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Well you'll really never know now until you actually set out on the path. There was a time, when this stuff was first contrived, where people had no choice but to learn on their own. There had to be an "originator" of these systems, but the way they learned these things is often way too hard for people to accept as possible. Due to the fact that people are terribly inept at creativity, and are also nestled into a framework of toiling for even small gains, it is nigh impossible for MOST people to learn on their own. However, this is not something that is innate, but rather a learned and inherited way of interaction that folks just accept. If you want to learn on your own, or learn independent of the need for "physical" teachers, you are gonna have to take a chance and go about trying something out that you may not understand fully. Moreover, you might have to start pushing the boundaries on what you think you need so that you can attain what you actually need. You can lucid dream and gain a teacher for everything, but will you accept that you have gotten a teacher who is as "useful" as one in this reality experience? That's up to you to decide, and if you chose to act the same way with physical teacher, your results would be the same. So you can learn anything independent a physical teacher, but if you are going that route, you gotta be willing to use methods that are not generally accepted as "legit" by others.

In one of my fairly infrequent lucid dream experiences, I found myself in a place covered by some kind of luminous fog. The fog was also inside me, especially gathering in the Lower Dan-tian. I could not only see it but also feel it there, which was a most blissful experience. I then saw David Carradine in my dream (he was still physically alive at the time) demonstrating Taiji to me. Whenever he extended his arm for a punch or another technique, a small luminous cloud was emitted from his laogong or hand chakra. While I had been involved with Daoism, Zen and various martial arts already for a number of years, I felt that the dream suggested to me to take up Taji, which became my primary practice meanwhile.

That's interesting that you mention dream visions, because I had one that pointed me in the direction of China (and I believe Daoism) despite the fact that I am an ethnic Westerner. Essentially in the dream I was in an all golden hall with golden flowers as the decorations on the walls (which I later interpreted as connections to the "Yellow Court" and "The Secret of the Golden Flower") and then I picked up a music playing device in which a Chinese woman sang lines or instructions to me which said something along the lines of "Dive deep within and learn to know yourself; silence your mind and keep it silent and you will divinize your mind and become like a god." (Later interpreting the "god" aspect more along the lines of a 真人 or a 仙人.) There was a sense of awe both in dream and upon waking. So while I was already studying various esoteric topics and had an interest in both Chan and Daoism, it wasn't until this powerful dream vision that I decided to begin learning Mandarin and focus my efforts in that direction. Not to go off topic, but has anyone else had any dreams or dream visions that helped or guided them?

psychic abilities is yin qi energy - lunar energy - and mental abilities of the pineal gland - it is not the heart spiritual energy which is much more powerful but with less ego. To see auras is actually more spiritual energy than psychic energy. The New Age community in the West thinks seeing auras is easy but it's actually a more advanced ability - it's just that people can lie about easily, etc. telepathy is also from yang qi energy going out of the pineal gland so it is more of a spiritual ability. Yin qi when built up does enable some psychic synchronicities - when you really fill up the yin qi you see auras more and have telepathy, etc. as the yang qi manifests. So "super psychic" indeed. Children who study qigong will develop abilities much faster, much easier. In fact the qigong master just told me he wants to work with preschool kids as a qigong training program. haha. He was hanging out with my niece a bit and said how they are on the same wavelength. But I did send my niece a lot of energy when she was younger than 2 years old. So I am proud of her - and glad the qigong master liked her energy. At the younger age a person stays in the theta REM brain wave state - like a waking dream - a natural visionary state. So the pineal gland energy is stronger naturally but when puberty kicks in then the unified yuan shen and yuan qi separates. The pineal gland closes down and the reproductive organs increase - as the yuan qi energy of the pineal gland moves down to the reproductive organs and then the yuan qi energy is lost out as fluid when the yuan shen leaves out of the eyes as desire. But before that the strong yuan qi in the pineal gland holds in the yuan shen so that the unified spirit energy can manifest easily - from the heart. So this is a beautiful pure energy for children. this is the qigong I am talking about - a 9 year old does healing with it.

I think the difference here is that in Chan Buddhism, because it is actually Taoism in the context of the Buddhist teaching, which may be better in explaining the moral complexity of various concepts such as Karma and rebirth. When I experienced my Kundalini energy rising some 20 years ago, I had a vision dream. It was nothing Buddhist or Hindu. I saw myself as a Han dynasty scholar and warrior dressed in the traditional Han clothing. I did a MCO in the dream literally using my own body. I woke up with a kundalini energy rising experience. I am ethnic Han Chinese. I studied neither Taoism or Buddhism prior to my Kundalini energy rising experience. During the past years, I have been having countless of dream visions about various sambhogakaya beings...from a Quan Yin like figure, to an Ayran/Hindu looking abbot monk, to a Han Chinese Taoist immortal with a glowing white chest. BTW, those who are really well versed with Taoism and the history of various Taoist schools, what does it mean, in a dream vision, when you see a Master emitting white light from his chest/heart. I saw this immortal twice back to back dream visions. He kind of looks like me but not quite. He was wearing the traditional Han clothing. In the first dream vision, I was looking at his face and saw his eyes emitting white light. He was looking at me very attentively. Next night, I saw his chest emitting white light standing in front of an altar. I get the sense that he was showing me certain Taoist techniques.

It's as though the world and all the people around me turned to glass, everything seems so transparent and I don't see a reason, or feel a desire/passion to do much of anything at all- I don't see anything to achieve anymore. All goals that pop up once in a while are fleeting/dying constructs of the past. It's been this way for years now, although it's getting progressively worse with each passing month. The lines of demarcation between people are becoming less and less defined, their actions/words all very similar and transparent. I feel like my individuality is in a state of constant erosion, and that state is affecting my perception of/projection onto the world? Life no longer holds meaning for me personally, and that bothers me as the society I live in is very goal oriented and promotes this fierce sense of individuality within people- so I don't quite fit. I'm not having the "time of my life" or "beginning to settle into my career", as many say I should be at this age. I find life becoming more and more simple, though I feel less and less reason to try to "keep up". This causes my family grief and maybe friends of whom I no longer have contact. I tried living for them alone and it always comes to a point where I just collapse from the pressure and from having nothing of my own- no dream, dreams were very important to me, I had a few.

parrots are one thing, ravens another.... “Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary, Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore, While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping, As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door. Tis some visitor," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door — Only this, and nothing more." Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December, And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor. Eagerly I wished the morrow; — vainly I had sought to borrow From my books surcease of sorrow — sorrow for the lost Lenore — For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore — Nameless here for evermore. And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain Thrilled me — filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before; So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating, Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door — Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door; — This it is, and nothing more." Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer, Sir," said I, "or Madam, truly your forgiveness I implore; But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came rapping, And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door, That I scarce was sure I heard you"— here I opened wide the door; — Darkness there, and nothing more. Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing, Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortals ever dared to dream before; But the silence was unbroken, and the stillness gave no token, And the only word there spoken was the whispered word, "Lenore?" This I whispered, and an echo murmured back the word, "Lenore!" — Merely this, and nothing more. Back into the chamber turning, all my soul within me burning, Soon again I heard a tapping somewhat louder than before. Surely," said I, "surely that is something at my window lattice: Let me see, then, what thereat is, and this mystery explore — Let my heart be still a moment and this mystery explore; — 'Tis the wind and nothing more."..

I don't think I have consciously accepted their decision because I don't want to be a shaman. It is pretty hard and also dangerous. But what I heard from Tujana. She told us that there were many shamans in her line. She was already chosen by spirits when she was born and she didn't have any choice but to accept it. She also didn't want to become a shaman because she wanted to lead a normal life and have children (you can have children as shaman but they are in danger from spirits). But the spirit of her grandpa visited her in a dream and told her that she could only choose between dying and becoming a shaman. She didn't listen to him and after a year or so she had a stroke and half of her body was paralyzed. She was at hospital and couldn't move from the bed. The spirit of her grandpa has come into her dreams again and she accepted the offer of becoming shaman. The spirit told her that there needs to be a ritual done in order for her to be deparalyzed. I do not remember what she told us about the ritual though I know it was quite interesting but I can ask my father who remembers it for sure. But I know the outcome - she was then normal and could move. The spirit visited her again and told her that she has to seek a women with white hair in Mongolia. So they sold their only cow they had and went to Ulanbatar. There they somehow found this women after a week or so (I don't now remember all the details of this). That woman became her mentor. If she doesn't do rituals for some time she becomes anxious and has a pressure in her head too. She told us that in Buryatia it is normal that some people have this syndrome but they can still live with it without becoming shamans. They can for example heal people with their hands to relieve the tension in them. Even their governor does some massages once or twice a week and then he returns back to his work. Everyone is different. She has done our family a huge ritual which was half-day long last month when she was here. When she was in trance she touched my head and the pressure was released. I was fine for a few days. She also told me that now everything would get slowly back to normal and that it would take approximately half a year. I thought that if I would be home for 6 months that I can't be possibly cured. But it seems that some synchronicity is happening now - present events gave me a lot more hope. It seems that all the complexity that happened to me was for a reason.

Did not Solomon of the Bible write about 'purpose'. Well, I have had a pretty good shot at 'trying everything under the sun ' too My palaces were smaller and my gardens vaster, I had less concubines .... but still . I had, I think, much better quality wine. I got to the point where , a hard days work that accomplished something ( that I thought was good) . a glass of wine (or equivalent), and a comfy spot to view the sun go down (and then do my sunset meditation - which is basically; thank you for another day of being alive, regardless of how it was ) was the only real 'satisfaction' or 'purpose' . I am happy at this stage ... Solomon went on, but just here will do fine for me. I want to quote someone else anyway, not Solomon " The grave's most holy peace is ever sure, We fall asleep and never wake again;Nothing is of us but the mouldering flesh,Whose elements dissolve and merge afreshIn earth, air, water, plants, and other men.We finish thus; and all our wretched raceShall finish with its cycle, and give placeTo other beings, with their own time-doomInfinite aeons ere our kind began;Infinite aeons after the last manHas joined the mammoth in earth's tomb and womb.We bow down to the universal laws,Which never had for man a special clauseOf cruelty or kindness, love or hate:If toads and vultures are obscene to sight,If tigers burn with beauty and with might,Is it by favor or by wrath of fate?All substance lives and struggles evermoreThrough countless shapes continually at war,By countless interactions interknit:If one is born a certain day on earth,All times and forces tended to that birth,Not all the world could change or hinder it.I find no hint throughout the UniverseOf good or ill, of blessing or of curse;I find alone Necessity Supreme;With infinite Mystery, abysmal, dark,Unlighted ever by the faintest sparkFor us the flitting shadows of a dream. ....

How do you explain your past life visiting you? At first I thought it was a dream... but I was awake... like a streaming consciousness. Even if I fell asleep the same story continued; wake up to same story; sleep to same story. All night and into the morning.

Dream-Bliss, i'm happy that your curious about earthy forms of spiritually. But let me give you one tip (i know you didn't ask for it) that will save you a ton of time and grief. Don't usurp titles like "Shaman", "Palero", "Santero, "Priest"....etc. Go through the labor of self-cultivation and initiation via spirit in order to develop your own authority. Then it will be apparent to others that you have the power and charisma of a practitioner. Versus throwing out a title which may or may not be accurate to your level of skill and potentially offensive to other peoples and cultures. That being said, "The Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids" is an organization that you may be interested in. Seem like they got some juice behind there sage. http://www.druidry.org/

Chuang Tzu thought for a moment then responded with: The Art Of Nourishing The Spirit There are those who are artificial and moderate in conduct, strange in manners and live apart from society, who indulge in high-sounding talks and sharp criticism of others, all designed to show one’s high-mindedness. These are the recluses of the forests. Those who think that society is wrong love their teachings. There are those who occupy themselves with discussions of humanity and justice, loyalty and honesty, respect, humility and courtesy; teachings designed for self-cultivation. These are the social philosophers. The schoolmen and traveling students love their teachings. Occupied in talks about great service to the country and making a big name, about courtesy between ruler and subjects and order between officials and the people, topics concerned with the administration of the country; these are the courtiers and politicians. Those who wish to help their sovereign make their country become strong and expand and conquer their neighbors’ territory by force love such teachings. To go to a lake and live out in the open and fish at leisure for the object of succeeding in doing nothing; these are the scholars of the rivers and seas. Those who wish to retire from the world and enjoy leisure love such doctrines. To control one’s breathing, expelling the foul air and inhaling the fresh, to stretch like a bear and crane like a bird for the purpose of achieving a long life; these are the believers of mental hygiene. Those who wish to strengthen their bodies and achieve longevity love such teachings. But to be high-minded without artificiality, to cultivate oneself without the teachings of humanity and justice, to believe in governmental order without caring for meritorious service and a high reputation, to have leisure without retiring to the rivers and seas, and to live a long life without the constant practice of mental hygiene, forgetting nothing, and possessing everything, to be detached and infinitely dispassionate and yet to possess all the virtues; this is the Tao of the Universe and the character of the Sage. Therefore it is said that mellowness, calm, passivity and inaction represent the state of repose of the Universe and the substance of Tao and Te. Therefore it is said the Sage takes repose. From repose comes unaffected simplicity and from unaffected simplicity comes mellowness. When one is simple and unaffected and mellow, sorrows and fears cannot disturb him and evil influences cannot affect him. Thereby one’s Character becomes whole and his soul becomes unimpaired. Therefore it is said, the Sage follows Nature in his life and goes back to Nature at his death. In his quietness he shares the same Character with Yin; in his activity the same energy with Yang. He responds only when moved, acts only when he is urged, and rises to action only when he is compelled to do so. He regards his life like a floating dream and regards his death as rest. He does not plan, contrive or calculate. He shines but does not dazzle, is honest but does not rely on observing of contracts. Sleeping without dreams, and waking up without worries, the Spirit is pure and his soul is never tired. Therefore it is said, absolute purity of Character, unchangeable calm and quiet, mellowness and inaction, and activity in accordance with Nature; these are the ways of nourishing the Spirit.

Just curious to see what others think. I feel myself drawn to what I guess could be called the "Green Way." I consider myself to already be a Shaman. I feel this to be true, despite the fact I don't hold any sort of degree from professional training, because I have interacted with what I am fairly certain were spirit animals. That is how I feel I should refer to them. But the terms animal totems and power animals may also apply. Now I find myself drawn to Druidry and having a strange desire to talk to plants. I also feel drawn to return to my Shamanic practices. I stopped out of fear, which should be ridiculous, because when my first spirit animal came to me it was in a Dream Re-entry and I was still new to all of this dream stuff. I was still a Christian. You don't expect a fox t come out of the forest in a dream you have actually re-entered, a fox that was not there before, and furthermore you don't expect to be able to communicate with it. At least not if you are a Christian. So I was certainly surprised, but not afraid, and I enjoyed my adventures with a fox, dolphin, and briefly, a wolf, bear and a Native American in full, I think, shamanic dress. Then the whole tulpa thing happened, which also took place through my mind's eye, and I guess I just avoided all of it. Hardly have done much visualizing since, with the exception of my time spent using self-hypnosis. Maybe I am afraid that I can't trust myself, the validity or “reality” of what I am seeing? Or maybe I am afraid of pain? Or maybe there are just too many painful memories associated with seeing through the inner eye? Well it is time to work through the fear. Admit, Allow and Accept. Release and Let Go. That is the process. Exploring Druidry, pursuing my interest in communicating with plants. But wondering what the differences and similarities are between Druidism and Shamanism. Wondering if it will work out for me to be both. Also a follower of the Law of Attraction. Which, strangely enough, fits in very well with such Druidic and Shamanic teachings as I have encountered. Also wondering if there are any others walking the Green Way, on singular or multiple paths. Any other Druids, Shamans, or Druidic Shamans, or Shamanic Druids around here? Reading, “The Path of Druidry” by Penny Billington right now, and listening to Shamanic Visioning by Sandra Ingerman. Always open to other recommendations.

this is an interesting topic. So when I was studying Taoist Yoga: Alchemy and IMmortality recently - I realized that the Cavity of Pre-Natal Vitality as the pineal gland is what accesses Emptiness via "immutable thought." And so when the Yuan Shen is "turned around" - this is your ego spirit consciousness emanating from the heart and out of the prefrontal cortex - you turn that around to unite it with the Yuan Qi that emanates out of the heart into the pineal gland. So increasing the Yuan qi energy by focusing on the Emptiness via immutable thought (aka japa or vichara in the non-dual tradition) then also increases the yuan shen spirit light energy. In other words it is the Yuan Qi emptiness connection that actually creates the Yuan Shen consciousness light energy (as ego consciousness). Sri Aurobindo called this the three in one paradox as found also in quantum physics but Ramana Maharshi called in the "three in one unity." So for example the qigong master I studied with shared how his heart stopped for over 2 hours and yet he was walking around just fine. Now we know that for Ramana Maharshi when he heart stopped for over ten minutes he still maintained awareness and then a shot of qi energy shot from the right side of his heart to the left side, and re-started his heart. So we know from Taoist Yoga that the left side of the heart is the origin of yuan shen and the right side is the origin of yuan qi. We also know from the nondualist mind yoga jnana practice that you focus on the right side of the heart - again using logical inference as vichara. This is the left-side, left brain logical inference that, via the left side vagus nerve, is the deep reptilian vagus nerve to the right side of the heart and it can stop the heart when over-stimulated. But doing so willingly via meditation then enables transcendence of death while maintaining awareness as the "immutable thought" that goes into the Emptiness. And so we can think of immutable thought as actually yuan qi energy - what Ramana Maharshi called kundalini - and so this is what drives the spleen qi energy also. And so then this is a trance energy as immutable thought - it is pure Emptiness intention as pure qi energy-action and so as Emptiness-action it is the three in one unity via complementary opposites. Just as you can not see the formless awareness - the Yuan Qi bends spacetime and by doing so then creates the Yuan Shen as the ego spirit consciousness that also reincarnates or is reborn, and has past lives, etc. When the unification of yuan qi and yuan shen is strong enough then it creates more yuan jing - this is the secret of the White Tiger and Green Dragon copulation - and so this is also the three in one unity. I first read Dr. David Loy's book on Nonduality philosophy - his Ph.D. thesis - 15 years ago. So at first I thought of the Emptiness as a static realm that can be experienced - and since the Emptiness is in everything like manure, etc. then I thought once the Emptiness is achieved via Nirvikalpa Samadhi - then that it is - you have experienced the Emptiness and you know the Emptiness is equally in everything. this is actually a kind of nihilist view and I held onto that for several years as a kind of tantric view - there is just as much Emptiness in crap as in gold, etc. But in reality to experience the Emptiness is actually an eternal process of energy creation via the complementary opposites as harmonic resonance or purification of energy. And so this is why real Emptiness training requires full body transformation also via nirvikalpa samadhi - or as Master Nan, Huai-chin says unless you can sit in full lotus in ease for a long time - like 2 hours - not moving - then you have not obtained the Emptiness. Of course via mahayana Buddhism - there are different levels of emptiness as the complementary opposite of different levels of consciousness. And so our consciousness as yuan shen is also turning around - subconsciously - back into our subconscious intention as the Emptiness of yuan qi energy - or rather the Emptiness is that process of complementary opposites. So for example I have the experience - several times like this morning - when the very first conscious awareness I have at waking up - that very first thought - is actually the experience of my spirit light rising up from my lower body (my liver) to fill my brain and to cast light out of my eyes, as my "experience" of then waking up and looking out of my eyes! So then I know that conscious thinking and perceptions are very much dependent on this otherwise subconscious spirit light that is in the liver while dreaming but rises to the heart to emit out of the eyes while awake. And in fact, as taught in nondualism, this light projects out of a camera (our mind) but that the camera itself is like an empty box, a machine, our mind, or conceptual thought as it's said in mahayana Buddhism, and so from where does this light arise? This is of course very much the same teaching as Plato's metaphor of the Cave. We can not see formless awareness but we can listen to it. So the right brain that is aware of the spirit light has to be, and is very much, silent. This is proven by science even. Ramana Maharshi called it "sahaja samadhi." The qigong master told me, last time I saw him, that he had found out this secret that if he wanted to know the real meaning of anything then all he had to do was turn the thought around - to literally reverse the qi energy that the thought was based on - and this would create like a 180 degree spacetime black hole into the Emptiness that re-emerges 180 degrees differently back into conscious awareness as a white hole - light spirit awareness with the answer to the question! Of course we experience this day to day by when wanting an answer to remember something - we have to "let go" and stop trying and let it sink into our holographic subconscious spirit energy which stores all information and is "nondual." And so after we wake up from a blissful dreamless sleep state - then voila! The answer is waiting for us! I have seen the qigong master do this where he says, "let me go into the Emptiness" to check my aura. And so he uses his intention as his qi energy to go into the Emptiness - to turn his spirit light around 180 degrees as literally a spacetime vortex and then the qi energy increases his yuan shen energy reading of the aura light. So he had already picked up the aura light - just by the normal interaction. This is just as with quantum physics - once two photons interact then they already have non-dual signalling - superliminal, faster-than-light communication - but science has to test this "after the fact" by measuring it. So in meditation when we go into the Emptiness even the qigong master says you don't experience your own ego awareness - it is just like in deep dreamless sleep - only you have consciously chosen to travel into the Emptiness! And then the Emptiness guides you by harmonizing, instantly, the information it received, and providing the answer back! This is literally called the Law of Phase Harmony in quantum physics - by Louis de Broglie - and it really does prove there is faster-than-light information signalling that inherently is based on complementary opposites - in other words the nondual formless awareness guides the light signal - this guiding is called the "pilot wave." Scientists have thought this was just "theoretical" and in reality it's just a false construct of the mathematics. That is, until recently, when an experiment was set up that officially "disproved" Einstein scoffing at the notion of real non-dual awareness guiding information at a faster then light speed. Indeed by going into the Emptiness we can then get information from the future - but the only way to do this (and again this is how Kurt Godel, the logician, proved time travel is possible, is that it is not YOU that is traveling into the future, you can not have any desires to travel into the future, in other words. Only the impersonal yuan qi energy can travel into the future. And so if the heart has truly been opened up then this connection is made all the time - Ramana Maharshi called it the eternal I-I energy of the heart. So again that would be the Yuan Qi emanating out of the right side of the heart-mind soul and then connecting to the Yuan Shen as our personal ego spirit awareness and that process goes on eternally. And so as an internal process - the more we focus on it then the more Yuan Jing physical transformations occur. But on the other hand "we" are our yuan shen personal spirit consciousness don't need to focus on it at all if we have already achieved what Ramana Maharshi called "Mouna Samadhi" or silence samadhi, the highest samadhi. So there is no personal spirit ego intention at all - only the intention of listening to the source of energy itself - the Yuan Qi emanating as eternal energy transformation. Of course the Mahayana Buddhists say this is not far enough because the body needs to be transformed for real Supreme Complete Enlightenment - and so we can say that the full lotus body position enables a deep level of Emptiness while at the same time creates motion of energy that inherently resonates as complementary opposites energy - it inherently is transforming the holographic interaction of the body with the universe for the new creation of Yuan Jing energy. And hence the numerous physical transformation bodies are possible and mass healings around the world and around the universe even - and finally the dissolving of the personal physical body itself as the Yuan Jing essentially goes into like a black hole of the whole universe - and merges into the formless awareness itself of the Yuan Qi energy that will again create eternal transformation. So can we "function" in such a state? In reality the more shakti or energy transformations that are experienced, the less of "You" that is experiencing it! this is the true paradox of nondual training. It is the Emptiness itself that is manifesting through you and so you become an "empty" container of the energy. Of course this requires deep harmonization or purification training- the Emptiness is not some static state that is equally found in all things. No it is a process of harmonic resonance training - and so it is a fine tuning of energy that is very difficult to achieve and yet it is possible. So it is said only a half dozen people on Earth at any time have achieved this state of functioning while in the nondual reality - which means they have achieved the state of having their heart-mind permanently resonating into the Emptiness beyond death - with every breath they take! The problem with this is that the nondual philosophy is actually still based on the Vedic symmetric logic - for example I mentioned Ramana Maharshi saying it is the "I-I" awareness resonating out from the heart-mind. This is itself a symmetric analysis - I-I is like "one-One." And so there is already a built in axiomatic logic, like with Brahman defined as "I Am that I Am." The "that" being the formless awareness while "I" is your Yuan Shen intentional awareness and the "Am" is the yin/yang energy as complementary opposites (jing/qi) in this case). Another example of this is Mahayana Buddhism tells us the OHM sound naturally emanates out of the heart when the jing energy is converting to qi as the shen energy opens up - of the 2nd chakra. I have experienced this myself - hearing suddenly a loud OHM sound emanating from my heart while I was in a rainbow astral vortex of holographic energy - a nondual state. And so that is the "AM of the "I Am that I Am" axiom. The AM is the OHM - as the jing converting to qi or yin converting to yang energy. So the I-I state is the eternal state of Sattva spirit light emanating out of the yuan qi from the right side of the heart - and so the yuan qi connects a person from a post death reality back to the personal spirit ego of the yuan shen on the left side of the heart. Again if this is consciously focused on as the philosophy then more Yuan Jing energy is created - but if it is achieved as a real Mouna Samadhi state then it will also keep going on without any conscious focus on the energy. Mahayana Buddhism makes this distinction as an important one. For example you could create multiple yang shen (physical bodies) at the same time, as H.W.L. Poonja did for his birthday. As many people invited him to their houses and he didn't want to disappoint them. ONly he wasn't consciously aware that he had done this - he only found out after the fact! Now he was from the nondual advaita tradition which says that ONLY the Emptiness is real and so the fact that he personally, his Yuan Shen, was not aware of it - didn't matter that the Yuan Qi had been focused enough to create enough Yuan Jing for his multiple physical bodies. But in Mahayana Buddhism you need to be consciously aware of this action via a harmonization of consciousness (Yuan Shen) and Emptiness (yuan qi). And so for example as described in the Theraveda Buddhist monk biography of Phra Achran Mun - his meditation partner was levitating up in the air but as soon as he became consciously aware of it - then he would collapse back to the ground. So he had to train to maintain the nirvikalpa samadhi state while also being personally aware of the Emptiness energy - to harmonize his Yuan Shen so it did a 180 degree turn back into the Yuan Qi for this Yuan Jing transformation - and at the same time he could maintain awareness of this yuan shen transformation. So I would say - yes it is possible to maintain personal yuan shen awareness for the nondual reality but that it takes training and that is not necessarily needed - a good book that discusses this from a personal perspective is the book "Transcendent Dreaming" wherein a kungfu qigong student has physical transformations of other people, etc. via her dream state that goes beyond a lucid dreaming state and beyond even precognitive visions - she actually wakes up with physical jing transformations on her body still. Ramana Maharshi says we must use the mind (yuan shen) to kill the mind (yuan shen) and so it is through a sattva light experience that we then go into the Emptiness (yuan qi) even though we can not see the Emptiness and yet the Emptiness does create the light energy. And so what does this mean? It is referring - not too clearly - to the complementary opposites 180 degree transformation of what happens when we "turn the light" around back into the Emptiness - a kind of holographic mirror reality that turns things inside out and reveals their true secrets to us. It is not "us" revealing the secrets though - it is what some called God or Brahman or the Emptiness, etc. that reveals the secret. And so what is the formless awareness? It is precisely this eternal listening trance transformation of complementary opposites energy - a three in one unity of yuan shen into yuan qi into yuan jing. Or more precisely via Taoist Yoga alchemy training - yin jing into yang jing (yin qi) into yang qi (yin shen) into yang shen (yin jing). And so the nondual energy infinitely cycles like that. Ok so the spirit goes down to our liver when we close our eyes. the liver is the "green dragon" which means it transforms the yin jing energy into yin qi energy which then rises up into the lungs as steam vapor (yin qi) energy which then causes the heart (via the pineal gland and yuan shen out of the brain, via the sinus cavities and the tongue connecting the upper and lower front channels - the heart then has the "white tiger" descend into the lower tan tien - whereby the saliva of the white tiger, containing the green dragon energy (the yuan qi and yuan shen energy) thereby creates a yuan jing transformation which in turn increases the yuan qi energy of the spleen and the cycle continues. So it is said the True Intention of the Spleen is the secret of the training - and this is the intention of the Emptiness itself - the Yuan Qi energy manifestation so that it drives all the transformations - it is the root key energy that is the nondual awareness itself and yet to be aware of it requires the eternal three in one process of transformation.

But for your mind to become quiet and calm, you have to be in a meditative state. This can happen either in your sleep or in meditation. Not when you are taking a bath or playing your favorite video games. Besides, have you experienced any forms of samadhi yet? Any spiritual signs, nimitta, that you are accomplishing what you think you are trying to achieve? If not, how do you know if you know what you yourself are talking about? For the records, I have my kundalini energy rising experience when I was 18. I am in my late 30s. I am way passed that blissful feeling you get from it. I am experiencing the Clear Light Mind, rigpa, every morning. Sometimes, I would see the rigpa in my dream, in my sleep.

Is not the meditation leading to enlightenment or rigpa. Is realizing samadhi, one leve after another. This can happen in meditation or in your sleep and dream. However, having the ability to become mindful of (concentrating on one point) is required to calm your mind...to quiet the mind. How do you reach samadhi without being in a meditative state??? Don't talk about enlightenment or the rigpa or the nature of non-duality if you haven't realized even the first stage of samadhi. There are supposedly either 4 or 9 levels....in each samadhi, you are to acquire transcendental wisdom of the dharma and the nature of your mind.

Do you get those "I am so blessed posts" on your FB page?? Hahahahaha...people talking about how blessed they are because all the nice things are happening to them...yes, to them ONLY??? Here is my "I am so blessed post." Hahahahahaha....a bit different. About 5 months ago, I had 2 dream visions, back to back. In my first dream vision, I saw a nurse directing me or trying to get my attentions while I was driving and my father was with me. On the next night, I saw another nurse. This time, she was in my parent's living room. She wanted me to baby sit her 2 kids and to call her for help. And she was apparently my next door neighborhood. She was a black nurse. In reality, no, I have no neighbors like that. What happened was that few days after my first vision, my father was diagnosed with a mild stage of prostate cancer. He got his biopsy report. When I heard the news, it hit me and suddenly I realized what I must do. I didn't panic but I knew it has to happen. The dream vision was not horrifying but with a very neutral sentiment. For the first 3 weeks, I accompanied my father for his radiology appointments. I enjoyed the experience because I felt I was being a good son. Knowing that I was being guided and watched by angels, I just reacted as events unfolded. After 9 weeks of treatment, he is ok now. So far so good except that he experienced a bit of mild side effects from the treatment. He has insurance and his medical expenses were fully covered. Then, about 2 months ago, my mother was diagnosed with a sudden congestive heart failure. Pretty much a beginning of a heart attack. She was away at my sister's house babysitting her grand daughter. The first thing I asked myself was that should I have known about it???? I always praised myself for knowing the future dealing with geopolitical events around the world. Sometimes, I get signs about my own future although it may not be accurate. I looked into my second nurse dream but it was difficult to connect since she made no reference to my mother. She was in my parent's living room and my mother has been being nursed back to a stable condition in the living room (the first 7 days she had to sleep on the couch because she was still having too much fluid in her lungs). Anyway, my sister drove her back to the city and saw her local cardiologists. She was prescribed with several heart and blood pressure medications. I was very nervous the first few days because her condition didn't get stabilized until a week later. And her health insurance wasn't in order for some reasons. I got several visions about her conditions but none of them were threatening. Few of them seems to indicate a very favorable outcome. I saw some numbers dealing with either 88 or 86. Apparently, the house number of the local cardiologist is 833. The cost of the doctor' visits was still affordable and the medications aren't expensive. I just put my trust in my karma and my mother's, as well knowing that I am being watched over by my spirit guides and higher beings. I don't think they would want me to suffer emotionally because something happens to my parents. It has been 2 months since her first diagnose and she is doing fine. She is checking her blood pressure daily. In fact, her blood pressure is too low now and I have to tell her to cut down her medication dosages a bit. I did a lot of online researches on blood pressure medications and their side effects. I think I came up with a miracle find. I am having her to take co-enzyme 10 (coq10). It is supposed to strengthen her heart muscle. I guess I am blessed because the people I care about aren't suffering because I failed to do my parts. It would be a bitch if you think you are blessed but people you should care the most are suffering and dying..... I guess I am blessed because the local cardiologists didn't charge us an arm and a leg for the treatment cost. BTW, my sister lived too far away and always busy with her life. I was the one who have been with my parents and helping them to deal with their conditions and doctor's appointments...

If I really stick to my dream context, which was the impetus for this thread after all, bliss arose after absolute emotional clarity had been first realised, and then transcended.

ok, thanks. In my initial post I referred in the quote to bliss beyond freedom and peace, to 'absolute bliss consciousness'. This is not my experience, but seems to capture the sense of joy that I felt in my dream. I imagine this bliss to be an abiding bliss, certainly not a more temporal orgasmic like energy flow, or a momentary meditation induced state.

Re: ----- "I'm of the school of thought that says true awakening is about becoming more capable and useful in the world. There should be more clarity of mind, not forgetting to do important things, being apathetic, etc." ----- Yes. The quote in the OP reads not so much like "enlightenment" so much as "disillusionment" in things that had previous been followed or believed. So looking more like coming to grips with the fake culture, the brainwashing, and just stopping from assumed motivations. As if someone see through the modern fantasy, and let the modern fantasy just fall away. And it look like the pause just after that, before reality start to become apparent. Before the true dream of one's life starts to become obvious after the modern junk is rendered unbelievable. Life is play, not work. Normal thing like raising children shows that our Play is not in vain, but our "works" can easily be, and win/lose is just a game. -VonKrankenhaus

This sounds like it is spoken in anger, which makes it seem likely that you are still depressed? That is OK. I love and accept you as you are, depressed or not, and do not require you to behave in any particular manner. If you are depressed, you may also feel powerless. You are not. You can choose how you respond to this time in your life. You can choose to dwell upon it or not. The choice is, and will always be, yours. Believe it or not, you actually chose to be depressed! Nobody made you that way, even if you don't agree with me, when you are ready you will see the truth of what I am saying. I have said before that if we are constantly looking back as we walk the path of our life we can't see where we are going and will fall flat on our faces. The same if we stare straight ahead. Better to deal with this moment, right now. What is happening in this moment, right now? Is there anything in this moment, right now, to be depressed about? To be angry about? What are you feeling right now? Bring your awareness to it. Just gently be aware of whatever it is you are feeling, right now, in this moment, without criticism or judgment. Whenever your feelings begin to overwhelm you, just come back to this simple exercise. Bring awareness to what you are feeling. Maybe write down what you are feeling and anything else that comes to mind. If you need someone to listen, I am here and you can PM me. You will get through this. If you have already gotten through this, awesome! There is still anger, maybe some bitterness about it, which is understandable. But there will come a time, when you are ready, when you will glance back and see the value in your experiences. But just a glance mind you. I look back at when I was depressed, and I have a lot of regrets. I wish I had done more, experienced more. I seem to have arrived ta this time in my life without accomplishing anything of any real meaning or value. I still struggle with figuring out my dream. Only recently found a purpose for myself. Thoughts of its too late, I waited too long or I missed out keep wanting to play over and over in my mind. I contemplate ending my life, although not recently. But if I had not gotten depressed and began to doubt my Christian faith I would still be trapped in it. My former faith was making me depressed. It must have been my dissatisfaction with it and the way my parents chose to live that brought my depression on. It is what caused me to glance at that shelf at the library and try that first book on a subject I knew nothing about at the time, Lucid Dreaming. It is what allowed me to say, "To hell with it!" and try shrooms. Everything that happened to me brought me to this point in my life, was necessary for me to arrive here. So I have no anger or bitterness about my time of depression. I have forgiven my former religion and my parents, who converted me to it and did things that hurt me without being aware of the damage they caused. I have come to see that they did not know any better. They still don't. I can't change them, and shouldn't try. I need to love them unconditionally, that is the practice, this is how I am to be with others, To love and accept them as they are. No conditions. You will find your way, if you haven't already. Even if you don't, that is perfectly OK. There is no right or wrong choice. There are only actions and consequences, the choices we make and what happens as a result. You will receive no criticism or judgment from me. But I did notice your anger and so pointed it out. You will get awareness and noticing out of me...

"Typically, the freedom and peace comes first and the bliss a little later." Many years ago, I had a taste of 'peace', I found my way from feeling particularly miserable to feeling the peace stage for a day, as a contrast it was incredibly nice, it was like a jack hammer being turned off, and the silence that ensued was wonderful. I remember at the end of that day my normal thinking process finally resumed, and I could almost see the words as I thought them float into the emptiness, and start to pile up there. Not long after, I was back to normal but thankfully the jack hammer didn't turn on again As for joy, that was in a dream, when the pool filled up with clear water after flushing all the mud from out the pipes beneath the pool, I caught a branch overhanging the pool as I wasn't to stay in the water, and as I came up out of the water, I started laughing and felt 'joy'. Water in dreams = emotions, and this dream really explains my path, working through and clearing emotions, and then having to rise above even the clear emotions, which must lead to joy

Within relative truth, there is always circling and reflecting between inner and outer, subtle and gross, subject and object, and personal and general phenomena. If we cannot distinguish between personal and general phenomena, we become confused and cannot make a meaningful connection between subject and object. An example of personal phenomena is the dream phenomena that arise at night from daytime habits. In a dream we might see a house. Because this is visible only to us, it is our personal phenomena. Then, we might actually build the house which becomes visible to all who see it. This is general phenomena. General phenomena are the collectively shared, generally visible or objective habits of groups of people or societies. Different expressions of personal phenomena come together to create general phenomena which in turn leave a residue in further personal phenomena. For example, a fashion designer might introduce a new fashion through his personal phenomena. This becomes general group phenomena which might inspire another designer who in turn might create a new derivative fashion. We trust in general phenomena through agreed upon complementary gross elements and logic. For example, when we only know white sugar and have never seen brown sugar, we have white sugar's phenomena, and whenever we think of sugar, we automatically think white. We do not even need the word white because it is generally agreed upon and assumed. But if somewhere else there are people who only know brown sugar, they do not even need the word brown because when they think of sugar they automatically think brown. Those who have both white and brown sugars' habit think which sugar, white or brown? Unless our dualistic mind becomes unconscious dullness mind or until it becomes enlightened non-dualistic mind, there will always be obstructed phenomena. Where phenomena are obstructed, there will always arise true and untrue conceptions; one's truth is another's untruth and one's untruth is another's truth. According to dualistic mind, truth exists temporarily as true or untrue conceptions depending on its relation to intention and circumstances. That is why we call it relative truth. ~ Dungse Thinley Norbu Rinpoche - Magic Dance

So Nungali, would you recommend his book? I have heard of Findhorn. They have a bursar there, unlike the other spiritual communities I have heard about. I think I would like to visit there one day. Always wanted to see Ireland and Scotland anyway, and then I have a certain friend over in that direction too... I would like to hear more about this commune where you live. Is there any information about it out there? Is this it: http://www.communities.org.au/projects/homeland-community Thank you for all the info! All Else I will do as you have suggested. I have sat under a tree, not sure what kind it is, but I love the sound of its leaves in the slightest breeze. It is one of my meditation spaces. Maybe, instead of tuning into the sound of the wind in the leaves or my breath I should tune it to the tree, in the same way you tune in when you are going to listen to a person who is talking to you. Just have that assumption, that the tree will speak and I just need to listen. Think that will work? I used to have a silver leaf maple. I loved that tree, transplanted it where we used to live. Not even sure if it is still alive. Always intended to go back there and get another seedling. I have an ancient silver leaf living outside of what I call my special place, a mental place I had in my mind. This one was my Dream Tree, per Robert Moss's instructions. I wonder if I would have a greater connection with one of these trees?

Far out! This stimulated me to go a search with some names and Michael and Treenie Roads, and I got a hit, with them mentioned in it, a womans story about her journey of communing with nature and a photo of our place before I was here .... https://elizabethinsightsandencounters.wordpress.com/making-friends-with-plants-and-becoming-at-home-with-nature/my-return-to-the-city-and-an-introduction-to-natural-healing/ Commune ? Psssh !, its just a ramshackle hippy caravan settlement . HA! The community got built a bit after that ... and not by people that went on to be new age book sellers and channellers , a few that did come from here back then. But some people DID GET THE REALITY of that dream ( commune and live with and in nature ) actually manifested ( after the Aquarian visionaries ran off to be 'successful' in various types of 'new age marketing' and left their untogether mess behind ) ( Ohhhh, the things I know about all of that ! )