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I have lucid dreams almost every night, to be honest. Until a few months ago I would have them maybe twice a week (even in a regular dream I knew I was dreaming but I couldn't make myself wake up or even control the dream. I could only let it runs its course). As far as being more aware of my environment around me, my other senses are heightened as well as my reflexes, but they have been that way for some time now as well. So I'm not sure if there is a connection between the two...I'll write about that in my BOS and see if one affects the other.

Eh. Sometimes a sandwich is just a sandwich, lol. Nicely put, Jonesboy, when you say that the Ten Thousand things are empty. My original point (I think?) was just that; previously when I had read and re-read this chapter from various translators, my assumption that the vision started with the inner and went to the outer. But I now read something more into it; that our manifestations are a litmus test for what our inner condition is. It's as though the lens can be turned around and the universe is viewed absolutely differently by everybody, we can't possibly see it the same way as each other. And that there is absolutely no reality at all, there's no decider (other than maybe 'W') of what reality is. To know the universe, to perceive the universe, is so entirely subjective; and for some reason during this reading of Mitchell's Chapter 12 it just sort of made me laugh. Yes, striving for all of THAT is so ridiculous and merely serves to solidify something entirely subjective that isn't really there at all. And I'm guessing the Truth Beyond Illusion that Kar3n speaks of is that Void, that Dao, that has always been and will always be that resides there within us; beyond words, beyond concept. We are the Void, and this Void is shared with how many other countless universes and buddha-lands? But even that is arbitrary. What makes one feel punched in the stomach, metaphorically, will make another feel smug, or victimized, or happy. So the Truth isn't even what we feel inside. It's only the Truth to that particular feeler at that particular moment in that feeler's state of awareness. What does seem to be constant is change, adaptation, and having to learn this dream's lessons over and over until we finally get the message. That it just Is, that's all. And yet I can't help but feel that the template of the plant growing toward the light is in operation here too. And that the operative principle is truly Reversion to the Void. To drop the baloney, the B.S., the phoniness, the mask, the arrogance, the pursuit of power, of money, of prestige; because pursuit of all those things only serves to prove that something inside us is sorely lacking. Otherwise we needn't try so hard to succeed. Or win. Just ask Mr. Trump. Perhaps we are to revert to the original human being; the metaphor being that Adam and Eve were given the choice of eating of the fruit of the tree of knowledge (and I do mean metaphor here; please nobody take me seriously). We may be gods of sorts in our original state; and yet, as much as we think we've evolved, I look at all the needless junk I have around me in my house, all my needless clothing, or jewelry, or whatever. How very far we have devolved if looked at in this way; how very far from the earth we have come, how very layered we are in our houses (speaking of the Western world predominately); and perhaps things will really have to yang out before they can yin back; it would seem to be that way if we look at the current course of our upcoming political choices. What a strange exercise this all is. Perhaps I'll shave my head and do a Buckminster.

from: http://www.technocracy.ca/tiki-index.php?page=Human+Motivation by: bill Desjardins Human Motivation in a Technate or Why People Will Work for Free /Part 2 So what incentive do these people have for what they do? Very little. There are numerous side benefits, such as status and prestige in some cases (such as programming or art), or some volunteer organizations are able to get special privileges or discounts for their volunteers. But by and large, there is no real “incentive” to do this kind of work for free. So what is left? Only initiative can explain the drive most of these people have for spending their time and energy with little or no material reward. So not only is initiative far more widespread than many people think as a motivation, it exists in an environment that actively discourages it. First of all there is the time trade-off. Time spent volunteering or similar activities can be easily spent attempting to earn money, or other form of material reward. This is particularly true of programmers, who often spend 60-80 hours out of their week programming. All the time they spend on their personal projects is time taken away from a job that may very well be paying them by the hour, or at least by completed projects, which obviously would happen less often if one is spending their time programming free software. I know that many if not most of them would prefer to be working on these projects because they prefer the process, the quality controls, and freedom from economic demands that make business programming a hassle and a strain. These programmers would, if they could, spend all of their programming time on these projects, but they know that they have to earn a living, so they get jobs, or attempt to sell some of their projects. There are also other reasons why such initiative-based work is discouraged. Outside of their respective circles, volunteers and free-product makers rarely receive any recognition for their efforts, even when they are just as deserving or even more so than the efforts of those working for pay. Not dealing with money, there is rarely any success in general advertising and marketing of their products, nor are they often mentioned in the press. Linus Torvalds was one obvious exception to this rule, but how many other free software designers have you heard of in the news? There is also the general unsaid bias in our society towards work that is paid for. It is generally regarded that if someone is working for pay, then it is good, honest work for which they are accountable, otherwise they would not be paid for it. Free products and services, on the other hand, are suspect, since the person “donating” these things has no accountability whatsoever. Herein too lies the major difference between incentive and initiative-based attitudes, and that is that accountability is an external motivator, whereas responsibility is an internal one. Upon closer examination of the communities that develop around such free-products, such as the Linux community, or the readership of a web-based comic strip, one notices that there is indeed a certain amount of accountability on the part of creator; if you don't create good stuff, no one will use it. But largely these people actually just like to produce good works, be it for the challenge, the sense of accomplishment, or even simple self-worth, there are many reasons people may state for the reasons behind their work. So now that we know that there are a fair number of people who have found the time and opportunities to give of themselves in some regard despite living in an environment that actively attempts to prevent it, the question arises as to how many others, if given the chance, would do the same? It is a common enough stereotype of the poor starving artist having to work at a crummy and menial job that drains him of his energy, health, and sense of self worth. Granted, this is far from true of all artists, but how many of us feel as though we would love to be doing something else if only we didn't have to spend so much time and energy earning a living? Very few people are currently working in their “dream job,” or even in a field that interests them. When asked why they don't pursue that field, the most common answer you would likely find is: “but I have to earn a living/enough money first.” There are also other factors that prevent this as well, most prominently the ever chaotic and fickle market. Some jobs simply are not profitable, or even entire fields. The arts is one that often falls under this category. Now ask these people if they would pursue their dream job/field if they were given for free all the education they needed for it, and then every opportunity to achieve in it, and likely many people would jump at the chance. Generally, the only people that wouldn't would fall into three groups. 1) Those who don't know what fields are available, and have thus never found something that really interests them. 2) Those who because of low self-esteem do not believe that they are worthy of any sort of achievement, or even choice. 3) People who have learned that the best way to earn a living is through “socially unacceptable” behaviour, i.e. crime. Each of these three categories are problems that can be solved, for the most part, but that we will get to later. Let us now look back at incentives. The failure on the part of the USSR and western social programs to motivate people indeed did provide a lack of incentive through their guaranteed incomes for people to work. The reason for this is because for the most part, the work that they were either assigned or given a choice of was, frankly, unappealing. Given a choice between destitution and a handy construction job, most people would take the latter. However, not many people find a lot of personal fulfilment in such work, and after a while the reasons to perform any quality of work become strictly external, i.e. fear of punishment or loss of job. However, even the latter motivator is removed when one guarantees the job, and gives birth to the phrase: “What are they going to do, fire me?” Now imagine for a moment what would happen if these people were allowed to attend school again to pursue any career they chose, be it arts, sciences, industry, or services. Do you think that their behaviour might change? Out of all the many groups we have discussed so far, including the artists, programmers, volunteers, etc., how many of them would jump at the chance to do this rather than remain at some menial labour or retail job? Now finally let us look at how the different conditions in a Technate would change the behaviour of people using all the factors just mentioned, in much the same manner as lead does once heated to a high temperature. With all the barriers of scarcity removed in a Technate, the quality of education would be unsurpassed. Every single citizen would receive the best quality education, teachers, and materials from day one, and all for free. Only the latest and most successful techniques in instruction would be used, and would be used equally in every school. They would be assessed at regular intervals, starting in early childhood, to determine each individual's strengths and weaknesses. They would be shown their strengths, how to take advantage of them, and where such strengths could be applied best. They would be shown techniques for overcoming their weaknesses, or working around them. Such information is available to us now today, but it is made scarce, available only to those who can afford it, and scattered, so that no one institution would be able to use them all. Thus the majority of our schools and universities often use outdated teaching methods, either due to lack of knowledge of anything better, or more often, insufficient funds to acquire individuals trained in these techniques, and the materials to support them. Each student would also be given a program of instruction that best suited their individual learning style, whether it be individual work, group work, or large group lectures. They would be given either books, movies, lectures, or even hands on experience depending on how they learn best. Mixtures of such styles would also be introduced in order to ensure that each student also develops flexibility, making them the best learners possible. And finally all such learning would be made fun for the student, something that often facilitates learning. During this process, and more so towards the later years in their education, students would be shown every aspect of the operation of the Technate. Field trips could be taken in mobile classrooms across the continent so that they can experience different places and things first hand. Through all this they would become familiar with all the various types of activity that people regularly participated in, as well as the importance of each. As they grow older, their interests will become more well-defined, and they can begin concentrating their studies more towards those topics which would help them in such fields. By the time the student is 25 years old, they will be fully trained and proficient for at least an entry level position in their chosen line of work. If they showed great talent and/or drive, they might even be started off at a higher position, or even started earlier. The upshot of all this is that every citizen is well aware of his or her choices, everything that is possible to do in a Technate. They are also fully aware of how the Technate operates, and which jobs are essential to its operation. This alone solves many of the problems we've previously looked at, namely lack of self-esteem, and not knowing what is available for them that would fulfil them. The complete lack of poverty prevents the majority of the third of the last list of problems, as few people would grow up in environments where crime “pays,” either by affording them sustenance, luxury, power, or even simple “cool” factor. The lack of crime would also help with this. Initiative would not only be freed up in all those that would have it normally at high levels, but would also be encouraged in everyone, so that even people with little inherent self-motivation would find it easy to participate in socially useful activities, and not simply “leech” off of the system. What we are left with then is a population with much higher levels of initiative than in the Price System, actively participating in the operation of the continental mechanism, and the pursuit of their own dreams. But lastly, what of incentives? Despite the emphasis on personal initiative throughout the Technate, there would indeed be externally based incentives. Things such as fame, respect, greater opportunities to achieve, and greater responsibilities are all external reasons for people to perform quality work in a Technate. Good scientists would be promoted to more advanced and interesting projects, excellent leaders would be placed in positions of greater responsibility (e.g. from Urbanate director to Area Control Director), and artists would have their name and works spread across the continent, perhaps even the world, to be enjoyed and praised by greater and greater numbers of adoring fans. Given all this there are many good reasons why people would not only participate in the operation of the Technate, but learn to excel as well. It comes down to what sort of behaviour does your environment encourage and reward? If that environment gives material and other incentives to anyone who can acquire the most transferable currency, then your system is going to “evolve” people that become better at this all the time, regardless of whether that activity is socially useful (or desirable), or how much you try to “fight” against it with laws and threats. However, if your environment not only encourages socially acceptable behaviour, but also supports it and rewards it as well, then your population will adapt to their new environment in order to become successful in it, and adjust their behaviour accordingly. Only in an environment of abundance can this be achieved, and only a carefully designed technological society can operate the complex of technology that makes such an abundance possible. Technocracy is the only known design that is capable of accomplishing this, of freeing millions of people to finally pursue their dreams, rather than merely a scarce supply of dollars. Bill DesJardins March 9, 2004

When I was much younger, life was rough for me. I spent my early childhood and teen years in an abusive and strictly religious household. After years of feeling not quite good enough, I decided I'd had enough and I prayed to God one night and although I can't remember my exact words said something to the effect of, "God I'm very sad and I don't want to live anymore. If you can't give me a reason to live I'm going to commit suicide tomorrow." I wasn't expecting an answer, in fact I expected to go to sleep, wake up the next morning and take a bottle of sleeping pills and drink some beer. That night as I slept I had a strange dream, in that dream I was stabbed by a man and I died and my body began to float, well bob is more apt, then suddenly I was someplace else. What I experienced was beyond description, except to say it was a vast empty space, no land, no up and down, just emptiness and throughout this emptiness there were balls of white light floating around. As I looked around, trying to take in what was happening, come to grips with what seemed quite strange, I realized that I was being drawn towards a being that was obscured from my sight by bright beaming light. As I came closer I felt an immense sensation of peace and calm coming from this being. The being spoke to me in my mind and said (to the best of my recollection), "Aaron, everyone is alive to learn a lesson. Until you learn that lesson you will keep coming back here and from here you will return to the world. When you return you are reborn either in the past or future. Once you learn the lesson, you will pass on from this place. If you commit suicide, you are only putting off the inevitable." That's all this being said. He never directed me to what the lesson actually was, nor did he tell me how to learn the lesson, only that there was a lesson to learn. For a young man raised in a strict southern baptist family, it was all so different and strange. Before that moment I'd never believed in reincarnation, in fact I would've thought it to be quite mad, but afterwards there has never since been a doubt in my mind what will happen to me when I die. To say that it changed my life is an understatement. I went from a God fearing Christian to a young man in search of the truth. The reason I mention this is that I can never prove to anyone that this actually occurred, it's my own private experience, a very powerful experience that has never left me. For me to diminish someone else's experience is not only wrong, but hypocritical. If someone says they've seen a dragon, then I believe they've seen a dragon. There's no argument there, nor any reason to argue the point. We each desire something out of life and oftentimes what we desire is completely different from everyone else. If we could accept that it's fine for people to be different, that our differences actually help to enrich our experiences, then I think the world would be a much happier place. I think in a way we are quite lucky to be alive now, because there are many places in the world that are moving towards that acceptance, even if it seems to be coming along slowly. As for my lesson, well who knows if I've learned it. I spent years trying to find out what it was and finally gave up and just gave in to living my life and learning what I could. No one needs to become enlightened, eventually, in my opinion, we all will be enlightened. Sometimes I think we're all just shards from the same great ball and that one by one, as we begin to remember where we come from, we return to there. I may be wrong, and if so, then so be it. I enjoyed everyone's posts on this thread. I was hesitant to post this, perhaps because of my ego, but in the end I thought it might be good to share, since it adds one more experience to the vastness of the human experience, something we are all a part of. Aaron

I do admire anyone that shows that much determination though. My subconscious must have been impressed with their determination as well, because I was telling a couple of friends about it in a dream.

"Purpose" is a relative concept. In modern society "puspose" is like "role" or "job". Relative to the objectives of the corporations used to create an entire false culture. Programmed into people by education and media. So it is like asking "what should I be doing for the corporations right now"? They are the ones who need you to do something. If you don't, they are stuck in a dream. So they have a purpose for everyone. To do and be and act as they are programmed. To do the work. To accomplish. The subjugation of Life and defeat of Nature. To render these, and you, unto private use by a few. -VonKrankenhaus

Wow. There is some really good information on this thread. Thank you again to everyone who has taken the time to input your contributions. After this thread started yesterday, I woke up this morning visualiziing a lotus flower. I had the understanding at the same time that the lotus flower is an analogy for our spine, brain stem, and brain. When the practitioner gets to the point where he has no personal foibles left, no judgments, no arrogance about 'being the first', no bigotry, no selfishness, no sarcasm, no ego....this is when the lotus-brain can fully open. The petals are receivers for all data, unencumbered by the jadedness of a particular point of view. When ego blockages and personality defects are in the way, the lotus is only able to open halfway and therefore the reception of data is restricted and colored by preconceptions. Normally, I no longer dream. Or if I do, I no longer remember them. I wish I could. But on three occasions within the last year a strange thing has happened. Twice I've awakened in the morning being aware that I have been reading ancient scrolls in my dream. The scrolls are close to my face, and the words in the scroll flash in front of my eyes, much like the streamer on CNN. I recognize the words, but the part of my brain that can string the words into an understandable sentence is not awake, apparently. This has happened twice, the ancient scrolls. Yesterday I woke up reading not an ancient scroll but a college textbook about something very heady. Again, I remember understanding each and every word (and they were lengthy and academic words in the textbook) but not being able to attach them together into an understandable sentence. In other words, I think the information is getting into my psyche in some fashion, but not with my cohesive awareness. Has anyone experienced anything similar? I say this because of the mention of someone in the thread that one can't become enlightened unless certain things are read, certain truths are known. For those of us who utilize the Sage as our model, and do so earnestly, we haven't studied these particular works mentioned which are necessary for enlightenment (according to some). However, the Sage possesses the three treasures of 'Never Too Much', 'Never be the First', and 'Love'. By reading, studying, and internalizing the Tao Te Ching, is it not possible to develop these three treasures? Is this that different from the concepts of Buddhism that may get you to the same place? To walk around in the mindset of the above three treasures would create a balance that is perfect. The Tao Te Ching is all about how to live life in the most spiritually expedient fashion, the way that works for the utmost balance. If one has gotten to the point where they are truly 'Never the First', there is no anxiety about getting somewhere on time, of feeling that there isn't enough time to do something. If they have internalized the concept of 'Never Too Much', the pig within us has been contained. And selfishness is overriden by Love, if we purge our personality of the selfishnesses that stand in the way of clarity. The Sage can get to the point where he loves others AS himself. He knows that the other IS himself.

Yes.. By comprehending causes and conditions, even causality collapses and is 'unestablished'... http://ccbs.ntu.edu.tw/FULLTEXT/JR-ENG/loy10.htm The irony of Nagarjuna's approach to pratitya-samutpada is that its use of causation refutes causation: having deconstructed the self-existence or being of things (including us) into their conditions and interdependence, causality itself then disappears, because without anything to cause/be effected, the world will not be experienced in terms of cause and effect. Once causality has been used to refute the apparent self-existence of objective things, the lack of things to relate-together refutes causality. If things originate (change, cease to exist, etc.), there are no self-existing things; but if there are no things, then there is nothing to originate and therefore no origination... ... In Derridean terms, the important thing about causality is that it is the equivalent of textual differance in the world of things. If differance is the ineluctability of textual causal relationships, causality is the differance of the "objective" world. Nagarjuna's use of interdependence to refute the self-existence of things is equivalent to what Derrida does for textual meaning, as we have seen. But Nagarjuna's second and reverse move is one that Derrida doesn't make: the absence of any self-existing objects refutes causality/differance. The aporias of causality are well known; Nagarjuna's version points to the contradiction neces-sary for a cause-and-effect relationship: the effect can be neither the same as the cause nor different from it. If the effect is the same as the cause, nothing has been caused; if it is different, then any cause should be able to cause any effect. [18] Therefore pratitya-samutpada is not a doctrine of "dependent origination" but an account of "non- dependent non-origination." It describes, not the interaction of realities, but the sequence and juxtaposition of "appearances" -- or what could be called appearances if there were some non-appearance to be contrasted with. Origination, duration and cessation are "like an illusion, a dream, or an imaginary city in the sky." (MMK VII:34) What is perhaps the most famous of all Mahayana scriptures, the Diamond Sutra, concludes with the statement that "all phenomena are like a dream, an illusion, a bubble and a shadow, like dew and lightning." As soon as we abolish the "real" world, "appearance" becomes the only reality, and we discover a world scattered in pieces, covered with explosions; a world freed from the ties of gravity (i.e., from relationship with a foundation); a world made of moving and light surfaces where the incessant shifting of masks is named laughter, dance, game. [19]

Jox, that sounds much like I do, it's energy, the energy body or dream body, and it is composed of energy. Not black or white or anything unless you want it to be a colour. The feeling I get in this state is pure joy and ecstasy. There is no other way I could describe it, how do you describe pure ecstasy?

OK, so I've talked about and shared some photos of the house we bought. A little more of the story... My mother-in-law currently lives in a retirement community near us because she had some health issues a few years ago. She can't really live on her own at this point but she doesn't need skilled nursing care, just a bit of oversight (help getting to doctor's appointments, someone to fill her pill box for her, a place where meals are provided, etc.) The place she's in is great for now but, as her memory fades and she becomes more unsure on her feet, it is just a matter of time before this very nice senior-living apartment complex doesn't work for her. She can't return to her own home for obvious reasons but she thinks she's going to be able to soon and we generally allow her to believe that as it keeps her spirits up -- we maintain that home for her but she hasn't been there for several years. She can't live with us in our current home when the time comes, though, because it has lots of stairs -- and because she and my wife can only be under the same roof for about three days before someone's life is in jeopardy (probably mine!) Adding to this, my son had a rough start at college because he wasn't ready maturity-wise. He is currently back at a university for a fourth try and this time seems much more promising but we needed to plan on being a three-generation household for an unknown number of years and needed separate living spaces for the sake of sanity. After two years of looking, we found a place that fit our needs at a price we could manage (primarily because it is way out in the country) but it needed work. The detached mother-in-law's cottage needed a handicap-accessible bathroom with shower instead of tub, which necessitated moving walls and remodeling the kitchen, etc., and the kitchen in the main house was basically untouched since the early 1960s (it needs other stuff, too, like some bathroom remodeling and such but that can wait). We purchased in October, started remodeling in November, and hope to be ready to move in late-March or early-April. How is this relevant? Well, remember how I said my mother-in-law thinks she'll be going home soon? Out of fear for how she will react to the whole thing, my wife hasn't been willing to tell her about the house until her cottage is completely finished and the kitchen in the main house is ready, too. This means that, for the last three months and for at least another, we have been making frequent trips back and forth (an hour drive between houses), hauling loads of stuff, painting, cleaning, moving furniture, etc., and "Grandma" doesn't even know about it yet. Wanna talk about a secret plan involving a new house??? Bingo! Oh, but there's more... You mentioned the possibility of a new source of income, too. Well, one of my wife's biggest fears is running out of money. Personally, I really don't care much about money and, as a result, it never seems to be a problem -- but it is a significant source of anxiety for her and those who've been around the forum for a while may remember that she has a significant heart problem (a sudden-death experience about five years ago due to ventricular fibrillation, takotsubo cardiomyopathy, implanted defibrillator, three leaking valves, etc.) and it is stress-induced. Anything I can do to help alleviate, minimize or avoid stress is literally extending her lease on life. So, how is this relevant??? Early last month, despite a lifetime of laughing at people who gamble with the hope of winning (as opposed to doing so just for fun) or who buy lottery tickets, I had a lucid dream in which I bought a lottery ticket. It was so clear that I remembered the number. This was before the big PowerBall run-up. Last week, I dreamed that I got that same number in a fortune cookie. I decided, "what the heck!" and I bought a recurring lottery ticket for the next 26 drawings with that number. Not wanting to hear my wife fuss about throwing money away, I simply didn't tell her. Better chances of getting struck by lightning than winning, of course, but wouldn't that be a nice little secret source of income to announce to my wife? (I'm not greedy -- I don't need to win a billion dollars. A couple million would do just fine...) I'm not counting on winning the lottery, though. I've been saving and investing conservatively for some years now -- "building up something on the material plane in a calm and steadfast manner" -- and will be in a position to retire comfortably in just a few years and could do so now by being very frugal (so I'm not worried about loss of income due to robots taking over the workforce or whatever). All the way through (and in more aspects than what I've mentioned here), your reading is not only quite insightful but it also reinforces some things I knew/suspected. Thank you, kind sir! I'd say you are pretty good at this stuff.

All righty, so I've been pondering a few things recently, and I'd like to share. I'm sure most of us are familiar with things like emptiness meditation, meditation following the breath, meditation focusing on the dantien, all while letting go of thoughts and things like that. And that's all well and good. But at the same time, there are things which involve something being done. Take lucid dreaming for example. In order to lucid dream, you have to become lucid during a dream (bit of tautology for you ). Yet if you go to bed and just decide to empty your mind, you may or may not become lucid (in my humble experience), yet even if you do go to bed thinking, "I am going to become lucid", you might not necessarily become so either (in my humble experience). Same goes with energy work (the topic of which has, I know, been kicked around some)- if you just empty your mind and do some of the above practices, will energy circulate, or do you have to do a specific energy circulating practice to do any effect? Yet if everything is one/empty/whatever, (and I think the above types of emptiness meditations are quite nice), and you practice emptiness meditation and your practices involve that, how (if at all), do you get stuff done/have stuff happen?

Hmm...I take the following herbal supplements and vitamins pretty much daily: Red Chinese/Panax Ginseng Eleuthero/Siberian Ginseng Gingko Biloba Vitamin D Vitamin B Damiana tea I've had problems with chronic fatigue (at the worst point, before I took the supplements, I'd fall asleep every two or three hours) ongoing for several years, coinciding with psychiatric treatment (which I'm getting out of ASAP; bad experience altogether); apparently I enter dream sleep at an abnormally high rate and that stops me from getting proper rest. But the ginseng helps with fatigue and staying awake and the damiana gives me a slight general motivational boost. Reading everyone else's posts is inspiring me to do away with the other unhealthy stuff I consume. Too much caffeine and processed junk, I think, which doesn't help things either. I've also got a ton of other herbs I keep on hand for other things, but the above's my daily regimen.

A Question for C T further to your post..... "Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep ?"

Lysergic acid compounds and other tryptamines have been used by shamans around the world since the ancient times. A shaman should be full of life and egoless. I may be stepping on some toes here but i think anyone who considers themselves a spiritual teacher should be able to handle some tripping. If they cant then they havent even given up their egos yet. enlightenment is a human birth right. If you are actually willing to confront your shadow, forgive your self, have fun, and do an occasional alchemical workout then spiritual development is a piece of cake. LSD, magic mushrooms, and dmt, molecules are all related. they are tryptamines. they arent inherently bad or good. they are a mirror of your soul. Dmt is called the spirit molecule. It is the molecule that makes us dream. It can be found in any plant or animal on earth. It is our most precious link to our spiritual selves. It is the physical manifestation of our spirit-body connection. Dmt is the most potent tryptamine. people who use it recreationally report astral travel, divine visions, and kundalini activity. We literally trip several times every night when we sleep. Lsd, and mushrooms produce similar dream like hallucinatory trances. Would you trust a spiritual teacher who has bad dreams every night and is afraid of his own shadow. However a word of caution. if you havent found your center, then psychedelics might drive you insane. Its not for every one, but don't diss shamans because we aren't afraid of being human beings. peace and love

The article is really just an overview and not meant to be used as a practice manual. he doesn't really go into specifics... A really good book I have that does is called The Tibetan Yogas of Dream and Sleep by Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche. Even if you regularly have lucid dreams, I think the book would be helpful since the book has methods for accessing rigpa while in the dream state and how to work with obstacles

The word "link" is where it gets really really tricky in my point of view, because it's not as if there is this one thing being linked to the next, but rather only the impression of a link via imprints of memory. There really is no link besides that, the whole world is linked via abstract "delineation" as Gold put it anyway, so no need to stress a single link above another. But think about the context in which the causes and conditions produce that dream. It is infinite as in, it is not only the waking state that conditions that experience, but the position you are sleeping in, the temperature of the room, a memory from a very distant past or just yesterday...one upon another, an infinite regression of dependence upon dependence...which includes the karmas, actions, deeds of all sentient beings in the very moment of that dream! And then the next moment, then the next and so on...a grand process but with nothing to be defined! All in one and one in all, Indra's net! Nothing is continuing but the sense of continuum is what I am trying to say.

Yes, it does not belong to any 'one' as there is no 'one' - there is no self apart from the process of volition, ripening, etc. Agree. There is causal continuity, but the sense of 'something continuing' is a mere mental fabrication based on recalling and fabricating a 'someone'. What arises this moment is neither the same nor different from a previous and is 'linked' only by the causal chain. From waking to dream is also a causal continuity... it is part of the process... our waking life affects our dream, for example. Only due to comparison that we think there is some sort of discontinuity or that upon waking up we somehow 'continue our lives' while actually 'life' includes our dreaming and deep sleep as well and should be seen as a seamless process, not just the waking state. In reality there is just change and evolving experience but no 'changing things'... each moment is complete and whole as it is with supporting conditions. From waking to dreaming to deep sleep, the cycles go on and no state is more ultimate than another. Each state arises as it has to according to conditions and the process rolls on.

Hello everyone! I know I have been away for a while! But I just have been feeling a bit odd lately and I am not sure what it is, why I feel this way, or how to feel better. I was hoping some of you have felt this way or have ideas on how to deal with it. With pushes from my old ROTC instructors, parents, my boyfriend, and life in general I have been forced to think a lot more about my future plans. I have been working and attending classes everyday for a while now and I am feeling odd. I have been a lot more internal and a lot more on edge. I lost almost all trust in others and I have been mentally all over the place. I have been sick with pneumonia, bronchitis, and whooping cough for a month, and I have tried many different treatments so far but none have any effect. I feel as though I am in this dream and that I can only be free from the dream if I sleep. The best way I can describe it is like I am inside a ball and my body is spread all over the inside of the ball like a flat pancake. My seams are stretching, almost ripped and little bits of thought are slipping through. My emotions are spinning with the ball and my brain is repelled from my heart like a magnet. I never stop moving. Now I am having to try and figure out whether I want to pursue my career in the military, go to the university, or be a stay at home mom. It is a decision I feel should not be made when I am in such an odd mood. Has anyone ever felt this way? p.s. Sorry if it makes no sense, it's hard to explain.

Sorry to add confusion to the post by being the second "Walker" in here... Might need to change my name some day or other. Anyway... Having been in China for some time now I have to say that, "as much as you want," has never been an answer to this question that I have come across from those involved in Daoist or Buddhist cultivation, nor TCM. As I also grew up in the West I am well aware that many people will think that there is a guilt issue implied by your question, but my observation in China is that this topic is a normal part of discussions about health and does not carry the baggage (or at least the same baggage) that it does in the West. For men in their twenties, I have heard figures ranging from once a week to Starjumpers once a day. As he pointed out, the state of your health (plus diet, mental and emotional habits, sleep habits, stress levels, exercise routine, energy practices etc.) mean this figure is different for everybody. I have heard doctors recommend tapering things off as one ages, while others say one can keep going at once a week until sixty. In terms of wet dreams, these seem to generally be viewed in TCM as a sign of ill health in all but adolescent males if they happen more than once a month and if they are accompanied by sexual dreams. Yes, the accompanyment of a nocturnal emission with a sexual dream is indeed considered pathological in my standard, latest-edition Chinese government-issue TCM textbook, and I have heard the same thing strongly emphasized by a qigong doctor I knew when I was living in Beijing. For her part, she believed a healthy man in his twenties should lose a small amount of his semen in sleep once every two months or so, dreamlessly. She does not represent the Chinese Ministry of Education line and learned her qigong from a Buddhist master in Northeast China. Other docs and cultivators I know have more or less echoed her thoughts, but the thing about TCM and cultivation is that nothing is written in stone, disagreement abounds, and everything is flexible (因人而异）. Some people once a month? Okay. Some people once every three months? Okay. Some people dream about sex and then ejaculate? I'm sure you'll be able to find talented doctors who say that's perfectly normal. TCM is simply this way. However, I don't think that you'll find a TCM doc who will tell you that two wet dreams a week is healthy. I offer one caveat though, which is that I have heard that if you are a practicing cultivator who lacks the ability to circulate jing, then some methods can cause your sexual energy to increase and thus your wet dreams to become more frequent, even as your health is generally improving due to practice. This means that a cultivator passing through a stage of frequent wet dreams is not in the same boat as a sickly fellow whose qi lacks the strength to hold the bodily fluids within. To determine what is the cause of your condition, you will likely need to find a talented, experienced, old-school TCM doc. He or she will look at the entire state of your body and mind in addition to your symptoms in order to obtain a diagnosis and, if necessary initiate a treatment regimen (辨证论治). Offering this kind of diagnosis cannot be done over the internet except for by the most truly exceptional of healers, and I add that I have never heard it said in China that young people should not use herbal medicine. Your age and your body are two different things. If you are sick then you do what you need to do to heal. Let a doctor with experience helping people decide what is the best route for you. Since this is a forum whose name refers to Daoism, it is worth stating that it is a mainstream perspective here that practicing real moderation both in terms of your desire and your ejaculation is a normal part of the advice given to those who wish to be conscious about their health. For example, in a book recently-printed book entitled Wudang Internal Alchemy Daoism and the Study of Health Maintenance, the author quotes China's legendary Daoist doctor Sun Simiao's take. He gives a short list of advice for those who aspire to live in to their hundreds, and practicing sexual moderation is right up there. If you are interested and I have the time I could translate this brief passage. It presents a perspective that is not at all unusual. The author himself is a teacher of meditation, martial arts, and health maintenance (养生) methods he learned on Wudang to heal his own body of illness. He still teaches and maintains close contact with monk-doctors. When I met him he struck me as both a healthy and a learned individual. So it is not just Sun Simiao talking this way hundreds of years ago, but the modern-day inheritors of this tradition as well. The doctors and teachers I know out here, in Daoism, Buddhism, and TCM, would probably all balk at, "as much as you want, dude," "twice a day," etc (but they'd tell you not to be neurotic, either!). Does that mean that the other people who posted here are wrong? I don't know. But I think it's fair to give you this perspective. My observations on the topic. I devoted a huge amount of energy to learning Chinese in a short period of time, and am now studying TCM at an even higher level of rigor. This means I have lived a relatively regimented life over the last three years with a simple pattern of behavior. Doing more or less the same thing most days while also keeping up regular sitting and moving practice has given me the chance to observe how ejaculation affects my mind and body. I have noticed that following ejaculation for as long as three days it is indeed harder to focus my mind, and that I am slightly more prone to moodiness and lethargy. As to reducing ejaculation, other than keeping "once a week" loosely in mind, especially when single, I never concerned myself too much with it. Cultivation slowly diminished my desire to have sex without being in love, and also when my sitting meditation made a level of progress about eight months ago my desire to masturbate evaporated. So, while this is a worthwhile issue to ask about, it seems not to be necessary to try and constrain yourself with great strictness. Focusing on other aspects of cultivation with sincerity, doing your best, observing your body and mind, and having a light heart are probably enough. Changes will take place in their due time. It was put to me when I first started learning Daoist qigong and meditation that when the body gets a taste of health, it likes the taste, and naturally moves you in that direction. I have found this to be true, meaning that I have shed great numbers of very unhealthy habits in recent years and rarely with the outright intent to do so. I believe that in Western medicine it is currently held by many doctors that if you ejaculate both in masturbation and sex, then the cause is more likely physiological than psychological. Only prematurely ejaculating with a partner is then attributed to pure psychological causes. Western docs would likely give you an SSRI to treat this problem, but be careful of that route. There is now a syndrome called something like "post-SSRI sexual dysfunction syndrome" or the like, which can be found on Wikipedia and elsewhere. The drugs may make your problem worse, or create new trouble. Last thing: I have heard it from multiple sources that lovemaking (when there is true love) and regular old sex have very different effects on the qi. The former can be tonifying. The latter is always treated as depleting. Good luck with your health, and especially with finding a good TCM doc. There are a lot of poorly trained ones out there now. Don't be afraid to ask around and shop around. Checking for recommendations from local taiji teachers, Chinese herbal pharmacies, Chinese community centers (especially if they've got old folks, the elderly Chinese pay great attention to their health!) and so forth can help you find out who's got a good rep.

Since a man and woman appeared to you (in a dream, i am guessing)........ could it be to indicate that "you (maven?) are more experienced" than the other person who was working with you (a man i am guessing) ?? Perhaps subconsciously you held a feeling that your knowledge in spirituality and practices is better than the one who was assisting you ? What time of day did you do the visualization ? I am assuming it was during a meditation (or some such) ?

Ah... excellent! My Rinpoche's book! Yes, what Scotty said is relevant... try to relax into the experience, let go into it. The body arching, or spinal movement is natural when the winds start flowing through it. You are experiencing the power of Chogyal Namkhai Norbu Rinpoches dream practice Terma or treasures. I've experienced exactly what you are describing, both in and out of bed. The practice is very good, it's a genuine practice and you should start waking up in your dream space eventually.

a masochists dream a nightmare for you and me while he snores sweetly.

learning to praise pain as a learning tool perhaps a masochists dream

Cats are obligate carnivore unlike dogs. Cats do not have the ability to make many amino acids and use vitamins the way omnivore creatures, including dogs can. Even if cats have 90 lifes, the cats will die very soon on a vegan or even vegetarian kind of diet. Cats have little ability to form niacin or arginine and taurine, found only in animal protein. They must have meat, preferably raw meat, to remain healthy. So even though the mash I made for birds have lots of vege proteins from the different beans, supplying different kind of amino acids, I need to include a high portion of animal protein into kitty mash as well to make sure they get the amino acids that they needed. And that's only in just the mash that I made for them. And you seen in photos above I went further to add ommp to the mash as well. The Japanese, or anyone, are not going to keep healthy cats feeding them cooked rice and scraps and leftovers from their meals. Cooking for cats and preparing food for cats should not be tried unless you do know. A bit too difficult to get into details here especially as many of my steps were embedded in my sub conscious and therefore I might not even have written on them. On the other hand, I could have lived very healthily on the leftovers of my cats and my birdies. They had a far healthier and better diet than what I fed myself or ate in fine restaurants. Many of the beans , quinoa and cereals were from organic stores that I would never dream of buying for myself and my wife. I never claim much sanity and better known for the idiotic things I do and say. Those food for the kitties were a thing of the past. I used to do that regularly when Ivan was with me. Sieben took advantage to be given same stuff. The most difficult task was on their days to be stoic. Ivan would jump on my lap to tread tread on my tummy and on my back to tread on my neck muzzling me on my cheek. I had very little choice but to cave in to give him at least half portion. It would be so much easier to resist if I was clawed to my marrow by hungry kitties desperate for food. I would happily kick them in the head and tell them to fuck off.. I just could not make myself as stoic as what I wanted them to be. But now that Ivan is gone and in that little porcelain jar, ( http://www.thedaobums.com/topic/37958-can-the-tao-be-found-in-a-66-hours-work-week/page-4 ) and I decided not to have birdie until I find my place to retire in, I did not cook mash anymore. The last was before I went to Riyadh when Ivan was still with me. Sieben now got to remain content with the kibbles my wife poured out to feed him all loaded with ethoxyquin and BHA/BHTs. And yes, she cleaned his shit as well.

I consider Yidam as something different than connecting directly with a higher level being, Yidam involves visualisation while the connection to a higher level being is usually in the form of energy or information, which is usually in an altered state such as trance, dream or meditation. Do I know many people who connect to beings in the direct way? yes some. Do I have examples of people being tricked while doing Yidam practice? no I don't know anyone who does Yidam, but there are examples of people being tricked by spirits and beings throughout most of the traditions. Would you be protected with empowerment? well usually lineages have preliminaries and empowerments for a reason, often these things are worked out quite precisely over many generations.