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Whatever you said is still describing the luminous aspect. The space you talk about is not to be equated with what I mean or buddhism meant by emptiness. In fact this awareness as space is already discovered in what I call the I AM realization. Then when one goes into one mind, one sees that not only is form "dependent" on awareness, but form and awareness, form and space are indistinguishable or inseparable without the slightest subject-object split. I believe this is where you are at. But there is further insight, and that is what I call the insight into anatta and emptiness. On another note, I just wrote a long post to Richard Herman from newbuddhist forum: Richard: "Emptiness is just half of it. There is no thing or non-thing called "Emptiness", there is only Emptiness/Form. The view of 'Emptiness" as "The" Absolute (akin to the "causeless cause" ) is off the mark. Emptiness is not other than Form, Form is not other than Emptiness. Form/Emptiness is single and experiential. Emptiness/Form is a descriptor of "Suchness". "Suchness" is both the holy and the non-holy... While not negating the holiness of holiness and non-holiness of non-holiness. It is the very "suchness" of those relative qualities as well." indeed. As Thusness mentioned in his article http://awakeningtore...experience.html "At this juncture, it is necessary to have clarity on what Emptiness is not to prevent misunderstandings: • Emptiness is not a substance • Emptiness is not a substratum or background • Emptiness is not light • Emptiness is not consciousness or awareness • Emptiness is not the Absolute • Emptiness does not exist on its own • Objects do not consist of emptiness • Objects do not arise from emptiness • Emptiness of the "I" does not negate the "I" • Emptiness is not the feeling that results when no objects are appearing to the mind • Meditating on emptiness does not consist of quieting the mind Source: Non-Dual Emptiness Teaching And I would like to add, Emptiness is not a path of practice Emptiness is not a form of fruition" The problem with people mistaking Emptiness for some Absolute is because they had the experience, realization, of the I AM or the Witness. It is the formless beingness or what you call the subjective pole taken as true self. I'm sure you are familiar of it. Because this experience is "formless", when they hear Buddhist terms like "emptiness", they automatically began to equate the formless being with buddhist emptiness. Little do they know, the formless beingness or consciousness has nothing to do with Buddhist emptiness teachings. Dr. Greg Goode expressed well: "For those who encounter emptiness teachings after they've become familiar with awareness teachings, it's very tempting to misread the emptiness teachings by substituting terms. That is, it's very easy to misread the emptiness teachings by seeing "emptiness" on the page and thinking to yourself, "awareness, consciousness, I know what they're talking about." Early in my own study I began with this substitution in mind. With this misreading, I found a lot in the emptiness teachings to be quite INcomprehensible! So I started again, laying aside the notion that "emptiness" and "awareness" were equivalent. I tried to let the emptiness teachings speak for themselves. I came to find that they have a subtle beauty and power, a flavor quite different from the awareness teachings. Emptiness teachings do not speak of emptiness as a true nature that underlies or supports things. Rather, it speaks of selves and things as essenceless and free." Dr. Greg Goode who followed the Advaita teachings of Sri Atmananda only later explored Buddhist emptiness teachings only after going through the I AM which later led to the nondual Brahman or One Mind realization. What Dr. Greg Goode failed to describe however is the direct realization of the emptiness of awareness. So I think some of the understandings remain at a theoretical level. When the twofold emptiness (emptiness of self of subject, emptiness of dharmas in object) is experientially realized, there is absolutely no absolutization of some "emptiness" or ultimate reality. In fact the whole purpose of (buddhist) "emptiness" is to deconstruct any notion or ideation of an Absolute, an ontological essence, a substantial reality, an inherent existence, whether in subject or in objects. And this I have written recently: "Just like to add a short comment: Dogen here relates nyo ("like"), to ze ("this"), evoking the familiar Zen association nyoze ("like this," "thusness"). He goes on to draw the implication that "like this" signifies not mere resemblance but the nondual identity of symbol and symbolized. He thus rejects any dualistic notion of metaphor or simile (hiyi), whereby an image points to, represents, or approximates something other than itself. Rather, for Dogen, the symbol itself is the very presence of total dynamism, i.e., it presents. Hee-Jin Kim, Flowers of Emptiness, note 8, p.251 I could think of one example: people liken "Buddha-nature" to be "like the moon". In actuality, the very appearance of the moon is buddha-nature, it is not that there is some hidden thing called buddha-nature which merely resembles the moon. The moon is buddha-nature, the buddha-nature is the moon, the nondual identity of symbol and symbolized. Or as Dogen says, the moon-face buddha and sun-face buddha, the whole body is the whole moon. There is nothing hidden or latent about it, there is no hidden noumenon in which phenomenon or symbols can "point to" or "hint at". The symbol, e.g. the moon, is itself the very presence of total dynamism. In fact everything is like this. Scent of a flower is not scent of "a flower", the scent does not represent or approximate something other than itself but is a complete reality (well not exactly a 'reality' but rather a whole and complete manifestation/appearance which is empty and unreal) in itself: the scent IS the flower, wheel of a car is not wheel of "a car", the car IS the wheel. The word "car" is a mere imputation, not a true reality that can be established. "Self" and aggregates are likewise. Seen in such manner, all constructs are deconstructed and what's left is just the shimmering "dream-like" (coreless, empty, illusory), luminous appearances which is all there is, but not to be confused with a dreamy state." And to this, Thusness later wrote to me: "6/3/2012 9:27 PM: John: I do not see practice apart from realizing the essence and nature of awareness 6/3/2012 9:30 PM: John: The only difference is seeing Awareness as an ultimate essence or realizing awareness as this Seamless activity that fills the entire Universe. 6/3/2012 9:32 PM: John: When we say there is no scent of a flower, the scent is the flower....that is becoz the mind, body, universe are all together deconstructed into this single flow, this scent and only this... Nothing else. 6/3/2012 9:33 PM: John: That is the Mind that is no mind. 6/3/2012 9:38 PM: John: There is no an Ultimate Mind that transcends anything in the Buddhist enlightenment. The mind Is this very manifestation of total exertion...wholly thus. 6/3/2012 9:42 PM: John: Therefore there is always no mind, always only this vibration of moving train, this cooling air of the aircon, this breath... 6/3/2012 9:47 PM: John: The question is after the 7 phases of insights can this be realized and experience and becomes the ongoing activity of practice in enlightenment and enlightenment in practice -- practice-enlightenment." Lastly, no matter how many glimpses of nondual or no mind, without going through the twofold emptying, there can hardly be effortlessness and seamlessness. This is because we have not overcome the framework, the view, of inherency. That is why we have to have direct realization of right view - after that "no mind" and "maha" becomes effortless and seamless instead of intermittent peak experiences. Also, even if one has experienced nonduality of subject and object, and sees everything as "expressions of awareness", one can still fall back to the one mind brahman view and experience. This is because overcoming the bond or view of subject-object duality is not the same as overcoming the view of inherency. One can still have the substance view that everything is of the same substance of ultimate mind. This substance view is what is deconstructed through emptiness - both of subject (including one mind) and objects. Instead of subsuming all phenomena to be a single substance - say all liquids are "made" of h2o, one further investigates and breaks the substance view by seeing the h2o too is just a convention or imputation on a conglomerate without any core (it is just a label imputed on two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom co-dependently arising). In the same way the difference between one mind and twofold emptiness is that in emptiness, instead of subsuming, the subject to be subsumed in, I.e. "Mind" is seen as empty and coreless, mind is no mind, but the expressions are ceaseless just like river is empty of a river-entity that can be pinned down, apart from flowing. Overcoming subject-object split/duality leads to the gaplessly intimate experience of everything as if there is no you and everything is yourself. This is blissful, but not the same as the twofold emptiness, and only by overcoming the view of inherency can lead to the experience of liberation. xabir 3:48PM Member So in effect, a true experiential realization of the twofold emptiness Will lead to deconstructing and transcending everything into the total exertion of the universe as this very manifestation or appearance - utterly clear, vivid, lucid yet no-thing "here" or "there" - nothing to cling to, and this moment of suchness upon its inception automatically self-liberates - thereby suchness is emancipated. All views are also naturally transcended, I.e. "By & large, Kaccayana, this world is supported by (takes as its object) a polarity, that of existence & non-existence. But when one sees the origination of the world as it actually is with right discernment, 'non-existence' with reference to the world does not occur to one. When one sees the cessation of the world as it actually is with right discernment, 'existence' with reference to the world does not occur to one." - Kaccayanagotta Sutta Anything short of this means one has understood emptiness wrongly, or the understanding remains at the intellectual level instead of being experientially realized, and thereby the practitioner is unable to actualize it in all activities.

Been trying to figure out how I fly in dreams. I think it's sometimes superman style - without extended arm - & sometimes carpetless flying carpet style In one dream I was flitting about like the angels in 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' - but giggling all the time. For the next couple of days I couldn't help giggling when ever I thought about it. I have no idea WTF that was all about, but it was actually the best fun I'd had in a long time. (Which is in a way quite a sad thing, come to think of it... )

I've dreamt a lot lately, and it was so much stuff with no clear meaning. I can recognize a lot how stuff from waking life is recycled and put together for my dreams. Many things that might be special symbolisms turn out to be inspired by recent experiences and thoughts. Thus, at least for me personally, I tend to pay more attention to my behavior in dreams - how I deal with what's going on and what the dream's plot might tell me. You know, like a kind of mix of behavioral analysis and testing/training grounds.

This may have something to do with one's proprietary wuxing phase. Fire people fly in their dreams. Water people can fly if there's enough Fire in their chart to turn their Water to steam. Sandpaper in your nephew's dream may stand for Metal controlling his Fire, plus Wood feeding it; and colored cellophane in your mom's flights may signify Water in charge of her Fire, and/or the petroleum fuel it runs on -- that's what cellophane is made of. You, on the other hand, only need to assume the Fire mudra in your flying dreams and up you go, and to change direction you point the Fire vector in that direction.

haha! very cool Manitou when I was a kid I generally needed a run up... run, run, run JUMP!! FLY haha haha flying techniques! very cool sometimes when I am running in the dream state I don't feel like I am going anywhere though when I go to my 'wolf form' I seem to get a better grip on the reality and like pull it toward me

It's great, but I haven't noticed a happiness link... hm true perhaps it is easier to direct ones will when the inner state isn't heavy / inner state is lighter than air I had a dream specifically in relation to this some time ago haha I used to dream of flying all the time when I was a child as I got older and the world started to weigh me down the flying seem to cease I remember in the dream trying to generate positive emotions to lift up my spirit so to speak love travels at the speed of light? or faster? haha // happiness, delight, peace my experience anyhow

The gangster dream is fun. In both the gangster dream and the dream where the white dog is looking in the window, both indicate that you're waiting or watching for something to come at you. Initially you were afraid, in both cases - both with the dog and with the gangsters. Your feelings of regret at not having been friendlier to the dog (perhaps alluding here to your relationship with your father?) are matched by your later willingness to go to McDonalds with the gangster, overcoming your fear to some degree. It sounds to me as if you have something coming up to deal with; perhaps something to do with your fear of mental instability in some way. I don't think the appearance of that particular friend with the mental illness was an accident. It's as though the fellow with the football is inviting you to 'play' the game - particularly with the special ball 'for indoor use'. This means that you will be playing on your inner field. I'd start with your relationship with your dad, if you're willing. Most likely, if you're like the rest of us, there is stuff there for you to look at, get angry over, forgive - and your dreams are bringing whatever it is imminently to the fore for your continued growth. It's helpful on the inner journey to remember that we're all Victims of Victims of Victims - so we needn't get too hung up in too much blame for very long

Ha! Sometimes I think too much. Regardless of what and how much I think about it the wood still needs be chopped and the water still needs be carried. Back in the late 1960's in American fun was made of "Living in the material world." But it is there where I must live. In my private world little changes so I really don't need to view things as 'good' or 'bad' - things just are. I can't say I can view things that way when I go out into the world of other people. Sure, to be "beyond good and evil" would be great. But societies have set laws and prohibitions. When I am in the world of others I much comply with their laws and prohibitions else I get into trouble. Yin/Yang is perhaps the first of all dualities. But the distinctions do exist, do they not? For most of us there is a time to rest and there is a time to go forward. Wu Wei does not mean remaining static. It is more pointing at flowing with the flow. I think that singularity (All is One) is an unattainable, idealistic dream. Our brain, with good reason, works in a dualistic manner. If we try to negate all dualities we will have eternal inner conflict. (And we will likely cause great harm to outself.)

Why worry about death, you never cease to exist, just a constant transformation of the various projected "selves" of your original mind. The goal is returning to this one using your physical projection, which is the one that experiences a most significant "death." Dream and astral projections also "die", so if you never worried about them don't worry about the physical either.

No. Dont do it. It could be an important part of an invisable map for returning back Home, a crucial part at some point in someones dream - a link that has potential to metamorphosise simple melody into a incredible symphony or profound silence, in one way or another.

You could feel pain AND couldn't feel breathing? When I've had similar experiences, my impression has been one of losing access to feelings in my physical body which eventually get replaced by feelings from the dream body (generally sketchy, occasionally remarkably 'real')... But it's also possible that your speed of perception increased & your breathing was insignificant over the time-frames you were perceiving in. (It seems like perception occurs in frames or chunks of ~1/20s & we assemble these in a part of the brain that can get suspended during meditation & other non-normal states.) My experience (so far ) is that the feeling of dying is an illusion. But 'going for it' may not help you - it might just jolt you out of what's happening. My suggestion would be to just try to observe and stay calm.

After a relatively dream-free 40ish years, I'm suddenly getting quite a few. Risking boring the hell out of everyone, I'd like to report them & related non-events. I remembered a certain taobum with a relevant nickname had checked my profile & felt a strange urge to contact him. I waited a few days and pm'd him. It turns out he'd had a dream of being outside a house, with a vague impression of a piano. There's a piano in my living room. So far, so inconclusive. Then he reported a dream about a frog: This had some significance to me at the time: Perhaps I also need to 'lose my venom' to rejuvenate. And then: My interpretation: the present situation presents great risks. But I am not a specific target and can avoid them by confining their possible angles of approach, and staying vigilant. I must spend this time preparing myself. The world will eventually become safer, but will remain basically insane. The will offer gifts to tempt me. They will be exaggerated, commercial, and tawdry - but ultimately harmless. I had a couple more fragmentary ones this morning. The gist of one was to be nicer to my Dad, but I've forgotten the details already.

HOLY COW! I do Lucid Dreaming A LOT. I have died way more than just once in my dreams. Drowning was a theme as a child. At any rate this makes alot of sense to me, Wolf Running on Air! I keep a dream journal. The manifesto! Lao Xie had already told me "You know Bruce Lee wrote a book while he was healing" Perfect time for will and I am inspired enough to throw a manifesto in there. Leaving something behind that will live forever, now that is an idea. Joe Blast, thanks bro! Thanks to all!

Well I haven't a clue though i have heard if one is able to maintain consciousness during the dream state you should be able to navigate the 'after life' / bardo state easily and achieve 'enlightenment' in that moment perhaps dream yoga? they say death is like falling asleep moving from one dream to the next few can remember the day just gone by, even less remember their dreams? how does one suppose to remember lifetimes? once one remembers then one learns to control the dream... I am dreaming... infinite playground we have to maintain consciousness // never fall asleep the body asleep the mind (consciousness, interfaces with body) awake

Dear MythMaker, I love that statement. Each day I maintain my body, only to find the sea once more at my sand castle. When I watched psychic surgery done and had it done, I saw inside the body, the surgeon removed cysts and tumors from peoples body and put them in a bowl and sealed the body, washed a little blood into bowl and within seconds their was no scar and no trace of anyone having entered the body. When she explained how it was done, she said that the material existence is just energy vibrating at various rates and frequencies. I believe it is the slower frequencies that take on denser and more physical reality. She said that by raising ones vibration to higher frequencies, one can move through what appears material and remove denser objects, for people who need to see, but still be working at a higher frequency. Also when I did fire walking it was like that for me. Changing frequencies so what would normally burn, is like dancing in the sand. Or in marshal arts cutting through large blocks, moving through dense matter like butter. We each have a Myth we are Making in time. When we see our lives patterns, we get in touch with the dream stuff that weaves the Myths into the actual manifestations to tell us a story of what we came here for. I do not know if your familiar with Joseph Campbell, but he has some great insights on myths. Keep shining Much Love, Osalina

Hey guys, thanks for the feedback! Let me crystal clear my theory for ya guys When I speak about love, I'm talking about everything, All that is, our true natural selves, the core of our beings, the light that we are. Yet, I think it is useful to make the distinction, especially if there is a request for it. Because afterall, even though everything is love and light, we are here experiencing distinction, based on our judgements. It is my intention to bring these judgements under the light of our love, hows that for an exchange, huh? Sex - Permission slip to practice/allowance of love energy(non-ejaculatory) trough sex. Where limitted degrees is allowed in, bit by bit at a comfortable rate. Building up as you go. This is still a very very powerful way to go and it is suggested you let go of allot of negative believe systems prior to initiating this practice. Practicing resistance will result in ejaculation, for your own safety, because you might not be ready to hold on to the amounts of energies. It all depends on how much mental resistance you hold within your mind. Love - Permission slip or concept to practice/allowance of love energy. Still limitted, but this energy will skyrocket your body into new experiences. It will rise even the tiniest of negative speck of a believe to the surface of your consciousness. This is where people face all kinds of trouble when they practice resistance, holding on to negative believe systems. E.g. angry boyfriends or ex-boyfriends. Facing your fears, or facing your feeling of self-worth. Practicing more allowance of the feeling of self-worthiness. Cause often, you get rejected. Unless if you're in love with your self, never heard about that one on these levels though ^^ Unconditional Love with All that is - practice/allowance of non-conditional love energy. This is where you begin to have conversations with infinite intelligence, connect to All that is. This is where our true natural self is being allowed fully in. We know what we need to know when we need to know, synchronisity abounds. Reality becomes fluid, you play with everything around you like clay and transform it effortlessly. Where miracle is reality. Most of all, you know your self worth and project that unto others automaticly. There is no more forgiving, only the pure unconditional love itself for ALL THAT IS The emotions differ, because the limits of the believe systems differ. The resistance to the same energy to diffrent degrees is what created the distinction between these practices/allowances. Because you're allowing diffrent things at diffrent times, based on your current believe systems! It is true that most of the people who rush them selves into things and still have allot of negative believe systems, unconsciously, while initiating the sexual practice/allowance of non-ejaculatory whole body orgasms, they will carry the burden of facing allot of them all at ones, as your increase in frequency will make these heavy bagage just float to the surface of your consciousness for your observance and letting go of it or face the consequences of not doing so. Holding on to negative believe systems and yet practice with sexual transumation I call that the practice of resistance of sex-energy. It is very destructive. And it is good of you guys to bring it up. Yet, there is not much to worry. There is a built in safety device. Sooner or later, the person will have strong urges to ejaculate and end the whole experience for himself in that very instant. I have just started my sexual practice a week ago, and its going smooth as heaven! I have been practicing it trough masterbathing, thats what I call masturbation in the bathtub. Cause the first time I did it totally wrong, and I took bath to sooth my blue balls, haha Check my previous topic for that pain in the nut. I'll be ready to practice with a partner soon. Its pretty easy, if you know how to relax and allow. There is really no problem in recognizing when you are holding too much tension out of pure habbit of ejaculation. I was past lust when I got my first love dream at the age of 6 years old Now I'm having unconditional love dreams... If you know what I mean

A Modest Proposal I think we bums need to do more then 'chat' about issues, We need to take ACTION!! I propose we fund a project to give 8 or 9 pit bulls to each member of the Tea Party. I'll need a thousand dollars from each member to make this dream come true. Or if you think that's a crazy idea, we could just collect $50 each and get the dogs from local pounds. BAM, I've just saved each person $950!! There's a place we can rent to keep the dogs by the Keller Preschool for the blind. I don't see how anyone could object to this idea. If you like the Tea Party and like Pit Bulls then its a great because it make members more powerful. If you don't like the Tea Party and don't like Pit Bulls then its great because the pit bulls will attack the Partiers. If you don't like the Tea Party and like Pit Bulls then its great because the Pit Bulls will show love and mellow the Tea Partiers. If you like the Tea Party and don't like Pit Bulls then ..maybe.. I got nothing, but what are the odds of that happening. I can't see why anyone would be against this plan.

I was always thinking about doing something like setting up a retreat like that. It was my dream. You are lucky that you already have the land for that. You have won half the battle already, go for it....

Wow, you spoke trough dream? That sounds so crystal clear. Its kind true, since all we see here is 0,0001% or something. Empty space / vacuum has all the mass in the universe. We just float in this empty space, never touching anything not even ourselves. We are pretty much empty space itself. This manifestation is but a tiny tiny part of us. Like an illusion. Just enough for "make believe" The artist doesn't create superman, he is the creator of his drawing. He himself is superman and superman is made in his image. That is why when you're done reading the book, you become superman again.

I suggest to take a break from sexual practice until pain subsides. It could be an effect of qi-channels opening in the scrotum? What is the external conditions of your balls? Strange colors? how is the skin? Do you experience wet dream? Do you check your urine to ensure there's no retrograde ejaculation during the night?

I cannot practice with anyone. However I am only day 24 of abstinence. I did have a wet dream at day 18 though. Around day 7 to day 15 they hurt like hell. As long as I know that my tubes are not tied, then I can bear this pain. My friend had a twisted testicle and they had to remove it because the blood supply was cut off to too long.

Your definition of fascism is the end result and not the cause of. I know very well what fascism is and your corporate wish to have more government programs privatized is fascism. Private corporations are accountable to no one except themselves. Your dream that somehow such corporations can be fired is absolute nonsense.

How about an Armadillo? I was thinking also perhaps it is the combination of Thoth (Ibis) + Anubis (Jackal)? what would this indicate? wow flash back to a dream / after seeing this image The dream was quite vivid I have met similar beings ^ haha A man similar to above was watering his lawn haha His kids were running around playing on the grass only folks around I walked up and said // Hello my name is __________ I am from Earth I am sure he said something to me but I forget now! kind of like the in-depth conversation I had with this Green Cyclops Cat (emphasis due to feeling this Green Cyclops Cat deserves as much respect as I can give it at present knowing) in a park at night under a street light and tree - the cat was sitting on a brick retaining wall... going onto a nice oval field - I don't remember the conversation unfortunately... I think it was important though hahah damn The Cats eye was totally awesome it was like looking into a galaxy / star systems etc... I think at the end of the conversation this vision of the star systems expanded into my vision and I was like floating in space (consciousness - no body) observing... haha anyhow

Same night/day I had a dream that ended with me going to sleep in the dream and then a woman idly staring at me, like looking through me, and she made very weird eye movements, and then my vision unfocused (interesting that this can happen in a dream) and her eyes became one and a deep, eerie chanting voice began, and when I tried to focus, her eyes drifted apart again, and then with a slight flockering my whole vision turned grey and I heard myself make panicked noise and struggled to wake up into waking perception. After that, my crown/third eye region felt like during an ayahuasca trip. I didn't have a nightmare for many years, but this felt like one. Whatever initiated this - probably not a good idea to try and break through barriers like that during sleep.

I've been doing dantian meditation for about a week now. Last night I slept badly, and once again got jolted awake when psychedelic imagery started emerging (a kind of fractal mountain range, looked like it was generated by very out of date technology ). It was much less shocking, I went back to sleep and was able to go through it into what I think was a lucid dream. (I say 'I think' because I don't recall actually thinking or realising it was a dream. However, I don't remember 'losing consciousness' as I was falling asleep. So I think there was some continuity of waking consciousness right into the dream, and the reason I didn't realise or think 'this is a dream' was simply that I already knew...) In the dream, I was reading a book filled with paintings: wild, moving, abstract art. And listening to beautiful synchronised music. I can't remember the last time I looked at an art book (years ago at least) & for the most part I find music annoying. So I guess this was my mind's workaround for the 'shock of the psychedelic hypnagogic': literally 'framing' it as something to be admired without getting scared or otherwise involved. (Now why didn't I think of that... )