energy work as it is generally manipulative of energies, often constrictive in nature and most capable of incorrect teaching primarily because it frequently inspires tremendous energetic changes with little or no regard to real inner practice. (and this in turn inspires unfounded imbalanced "fear" of perfectly utilized and utilizable energy centers). The LDT will not Burn UP or Burn Out - but it will happily burn up excessive stress and worry. It will balance you in rough seas. It will help tremendously when pushed to the limits and when identifications take one to unnecessary extremes. It greatly helps us to unbind from strong grasping and position - it is a battery of reserve and acts like a gyroscope in the winds of change. Certain spinal breathing techniques are the leaders in putting energy practitioners in the mental wards. Breath practices are certainly something to be wary of and at the same time they are extremely helpful. Many breathing exercises can be dangerous - breathing into the LDT is one of the least dangerous or to put it in another way - easily one of the most beneficial if not THE most beneficial. And the practice does not require the teachings of a master - most of the techniques are simple and immensely effective with zero danger often taught by people that have no real idea what they are talking about or teaching. Reverse Breathing into the LDT is somewhat of a focused breath practice in some forms though in many not considered reverse breathing it is done without notice. Even in these cases it is generally safe and the fear of burning out the LDT is humorous. If however you are seriously advanced and have the mental incapacity to understand how you got there and you decide to hyper focus on Reverse Breathing and manipulation of the energies as well - then it is dangerous but the concern would not be to the LDT - it would be to many other implications.

Just finished reading the new book! Looking forward to the sequel! Congrats on a great book!

All the Very Best! A very bright energy on this!

Many of the insights that Walker shares regarding China are unknown to most Westerners - the Ghost Cities are real. - where cities were built but with no one living in them and people buying and selling them like popcorn on wall street at higher and higher prices having never even visted them - brochure sales and mania. I know of one city built with outside aid from governments around the world - it was to be a Green City. The person put in charge was provided a certain time to make it happen and a certain amount of money. The person put in charge was an elder of the area and had no experience in building. When the project was "complete" many (most) of the homes that looked great from the outside had no working plumbing - toilets that were simply placed in the correct area. Some had no wiring. Some had nothing inside - no doors to various rooms - no flooring. But - most of those involved had nice new cars and a feather in their hat for what was accomplished. It is hard to fathom and easy to laugh at but far more complex than we can easily discern. It is an incredible place - among the most striking things to see is a 40 story building being finished entirely surrounded by bamboo scaffolding the full 40 stories high with a guy running along in a busy street filled with cars pulling a cart with a potato cooker steaming away.

Hello everyone, Please contribute to the following: I am looking at fundamental guidelines regarding purchasing and creating a retreat center / or / building for holding meetings and having an office space / and or / a place for a group of separate individuals or married to live ... More specifically the legal formulas - and specifically address the following: I was once in a group that had amassed about 15 homes or buildings or ranches or large land spaces. It grew quickly and amassed those things in only around 15 years. But to the surprise of many - once the founder died several of the homes that had been purchased completely and had no mortgage were all sold off in a few years and the whole thing collapsed basically within two years to nearly zero. The areas where the homes were free and clear and purchased by donation drives from those in the area - they were completely taken aback and could not believe "it" was suddenly just sold and gone. - zip The founder was a wonderful person - what happened after his death I am not completely certain - but that is not the issue. Rather the issue that I am interested in is solid thoughts and or words regarding the formation of a purchase agreement as a group that would include wording to the effect that it holds the purchase "apart" from sole ownership by the Master or Teacher (obviously many teachers would not be interested in subjecting their donations to such guidelines ) This could be a Best Practices guideline for Teacher and Masters to utilize so that they can assure their group that what is being built is for them in perpetuity or at least apart from simply the Teachers whim - such as a certain number of members required to vote on large sums or properties. This also gets to one more huge point - how to word it and organize it so that if the Teacher does something along the lines of the thousands of Catholic Priests and Nuns wherein whole parishes have been lost to lawsuits or teacher that sell cool aid - basically wording that puts the behavior of those in charge at some hands length from ownership. Obviously as in the case with the thousands of Catholic cases - many heads of local parishes were involved in coverups and so they involved the whole general group in the lawsuits because of the collusion among the general heads of those affiliated properties. This may seem to be very simple but I assure you it is as easy as getting to an agreement on what is good and what is evil - try that one over a week with 20 denominations at an Interfaith council and you will be both exhausted and blown away. Anyway - if you have any actual documents you can share - please leave a link or put it up here - sometimes only the pithy quotes are needed. And by the way - if this should be in a more appropriate area - please let me know or change it to the best location - (half the time I have no real idea where I "should" be posting)

Getting back on the rails and off the petty stuff - I have found that if you wish to give in certain areas - (and in any area) - it can be best to support some "thing" they wish to accomplish such as create a new concrete walkway or purchase a printer and office stuff or build a building or buy a gong. It is a donation that is specific and they can show you real results rather than it going into someones pocket - which is not always a bad thing either - but if you get my drift - they can show you they used your donation and send a picture with a big smile. If you are ever trying to raise funds for a group - you can ask for support to accomplish certain tasks and that you are looking for sponsors of those projects. For a lot of people that want to help out and donate it helps to materialize their donation and feel more close to some portion of what is happening. Even things like a building - a family may remember that their father donated to that building and helped build it and later they may be interested in putting a new roof on "their" building or a paved parking lot or new windows or a porch. Some people donate hours in work of all kinds - some donate legal and other professional skills - some donate money - some donate things - some teach - some cook. Often you can travel to a destination overseas with a pre-arranged schedule for you to stay and work/donate your time while also Being there with those that are full time and partaking in early morning meditation and other scheduled reverent practices. You can also offer a donation of space in your home for someone who wishes to study in your country. I know of several students that travel here to the Bay Area of San Francisco to be involved in Interfaith Council studies.

A suggestion for those in the United States: donate to temples and teachings and retreat centers in the United States. Particularly for those retreat centers that share their space and or do not have a price for admittance or classes. It is easy to be struck by students who thank a teacher profusely and over a long time but donate little or nothing and then tell you of the retreat they went on that cost $2100 for the week not including airfare. People who have spent tens of thousands on medical treatments and recovery and enjoy what energy work they receive from you and then tell you of the programs or treatments they are thinking of enrolling in that will cost thousands - all with a clean naked bowl in front of them. Its fun to support exotic getaway places - but do take a look in your own backyard - Eastern teachings are still very much budding here in the West, disco yoga may be nearly everywhere but the real stuff can use your help. People here in the States do not think of donation much but have little problem with payments - in fact they often feel uncomfortable making a donation without first asking "how much should I donate" whereas specifically asking for a $20 donation is more likely to pay the rent or at least part of it.

Try to look at the Original Post (OP) as asking in a sense for what drugs to take and then saying "I don't do drugs" Hang in there with me: There are many ways in which to condense what is meant to be a long term endeavor into ones inner and outer gross physical, gross subtle and subtle bodies and spiritual practice. You can in a very real sense find the drugs in the teachings. Take the strong practices - extract them - and then hyper accentuate them - in this un-wholistic un-natural manner you can partake in many practices that will give you immediate and possibly life threatening experiences. Prior to going with "practice drugs" - and I mean this seriously - find out who to contact regarding serious kundalini problems, who your health care providers are and what you would do if you could not work for at least 6 months. Then have fun doing your choice of Practice Drugs - because you indeed are looking for drugs.

Just a comment: Very few make a clear distinction between sitting practices and meditation. Doing vs Non-doing This is not to demean sitting practices or standing practices - simply to clarify that various energetic “Doing” is not meditation.

I would like to add a note of optimistic caution - I have seen many posts here regarding male and female differences and in the past it often has lead to shutting down the post and members getting banned either temporarily or permanently. But with that said - it is a discussion worth having. I would toss out any concern for the 32 Characteristics of a Buddha - Buddhas appear in all manner of human form and may come and go un-noticed. I have had the great pleasure of being with a number of Awakened females and it is striking to see the depth and magnitude of compassion that they in many ways appear to have in many respects because of their gender. This is not a slightly deeper general aspect - it is significant and spectacular. Prior to Awakening and in general life, women live in a far far greater spectrum of frequencies within their embodiment. (men are generally between 8-15,000 cycles whereas women are typically from 25-50,000 cycles - I cannot explain that easily so just take it as it is for now) In this they feel and associate within a much greater field and are far more adapted to interact on many subtle levels. Women are far less isolated within their embodiment - inherently capable of interactions that males are for the most part incapable of with regard to the embodiment of such interactions. And their bodies are capable of sharing their bodies with another body - and growing and nurturing both internal and external. The entire cosmos beats through a women with a clarity that is incomprehensible to a male embodiment. It is both a blessing and a considerable input on a scale that is no easy task to sort out. The general richness of the female embodied experience would be overwhelming to the male embodiment. Humanity is turning toward the female and teachings from Awakened and Ever Enlightening women are growing as never before on such a scale. It is still pathetic how females are treated and how ingrown our license as males to assumptive superiority or advantage is taken in stride. I cannot express what a truly deep note a female can own with utter selflessness and ease - it is like a deep earth quake - in no effort.

I was going to wait until it came out for purchase to. play at home but now we will see it soon while its on the big screen - thanks for the heads up!

Thank you for this - It is unfortunate to see how much programming is in this seating discussion - when you get to Sage advice the inner space is pretty much the only subject and the physical is of relatively little or no importance other than those things which may inhibit physical comfort and wakefulness. I truly enjoy sitting on the floor in any of the crossed leg positions - I enjoy sitting in a chair / upright position with feet on the floor or ground - and standing in any number of positions. From birth and all through high school and considerably beyond I sat with legs crossed while sitting in a chair - at breakfast as a child and when in school if they did not instruct me otherwise. All of them are excellent and each has perceptible advantages - in some cases the perceptible advantage is clearly the belief in the advantage as well - and this does in fact apply to the efficacy of the practice. Belief is a big factor - when I said in an above posting that "if a teacher of a lineage has said that sitting on a Eland skin from a 2-4 year old female" was best for meditation - I was not making that advice up - I have also heard in person that wearing white is best and that wearing black is not good - and it is easy to find supporting evidence for the white recomnendation - but WOW - those in Black are many. Posture does indeed make a difference - and it is easy to achieve excellent posture whether sitting on a floor, a chair or standing. Breath is no question often easier sitting in a chair or standing - certainly true for those overweight. If you can "see" a person in meditation they all have their differences. I truly have no stake in any position - and do not look down or up at someone because of the position they take - it is obvious how well they are doing regardless of the position. I might be somewhat rare in that I can offer the view from someone who has done long meditation in all of these forms - with the exception of standing meditation where I have only done around 2 hours at a time regularly. (It is interesting to note how easily past lives come to be shown as well as other teachers and Beings when one is in a seated position on the floor - this tradition has been long and enduring.)

Sitting on a chair (rock).pdf Muscle tone From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia If a sudden pull or stretch occurs, the body responds by automatically increasing the muscle's tension, a reflex which helps guard against danger as well as helping maintain balance. Such near-continuous innervation can be thought of as a "default" or "steady state" condition for muscles. Both the extensor and flexor muscles are involved in the maintenance of a constant tone while at rest. In skeletal muscles, this helps maintain a normal posture. Resting muscle tone varies along a bell shaped curve. Low tone is perceived as "lax, flabby, floppy, mushy, dead weight" and high tone is perceived as "tight, light, strong". Muscles with high tone are not necessarily strong and muscles with low tone are not necessarily weak. In general, low tone does increase flexibility and decrease strength and high tone does decrease flexibility and increase strength, but with many exceptions. A person with low tone will most likely not be able to engage in "explosive" movement such as needed in a sprinter or high jumper. These athletes usually have high tone that is within normal limits. A person with high tone will usually not be flexible in activities such as dance and yoga. Joint laxity contributes greatly to flexibility, especially with flexibility in one or a few areas, instead of overall flexibility. For example, a person can be high tone with normal to poor flexibility in most areas, but be able to put the palms of the hands on the floor with straight knees due to hypermobile sacroiliac joints.[citation needed] It is important to assess several areas before deciding if a person has high, low or normal muscle tone. A fairly reliable assessment item is how the person feels when picked up.[citation needed] For example, small children with low tone can feel heavy while larger, high tone children feel light, which corresponds with the description of "dead weight". Although cardiac muscle and smooth muscle are not directly connected to the skeleton, they also have tonus in the sense that although their contractions are not matched with those of antagonist muscles, the non-contractile state is characterized by (sometimes random) enervation. Sitting on a chair (rock).pdf

Regarding Anger in general with regard to practice Breath into the LDT Breath into the abdomen Have your awareness there If you come to know this breath - many waves will no longer linger.

Chairs - originating from thrones? I have lived in nature and sitting on natural chairs called rocks and ledges is common - leaning on things is common - using things to help us get up and down is common and for the aged - getting help up from sitting on the ground is not uncommon. The military of old used chairs to be in an upright position when on alert - hunters sometimes use/used them to prop themselves during silent long waiting. Once we started to not be nomadic - chairs proliferated because carrying them was no longer an issue. Nor were tables and permanent buildings. Having a lifespan of 45yrs and often less is also not common anymore. Our anatomy is a product of our inventiveness among other things - and chairs are a part of what happens if you participate in one of these bodies. It might also be noted that if you have a flock of followers moving about with you and having spontaneous long teachings - carrying chairs around was not something that was plausible whether desirable or not - sitting practice was practical. Also - sitting crosslegged is indeed comfortable - it is quite different for many who try Lotus. For quite a few practitioners of lotus it continues to be relatively difficult even after 20 years or more. While simply sitting cross legged continues to be no problem. Some people have much greater muscle tone while some do not - and some have almost no muscle tone and for them it is a piece of cake at any time of the day. Regarding the axis of gravity and ground reaction force (GRF) - yes they are very real - and a case could be made for any of the positions - natural sway while standing creates many helpful inner subtle energetic movements. It is perhaps why so many Qi Gong grand masters say that Standing Meditation is far far better than sitting meditation. I choose not to get into whether one meditation position is better than the other - from personal experience they all have their benefits. Regarding pillow height - it very much appears to be ones particular anatomy which dictates that - and also if one has knee injuries or back problems. If you can sit in full lotus and hop around all over the place as I once could - a thin pad or no pad is probably fine (I did not own one for many years). If you are of a particular lineage and your teacher has stated that the best pad is from a 2-4 year old female Eland - then that may be the best pad for you. The more you sweat the small stuff the more it may tend to need to be of free range organic virgin wool and all natural dye. But don't be surprised to find a crooked old sage floating half an inch above a Walmart rag of old stretch denim. (I do think natural fabrics on or around one are preferable - but the stronger one is the less it matters and the more it is simple preference and economics)