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I had a dream that a Buddhist monk froze to death, I wonder what that meant? it felt like a far more real dream than usual.

Some teachers teach in dreams, and check out prospective students. Apparently sometimes the teacher can't remember the dream, but what their student remembers is correct, sometimes even secret, knowledge and part of the transmission process. Theirs a mention in Terry Dunn's Flying phoenix chi gong from someone who only just started practicing and saw GM Doo Wai in his dreams, and Sifu Terry and Sifu Garry talked about its significance.

You're still pretending to not know what it means? I'm not getting it... I don't know what to say. Maybe you're serious about the monk in your dream. Perhaps you should go see a doctor see if they can scan you head to locate the monk. You might need surgery to remove that. Its not often that monks come into peoples dream.

Congrats, you finally lost it ONE OF US! ONE OF US! ONE OF US! But anyway, some of my dreams have plot lines and they only make sense years after they happened It's kinda funny like that in my case You might get another dream before you figure out what that one meant

Is that a riddle? To be honest, I am not sure what it meant, I thought I did..But I was wrong. I did a search for dream interpretation and found that it meant spiritual evolution, but then somewhere else it said bad fortunes? "To dream of seeing a monk, foretells dissensions in the family and unpleasant journeyings." "To see a monk in your dream signifies devotion, faith, and spiritual enlightenment." See? Isn't that the most confusing shit ever? By the way that is from two totally different websites!

The "Porn-meditation" had equivalents in certain forms of tantric yoga because it increases general vitality. But you are considered free from lust and attachment to such things only if your practice does not lead to erotic dreams (even without ej). If you watch porn, practice retention... and start to dream sexy women, then the mind is not clean.

What I find in my own practices is as lucidity is expanded in meditative or hynogogic states, the ability (and I do mean a skill set) to guide the state of sleep as an altered state into consciousness not readily or ordinarily experienced. One of the key experiences I had related to this is lucidity in rem dream state, repeatedly gives me experiences in two or three directions. 1. I begin to wake up, but through meditation practice I release the my inhibitor control on the experience and I'm paused from awakening in a variety of in between states of which are identical to meditative states but highly enhanced because of sleep paralysis it seems. Everything is inside out or outside in. 2. I stay in REM state and have a very face value symbolic communicative mastery of the rem environment asking questions, receiving instant answers, traveling, soul searching, hearing music, seeing possible timelines play out, lights, tunnels, sliding or shifting planes, and the abs solute peace of rejuvative spiritual energy experienced in sleep. 3. I fall "in deeper" or "up" and am snap shot awakened. Oobe's are definitely a different experience than lucidity. Light meditative dream imagery states are distinctly different for me than the relaxed clarity of sitting or standing meditation. A quiet mind definitely enhanced ones awareness to the natural spiritual doorways we open and close each and every day.

When you think you know everything and theres nothing left to learn and you lose the curiosity, you are far too attached to beliefs. That state is in opposition to "spiritual progress" A lot of people want the title of master or teacher or guru, but that title gives you arragance and as don juan the possibly ficitious shaman of carlos castenadas works says the second obstacle to becoming a man of knowledge is clarity. If you have too much clarity you become very arragant, pompous, all knowing and unquestioning of belief systems. If someone says I have done tai chi, bagua, qigong, dream work etc etc that doesnt really mean much. If someone says they have spent 30 years in meditation that doesnt really mean much either. If someone says they never really meditate and think that meditation is new age rubbish imo that doesnt mean all that much either there are plenty of people who naturally dont over analyse and are pretty happy in fact much more happy than someone who does. Also a lot of people get off on "helping others" when really there helping themselves there putting themselves above others in an egoic sense, "let me teach you" is a pretty egoic thing to say. One might say Im being hypocritical and saying that now and if I wanted to put myself down for approval i might agree but this is not really the case Im just expressing. A lot of people think that saying something with 100% belief is more clever than saying something with a perhaps or possibly or in one perspective kind of attitude. I don't think this is correct. Also if you manage to become very aware, blissful, have correct thoughts, high energies etc. Who is it whos is aware, there is just awareness. Who is it who is blissful? there is just bliss. Who is it with high energy or a correct thought? there is just high energy or correct thoughts. Who did it, who made it happen, a ficitious character of the imagination or everything the universe, thoughts from other people which managed to get absorbed into "your" brain. Some people may have heard the saying everyone is your teacher. It might sound like a cliche but really it is true. The way someone doesn't over analyse, the way someone else refrains from speaking what he may possibly feel like in order to avoid hurting someones feelings, the way someone acts illogically, the way nature is the way it is, the way a dog is so friendly and not empty etc

Sleep time for me is around 5 - 6 hours each night. Very seldom feel a need to take naps during the day, maybe once every couple of months may experience a dip in energy, feel lethargic for about half a day, which means body hinting to get an early night (bed by 10, up at 5). Work involves a lot of mental and physical output, which actually boost my alertness during the day. 99 percent abstinence from alcohol, which helps (in my case). Maybe one beer, or a liqueur, once a blue moon, that kind of way. Diet-wise, plenty of fruits and greens. Most meat consumed will have been 'softened' by hours of stewing, which my system finds very agreeable indeed. Once a week workout at the local spa, where i swim, have a sauna, and relax in the bubbly pool some call jacuzzi. Every day do at least a hundred prostrations in the mornings. Always wanted to live close to the sea, and realized this dream only this year, so this body is very happy to chill by the ocean's fringes. Loves fast cars... recently rewarded myself with a BMW coupe to cruise the wind/rain-swept country roads on days off. Its red, btw. Like these ones... http://www.google.ie/search?q=red+bmw+e46&hl=en&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=OfMRUN_rEYqWhQfDpIHYDg&ved=0CFgQsAQ&biw=1280&bih=599 I'm 52, and loving it.

I have only meditated no more than ten times over the past few weeks. I am new, but I seem to be learning quickly. Since I started, two events have occurred, which I cannot for the life of me explain. I am uncertain whether or not I should even be sharing this information, though my anonymity puts my mind at ease (somewhat). The first happened the night of my first (what I would call proper) meditation. It was a powerful breathing exercise in which I would hold my breath and push my stomach in and out 12 times before exhaling. Unfortunately I cannot remember the exact meditation as it was a guided meditation I stumbled across on Youtube. After the meditation I felt a grand sense of peace throughout my entirety. Later this day, I went to a friends house as I sometimes do. Nothing was out of the ordinary, until I went outside to pee (I had my reasons). After I had done the business, I gazed upwards to enjoy the night's sky. This is where it happened. As I looked up, I did not see stars, no, but pieces of a bigger object. I will try to explain in as much detail as I can recall. The sky was the clearest I have EVER seen, and there were five, maybe ten times the amount of stars usually visible in this area. But instead of seeing many stars, I instead saw a shape, what I can only recall to look something like a tunnel, and I felt part of this ginormous entity. Our Earth, and so my perspective, lay somewhere within the tunnel shape, but towards the side a little. My interpretation of this ordeal was that I became one with the universe, if it be only for a short duration. I literally felt as if I WAS the universe, or whatever it was I was observing. Is it possible that this is indeed what I experienced? For if (according to many religion and philosophy) we are essentially the same thing, perhaps incarnations of God (I am an athiest, I might add), was I maybe experiencing the ultimate empathy? Or is there a simpler explanation? I would love to hear any and all ideas concerning this, or even better: anyone else with similar experience? The second event is a little more odd, or perhaps not. Interestingly, it occurred at the same friend's house, only inside this time. We were in the room which we usually reside. A friend had finished a cigarette and left the butt in the ash tray. At this stage we were all just sitting down, 'chilling out' watching tv. I cannot remember how it began, I have no recollection of the beginning (such as in a dream), but at some point I was literally communicating with the smoke tendrils that were rising off the butt. The smoke would rise and dance, as usual. But somehow I had influence. In my head, I would talk to the smoke, much similar to my own thoughts, but I would think the words in a directional sense at the smoke, as if I were making it read my mind. I asked it if it could hear me. The smoke rose and drifted and I made out a "yes" from the curls. Am I imagining this or what? So I ask it, are you something else, or are you me? The smoke rose in a straight line, then all of a sudden drifted over towards me (I was sitting a couple of feet away, slightly above the butt) suggesting I am the influence here. Hmm, perhaps still coincidence. Then I think/say to it, do something fantastic, something so extraordinary I will have no doubt that this is not coincidence. It then curled and danced towards me, and one tiny piece of smoke separated from the tendril and I made out what looked like a heart. The smoke was fading, as the cigarette was almost out, I decided to farewell it. It waved, or perhaps I imagined it did. Then, just before it went out, for some reason I channelled my attention at the butt, trying to keep it alight as if desperate to bring back my new friend, and it started to hiss and crackle as if the temperature of the ember became far hotter than previous. Then it died. This I have no idea what to make of. My only theory is perhaps my aura or life-essence or chi or something of the sort was manipulating it, or even manifesting itself in the smoke. But why the smoke? And how did I communicate with it? It told me it was myself, but I was talking to something else, other than my own mind. Perhaps my higher self or something similar? I am pleased such things have happened, and they have only made me more interested in the spiritual world. I hope more events of this calibre happen. What's more important is that I hope I haven't broken any rule that I should not be sharing this. But how can I break a rule I was not told to follow. Anyways, if anyone has had similar experience or knows anything about what happened to me on both occasions, please do not hesitate to comment.

Sifu Terry Thank you so much for your opinions and tentative interpretation of the events that night. Very interesting, and thought provoking. I have no way of knowing for sure, what happened. The 'waking' dream, as I would call it, was a very powerful experience. It has stayed with me, ever since, as if it just happened. I can clearly remember the teacher's face. Every detail. Interestingly, I rarely remember a dream. Its as if I go completely 'off line" as soon as I close my eyes. I would remember a dream perhaps once a year. So this was a completely different thing. What was most profound, i think, from my perspective, was the quality and feel of the golden light. It wasn't just light. The room was thick with a feeling of peace and serenity. It was as if I could touch, even hold the light, like a warm blanket. The light was tangible, as a 'thing', rather than just light. If pushed, and upon reflection, it was as if the light was consciousness itself, as if the light was the message. The secret being hidden in plain sight ? Anyway, its something for me to think about, meditate on, and reflect on, over the next few months and years, whenever it comes to my mind, or whenever seems appropriate, and perhaps it will eventually make sense, or its significance or otherwise will become apparent. In the meantime, I do think it was as a result of my FP work. Agreed. Monk Holding Peach feels unique to me. I experimented, a few days ago, with 45 minutes, just in MHP, to see how the energy developed, and then relaxed again. I do get the folding forward at the waste, I don't go as far as having my back parallel with the ground, but it can be quite powerful and dramatic. It always feels good, though ! Currently, of all the meditations on the first three DVDs, MHP is the one I feel most attached to. I get something different from each of them, but MHP is currently the most sublime. So misleadingly simple, yet profound. The secret is often revealed at the start ? Although perhaps that would be MGM, or is it MGM, MHP and MHP together, working on all three Dantiens, that is the key ? Or maybe thats completely wrong. i'll get back to you after thirty years of practice, and maybe i'll understand a little more ! Thank you.

Being a master or in a position of power isnt that easy every decision you make has many different ramifications. To simply give away all of the secrets to taoist immortality is reckless for this reason. If it someones unbelievable good karma to have all of the secrets of taoist immortaltiy handed to them for free and that person does reckonize that gift for what it is. Then this will waste that manifestation of that good karma and a master can see this and doesnt want to ruin things for you by giving you something that your not ready for when your karma could have manifested in getting your dream job or meeting your future wife. The gift is of taoist immortality is not just the good karma of this life but of many and it may not come back around again for a very long time.

My experience/insight is that consciousness is indeed not eternal, consciousness is ever-changing, momentary, manifestations. Though there was a time when I treated Consciousness as the supreme Self, unchanging and ultimate. Just a few moments ago I was re-visiting something Thusness wrote 2 year ago shortly after my realization of anatta. (btw, there are some teachers, some of those following Nisargadatta (and Nis himself), and recently Bentinho Massaro, who had new experiences recently and moved on from awareness teachings and treated this 'non-experience black hole' as Absolute and treated non-dual consciousness as another passing dream. Thusness's message is not this: as he clearly states, even this 'non-experience black hole' is absolutely empty and passing, nothing ultimate as well) Thusness: "Yes, all PCEs, all NDNCDIMOP, all these will pass (not into some great void). The article Death, Reincarnation, Nonduality, and other dreams ( http://awakeningtoreality.blogspot.com/2010/10/death-reincarnation-nonduality-and.html ) in your blog by Jeff Foster talking about deep dreamless sleep as a form of psuedo death. He is talking about this ‘psuedo death’ that is a direct opposite of the NDNCDIMOP much like an absolute 'no experience' black-hole that even non-dual presence cannot escape. He urges practitioners to see it with an unbiased mind and not be overly attached to non-dual presence. Yet this 'pseudo death' too will pass. Similarly if we were to turn micro and practice vipassana, there are body sensations, fluctuation thoughts, beliefs, heart beats, sound, scent...no permanent agent that is owner of these arising and passing phenomena can be found. A ‘permanent unchanging witness’ is just simply 'a thought that claims ownership along this arising and passing stream. :-) The insight of no-self must not only realize the illusionary division of subject-object duality and turns non-dual experience implicit; it must also allow practitioner to clearly see the stream of ever becoming. When there is no permanent agent,there is just seeing, thinking, hearing; there is simply scenery, thoughts, sounds; there are still fear, emotion, anger…there is action, there is karma…just no self. What is the implication? The mind upon seeing anatta must not continue to live in a fantasy land and clearly see the workings of these arising and passing phenomena. There is no escape for there is just this and practitioners are always dealing with attachments, deeper dispositions, latent tendencies, supporting conditions, action, karma. Can you stop an arising thought from subsiding? Is the present moment of thought the same as the previous moment of thought? Can this moment of thought not affect the next moment of thought? Stabilizing the insight of anatta requires the realization of dependent origination. With the absence of ‘dualistic and inherent’ tendencies as the supporting conditions, experience turns non-dual and liberating; so do not mistake the ‘effect’ for ‘cause’ and focus too much on PCEs. :-)"

Dear Jeramiah, It is only now that I have gotten to read your posting regarding the golden light thoroughly. When I read it a few days earlier, I was beset with pressures and deadlines and read your post so fast that I missed one very key sentence: "I live in the depths of the countryside. There is no artificial light." --and missing these statements caused me at first to think that your seeing a golden light was a physiological effect of the intense hour-long practice of the FP seated meditations. As stated earlier in this thread, my students and I have seen the distinctive blue light of the FP Healing Energy with eyes closed in the inner environment and with eyes opened as a very visible aura. However, your description--and I assume to be true and authentic--is of a golden light visiting and illuminating your room, and not a physiological effect of the FP Exercises. This is indicated since you described going out into the night and seeing nothing but darkness and rain, and then returning to your room where the light had by then had disappeared. What you have described is indeed extraordinary and my gestalt reasoning is that you were possibly channeling a lesson from a source of genius through your dreamstate. Especially since you've since stated that you went to sleep around midnight and the dreamwork took place for some 3 hours and exhausted you mentally. This is something that has happened to me and my classmates on a constant basis (sans the mental exhaustion) when we started practicing GM Doo Wai's internal arts (FP Qigong and other systems). (I think I wrote in earlier post that on one occasion, one particular classmate and I "switched" our normal mode or "format" of dreams with each other, which was one of the wildest, wierdest, and most fascinating phenomenon I had ever experienced in my life. Since you said you fell asleep and dreamt/worked with a Chinese man teaching you some form of Taoist Alchemy, if this was not an imagining, or a "wishful-thinking dream", but you were actually working--and working so intensely that you woke up with your head swirling, then it is quite possible that the FP Meditations may have catalyzed this channeling of knowledge/spiritual visitation. But the only way to be sure is for you to recall what you learned through the dreamstate and then to test the knowledge as to its effectiveness and potency. Until the "transmitted" knowledge is verified, one cannot say what actually was going on with you from midnight til 3am that night. But the more perfected your Qigong and Meditation, the more lucid you will be during such dreamstates. Also, doing effective lucid dreaming exercises (as detailed in the Carlos Castaneda books) will develop your ability to be conscious of all the content of your dreams in real time, enable real-time cognizant control of your dream body's behavior in a dream, and,of course, allow easy recall of your dreams after the dream ends. If, on the other hand, you had gone to sleep earlier, say at 8 or 9pm, then what you described could have been an early morning venting dream (which is the mind's normal house-keeping--i.e., disposing o stress, overload, and conflicts that the mind didn't resolve during waking hours). But this does not explain the mysterious golden light bright enough to read by, which came and then left. Assuming that your account of what you is accurate in every way, I believe that you had a visitation. All in all, because of the unique personal power that I assume you have developed over the years through healing so many thousands of people,that mysterious and fleeting golden light may have been a sign accompanying your higher edification by a spiritual entity (that seers typically call an angel or a genie). The golden light may well be the carpet upon which your genie delivering your alchemy lesson rode in on. But only you know for sure. Congratulations. In cautious awe and reverence, Sifu Terry Dunn P.S. And yes, "Monk Holding Peach" is a very unusual Qigong exercise. It is unlike anything in any of the other 3 Qigong systems I have inherited. (btw, have you gotten to the phenomenon in MHP where the body rapidly folds forward at the waist and then bouncs back up to vertical, repeatedly? My nickname for Monk Holding Peach is "The Jerusalem Meditation" because the involuntary movements of the upper body bending forward and whipping back to vertical makes one looks as if one is praying at the Wailing Wall. I've observed this in my own practice and in my students ever since 1992. Monk Holding Peach is just very, very different from any type of Qigong exercise--even from all others within the Bok Fu Pai tradition: in terms of stance, posture, configuration, and, of course, breathing rhythm. However it works, I'm glad it's working well for you.

Visualize eating a lemon...your body 'chemistry' reacts Your mind can be fooled In dreams - your dormant body 'jumps' as 'it' watches 'yourself' fall... This is a technique in various occult schools - some call it Path-working... [it can be done via Qabala --Tree of Life] There's a whole sub-culture of extraordinary modes to attain unlimited heights I will share just one: This practice will appeal to some, and enable spontaneous Astral Travel/Projection/Remote Viewing Some are naturally more adept at this than others, either way, practice makes perfect Begin: This is a simple example: Standing QiGong... take your stance 'feel your body'... the weight against the floor - how every muscle is supported - what the mind holds, and how the Qi flow interacts with it watch yourself in a mirror- at all angles - keep this to memory --Now, go lie down, or sit in a chair... Visualize yourself, getting up (make it real) and walking to your familiar place of usual practice Assume your position, and recall how it felt prior, and how it looked it the mirror Important- Do not watch yourself in your mind's eye-- rather, 'be in the position', and see what your standing practice body would see, feel Utilize all your senses This is your Astral/Etheric/Doppleganger/Bio-Location Body As you are Practicing your Gong, bounce slightly, sway - feel how 'this body' reacts to the physical setting To your surprise, you will feel the Qi moving This will incorporate quick links to Shen, because it is not the physical body being used (or is it?) [Much debate ] Once you 'notice' your dormant, physical body is also feeling the Qi flow- your consciousness starts to click back and forth to 'both bodies' It gets tricky figuring out where these feelings are stemming from Eventually, the consciousness transcends to 'one unified body' [we have many bodies, our consciousness visits them, individually or collectively] Taking this exercise to it's 'projected' natural conclusion, one comes to understand the sky is the limit Long Range Attainments & Goals: You can be sitting down, riding a train - & practice this, standing up... next to you, eyes open, [Alpha State/Level] and perform an 'Astral Horse Stance'.. This "Body" you are training- like any muscle - gets stronger through practice and Time. -- Diamond, Gold Body, Immortal Body - the Body that lives on after physical death With practice- long distant healing can be attained Giving Shaktipat to someone at a distance Chakra work is enhanced- and many hidden conduits and ganglion of 'energy plexus' reveal themselves (there are more than 7 chakras- the ancients knew of 7 planets, and liked keeping things in patterns of 7) Telepathy, melding your thoughts with another... Shapeshifting...Assuming transferred consciousness to organic life forms... [many more...] Spirit World visitation, Inter-Dimensional Bleed-throughs, Time-Lock 'play'... [Each one of these 'sub-categories' would be taught on a 'Merit system' -- not all of my students would be taught everything, due to the simple fact, that some can easily abuse/misuse these systems -- i.e.,: getting into another's dream world, and/or Vampyrism(s)... Seminal Retention and keeping your seed: 'not feeding "Lurkers"... gets it's roots, here ] Your mind can be fooled

C T and A Seeker left this for edification and inspiration! This discussion of sameness from start to finish is addressing enlightening activity after seeing essence; after dropping off dropping off. After one has turned the light around to illuminate the self and attain suchness, there is still practicing suchness. This is where Dogen really shines. Having spoken almost exclusively of this for years now, it is not surprising to see that when describing advance practice, most people only want to conceive of before leading to noumenon, and have no idea of gradual practice after sudden realization— even though the bulk of what I have read of Dogen's work (or have read into his work) addresses enlightening activity after seeing one's original face. To be sure— IT IS ONLY AFTERWARDS WHICH IS TO BE TERMED ENTRY-LEVEL. Before is a dream because you don't know it is. Afterward is a dream too, but you know it. There are a few reasons for this lack of understanding— Obviously, the foremost would be having no idea what comes before, much less after— I only write about it because hardly anyone addresses the practical issues of enlightening being. I'm not being critical; I only offer the suggestion that one ponder the truth that nothing is gained by realization and that the point (before leading to after) is seamless simply because mind is one, not two. The realization is knowing there are no two minds— that there is no person nor has creation ever existed in perpetuity. One must still observe causelessness of the unmanifest as equal to causelessness of the manifest because this is the function of the tao. There is always that which is even beyond the tao. Who goes there? Enlightening practice is none other than employing the power of realization to match creation in ordinary situations in order to respond decisively and precisely. This is becoming the tao in reality~ it is also expertise. This is not about acting! This is about making creation nonexistent without negating phenomena in everyday ordinary situations because its true and it works. There is no doing. It works. One must enter the mystery oneself; there are no shortcuts and there is nothing to understand. The other main reason for not seeing the open secret plain as day before you, much less recognizing the ancients' description of its practical nature and inconceivable function is because it is mind. Therefore they (mundane and absolute) are not two. The same description suffices when talking about essence, function and substance. From my perspective, the value of the path and its derivative lore is learning that awareness is all the magical, mysterious, inconceivable world we live in. I am only an explorer sharing hard-won experience. Taoists steal potential and take over creation. I describe how to do it. Stealing potential is only possible for those who see it. One takes over creation by not using it. This ain't no TTC bullshit, kids. Laotzu the wizard wasn't just wise— the wizard knew the secret of non-existence and endeavored to leave its traces in this world. The method is soft; its application is open. There is no person. First it is necessary to drop off dropping off. Obviously, one must already have dropped off— hence the admonition for alchemists to first see essence, only then seek a teacher. Mind you, before and after isn't the critical juncture! What is most important in practice at any level is the order. I only say this because some rush ahead while others lag behind, missing the timing and bringing on harm to themselves and others where none existed. Knowing there is before and after; one yin and one yang equal change; make other the host and you be the guest, make the work possible and effective. I would like to say there is a moral exigency to the path and for some who must make that the point of it all~ that's fine, but I don't. See essence first. We ARE essence. When you see that~ what use is your own enlightenment?!! Don't worry about it at all! Enlightenment is useless. Enlightenment is seeing essence out of this world. But if you can see essence working in this world, you are already beyond entry-level enlightenment and the aftermath of dropping off dropping off and you already are in position to steal potential and take over creation in everyday ordinary situations unbeknownst to anyone. The only way to work with essence is to see it. Seeing it only happens according to celestial timing. In order to see essence, on must first be ready. Being ready is made possible by refining one's self. That is why the classic taoist saying is "Refine yourself and await the time." So it is not really necessary to be puffed up in your own little place of white-hot enlightenment~ on the contrary, the conceit of realization is to be dispensed with altogether. The Chan admonition is after you have washed off dirt with soap, rinse off the soap with water. Enlightenment is just as bad as delusion— that is why I talk about dropping off dropping off. Its also why the ancients say nothing is to be gained by enlightenment. Practicing suchness isn't going off to practice something; doing something. Suchness is the open secret here before your eyes right now. There are no two suchnessess; Reality IS hidden in our midst, but it's not different …it's the same. So when you hear "seek essence on your own, then seek a teacher", don't think you need complete perfect enlightenment. Seeing essence is seeing reality; only you know instantaneously for yourself. Your innate living awareness knows~ is the water cold or not? The meaning of seeking a teacher is (1), because your essential nature cannot be given by another nor can it be found outside of ones own body (which is inherently powerful) so it necessitates (2), employing wisdom so one shouldn't act on thoughts; one must resist the impulse to act. If you act, you turn potential into illusion (ei: not allowing it to naturally revert into nonpsychological awareness). You can't absorb illusion~ only potential. Buddhists call this "saving energy", So it is imperative not to act. The way to do that is to set up other as the host (ie: the teacher) and you be the guest (the student). One begins to see essence to the degree one is unwilling to use it. "Stealing potential" is code for dealing with phenomena without speculating on phenomena consciously, unconsciously or otherwise. When other becomes the host, one uses the world to refine oneself; not indulge oneself. Using illumination as a guide, one does not use the mind to create illusion. When one becomes the guest, one can then rest by not acting, awaiting the direction of potential while taking advantage of self-refinement in the context of not acting as a strategy for absorbing the undifferentiated. This is attaining suchness by practicing suchness. This set-up is created by you to hunt power. It's a trap. You don't know when and where the rabbit is going to pop up. No one is being fooled. You have the strategy and discipline is the means. This is the alchemy I practice. It is based on reality in reality as reality. Otherwise it is an illusion useless to all who have no mind for karmic shenanigans. There are those with the capacity to accomplish this process, that is all. I only write for those who want to hear this process. This is the same as the teaching of the Yin Convergence Classic. How is this so different from "attaining suchness by practicing suchness without delay"? This is neither false nor true. This is entry into the Inconceivable. Do you see essence or not? If you do then you can know stepping over eternity, stealing potential, taking over creation and make your abode under that tree in the homeland of nothing whatsoever. Making this your abode, you turn the Dharma wheel without leaving your place, and it is the same wherever you stay or go. ed note: acknowledge C T and A Seeker's contribution to this thread and also to parenthesize "before leading to after" in the fourth paragraph, added "without negating phenomena" in the fifth and embellished the biggest paragraph to my heart's desire~ haha!!❤

I've been to two retreats with Chogyal Namkai Norbu and have been reading his works inside the community for a while now, and I must say I am very underwhelmed. His practice is mainly dream practice and much of his knowledge comes down from his lineage through dreams. He seems to simply rest in the state of what is deemed primordial nature as his karmic fruits just fall off, which is great in my opinion, but nothing of what I'd consider masterful knowledge. I've seen him answer questions and deal with daily problems other people come with, and there is nothing that indicates in depth wisdom. I'd consider him more of a scholar than anything else. To me, being in the primordial state or Thusness' spontaneous presence are just paths to untangle karmic ties. They're both mere paths. To take what they say as some ultimate characterization of reality would be faulty since neither has full mastery over their existences, only a glimpse into a pure way of experience. For instance, ask either teacher about karma, or the essences of the human body, or the after-life. Either the answers will be out of a book or they won't know too much besides how to enter into pure and immediate experience. Chogyal Namkai Norbu doesn't even seem that happy to be carrying on and seems to look at this whole affair as a burden laid upon him. But I guess it really depends on what the seeker is looking for.

A thought usually pulls me back to the body , either immediatley or through the dream which often involves using transport or flying back home. It has happened on occasions to end up in some unknown room/house(which are seen very clearly) and sometimes taking a while to realise that this is not my room . This undrestanding in itself brings me back to body. I ask myself if I am dreaming in the dream too -- this is usually triggered by noticing something unusual in the dream or just by doing routine check (done regardless of waking or dreaming state) on being present. By asking dream figures if they are part of my dream and looking at the cause of this state of being - the dream ended up just disentregrating few times , showing itself to be like a film on the screen of life. Which results in entering interconnected state of being, which gave much understanding about life. This guy is cool - Robert Waggoner on seeking the source of dreaming:

I frequently feel a fear of falling when I steer myself toward action solely through the sense of location. That's something I have to be able to relax and accept, before my sense of location can shift and allow the action that holds me up to occur spontaneously. I do find that sometimes having had a few drinks and being inspired to dance helps me to let go; the hard part is keeping the focus on falling up, so that I don't drink too much and fall down! Robert Monroe said that he finally realized one fail-safe way to return to his body when he was out of body, and that was to feel the movement of his own breath. I listened to "DMT-The Spirit Molecule" the documentary the other day, it's on YouTube, and there was a gentleman describing a technique for lucid dreaming. He said everytime you pass through a doorway, ask yourself whether you are dreaming; he said one day, you will pass through a door in a dream and ask yourself, and then you will realize you are dreaming and can begin lucid dreaming. A friend of mine knew someone who tried it, but in the end the whole experience felt like a hall of mirrors (to that person). Lately in my sober sitting I am struck by the way a freedom to shift in the sense of location is necessary to the turns in my breath, from inhalation to exhalation and particularly from exhalation to inhalation. It is like the freedom of the mind just before dropping off to sleep, that moves now here now there in the body; this freedom permits the turns in the movement of breath.

Very true. But for me it's been a good way to become initiated into ideas, no matter how crazy they may be, into how the world could be. D.O, Self, the mindstreams from eon to eon, life being a dream, everything being energy etc. I mean, since preschool we are educated to believe that there is certainty to the world, a routine to it, until we begin to slowly see more and more that not many people really know what the hell is going on or what they're doing and suddenly you want to hold on to new grounds, building another phantom structure. It's comforting to have a new ground, a new teacher, a new religion. But at a point you get tired of bullshitting since what you know is so completely abstract and limited, and you have nothing to show for it. Just abstractions, feelings, and beliefs (that may result in psychological shifts, but not necessary what's true). So until then I guess we just have to keep exploring through meditation and experimenting with our awareness and the world while being very honest with what we know and what we are capable of. Btw, I've been watching a lot of Sadhguru's stuff lately and find his teachings very refreshing. I hope you check him out someday.

I follow several comics but none of what you have posted so far. http://www.topwebcomics.com/ That is a great place to find more comics and the list changes as people vote. I follow a few comics, forgive me if I can't link them all, can't always remember which ones I still actually read. http://www.questionablecontent.net/ http://www.leasticoulddo.com/ http://www.oglaf.com/ http://www.lfgcomic.com/ http://www.xkcd.com/ http://www.codenamehunter.com/ http://tmi-comic.com/ http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/ http://www.superredundant.com/ THIS ONE RIGHT FUCKING HERE IS A MUST READ - http://www.drmcninja.com/ http://www.underlingcomic.com/ http://www.unsoundedcomic.com/ http://www.agirlandherfed.com/ http://www.dream-scar.net/ http://www.supernormalstep.com/ http://www.otherworldcomic.com/ Finished Comics That Are Awesome: Phoenix Requiem Digger

I am the interaction between the yin and yang spirits, conscious and unconscious mind. So when I die I'll become just my unconsciousness, and be left in a dream type state of existence. If the yin and yang spirit are fused together as one, they become something new, the yang spirit isn't scattered to the wind. This new type of single spirit will not be reincarnated, the mind will continue to function as it did before the death of the physical body.

Josama, thats a frightening experience, I have been lucky not to have had that sort of experience. What I was endeavouring to do with this thread was to encourage others to explore the lower chakras. Unwittingly there is always so much more emphasis on the crown and third eye chakras, however the higher you go the more problematic it becomes to the novice, and even experienced meditators can get into difficulty by over-emphasising the higher chakras. The lower chakras, namely the base and the navel / dan tien, are well within the body, they have no emotional connotations, you can explore them safely, and not get into trouble emotionally or mentally. The base chakra is totally enjoyable, it is the base of the spine and forward of it, it sits at the base of the male penis shaft and inside the front part of the female vagina. So, of course, it is also connected to the sexual organs. But please do not be put off by that, it doesn't stimulate excess sexual desire or dominate your thoughts with sex. It can raise your sexual energy though, for intense sexual pleasure, intense orgasm and staying power. For those who enjoy the Big Draw, holding back and stopping physical orgasm, it is that part of your body that is its centre. However, getting away from its sexual side, it is also powerful in moving you 'out of body' and into the astral planes. By practicing to move chi into and through the base chakra you generate more 'personal power' for spiritual activities. And funnily enough, when you go to sleep you have more power in your dream body for OOB and astral travel. Its the staying power in OOB thats just as important as getting out there, and the more power you have the longer you can stay 'out'. The higher chakras are so sensitive that they can easily be over stimulated, then the headaches start, then the anxiety and mood swings, the paranoia and delusions and this it is so hard to stop once it gets going. My advice has always been to stay away from the higher chakras, they will open by themselves without your input, when they are ready. Thus do your chi gung and tai chi but include the base and navel chakras, along with your microcosmic orbit and 5 element meditations, these are safe and powerful preparation exercises for your ongoing spiritual journey. astralc

Lets see my favorite SF, would be, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep - Philip K Dick Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams The Alchemist - Pualo Coelho There are a lot more that I like but those three are always my top picks.