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yes we can talk about lucid dream, but the mechanics how it is related to body and the visual center etc. Not about the scenarios.

you ofcourse. If you have lucid dream, why are you so passive agressive, your presence is asking for some kick ass.

guys have you seen lucid dream? what is nervous system connection. after that there is some other questions. But you rebuked superiority and attacking, so i have my doubts of having lessen the naivety here what reeks over the borders.

This is a continuation of the universal shamanic tradition. There were several ways to become a shaman, but all of them were decided upon in the spirit realm -- ancestral spirits chose the human body to initiate, and the initiated shaman kept in touch with them to find out who, and how, to initiate next. Typically it was the student, the apprentice, or else a blood relative, who in some cases didn't even get the training in the material world but had the "receptive vehicle" of a body due to being related to the shaman. In such cases, the shaman, usually on deathbed, transferred his or her entire spirit and all the knowledge to the new shaman. The lay tribesmen were well aware of this method of transmission, so the new shaman wasn't even treated as new -- it was the same shaman, the same spirit, and many tribes believed throughout their existence that they always had one and the same shaman from the beginning of time, who just went through merging with different bodies as generations passed by. One such situation is described in a book titled "Entering the Circle," by a Soviet-era Siberian psychiatrist (now living in the US) who was faced with this weird case in her practice. A young man came to see her seeking professional help, he thought he was rapidly losing his mind, and it was somehow connected to his uncle, a shaman who kept his shamanic side secret until it was time for him to die. He visited his nephew in a dream and told him that it's his destiny to be the new shaman. The young man was freaking out, terrified and confused and depressed, up until the moment of the actual transfer (that took place the moment his uncle died), whereupon he acquired a completely new and totally confident demeanor, dismissed the psychiatrist on the spot telling her that her services were no longer needed, and proceeded to fulfill his destiny (and, eventually, hers too...)

Clear light can refer to about three different things. 1. The inseperable clarity and emptiness of the mind, called kun gzhi, Buddha Nature etc. in Mahamudra. "Emptiness" in this specific context means you cannot point to clarity with your finger. You cannot find clarity, nor get rid of clarity. 2. The usual meaning of clear light is when the winds (vayus) are slowed down to a significant extent. Winds and mind are the same thing, so if the winds move subtlety that is considered "subtle mind". Clear light of sleep occurs naturally every night when the winds reconfigure. In dream yoga, you enter the clear light of sleep, and from there you enter a lucid dream. Basically the same thing as wake initiated lucid dreaming, although its combined with transmission of course. Natural death is similar.

It's Six Yogas of Naropa. I first read this as a teenager in Garma C. C. Chang's translation, there are more modern translations available. This is largely a work on dream yoga, but has some consideration of consciousness transference when one is dying and using it to reanimate a corpse. in terms of Daoist technique's Professor Jerry Alan Johnson's books on Daoist magic have some interesting information. This is an interesting sounding project, but it is definitely advanced work, but the training that would have to be done would be worthwhile in itself. ZYD

This will be in a couple of parts, as he is emailing me each answer one by one. Which is pretty cool as it is obvious he's putting a lot of thought into this. The questions chosen were: question 1 re Tradition Tao has local and non local Spirits a Traditional Taoist Initiate knows both and helps you to make contact with them Initiation ritual is an introduction to these spirits If you are honest about your self these spirits can introduce themselves to you Initiation Ritual is a time to check your honesty or sincereity it is a kind of mirror for you to look at your self while Tao transcends culture some local spirits are culture bound as are some people so local Chinese spirits need Chinese initiation so advantage of Traditional teaching or formal study is to know spirits from accumulated tradition this also might help prevent wrong imagination of spirits question 2 originally Taoist martial arts have full spirit invocation practice before form practice some residue still seen in salutation or raising hands choreography at beginning or end of practice always invoke spirits you work with at beginning and give thanks at end sometimes there is complete invocation and convocation meeting before martial art practice and so it is assumed part of later training communists remove ritual movements from forms as they believed it "superstition of old men" alchemy of martial art practice always witnessed by spirits but if you not acknowledge them then your alchemy can become only about personal power and your spirit will become smaller even making you more fearful and afraid instead of true Tao communion with greater spirits who can help and teach you so you become helper to the greater spirit world and fullfill potential of real human as allie of Tao. 3 -Aggressive Emotions this pertains not to the form of practice but the emotional nature of the practicethat is to say if you think of harming someone with anger in your technique or movement you are using hatred as a form of Black Magic and you can nurture this in your techniques and movements and so perfect your hatred forging it into your techniqueby doing this you become smaller and darker with each practice and with each practice you move further away from the Spirits whose desire is to welcome you into the Path of the Tao. originally prior to any practice you banish demons and hatreds so they do not infuse themselves into your practice and you then also invoke the Deities and spirits you have as assistants---self defense as practiced in the Tao is an act of balance in life so emotions are carefully regulated but not forbidden. If you do not take the time to purify yourself before practice of any kind---then your practice will forge what is present within you --- and that is often not known til the moment of regret arrives and you find yourself acting in a way which is not your true self... 4. Love and Compassion This is about perspective on beings. The big picture. In the landscape of the earth the human is short lived and weaker than many animals...such a weak and small creature who is so slow to understand requires the friendship of greater spirits to assist knowledge of life. If you have a good Father who teaches you then you know how the greater can help the lesser. So it is also when you have alliances with higher Spirits. You can then express this to those of your level and less...this is Chi which is actual Virtue demonstrated in Behavior of what in the west is called Compassion. further note on developing love-----this is a form of kindness and understanding `(not condescension) usually experienced through having a good teacher. It can also be experienced through reading written material or meeting a teacher in a dream if one does not have access to a living teacher. The higher Spirits can get to you if you invite them. In fact at times they seek to correct the work of bad teachers by appearing to students in dreams or in totems like strange meetings or encounters with animals or spirits... This transcendent understanding kind of love is not the same as erotic love. Erotic love is also part of Tao and is an aspect of nature connected to the seasons - mainly spring time. Because of its power to over ride the sense of balance the Taoist view is to seek to balance the erotic drive. This is not through repression but through regulated expression according to season. Wine, meat and spice tends to amplify the erotic force so these things are considered necessary to regulate...and they are substances which in themselves can also be used to regulate erotic drives...in fact all five senses and their extensions need this regulation since all is building up in the spring and in general toward every full moon...ones physical practices wether yogic or martial also follow these cycles... Internal Power vs Skill "Internal" implies something kept in a family, country or within ones body. So the general idea is something which is contained and rarely expressed. In the traditional Chinese family the love between the father and son or mother and daughter is not spoken about in public. Rather is is felt in the atmosphere of the room as a kind of Chi. To speak about it would use it up. Internal Power is like this. It is about something held in reserve. One could say in western language it is about the power of the Will. But it has substance. So it is connected to individual freedom or autonomy. Skill is technical as in a craft like making a musical instrument. It is in the real sense "Gung fu" or "Work-through-time -with a human". In defensive arts one could win technically and yet somehow still feel in ones heart that one is inferior to the opponent one has defeated. How to explain this? Perhaps your opponent allowed you to win? so this feeling of encountering what is superior and yet being more clever---how to explain this? so this shows what you can call "Internal Power"...this is deeply connected to the human character and its capacity to carry devotion to a great cause or even a demonic one...in the West you could say this is connected to what is called "Sub conscious" or "Un conscious" but Taoist believe there is no "Un conscious" just very conscious Spirits using you and you do not detect it til you look for it! But Internal Power could also be simple domination of another through power of concentration of Will...a kind of hypnosis. Usually talking or giving a drug or some kind of suggestion is used with this...magical gestures while talking or some secret ritual to manipulate the Will of the perceived adversary is often used...this too is "Internal Power"...Even simple gossip to wrap ones enemy in veil of misconception is an example... Loss of Training methods most of what is lost is secret of Time. People do not use star, constellation, time of day for training. Season very important. Your age also very important. Location very important. Not practice in park or public. Intent to show off and tell others is not inwardly directed for personal alchemy. Actually secretism has its own power and can be used also for good effect not just for evil purposes. Good deed done in secret better than good deed for others to see. Spirits see all and reward accordingly but usually not with money. Also some technical methods like combing horses hair with skin of palm, or iron cones which cannot be lifted due to shape (like human breast) or hitting water or slapping candle---these things not done any more which also have healing functions---not to mention long term work with partner on tactical hands on technique for hours a day til movement is without specialness but intensely intelligent...use of handling human skeletal bones on full moon and other things which impart to body special intelligences also very good...but all must be done with alliance with good Spirits and with good outcome in mind in accordance with the Greater Tao otherwise one just becomes small devil in league with large Devils... Person to person training better to try from book than bad person who will help you lose faith in all teachers...intelligent person can learn from all things. That is way of Tao. Personal relationship with good teacher where both parties are in accord will transmit full tradition unimpeded. That is the best way. Otherwise one collects experiences and divines ones own path from a multitude of persons and experiences. This also works. Good student can extract good from bad teacher but is often burned from such an experience. Even Chang San-feng after 10 years at Shaolin had to have his pride balanced by having his sparks driven out by the Fire Dragon in Wu-Tang mountains...Bad student learning from Good teacher will pervert teaching due to his own bad nature and then will transmit dirt to others...this then pollutes society but will in time be balanced by opposing forces...all in time. It has been said good student harder to find than good teacher...Even bad student wants reputation of having studied with the best teacher! Practice Time best time for modern student is during and after sunrise and round sunset. Modern times require special knowledge of point of change or transition phase...Sun is easiest most positive and best teacher. Moon good too but can make one prone to moodiness unless balanced with sun. Intensity practice toward full moon and then go back to very mild practice for new moon or rest...and meditate more. Yin Chi Yin is "Shadow" so actually from dark part of moon. Full moon is least Yin of all moons. Most expressive. Moon magnetic and watery (Kidneys) compared to Sun which is electric...Earth has both powers like children have mother and father in them...so is not pure Yin. Mineral composition of earth allows for Yang and Yin forces from Cosmos to flow through it giving birth to elements etc. Still most practitioners seem to have feeling earth is female. Don't know if Canon or other sources are clear about this since we look at stars and constellations. But feet on earth very much and yes grounding good since we have natural and permanent relation to earth not like birds which can fly. Yes we can fly but it is not the same. It is not in our nature unless we transcend our nature. But in Tao we always first and primarily work WITH nature. Then after that we understand nature then we can transcend it -- but we cannot skip steps...it must be gradual and step by step. That is alchemy. Always alchemy is grounded. Earth makes gold and earth is "grounded". Human body no different -is miniature earth. In Taoism we borrow Chi from Big Earth and put in our small earth body. So we need contact. All our alchemy is about borrowing forces in a conscious way. Cloth bottom shoes allow grounding. Silk and wool best to ground. Also warm when wet. Cotton cold when wet---not very healthy. Some use animal skin of Tiger or Ram or Stag to sit on. But this is not considered auspicious unless you are given it or find it without killing. Like I-ching book it is always more auspicious if it is given to you freely and perhaps `"by accident"...otherwise there is the idea of something stolen...not truly yours...let things find you. Copper mineral becomes warm in hand easily especially right hand... iron magnet in left hand or as ring on finger...and gold thread in cloth very helpful...old embroidery often placed in clothing to help chi circulate as with silver and gold thread over heart or along spine...minerals worn on body near places of pulses...very good...all simply connects you to earth more clearly...and once experienced can be dispensed with. You cannot un-ring a bell. Ancient Schools All now is in fragments. Now if we wish to know tradition we must follow stream back to river and origin. Even "paper carrying" Taoists (!!) must do this. Never confuse political power with actual alliance with Spirits! A good school regular hours a kind patient teacher who admits he or she does not know everything lack of melodrama good tea (perhaps in West good coffee!) old people exercise and laugh young people can be intense and true to ideal part of local community very much and always has work study for poor students but not exploit poor student-just exchange but as far as learning real passage of knowledge is individual and person to person. Not in a group. But training in two person exercises very necessary and is good in group. Sexual Retention Implies Sex needs to be "retained"...well perhaps due to media in West this is so. At present in modern West people are sexually stimulated daily. This can be relaxed with a sort of fasting from media...try a few days and see how you feel. No tv or computer or phone. Traditional Chinese way is to follow seasons for this. But human unlike animal desires to have sex at times other than Springtime! so some regulation is necessary. Also humans have sex for pleasure not just for progeny so is different. Less sex gives more energy for physical activities and if one is a martial arts teacher or having a physical job this is necessary or one can become weak. Kidney energy very important. Chinese view is this is inheritance from parents and so is also connected to memory and Will of ancestors and respect for them. How to do it? what is against nature and what is fighting nature? Tao has principles and techniques. Water flows down. Sex is natural urging. How does natural become un-natural? this is real question for human to ask. So Taoist idea is not to stop sex like some Buddhist schools. At same time in male sperm is only ripe at certain time and so must be changed otherwise one is merely carrying the dead-perhaps in more ways than one! Old time table was quite strict...around 15-25 man can release once a week, 25-35 every two weeks and 35-45 every three weeks and at 50 once a month and after 50 one should stop emitting. This is for life span of 120. Most men in West die at 70-75. So here you get the math. Basically from old view Western man has sex twice as much as he ought for Taoist life span. Of course life in modern times much more stressful and quietness is not practiced and moreover is considered inconsiderate due to need for work production for society. And if married and partner has desire one needs to consider needs of one another. So old rules can be adapted. Sexual process for women similar. Fertility declining with the female as capacity (not necessarily desire) declines with male. However both sexes can have desire ripening and lessening at various times in their lives. Sexual desire often directed by Spirits and also Ancestors. It is not just "You" who wants to have sexual relations. Other spirits participate. Thus one can feel "driven" or "possessed". So some kind of "Spirit Hygiene" can help with this. Correct Ritual and meditation practices, etc. For young women vegetarian diet with intense physical activity can all but stop menstruation. Fertility however will remain. This is important for them to know. Idea that women must lose blood by nature not an absolute rule. Depends on level of physical activity and diet. And young men also who are working physically intensively and not near womens smell will also often forget about sex. So much depends on smell and proximity. This is why Monasteries were found effective for Spiritual research. Monastic life not about repression but about expression. Very intentional concentration-so men and women separated. Not for everyone. And not permanent. Just for a time. As for special gymnastic for man not emitting this can be done for birth control (very old tradition) but unless started when young (puberty) can be too painful. Also can cause stones in kidneys and so one must drink more water and have a bit more salt in the diet to dissolve extra minerals which back up in kidneys and bladder. If one tries this kind of thing in middle age it is a bit too late and hard on the body but this depends on the individual. Certainly if one talks about doing this for months or years this is in opposition to nature and Tao and there is a price to be paid. One can attempt balance via special breathing and forms of chi-gung but please remember to increase movement of breath in the body will make any imbalance increase! first there must be some balance---in Tao we go to Stillness. Then concentration. Otherwise breathing exercises merely make ones problems more. Like blowing on a fire. Various sicknesses can result. For women if they do exercise to make vagina more contractile it is good to prevent or relieve prolapesed uterus. Muscular exercise for both sexes in urogenital region good for health and old age. Of course not too much. It is medicine. Every three days to do some good. Also some ideas of sexual "control" due to Confucian view of women as "taking" from man. These ideas degenerated to foot binding and other various unnatural acts. One can become less than human through unnatural practices. Then what is one? 13 Spirit Communication extremely personal and generally not to be shared with others except perhaps teacher spirits identified by traditional description of texts and from teacher with overlapping personal phenomena of omens, totems, synchronicities, dreams all contribute to verification as well as any direct or dramatic experience all phenomena needs to be carefully examined and not cause for personal glory if one exploits or attempts to exploit Spirits they usually depart if they dont then we can truly question their identity generally spirit work is similar to conversation with a trusted friend and so is not to show to others a simple check is to see if the Spirit likes exactly what you like- if so that can be a problem-it may simply be your ego or personality extension another way is to put up imaginary black veil and see is spirit can express through it if so then it is at least powerful enough to come through your intentional block and therefore not merely imagination 14 Ba gua vortexes Ba gua has synthesizing quality and so it is good to be eccentric yourself otherwise the weirdness factor may be too high it is not for everyone so protection ritual very necessary to filter out parasites of all kinds

there in the limelight the universal dream for those who wish to seem

im sorry, i think its because we are all doomed. The practice is too slow in my eyes there is nothing to do. A dream yoga(or insert here any other), to me sounds like i need to step up and walk to practice, that is subpath or side road. If you would quit a job and see what will happen, that i call Great path, because you quit a job before you are kicked out for real.

and for the record, when you have lucid dream your life goes down. You will be sent to the cavity or hole what is black that means you going to the hell, its under the earth. And worst you will start serve sensual beings and promote sensuality.

Why did Indian Buddhism attack Tibetan Bon? From this documentary it seems Buddhism was very active in trying to completely erase Tibetan Bon tradition and it's teachings, which weren't so dissimilar, also Buddhist attempts of making Bon seem primitive/Barbarian etc. Why is it around 2500 years ago you have these religions springing up hell bent on destroying native/ Pagan traditions the world over? In Europe it was Judeo-Christianity attacking Paganism. In Asia it appears Buddhism played that role. It's as though 2500 odd years ago a well organised group wanted to destroy/re-write history, take large parts of it as it's own and veil other things. I lucid dreamed awhile ago being a monk and leaving a temple, for some reason this seems connected. The landscape seems similar ^ There was conflict between groups in this dream as with ^ I didn't want to be part of it. I was gifted 12 golden candles though I didn't accept them, putting them in a cupboard in the monastery and left.

Hi Steve, I`m a little late to the Dream Yoga party, and just started listening to the free recordings now. Also considering enrolling myself in the Glidewing workshop coming up in a few days. Perhaps you have an opinion: Is the workshop likely to provide something more than I would get simply by listening to these recordings on Facebook?

None of us believe in the supernatural. There is only the natural universe. If our science hasn't probed into some area of reality yet, our ignorance of it doesn't make it supernatural. I wish you the best Small Dream, I hope your practice works out well for you.

Small Dream, That is the truth. Literally, all we do is study what John taught Kosta and Jim, and nothing more. What we study is the same as what the Indonesians study, Jim was tested level by level by John himself. About our experiences, we can't talk about them here for obvious reasons. No, we do not think of ourselves as special magical beings as you put it, this is something anyone who puts in the effort with the correct methods can experience. Our experiences are not hallucinatory, nor are they internal feelings. We can answer questions, but not here in this environment. You say you are done and I certainly hope you mean it. I hope your practice works out well for you.

heheheh Ouro Preto, Brasil oh, about my sexual urge, i don`t know if there is any practice saying anything about it, but I just practices the Vipassana equanimity and qigong Song - relaxation, and the feeling on my penis backed-up and became a cozy warm feeling on my body, and a feeling of light heartedness as if my heart were dissolving. when i went to sleep i felt the same feeling of lightness and dissolving in my heart and my legs, and eventually i felt as if my heart had stopped and i kinda of left my body in an astral projection, not very lucid though, i remebmer being on a dining room, and came back to my body. The practice that I mentioned is to unblock sexual blockages and cause a sexual healing, which, in my view, is essential for advanced practice of Qigong. this last week`s dreams were very intense indeed... not sexual, for the first time in years, but very dark and scarry, which i believe is a good sign because it probably means that i going through a cleansing, If this "sexual treatment" really works and i stop having nocturnal emissions spontaneosly, that probably means that my inner journey will get very accentuated so I guess i guess that i need to be ready for visions and scarry shit from the Lower Astral Planes, which we go through before accessing the Superior Astral Planes and dimensions of light. one interesting dream that i had...I wanted to urinate, and as i started, i noticed I was pissing blood, it was scarry, this blood started getting thick, and eventually seemed like tomato juice in texture and color, I was in horror, I thought that I was really sick and probably was not far away from my death (I did not know that i was dreaming)... hehe the thing is.. i think this dream represented all the sexual impurities (including repression) that was blocking my energetic body, and how i was pissing them all out with the practices that i mentioned above. Had some other dreams with Demons and stuff, not cool at all, but I know it`s part of the process, so i just observed my fear and bad feelings, I consider it to be a kind of catharsis, so I observe it equanimously, withour reacting to it (just like with sexuality). anyways... about sexuality, it is interesting to mention Dionisus, the God of immortality, and how he is represented naked, his symbol is wine (bliss) and the myth in which he is cut down into pieces and thrown into a cauldron, and only his penis stays left out. And Narcisuss`s myth with Echo, which represents the rejection of the Female, and how she becomes solidified and pale because of this. I could go on and on, with examples of my life and myths, etc, of the importance of curing oneself sexually, first of all to be happy, and second to have a solid foundation to further practice and spiritual evolution. Oh... Goldleaf... about your retention practices... just a note.. you really must analyse why you are doing these practices... is it for self knowledge, for spiritual unfoldment?? because I can guarantee you that the process of knowing one`s self is very subtle, it involves the mind, emotions, feelings, physical body, energy, alot, alot of subtle, subtle dimensions, and not just sticking three gross fingers in the perineum and then milking your penis. Another thing, instead of doing this stopping method, you can familiarize your self with Vajroli Mudra... which is contraction of musces associated with the uniary and ejaculatory tract, to exercice them, you must stand in front of the loo when going to urinate, relax your whole body, and try to stop your urination just with your muscles.... note, it is important not to contract any other muscle, so you must not twitch you buttocks, nor your perineum, nor your anus muscles, and not the muscles on the lwer base of your penis. Try to contract and isolate only the muscles that are behind the pubic bone, nside your body... practice takes to perfection. Then, while meditating or during ANOTHER practice, you can try and strengthen all those other muscles and isolate all of them one from another. when stopping ejaculation this the muscles associated with Vajroli Mudra, much less semen stays stuck on the ejaculatory tract. But again my brother, when you solve your sexual issues and remain equanimous, you will certainly not ejaculate, and the ejaculation will turn into bliss, so this practice is just so that, while you sincerely try with patience and persistence to retain your ejaculation by observing your pleasure without reacting to it, neither piostive nor negatively, IF it happens that you really ae completely invevitably going to ejaculate, then you contract Vajroli Mudra to hold it in.... note.: During some practices i already have spent even up to 15 minutes on the "no turning back point", I thought that I had to do vajroli mudra to hold the semen in, but if I did it, I surejy would have an ejaculation urge, so i remained equanimous... for 15 minutes, and then it subdued. best

Small Dream, Literally, all we do is review what Chang told Kosta and Jim, and nothing more. That is it. We all practice as much as our lives allow for, and we are all working to do our best to better ourselves and get to a point where we can focus on training full time. Our experiences are not internal feelings. We are doing our best, and if you disagree then you disagree. I hope your practice works out well for you, but you and I are done arguing.

If you see things that way, then so be it. I've tried to be as polite as possible while expressing a different way of seeing things. Goodbye Small Dream, and I hope your practice works out well for you.

Over the years I've seen quite a few people rise up as masters, grandmasters, gurus and the like. I have basically been presented with two views on this matter. 1. A master is a person with a certain degree of learning and skill, be it in martial arts, NLP, Academia, Chi Gong, etcetera. 2. A master is a person who is one with the Dao and is immortal. (See also living buddha, or saint) In many cases, particularly in the case of Asian martial and cultural arts, somebody achieved mastery by the first definition and then proceeds to believe, act and be accepted as a master by the second definition. I have spent many years of my life studying eastern philosophy, culture, and martial arts and have found an explanation for this that I tend to find acts as a functional guide to such matters. In Chinese history there was an ancient attitude that China is the sole civilized world and everything beyond its borders is barbarian wilderness. This attitude elevates Chinese culture to a divine status within the context of said definition. Because of this anyone who wished to have any influence and rank in ancient Chinese society must be well versed in the traditional rituals, arts and knowledges of their ancestors. These arts, by the very fact that they are Chinese are divine knowledge. Anyone who masters martial arts skills, caligraphy, or has masterful knowledge of the Chinese classics is essentially the divine in human format. This divinity is revealed in the form of artful documents, breaking bricks, healing the sick and governing according to precedent. This attitude is very Confucian. It is also an attitude that has many parallels with Socialism in the context of western academic and scientific communities, as well as fundamentalist Abrahamic religions. According to academic institutions, the only people qualified to guide a person into the framework of their own soul (Psychology) or to heal the sick (allopathic medicine) are people who have completed extensive socialization rituals in the framework of an academic context. The foundations of western scientific and social knowledge are based upon our civilization being the most civilized civilization ever to have existed in millions of years of human evolution. In fact, according to the Marxist ideal that has formed the bases of social sciences, civilization did not even begin until Mesopotamia, and after many failed attempts finally reached a pinnacle in the modern west. On the other hand, I have heard many followers of fundamentalist Abrahamic religions consider their own form of cultural knowledge to be the only valid viewpoint and that all others that disagree with them are incorrect. From this framework I have to question the validity of claims made by masters of Asian cultural and martial arts that their knowledge somehow qualifies them to spiritually guide others. I even question the validity of Qigong and yoga masters as to the validity of any claims to spirituality, as the modern incarnations of these arts are more oriented towards health, or martial arts, and less oriented towards spirituality. Even if someone were a master of a spiritual tradition, I would still question their validity as a living buddha, immortal wayfarer or saint. Tradition in my experience is not the same as reality. Many people who quest after spiritual knowledge in the context of a traditional framework often find that people may possess an authentic degree of magical or energetic skill while still being a pitiful excuse of a human being. Horror stories of encounters with life-force stealing vampires, dark sorcerers, cult leaders, and sex maniacs abound in modern and ancient literature surrounding this subject. In fiction, which is drawn directly from collective dream consciousness, and often reveals the archetypal nature of situations, sorcerers, wizards, witches, shamans, priests, and magicians are just as often evil as they are good. In the Teachings of Don Juan by Carlos Castaneda, Don Juan (a Yaqui Shaman) defines the four enemies of a Man of Knowledge. 1. Fear 2. Clarity 3. Power 4. Old Age Clarity and Power are the domains associated with spiritual teachers and sorcerers. Don Juan makes the point that upon achieving clarity, the act of seeing clearly must be treated as almost a lie or it will just blind a person and they will fall into an egotistical path enhanced by their own clarity. Power the second enemy, must be recognized as an enemy as well or the power will just control the person and bolster their egos. An egotistical person who believes in absoluteness of their own vision, and the greatness of their own power, is unable to achieve oneness with the Dao/universe/God/Goddess, and is very likely to fall into the trap of becoming a dark sorcerer by their tendency to use their clarity and power for their own personal gain. When a person fundamentally believes that they are better than everyone else and had a legitimate level of skill in esoteric, energetic, magical or spiritual arts they inevitably become the archetypal dark sorcerer, cult leader, or televangelist. In order to achieve oneness with the divine and become an authentic Master of Dao a person must forget the small mind and merge with the true knowledge of the shining mind. Some simple criteria for identifying this are laid out in the Dao-De-Ching, the Wen-Tzu, and The Chuang-Tzu these probably include humbleness, knowing that they know nothing, simplicity,love, kindness, compassion, detachment, balance and mysterious power. On the other hand cult leaders, dark sorcerers and televangelists are much easier to identify. Their qualities commonly include a belief in their superiority, a belief in the superiority of their knowledge, tradition, or power, a belief in their unbending commitment to the greater good even in acts of selfishness or hatred, and a tendency to dis-empower the people around them who are perceived to have lesser degrees of knowledge or divinity. They are additionally easy to offend, loud, brag a lot, and like to set themselves up as the center of attention. They may in fact posses authentic power. What are some criteria you use to judge mastery?

Small Dream, Traveling around the world to take someone to a random location, strip them to their underwear, and check them with metal, even if they are rumored to be a "master" is an expensive proposition. If you accept what John said was correct and that there were a handful like him on earth then, the odds of finding such a teacher randomly are astronomically small. I also wouldn't put in the time, effort and money unless I could bring my own team of scientists and medical doctors to convince others, no one in my group would accept my personal testimony because that isn't good enough for us. We are all quite content to complete what we have been given before looking for anything more. I can't have this conversation with you with a straight face, you go find those people and take them off our hands for us We have to keep the trolls and unbalanced people out of our forum otherwise, we wouldn't be able to breathe. Having constant arguments because of clashing epistemologies, and ideologies isn't conducive for the type of environment we want. We do this free of charge and in our spare time, so we have to limit the amount of drama and conflict we deal with. The other option which I think you would like better is to not have a forum at all, and help no one.

how small a dream ?

Small Dream, As I said we think different, and see the world differently. We don't want teachers to do anything, we just aren't interested in what they have to offer until we have "evidence that is objective" with scientists and medical doctors present to rule out fraud. As to the purpose of the system, or our goals, I don't believe I've discussed that here for a reason. Feel free to make something up though so you can attack us for it. We do not "want to be Goku" and do our best to screen out anyone with that mindset. Again you and I have reached the limit of what polite conversation can accomplish. I hope your practice serves you well, and that you have a wonderful and rewarding life, but we are done here.

Small Dream, I hope whatever you practice works out for you, but I'm not interested in talking to you further.

when you open up more then the 'creating family' you see that as a mental formation. Person will follow it like a dream, but if you get more clear about things you see it is like an option, there is absolutely no need to do it while at the same time you feel still desire to do it. If you mediate you will see impermanence of nature. And not have to delete war or have more love, its you need see how these are not you but formations.

The past couple times I've done a lot of cocoa -- I almost lose the alchemical pill while sleeping -- so I got curious - does chocolate have a lot of zinc? sure enough -- it is listed among the top ten foods for zinc! Because the only other thing that consistently causes me to almost always have a dream ejaculation is beef which is also high in zinc. I mean I almost always wake up from my dream and then stop the ejaculation halfway out the organ and then do kegel to stop it and then I go into full lotus until I feel it go up into my brain.

Unfortunately Small Dream we will have to agree to disagree.