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Hi Lois, The night before I read a post of yours for the first time, Nungali was in my dream, but he didn't look like himself, he looked like you! (No, folks, I'm not making this up.) Can you explain what may have happened?

Greece is not being asked to swallow many bitter pills in exchange for a realistic plan of economic revival, they are asked to suffer so that others in the European Union can go on dreaming their dream undisturbed. BY SLAVOJ ZIZEK PUBLISHED 20 JULY, 2015 - 07:00 http://www.newstatesman.com/world-affairs/2015/07/slavoj-i-ek-greece-courage-hopelessness

But dreamers, the ones who live life like a dream while they are awake are at a natural state of deep sleep while awake.

Is this meant to mean that the Super-person is able to continue meditating while he sleeps, rather than dream? Or does it mean that the Super-person has no desire, and therefore does not dream of those desires?

it's actually 700 plus somebody posted it on scribd for free. Rereading it - I find my recent alchemy study makes Measuring Meditation easier to understand. But I would say what unifies humanity is the 1-4-5 music intervals - not Mahayana Buddhism. Plus Nan said that if the physical body is sick at death then the mind can not be emptied out due to lack of qi and so the samadhi is not lasting and the spirit just goes into the void instead of enlightenment. That's quite pertinent to the topic considering it shows you need the qi to give power to the shen or else the shen becomes delusional at death in a ghost dream state. I have seen these ghosts floating around the original qigong master, going to him to get healed - I suppose attracted to his qi energy. Anyway then Nan died of physical illness as he was a smoker and got pneumonia. So he didn't really live up to his teaching - too bad. But still a fascinating read. So earlier in the thread I mentioned how Taoist Yoga says the left hand is the yuan shen channel - the center of the hand. Bodri and Nan talk about the left big toe as key to brain visualization - and this would be part of the yin qi and yuan shen channel I think also. I then realized that actually Michael Corballis the scientist talks about how people keep track of time with the left hand - and so when making a beat with the hands, the left hand keeps a steady beat to keep track of time while the right hand does syncopation. So the left hand is right brain dominant which makes sense as a Yuan Shen channel since the right brain is visualization dominant but the left hand is also time dominant - and if we think about it light - at the speed of light the sense of time stops into eternity - and so real visualization is a sense of eternity. The time-frequency aspect is right brain dominant through light but is accessed through music as keeping time - rhythm. For a long time it was thought other animals could not keep track of time - but they learn that some birds can do so - and the question is how language is learned and what this has to do with time. There are a lot of quantum biology secrets out there - but I'm just saying that the big left toe secret mentioned in the book is based on the same secret of the left hand as the yuan shen but also the yin qi energy of the heart's fire. The toe channels have to open up as the yin heel channels - the yin qi energy building up as the first step in the alchemy training.

Hello all, I just had the most incredible experience this morning, and I wanted to clarify a few things before it fades. I am just beginning to practice zen meditation in a modified lotus position, and today I experienced a multitude of things that I'm not sure how to interpret or deal with. I am fairly familiar with relaxing and letting my thoughts drift away, but today I was kind of overwhelmed by a sensation of vibration and a total size distortion (i felt tiny and huge at the same time). I did my best to let this pass as i would a normal thought that has cropped up, but then I began to visualize that i was flying over a mountain range, and eventually settled in a wooded area (seemed like a temple), surrounded by other beings (people?). I felt at ease being there, but i had no idea what to do, so i just tried to meditate there with the others (like being in a dream within a dream). I stayed in this place for a while, but it was almost too much to deal with, so i tried my best to (respectfully) leave this place and make my way back to my own. It was difficult to find myself back in my own room. any thoughts on how to deal with such overstimulating experiences while trying to focus on nothing? my biggest concern was i had no idea how long i had been there, and i had no idea how to know when i had completed my task there (i probably could have stayed there forever!) thanks

Try it again. This time, try a larger old city cemetery with graves dated back to 18th century or even 17th century. Instead of minding your own business, try to read the names of the tomb stones and the date the deceased died. Imagining their lives. Some burials are grouped in a family with several generations. Walking up to some of the old, old mausoleums. Feel the air surrounding them and to breathe in the moist, damp air. If possible, to meditate next to them. Do that for 5 hours or so. Not long ago I used to hike around my local historic cemetery. Is so big that you can not finish the hike in 1 day. So, I went back again the next 4 days. On my 4th day, I got nauseated and feeling dizzy in the middle of the day. And I felt unusually cool as well...excessive yin energy...for the next 2 weeks. A cemetery has certain smell. I came up on a very sad grave site. A grave site of a 10 month-old infant girl. She was from South Africa and died in South Africa. Apparently, she was buried in the US. I google her name and apparently she died from some medical condition. She died in her sleep. I had one interesting dream but fortunately I have no spirits attaching me. There are reports that spirits getting attached to the individuals visiting the cemetery. Just because you close your mind to the spirit world, it does not mean they don't exist.....your mind game would only carry you so far. Certainly, it won't help you in your cultivation process, not at all..... No, you don't get smarter or wiser because you aren't connected to the spirit world, but only to your mind and your ego. They are normally very limiting....

For the OP, here is the deal. This house used to be a residence of an old king's lover. So, there are secrets that shouldn't be revealed due to the nature of the relationship. Something embarrassing maybe. The woman in red is probably the lover herself. It could be a treasure but a treasure that may reveal some embarrassing element of the king's relationship with the lover. More than likely an embarrassing moment for the lover more than for the king. If you are planning to live in this house and in this room, you better tell your family about this dream you have and why they should just drop their treasure hunting....

:-) breaking our mental conditioning is a great taboo breaker. We live in a self imposed mental prison in which we are prisoner, prison warder and prison. There are no obvious walls or boundaries yet we create the illusion that there are and then add further illusions to make it appear as if we are free. Our subconscious conditioning throws up all kinds of warning flags to discourage us from breaking these carefully crafted illusions. Your analysis of the OPs dream seems sound. I also think this is why there is a use of 'I' and 'you'. It's a subconscious way of holding the belief 'it is this way for everyone, that is normal'. I remember when I believe the first breaking of this boundary happened to me. I was gripped with terror for what seemed like hours. It was if I was being murdered by some invisible foe and fighting for my life. I began to regret meddling with meditation at that point. The only way I managed to resolve it was simply to give in to the fear, to give up control and accept whatever fate was in store. Within minutes I began to relax and then things got really serene. It only happened once and I've never experienced anything like it either before, or after.

I'm working on a boat in the middle of the ocean. As I type this every now and then the microcosmic orbit will start up. This is after maybe... 3 months retention with a small transgression in a dream (held the lock when I relised in the dream what was happening, lost maybe 1/2 jing). There's nobody here to chat to about practice. In fact, people in general are very unhealthy. The food is free but low quality (oil and meat) so I bring what I can, namely marine oils and plankton, seeds and whey. Next time I'll try bacteria based food. I start my day my stretching my very stiff hamstrings. I then meditate for just 15mins in the morning on the deck of the boat. I have to wear a nylon jacket and headband to keep warm. Chi comes off the wind nicely and I usually get the Microcosmic going instantly. It then cuts out a bit until I relax my mind or think dirty thoughts. I then might do 5mins horse stance (never done KungFu, this is just for core)... and then 15mins on a stationary bike indoors. I don't have any teacher available to me. Not even on the phone. Last year I felt very loving toward someone. After sex with withstaining once I saw dots moving in time with her breath. When I relised what I was seeing it disappeared. I first got into chi when I was at the science museam. Not thinking anything of it I measured the voltage palm to palm before and after basic practice... got 2v higher, which astounded me. That pretty much opened my eyes to it all. Now I think, the body's a battery, so what? Going to try sungazing for short periods next. But really want to build in a healthy lifestyle long term. I can live anywhere with this work on the one hand, but on the other the food isn't easy and a killer for relationships (dual cultivation surely needs true love). Move to Switzerland? Move to a beach and surf? Or get a lower paid but normal job in a nice location perhaps.... hmm... one thing for sure. I love Tao. edit: Also, have been known to do the lung healing sound as there's concreted asbestos in the walls on the boat...

Well I suppose I will (prepare for lots of devils )..... For about a year and a half now, I've been practicing from B.K. Frantzis' Opening the Energy Gates of Your Body book. I haven't been to any of his seminars or workshops, or studied with an actual teacher, just reading the book over and over again and relaxing and trying to get a feel. In the past month or two, I've gotten a very tangible sensation of qi, and I've started to become more sensitive to the qi of others, as well as environments such as buildings, parks, crowds and stuff. It isn't constant, and it's not perfect, but it's starting to build, which is good. However, one of the whole reasons for my getting into meditation/spiritual exercises was (don't laugh), to get psychic powers (I said don't laugh ) It may sound juvenile, but it's really what's motivating me (and I've had enough sobering experiences to know how not to use those things). I've had some good successes with this. I've been talking a walk through a part, and just felt energy surge through my body. I've been in class about an hour after doing some dantien breathing, and felt a tingling energy moving up my spine (I was trying not to squirm around too much, and just sit still and dissolve it ) I've also had some very powerful revelations about my own mind and how I behave and stuff. The problem is, well, the energy gates exercise is really just the foundation. Higher level exercises are only really taught through workshops and stuff in Frantzis' system. I'm a university student right now, all my available money is going to university tuition. As much as I would like to, I can't drop $400 to pay for a seminar that is in Germany, which would also entail travel expenses. And on top of that, that seminar would be just one seminar for just one next step. The next step would require more trave+seminar, then another, then another, then another. Frantzis in his books has dropped hints like, "these practices may even lead to such things as..." or "some even say they have experienced things such as..." but then turns around and is like, "there is a lot of mystery and secrecy about these advanced practices, and they are only taught to high level students after years of earning the trust of an in person teacher". Which is all good and well but... that's not where I am at in my life right now. As a side note, I've also done lucid dreaming work for a long time, and Frantz's system really seems to fit in with that as well. Relaxation (to help get asleep), a relaxed awareness of the dream (so you don't startle yourself awake), and gentle movements led by the mind (to get you around in the dream successfully) have really helped immensely. All in all, it really fits in with my life. I have recently come across Franz Bardon's Initiation Into Hermetics book, which is pretty much full disclosure, laying it all out on the table. He says it flat out, "do this this way and you will get this result. Period." That's nice, it's what I've always been searching for, I was so happy when I found it.... but the practices REALLY don't vibe well with me. It's very weird. I've tried to integrate, to find the "middle path" so to speak. I've done all amounts of research and meditation, trying to link the things I have felt through my qigong practice to what I am trying to feel in Bardon's practice, but I just can't. As soon as I start practicing Bardon's stuff (or sometimes even just think about it), it's like something comes over me and any progress and feeling I have attained through qigong is disappeared. In another thread taomeow mentioned that some practices cause the mind/energy pathways to rewire, and some practices rewire you in vastly different ways. I think this is one of those cases. As for dreams, I have had dreams in which I have been practicing steps of the IIH, which was interesting. But all in all, it doesn't have the same feel, or transition into lucidity that qigong has provided. In martial arts, I also don't feel as integrated after Bardon's practices. I almost have to switch to qigong mode. Even though part of Bardon's system is development of the physical body, it feels much different from qigong, and again, I've tried to use qigong as part of the physical body training in Bardon's sytem, but the energy seems to be quite distinct. Despite these drawbacks though, and despite the tumult and stress that my mind has been under lately with all this (and other aspects of life in general). I have had several very specific experiences which were distinctly "psychic" in nature. I am doing something right. I am starting to get what I have been after, I just need to follow through, but for some reason I just can't commit. Maybe it is because it is familiar, or maybe because I don't want to lose what progress I have made, but I cannot let go of what I have so far with qigong. It is tangible, my body feels healthy, it dovetails nicely with my martial arts practices, the emphasis on natural movement, relaxation, relaxed focus, strong connection with intuition- all of it feels right for mw (plus I watched a lot of Star Wars when I was a kid, so maybe that might have something to do with it ). HOWEVER, there is no guarantee that I will meet avenues for higher level of study. The future is completely unknown. All I have is the foundation exercise, and I have no idea when (or if) I will ever find a way of learning what I have set out to learn. Bardon's system, however, is right there in front of me. Everything I have ever put myself through has been to get what Bardon's system promises in very concrete terms- not hints, no allusions to stories of various feats, no "some say" or "this possibly could happen" or "this might happen". I just have to do it. But again, whenever I sit down and do it, I feel my body and mind tense, I have to expend a lot of energy just to get a little bit done. Looking ahead at some of the steps, I have even intuitively figured out how to do some of the stuff he says to do- but for some reason whenever I try to do it in the context of Bardon's system, it feels forced and rigid, not lifelike. For example, I am a very imaginative person, I can naturally imagine scenes in my head and play out scenarios, been doing it all my life. But when I sit down and "try" to do it, like in Bardon's step III, I can't do it with ease... but the higher levels are a guarantee. There is also a parallel to this situation in my material life (school + job), but that's a whole other can of worms sufficed to say, this is the big conflict I'm wrestling with. Follow something that feels right, but I have no idea where it's going, just trust that I'll get where I want to go (or realize where I want to go isn't where I should be going....... even though I really REALLY want to get there, yes, I am quite attached to it). Or do something that feels all wrong, but push through it to get to a goal that has defined my life for going on five years, and what has gotten me to the point I am at now (and I don't just mean having this problem, it got me into qigong first ) Consultation with various people have brought up a lot of responses similar to Kate's- namely, paths that are "difficult" are paths that are opportunities for growth. The fact that I am drawn to them means that I see something in them that is something for me to potentially learn. A practice that I am drawn to yet find easy to find achievement in is due in various parts to the nature of the energy it works with, my natural disposition, or my familiarity with similar practices from previous lives. A practice that I'm "familiar" with can on one hand bring rapid advancement in that system, but on the other hand not lead to as much growth as working through another system. I am a kind of laid back person in general, so on one hand I could use some of the more "intense focus" exercises Bardon teaches. But on the other hand, focusing in the way that Bardon teaches gives me headaches after quite a while, whenever I "try" to focus I wind up just giving myself a headache. The "relaxed focus" is something that I have found useful to get to after meditation, but the "try to focus" has helped in some areas- but again, it is a distinctly different type of focus, I feel vary different in each of those states of "focus".

Thanks for the welcome :-) Some questions: - Can there be such a thing as too much Microcosmic orbit? It seems to happen a lot? - Is there a way to tighten the lower anal etc gate with exercises rather than simply the deer close and open exercise? - is there such a thing as a Taoist retreat (i.e. not just Buddhist, not just Yoga, not just KungFu/Martial Arts, not just QiGong) I'd like to try sungazing but it seems like there's been no sun here in the north sea viewable for ages! Had a wet dream last night! I applied the gate a little but when I woke it was a total mess! O well, you live and you learn. edit: Just tried meditating ~8hrs after that wet dream. To my suprise I did get some orbit. Not as much as before but it was working. Therefore I think how much Chi is lost is not related to how much liquid comes out but how much energy comes out.

the top of the head pulsates - much like SOTG showing for his middle tan tien - although that looks more like muscle flexing. Anyway there's "yin shen" and "yang shen" and so yeah it's a process that is all connected. yin jing builds to yang jing (yin qi) which builds to yang qi (yin shen) which builds to yang shen (yin jing). So when you get yang shen you get physical transformations - and the energy cycles like that. So to build up shen you first has to build up qi - and the jing-qi-shen is the alchemical pill that can be transmitted out of the pineal gland - in different variations of intensity - but the energy has to be unified on some level. The Emptiness is this eternal process of complementary opposites. So the ultimate complementary opposite is the yuan qi on the right side of the heart building up the yuan shen on the left side of the heart - in prenatal state they are unified but after birth the yuan shen manifests out of the eyes and the yuan qi manifests out of the pineal gland. So with yuan qi focused on reproduction it then causes the yin jing to deconvert to generative fluid whereas if yuan qi is focused on Emptiness it sublimates the yin jing into yin qi. That is how the Ocean of Qi is built up - the conception vessel - of the yin heel channels. So then as the yin qi builds up it activates the Cavity of Spirit-Vitality which is the lower tan tien as the unification of qi and shen. So only after the yin qi is built up is the lower tan tien really activated and then you have to convert that yin qi into yang qi - this is the first stage of alchemy called converting jing to qi. Most qigong practice doesn't even get to the first stage since the yin qi never gets built up in the first place. If you do beging converting jing to qi then finally the pineal gland begins to open up - which means the Cavity of Original Spirit of yin shen manifests as the first half of enlightenment - the Lunar Dragon energy or heart's fire energy - it is the Cavity of the Dragon of the lower tan tien filling up and then manifesting as a third eye opening up - it is the Tai Chi manifesting. If you can keep storing up your energy - then you really achieve a god like level - but in either case after the Tai Chi manifests then you see light outside your head and light around other people's heads and so you have permanent contact with the shen reality. At this stage the top of the skull softens up and pulsates with qi and the center of the skull opens up again. If you can fully fill up the lower tan tien with yang qi then the real astral travel kicks in and much stronger abilities - any bit of yang qi or yuan qi energy activated is gonna have strong abilities. But if you get attached to the power than it creates disharmony as the shen is right brain dream state trance vision while attachment is the left brain language intention of the ego. So that's why shen is the sattva or pure mind state of the Emptiness - the Wu Chi as female formless awareness. If the shen leaves the body without enough qi surrounding it - then there is a spacetime vortex of dizziness. I had this happen to me - but it's only explained in chapter 11 of Taoist Yoga: Alchemy and Immortality. I didn't think I had made it that far in the book so it took me a few years to figure out what had happened to me. In the mean time I had stopped practicing and the energy channels closed up and then I used up my yuan qi energy. But if the third eye really opens up then you can see dead people as spirits - as I did when they were hovering around the original qigong master in full lotus doing healing. So the Cavity of Original Spirit (the upper tan tien) is actually from the Yuan Qi manifesting its "wondrous light" which it doesn't do until the lower tan tien is really activated after filling up the yin qi energy. This again is a Tai Chi experience which means it is Oneness as nonduality - so it's not in any location in the body - it is an Emptiness spacetime experience of deep bliss awareness which then increases the shen light. The more Yuan Qi energy you build up the more Yuan Shen energy it creates - that is detailed in the Taoist Yoga book. The key is you can't see the Emptiness and so shen isn't the final answer but you use spirit-light to guide the qi as shen is the holographic visionary information field that guides the qi. So that is what is meant by focusing on the Emptiness - turning the light around since when we close our eyes then the Yuan Shen goes down to the liver as the Green Dragon which then builds up the yin qi energy energy and converts the yin jing of the kidneys, via the True Intention of the spleen/pancreas and the White Tiger of the lung deep slow breathing - to build up the yuan jing energy into more yin qi.

No, the afterthought is not the same as the sound. The afterthought is simply an afterthought, it is not the experience of the sound. The thought is another experience. The sound is awareness due to certain conditions, the thought is also awareness due to certain conditions. But the sound is not the thought. The recollection of the past is simply an arising experience due to conditions. By itself there is nothing wrong about it. However, it becomes delusional when one establish a subject and object duality based on recollection. For example, it becomes delusional when one thinks that one has an inherent and permanent self or existence that persists from the past till now till future, based on that recollection. That is subject and object duality because it presumes that there is a permanent subject experiencing those changes. So, it is not the recollection that is the problem, it is the delusion that arises due to karmic propensity in relation to recollection that is the problem. Experiencing dualistically is delusional. Thinking the thought 'I exist' is delusional, because even the thought 'I exist' is not a truly existing self but simply a thought that arise and vanish according to conditions, no permanent self can be found in or apart from that thought. (Of course everyone uses the words 'I' and 'you' in conventional language but it, but the difference between Buddha and sentient beings is that Buddha sees that it is just a convention but is not true in an ultimate truly existing sense) However if we see that the dualistic thought is just an arising thought that is non-dual, vivid and empty, then delusion immediately ends, or in other words they self-liberate and leave no traces. The key lies not in forcing out thinking, but in seeing that the nature of all experience, including recollection, thoughts, sounds, etc, they are simply arising on its own accord according to conditions without a separate self, thinker, perceiver, agent, self, apart from the moment to moment arising, and that those arising themselves are dependently originated and empty. Recollection of a past experience is fine and even a Buddha recollects, however dualistic thinking is not necessary and causes suffering. Projecting the sense of "I" that has "experienced that" is delusional. If we see the true nature of that thought and all other sensations, they all self-liberate. Again you don't get it. This is not a state of awareness, it is what is always already the case. Even if you think the thought "I exist" doesn't mean it truly exists, as that very thought is not self and is not experienced by a self. It is just delusion. It is just a thought arising, and a delusional one. Always already, there is no thinker apart from thought, no seer apart from scenery, no hearer apart from sounds. In seeing just forms, in hearing just sounds. This is not a stage to attain but an insight to be realised. From the beginning there never was a self to begin with, so how can a self merge with sound? A 'self' is merely fabricated and delusional, how can a non-existent delusional thing merge with the actuality of a sound? There is in reality just sounds from the beginning and not a hearer. The thought 'I hear' cannot hear. A conceptual hearer is just a thought and isn't a real hearer. The actuality of things is that there is just sounds, thoughts, smells, arising without a smeller/thinker/hearer. There's a vast difference between the contents of thought and the actuality of things. The thought "I hear" doesn't mean a separate self truly exists, it just means that a thought of self has arisen. It has no basis. No. Having a temporary meditation experience of nonduality (which is not that rare) is far different from having an insight into the nature of reality as non-dual. The prior is a temporary experience, the latter, is a permanent insight, known as 'enlightenment'. And you cannot lose enlightenment after you realised the nature of reality. You cannot lose non-dual experience once you realise non-duality is not an experience but the realisation of the nature of reality. Awareness cannot become delocalized, it never was localized in the first place. The sense of a 'me center' arising in an unenlightened sentient being is just another sensation and thought arising without a center. Basically the sense of a 'me' is without basis and simply arises due to ignorance of the nature of reality. But what you said is not what I mean. That is why I wrote in post #126: We can talk about this in two ways: All there is is awareness, in other words, everything you experience is awareness. Or - There is just sensations and thoughts and no other thing called awareness, in other words, since there is just sensations and thoughts, those sensations and thoughts are the only 'awareness' there is, there is no separate perceiver or awareness. Both are the same thing. There is a danger however, in reifying Case 1) into a Brahman, something ultimate, unchanging and independent. Though if it is not reified, that is fine. Case 2 is what is more commonly explained in classical Nikaya, original Buddhist texts. Even though it never talks about Awareness as the essence of all experiences, it is implied already that awareness is non-dual because there cannot be a subject/object split in anatta, there cannot be a split when all there is is sensations and aggregates. Reification would be imputing a particular set of sensation as 'Subject' or 'Awareness' while the other set as 'Objects', but in reality, all there is is self-aware sensations and thoughts, if all there is is self-aware manifestation, in other words only sensations and aggregates, and that sensations and aggregates auto-imply awareness, why talk about awareness at all? There is absolutely no reification here, only impermanent dependently originated sensations and thoughts whether they are gross (gross waking dream sensory experience) or subtle (such as dream, astral realms, or the subtler formless I AMness experience). As Greg Goode said, "once experience doesn't seem divided and once it doesn't seem like there is anything other than consciousness, then the notion of consciousness itself will gently and peacefully dissolve." P.S. As to Lucky noticing similarities between Advaita and Buddhism in terms of non-dual, I have to say that the non-dual experience in Advaita and Buddhism is exactly the same. The only difference lies in the view, whereby Advaita makes nondual awareness into Pure Subjectivity transcending and encompassing phenomena, but Buddhism sees only vivid and empty (dependently originated) manifestations and thus which leads to subtler realisation of the Anatta and Empty nature of luminosity in Buddhism. The difference thus lies not in non-dual but in Anatta and Emptiness. There is no hearer, only sounds, hearing is just sounds. No seer, only scenery, the seeing is the scenery. What you call 'awareness' is only just dependently originated phenomena, sounds, sights, thoughts, etc. Absolutely no reification here. Reification would be stating - there is an independent awareness perceiving things, or an unchanging substance, like a mirror, behind all changes. Buddhism's 'awareness has always been so' does not mean a Brahman or an ultimate subject or an ultimate perceiver, rather it means all along there never has been a perceiver, only sensations, thoughts, sounds, sights, just that.

We can talk about this in two ways: All there is is awareness, in other words, everything you experience is awareness. Or - There is just sensations and thoughts and no other thing called awareness, in other words, since there is just sensations and thoughts, those sensations and thoughts are the only 'awareness' there is, there is no separate perceiver or awareness. Both are the same thing. There is a danger however, in reifying Case 1) into a Brahman, something ultimate, unchanging and independent. Though if it is not reified, that is fine. Case 2 is what is more commonly explained in classical Nikaya, original Buddhist texts. Even though it never talks about Awareness as the essence of all experiences, it is implied already that awareness is non-dual because there cannot be a subject/object split in anatta, there cannot be a split when all there is is sensations and aggregates. Reification would be imputing a particular set of sensation as 'Subject' or 'Awareness' while the other set as 'Objects', but in reality, all there is is self-aware sensations and thoughts, if all there is is self-aware manifestation, in other words only sensations and aggregates, and that sensations and aggregates auto-imply awareness, why talk about awareness at all? There is absolutely no reification here, only impermanent dependently originated sensations and thoughts whether they are gross (gross waking dream sensory experience) or subtle (such as dream, astral realms, or the subtler formless I AMness experience). As Greg Goode said, "once experience doesn't seem divided and once it doesn't seem like there is anything other than consciousness, then the notion of consciousness itself will gently and peacefully dissolve." P.S. As to Lucky noticing similarities between Advaita and Buddhism in terms of non-dual, I have to say that the non-dual experience in Advaita and Buddhism is exactly the same. The only difference lies in the view, whereby Advaita makes nondual awareness into Pure Subjectivity transcending and encompassing phenomena, but Buddhism sees only vivid and empty (dependently originated) manifestations and thus which leads to subtler realisation of the Anatta and Empty nature of luminosity in Buddhism. The difference thus lies not in non-dual but in Anatta and Emptiness. There is no hearer, only sounds, hearing is just sounds. No seer, only scenery, the seeing is the scenery. What you call 'awareness' is only just dependently originated phenomena, sounds, sights, thoughts, etc. Absolutely no reification here. Reification would be stating - there is an independent awareness perceiving things, or an unchanging substance, like a mirror, behind all changes. Buddhism's 'awareness has always been so' does not mean a Brahman or an ultimate subject or an ultimate perceiver, rather it means all along there never has been a perceiver, only sensations, thoughts, sounds, sights, just that.

In Hermetic philosophy (as I understand it), what you have described as "negative" things are really just negative expressions of certain qualities. They may be an excess of that quality, or a deficiency in that quality. Take your hurt, rape, and pillage example. Those all are considered to be negative things. But what positive things do they represent? Your ability to hurt someone reflects your own physical strength, rape also physical strength but an ability to control, and pillage your ability to take what you need. All of those qualities can be used positively- you can use physical strength to protect and defend someone. You can control a situation or another person for the greater good, and you are a provider. Those qualities, I imagine, were even more necessary historically- where your ability to survive depended a lot on physical strength, and your status in society was partially determined by how you could exhibit your ability to dominate and control others. Nowadays it's much more likely for us to consider such acts as "violent and bad", but keep in mind they are just one side of the coin. As a side note, I find these things really helpful in terms of dream interpretation and lucid dreaming (discounting the fact that many dream signs are unique to an individual), especially with nightmares and other sorts of bad dreams- by analyzing what qualities appear to you, you can see what you have problems with and perhaps even means of expressing them. I was reading somewhere about how the word "evil" evolved, and I think that one of its forms from back in the day was "something in excess", which is another way to look at things. Now, motivations and your reasons for doing those things arise from imbalances. A need to hurt a sibling, or rape a woman, or steal something, all reflect a feeling of inner weakness that you perceive, and you are acting out to try and compensate for that imbalance.

Heh. Interesting idea about those folks coming by to check folks out. When I first started meditation and hit a rough patch I had some Tibetan Buddhists who seemed to be helping me out from their temple HQ. I'm very grateful for that and at the same time I have no idea how to explain it. I wasn't "into" Buddhist stuff prior. I had some kind of multi-armed red goddess swing by to say hi not so recently but I found her a bit scary so I flared myself up into something freakier. Then I remembered to take no notice as I was making it all up anyway. I looked up "red goddesses" online and found several. Mostly Buddhist ones. Fascinating stuff. Then a week or so ago I had a strange dream within a dream of being a sparkling golden body that was leaving my physical one. I didn't think that was a desirable thing to be happening so I "came back". I've also had a couple of quick "chats" with some folks from here (who as far as I know aren't ascended anywhere yet but who knows??). All of this happened in relatively altered states (meditation, just before/after sleep/dreaming/daydreaming) I actually have a preference for keeping it earthbound. More than enough to contemplate!

Always without desire we must be found, If its deep mystery we would sound; But if desire always within us be, Its outer fringe is all that we shall see. There once was a poop. The poop was not so happy that it was a poop, because it stank allot. It did not even like its own scent. Even though he was the poop himself. Don't worry though, this story isn't going to be sad all of the time. But for now, it was pretty sad, yeah... No one liked the poop. All those other people, who were normal people, who didn't stink... Well... They were loved, and appreciated. However... This poop? Not even an inch of love was given to him. What made all those other people more deserving of love? The poop grew tired of all this time, spending, being a poop. He just coulden't take it anymore, so he planned to take it out on all the non stinky people. So he went to their parfume closets, and began hugging all the parfume, untill they all became stankey. Even while the people were dissapointed to find out their parfume were stinky, it didn't change much for him. They were still more happy than him. And he was still a poop. So this just made it more obvious how stinky he was. Not a good plan... Whoever created him, made a mistake of making him so stinky. He coulden't help it being so stinky, and he never asked for it. However, the creator of this poop, surely, they are the responsible of all this stank. Do you think the creator could undo his stank? What if he would remain this stinky for ever? He could not waste anymore time, before it was too late, he wanted to undo his stank, maybe it is possible to still do it. Maybe an eternity of stank is not deemed appropriate, maybe there was a cure. He just had no clue where to find his creator... Oh, what a waste of thought, now he was a stinky poop with an impossible mission on top of the already heavy burden of being shtinkey. Oh, what is he going to do?! There is no way to turn to, no direction to face, no where to begin the search. No where to take refuge from his own stank. Where he went, his stank went right allong with him. He grew tired, and thought about visiting a parfume store to spray parfume on his stank. However, that would make things only worse. A parfume scent blended with the scent of poop was disgusting to even think about. Certainly, that would meet him with his ultimate doom. Nothing seemed to work. As if any possibility of something working out for him ever was revealed to him... No, it was not. He might just remain a poop for ever, and the time he has been a poop already has taken too long in his opinion. He didn't want to be a poop any longer. This life of being a poop, it was not exactly the most fantastic life. He had to avoid people all of the time to avoid shame. He had to wrap himself around in plastic wrapping foil, to prevent the scent from spreading. He had to cover his ugly sight. Life was such for this poor fello... Day in day out, it was the same story. Always the same story with his life. There was not much change. He was always worthless. Has always been the same kind of worthless. Today was not going to be any diffrent. There was a certain comfort in that. That atleast circumstances stablized around his identity. He began accepting his relation towards others. He was beginning to grow appreciation for the people around him, and happily wrapped himself in plastic foil, knowing he could save them the burden of his scent. He felt a certain responsibility towards them which he carried with eagerness, each day. He felt at home with his circumstances and life and relation towards others. This was his life, afterall. This was his life. And it was good. So what, that he stank, atleast he could live his life. Be it unique, it was still alive. He enjoyed many things in his life, such as watching the trees blow in the wind in summer times. Feeling the flies tickly on the surface of his being a poop. Feeling the wind cool down his warm and hot steamy stinkey poop under the sun. This was pretty fantastic actually. He wanted to become at one with nature. He liked nature so much. The journey the wind and weather took, was something to be admired, from his point of view. He knew that even a single water particle in the air, had a perspective, so beautiful and magnificent and full of grace. He wanted to become at one with nature and join their evermore joyful journey through the planet, seeing all the sights, undergoing all the adventures, such as they are doing. Nature was never out of place, never stank, but was rather all pure and appropriate and full of life and joy and never ending variety. Always new suprises to be found. It was easy to let the wind carry him away. His scent already took off in whatever direction it was headed, and he knew, he was the platform from which these knew wind particles would launch into their evermore joyful journey through the air, a never ending stream of appropriate life, in tune and harmony with nature. In complete surrender to the full nature of their being, wherever it may lead them, they would fly there happily, without any form of resistance whatsoever. They simply had no choice other than being the one they are. And they tried not be anything else, for they knew not anything else. 'T was easy for them. Life was good and easy for them. Such as it could be for this poop aswell. He lay down under the sun, on the sidewalk. And he was ready to take on that journey. The sun was already evaporating most of his scent, and his hot steamy water particles were dancing in full excitement, eager to get out in the open sky and fly away to their long awaited journey into the life that is theirs for ever more. He lost awareness of his poopy body, and left it there, to be tickled by the flies that danced around it, in celebration of his departure. This was the appropriate thing to have done, and he knew it. For a last time his gaze met the many people he appreciated so much, and for the first time perhaps he found real peace. And it struck him. The people were his creators. He was made out of the very thing he appreciated so much. They were both one and the same in the grand scheme of things. In heaven they would meet again... And he flew off, onto his heavenly destination, one after the other, always entering a new delightful existance, in evermore expansive ways. There were no words to describe the rest. Other than, he lived happily ever after. And even better than that. But there are no words to describe that. So hush and go to sleep now. And dream of the poop, that flew away on the summer day, and you shall meet him in your dreams and his dreams aswell. And he will tell you all about it, and he will show you the heaven that shall be yours one day aswell. The poop that can be spoken of, is not the enduring and unchanging poop. The essence is there, only to be seen, when you enter your own essence, through which you shall be the resonating witness to all of the many essences.

About receiving teaching from celestial beings and highly realized sambhogakaya beings....you NEED to break through the attachment to FORMS. To properly deal with your own current karmic trace....because they will obstruct your dream visions. Instead, night after night, you don't get visitations from these beings but your mind is totally occupied by your own karma. Breaking through the skandha of form is also a per-requisite for discovering your own Dharma gate. So, you have a troubled mind and issues. And you tried out astral projection and other magics to become initiated into a path? More than likely you would attract harmful spirit beings. I didn't receive visitations from the higher realized beings until I have my kundalini energy rising experience. Before that...it was all hardwork and immense sacrifices...reading up on philosophy and psychotherapy to properly sort out my life issues. You have no ideas....

The thing is that every claim you have made here has been and will continue to be made about other systems. Now I am not saying that any of these forms of work are ineffective, in fact I know that they all possess a great deal of merit. But the problem is stating superlatives about things in the world with very little exposure to things outside of it. Who here is devoutly studying African shamanism, Native American shamanism (both North and South), intense Runic work, or truly knowledgeable Kabbalah?? The claim that something is "the best" period is ridiculous because the people making these claims rarely ever work with anything but what they "know" to be the best. It's like claiming that Corn Flakes is the best cereal in the world when you haven't eaten anything else but Wheaties and Shredded Wheat, if you're lucky. Just because the teaching is "spiritual" doesn't mean it is free of bias. If you need that bias to actually work with it, go ahead, I can't honestly knock it if it works for you. I don't know shit about Bagua, Taiji, or Zingyi. I also did not claim that all the merits of Chinese people about these arts was wrong, far from it. But the superlative statements about it being the best thing for any human period... that's not only arrogant but just completely detached from any notion or knowledge of other systems. Hell, I know people who practiced Tai Chi for years who were completely unprepared for how powerful Reichian therapy was. Does that mean Reichian therapy is, without a doubt, more powerful than Tai Chi? No, it just shows that it was more powerful for those people. I personally have only practiced a particular form of Qigong outside of certain things in dreams. To this day, I don't know of any Buddhist or Taoist technique that would heal years-old surgery scars in 1 night of sleep, to a point where they just simply don't exist. I don't know any Buddhist or Taoist technique that would reform 8 cavities and a 70% broken and rotting tooth to completion in that same night, and I certainly don't know of any such thing in those systems that would be available to a novice. But would I say the dream work is, without question, more powerful than Buddhist spirituality? No, that would just be a completely ignorant statement based on nothing but experiences I and others around me have had. And the superlative statements I'm talking about are exactly based on that type of ignorance. I mean I looked over the Vipassana, and if that is considered a "high-level" practice, then I would have to wonder where that idea comes from. I'm not saying it's weak, but its mastery is easily something that is a preliminary to advancement rather a hallmark of high-advancement. The Tantra sadhana I was given would have the practitioner master this process so thoroughly that you entered a state beyond thoughts and were at the level of where thoughts were first given birth. Again, this was something that was to be mastered in about a year, but even Franz Bardon's Initiation Into Hermetics addressed this at the very first level of his training. Contemplation meditation is not unique to Buddhism, and I doubt it's even "advanced" according "high-level" practitioners. So yea, you're free to believe what you want, and I hope it does you well. However, saying that one can't learn the best on their own because they can't, according to you, learn the system you like on their own... sounds like statement made by 1st graders on a playground. It happens all the time, but that doesn't mean that it's intelligent or even worthwhile to do.

That's interesting because often color-blind people find out about their condition by accident later in life. The color-blind people start out in the world without any indication that there is anything different about them. I suspect many somewhat color-blind people die without even knowing of their condition. Everything you just described I have felt in a dream. Would you say that things I saw my dream exist objectively?

Funny cause I'm recovering from my sister's family visit which required some serious hardcore full-lotus sessions. I was only eating one meal a day and even that was too much since there was meat and milk and fruit, etc. Well I had quite a bit of booze as my antiseptic since my brother-in-law was freaking about my vinegar intake. The booze calmed in. haha. So last night I had this great full moon dream where I was healing someone with this deep intense purple-blue light. When I realized that reality was a holograph in my dream from the healing then I woke myself up. It was inspired by watching the Angels-Shiatsu Paranormaltv documentary I posted yesterday. There's 35 shows in that series -- each an hour long or so -- and there all very well done on all types of paranormal subjects.

It could be argued they are two sides of the same coin..... or two faces of an object with many different sides to it. Again, you have to separate the more serious members from the teenagers with complexes (and in some cases adults with complexes...) I suggest you join the bullshido forum, read through the old threads, talk to some members, find out who is who. There was a thread not too long ago in which some guy was offering Brazilian Jujutsu correspondence learning DVD's to attain a black belt in gracie jujutsu in a couple of months. Sufficed to say, the forum nearly imploded, all the members were all over that. Chinese internal martial arts have also been the subject of a lot of research. There are old threads in which dozens, if not hundreds of videos have been compiled showing tai chi, bagua, and xingyi techniques being used in sanshou competitions. Every once in a while a new member will show up and attempt to trash IMA, and all the members will quickly flame him out of there. Their demeanor is a bit abrasive, but at heart they are good guys, and their motives are positive. For me at least, just because something isn't physical, and just because we can't seem to understand it, doesn't mean it doesn't exist. HOWEVER, while I disagree with people like James Randi, and while I disagree with some (or a lot, depending on the situation) of what bullshido does, still, in the middle of everything they have a good point: you have to be able to experience it SOMEHOW. And, there is a distinction between saying, "you have to experience" and "I can make you experience it". Bullshido, by and large, doesn't care if it's something "you have to experience yourself". It's like having a dream. How do you prove to someone what dream you had last night? You can't really (well, maybe you can.... ) but in general, you just have to believe in the other person. The difference is when someone comes along and says, "my qi power can drop a 250 lb professional MMAist because they haven't developed the qi that I have." In that situation that person should back up their claims. ESPECIALLY if 1) they are charging (sometimes exorbitant amounts of) money, and 2) if they are teaching people who are acting under the assumption that these techniques will protect them from a life and death situation. That's when the bullshido fangs REALLY come out, when people start making claims. And if you aren't going to put up, shut up. People like Yang Luchan said his soft style of martial arts could defeat any adversary. And he got up on the leitai and proved it. He didn't sit there saying, "well my techniques would be too deadly to demonstrate on people." His son, Yang Banhou, was a little less nice, but still proved what he could do. Chen Fake didn't say stuff like, "well I can't use my full power against you because you could die", no, he used his soft power to defeat people without hurting them. I believe in qi, yes. I believe it is possible for qi to overwhelm someone to save your life. Do I believe people when they say that they can do it? I have to see it. Most demonstrations I have seen from "qi guys" have been quite pathetic compared to other styles of fighting. A few promising people failed to show at the last minute for whatever reason. Only a handful of people have really proven they have the goods. And if you can do it and are willing to do it to someone, there is no reason why you can't video tape it and put it on youtube. If you want to stay anonymous or keep your training for a select few students, stop bragging about it! Because if you make claims without backing it up, that's what it is, bragging, and trying to hype your school. Sorry if that seemed like a rant, I was writing it with the nicest possible intentions and the biggest smile while thinking of unicorns and fluffy bunnies And no that wasn't sarcasm Keep it real!

Heheheh...well, I have my kundalini energy rising experience some 20 years. No, I didn't die. Hehehehehe... In fact, as a result of the experience, I experienced my first Jhana. I think death here means that the consciousness is no longer clinging onto one's body. So, it travels elsewhere but your body won't wake up because there is no mind associated with the body. Death at one's will is possible in a samadhi??? If you have the chance, go read up on the "Tibetan Book of the Dead" and Tibetan dream yoga. Seriously, if you can not realize samadhi, is hard to kill yourself at will in your meditation....because you need to completely and genuinely detach your mind from your body in order to realize samadhi. That's not easy......

Yes, the phrasing of the OP is definitely from a Buddhist perspective. For a comprehensive overview of Daoist beliefs (according to Louis Komjathy) see..... http://thedaobums.com/topic/38279-the-dream-of-the-butterfly/?p=624284