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Abdominal breathing as stated in the Jade Emperors Mind Seal Classic, creates heat in the lower abdominal region through the combination of physical movement, intent (where the mind goes the qi will follow,) and the resulting temperature increase around the ldt area, helping build the dan tien and apply pressure to the accumulating jing, derived from sexual abstinence. The different techniques employed to breathe in the air, rather than the specialty of the air is why alchemy practitioners utilize the breathing process more effectively. Also let's not forget, that RAB and NAB stimulate the testicles by moving them which in turn stimulates the kidneys and sexual organs. Other than this, I feel as though there is also an element of attunement involved that helps synchronize the practicer with the current of the TAO. This may be linked to brainwave frequencies. We dream during REM, which is when the Shen leaves the body. This phase of the sleep cycle is strongly associated with specific brain frequencies. There are many other reasons Chi Dragon, like the way the breath is held, the interraction and concentrations of C02 and Oxygen, Etc mostly though, I would have to say it all starts from physically heating the blood. In fact there are some very old practices which build the ldt solely through massage. This is the starting point of alchemy for which oxygen respiration is required in different depths and speeds in order to increase the localized temperature. It's no coincidence that they speak of bringing the fire of the heart/mind to scorch the water of the kidneys and lower DT in order to create Yang vapor, vitality, the alchemical agent for it's course up the spine. It all starts with heat Chi Dragon, just like in a laboratory, heat is a great Catalyst for Al-chemical reactions of the hormonal products to take place. In spiritual alchemy we need oxygen in the beginning to catalyze the process, but just like in laboratory chemistry, heat need not always be applied as some transformations take place only when the quantity, quality, maturity and combination of the reactive agents is precise to meet requirements.

Delogs are interesting cases - they 'die' then come back to life a few days later and with stories to tell. Here's a link to one Delog's account: Delog, Journey to Realms Beyond Death Some teachers stress how going to sleep is like dying so dream practice is good training for death.

Probably close to not at all :) Its just an elusive dream. In fact I debated whether to put that word in The sentiment was that if you aim for something and continually miss ,,you end up orbiting but if you think I should remove it I will Thanks for the nice words Stosh

I have spent a lot of time with different types of memory healing practices Emotional Freedom Techniques and Emotional Freedom Technique matrix re-imprinting: These practices specifically go to a memory and tap on various acupuncture points while focusing on the memory, then perhaps one would change the memory by tapping on the child in the quantum field. Tibetan practices- Thinking of a goal you want and imagining a fire burning all obstacles for this goal. The healing codes- Praying to remove all the memories, images and beliefs which stop you from receiving what you want. I find that they are all powerful, however they tend to focus my mind on removing the obstacles and affirming the reality that I don't have what I want. With the exception of the healing codes which is perhaps a lot softer and kinder although come to think of it I have never used it for just one memory before. However one can also forget the past and just focus on feelings such as appreciation, love, kindness, joy, relaxation, bliss, ecstasy, trust and contemplating things such impermanence, death, the dream like reality of life, the selfish intentions of everything, personal responsibility for everything etc. Which is a lot more joyful, also visualising that you already have the goal which changes your thought patterns. You can also do both. However it would be great to have some kind of scientific study as to which method or combination of methods is the most powerful and kindest to self.

It is really simple. You exist and your existance is eternal. There is no non-existance, (duhh....) but most people forget that. So every possible idea or imagination you have had, exists for real. Your ability to imagine / recall is the same thing. It is your link with the rest of the infinity of existance. The fact that this toddler came on the news, gives away the fact that society is filled with people who "disbelieve" in the capabilities and worthiness of their own imagination. I must be careful with that word, because "disbelieve" doesn't exist. As I said, non-existance doesn't exist. "Disbelieve" is actually a 100% believe/trust in a reality that you don't prefer. As a child we were thought to denie the "invisible" friends. Anything that is "invisible" we say "does not exist." But now you know the truth, non-existance does not exist. Wether some of the things you have chosen to imagine so far is useful to your current physical experience? Thats up to you to decide. You are free to imagine whatever you want. Don't force the imagination to be something you want it to be. You already know naturally how to imagine things as a child, trough this powerful concept: "Play!" Children are masters of play. Play with the imagination and it will naturally unfold in ways that show you the most relevant of things you need to see. Hold what you have seen in the back of your mind, the relevance will be revealed unto to you as you just go about your life in an open-minded way. Don't assume to fast, don't judge either. Don't make up your mind. Usually, cross-connection are done trough dreams, in the pure "I am" state. This always happens when you look into the mirror in the dream and realize that you "are." You "are" as this woman and you "are" as the person in bed right now. You realize that you are both. Instantly, you receive all the feelings of this person. It doesn't have to be with a person living in your dimension either, or past. It can be a much more futuristic earth. The only reason why cross-connection happen spontaneously, if is you are very very stuck in a situation or block in your life. You will receive a connection with another person who has the exact same problem, but from a total diffrent perspective. Then you will feel allot les frustrated about it and allow the problem to become more fluid in a sense. This window unto infinity that we call imagination is a very powerful window. Treat it as such. Use it more often.

When you don't filter the imagination trough believe systems that contain fear, it is not possible to enter a nightmare. As I said, usually the circumstances or experience we define as "lie" and "nightmares" are actually higher in truth and higher in vibrational frequency. They are messengers. So even in these cases, the imagination or dream is beneficial and integrative. You just need a bigger picture. All monsters are messengers in the symbolical sense. Come to show you that you are afraid, to remind you that you are dreaming. So that you don't die an old man filled with regret. When it said "thou shall not lie" it does not mean "you shall lie and then some angry god will punish you for it" It literally means, you will NOT LIE! You cannot lie. That which we call God does not allow it. Not possible. Lies do not exist. When you choose to believe in lies, you experience exactly that. All truths are equally valid and equally true. All is the truth. Existance is all that is. There is no such thing as delusion and illusion or lie. You create it by denial of your own existance. You just have to "be" in order to see the truth. Thats it.

K I too wonder and ponder about the veracity of the different stances and the 'wider' shift happenings... ( had to put the 'f' in there) ... There are many possibilities ... determining which to embrace and which to reject can be rather complicate when it comes to 'enlightenment'... the solution I have found that works can be summed up as "be it a dream be it real always choose the better ways"... I could go on an on as to the rationale to hedge and bias the outcome so that the perfect solution always results, no matter what happens... That is choose a certain way even in uncertain ways... now compare that to how others prefer to resolve the situation ... They embrace the illusion of certainty rather than accept the uncertainty... it may all boil down to who and what each chooses to believe... Personally I prefer the notion of a loving caring God directing stuff than some arbitrary judge... I believe that a single voice of righteousness suffices to direct and bind to the healthy truthful ways everything... even if spoken by the humblest of being...

play can involve all sort of things, pushing, shoving, flowing and more... just as love, allowance, being, dreams, imaginations, realities there all can involve all sort of stuff... including LIes, truths, and more and it can be imagined... be experienced and more... Oh I often find those who choose not to choose while denying the fact they chosen what they chosen a bit humorous... by the same token those who judge "There is no judgement" in the judgement on non-judgement reminds me that we be bound to judge while free to choose how to do it... that is if you choose to judge that you do not judge and delude yourself from the truth that up to you... I really liked what you said "There is surrender to the truth or there is worship () resistance towards the truth". I seen this as the deception of freedom vs the binding truth that 'sets us free'. Being can choose to accept or reject the truth while rarely being abel to alter what be the truth... though some certainly like to imagine/believe/pretend otherwise... The future past present exists in the eternal now! Again I invite you and others to continue to wonder, ponder and explore the matters at hand ... instead of escaping it! experience it while doing many other stuff... always remember that you can always change the direction of the dream into the bounds of what be good stuff... just imagine it...

ChiD, I like what you are saying but not sure about Lao Tzu's intent of wu wei, as a student of Lao Tzu can you please elaborate on this line, "do nothing to harm society" Many years ago as a rank novice of taoism I had a lucid dream of walking about the world, gently, in a monk's habit and a beggars bowl. Sometimes I have a voice that talks to me in my dreams describing whats going on, in this case it said, "You are doing wu wei." It said that several times. When I woke up I had to go and find out what this 'wu wei' meant because, at that time, I had never heard of it. Thanks, Astralc

Inquiry into my belief structures has revealed yet another fascinating aspect I want to explore. This idea that we create our own reality and are largely responsible for the life we experience has been one I've been trying to play with, but I have found I have never been able to fully commit myself to a "successful" mindset. Now, I have an idea of why this is occurring. I am afraid that there will be consequences for being successful. Say that I am able to realize my dream of becoming a professional musician...will that create an imbalance/debt that will result in a great loss of some kind? Or perhaps, will my candle burn brighter at the cost of burning shorter? I have this belief that everything comes with a price, and if I dare to be too successful the price will be higher than I want to pay. To further complicate things, I wonder if the very belief that this is so may in turn cause it to be true. For instance, if this belief is present and I become successful, something bad may happen, whereas if I never had the belief in the first place or could somehow eliminate it, it would no longer be an issue. I know I think too much, worry too much...but I'm an extremely cautious person. Well, most of the time. When I act on impulse it usually bites me in the ass. Grah...y'know, it's so frustrating having answers sitting there but being afraid to trust them. If I were not attached to the outcome, it would not be an issue. Damnit, I answered my own question. Why are the answers so frustratingly simple? This same answer could be applied to countless conditions of my existence. So, there it is. The core fear, that I am in danger some how. That I have something to lose if I don't act in the right way. Is it that ol' Christian upbringing rearing its ugly head again? Or is there truly something to gain and something to lose?

Nikolai1, While reading your thoughtful response I was reminded of the difficulty I had at one time with sharing a notion... At an event a long time ago when I was just beginning to learn about energy and individuals feeding it... someone said evil is everything bad and hateful we should reject it hate what is bad and hateful. I realized that hating evil only energizes it more the way to counteract evil involves loving evil the evident risk here involves some misunderstanding of what 'loving evil' means... Now as then I opt for "love" seeking a singular presentation for one and all. Now before preceding further let me just state that ... learn about energy and individuals feeding it... Good is everything good and loving we should embrace it love it, appreciate what is good and loving... I realized that loving energizes it more and energizes everything the way to cultivate love involves loving good the evident opportunity here involves some fully understanding of what 'loving' means... Now as then I opt for "love" seeking a singular presentation for one and all. Ok ... on to the notion of the challenge of presenting one dimensional claims at a time that give multiple understandings and apply equally well to all sides... Lets hope people choose to get the complete understanding and impression... My intent is to focus on the truth of the matter to clearly see the matter and better choose what to do next. Presenting the other side of the picture sort of keeps the dualistic notion of stuff rather than focusing on the singular encompassing understanding. if are were doing stuff to show an error we be ourselves doing erroneous stuff! If we were doing stuff to show the truth we be ourselves doing what be correct stuff presenting empty truth as the whole truth is quite different than presenting the whole truth as the whole truth :-) Indeed talking about spirituality can be so hazardous... some feel their ways attacked and attack back! For the sake of audiences, to be logical we must present one-sided and complete stands though the illogical will see this logic illogical and find the illogical to be logical... The question is how to be illogically logical with the illogic to get them to be logical while remaining logic... do this... To be truthful we must present the truth... when it involves two-sided and paradoxical arguments we present the truth and when it involves a singular-sides evident stand we present the truth. Both are highly likely to be misunderstood by those who do not understand and will be understood by those who do understand. At the end of the day, we can only talk and trust that each and everyone will get the truth and become a bit wiser... Why take a risk when there is a safe way? The notion that one needs to understand both fullness and emptiness to understand the true spiritual nature still needs to transcend the dualistic notion which will be understood when one transcends it. Compassion and the ethical life may be misguided or right on the button... We may not be able to truly know what is truly best for a person though that need not keep us from doing it... Some will only be able to understand other people as mortals living in time and space and some will understand other people as mortals living in time and space existing eternally. Its sort of humorous to me to see certain projection you like to hold and claim while insisting that thats the way things be... For me the world view is one of multiplicity with singular separations and unity. I like to say that our singular uniqueness is what both separates and makes us equals... We each know what the right actions in a given situation are... but often choose to ignore it for some reason we deem appropriate... If we do a good deed and others choose not to appreciate what we have done or even choose to reject us because of what we have done... thats their business... The sense of unity be already there... whether we and others recognize it thats a whole different issue... so again you invite us to look at a kind of illusion... maybe even go for the wake up dream... To help people one does not need to think of them as mortals or immortals one just has to help people ... by helping them... Morality is for people who don't undertsand the spiritual life to follow the practices of the spiritual life- those who understand the spiritual life and follow the practices of the spiritual life do not need the rules to follow to follow the rules without rules... hope you find this enrichening and worth your read... best wishes now and always

"North America's largest electronic dance music and arts festival experience returns to Las Vegas for summer 2012! The 16th Anniversary of Electric Daisy Carnival promises a larger-than-life adventure where you, the fans, are welcomed to explore, create, connect and celebrate together with us. For three nights, we invite you to dance, dream and discover inside a landscape crafted just for you. This year will feature several fully immersive art environments, seven state-of-the-art stage productions, a photo booth contest seeking out the most creatively dressed participants, and an endless sea of full-sized carnival rides, theatrical performances and unexpected surprises. See you soon beneath the glittering desert sky! Electric Daisy Carnival Las Vegas Friday, Saturday & Sunday ::: June 8 - 10, 2012 The Las Vegas Motor Speedway Journey with us: www.electricdaisycarnival.com Follow us: @EDC_LasVegas" I'm curious if any bums have any experiences at EDC or similar events. If unfamiliar, think "Burning Man" Rave on Ecstasy. I live in Las Vegas and actually work on the strip, and similar to last year when it came to town, there are myriad colorful characters (240,000 attended last year) running around in all sorts of crazy getup...the vibe is one of supposed "PLUR" (as they refer to it as: peace, love, unity, respect) that's apparently what its supposed to be all about...yet then there are those who are throwing firecrackers out of their cars on the strip at LV locals (some people think no one 'real' actually lives in Vegas?) and also selling dangerous drugs such as Ecstasy to way-underage kids..EDC 2010 in LA a 15 year old overdosed on E. In a way it all seems like a huge guise to just get high, act belligerent and mindlessly fornicate with randoms. Any thoughts?

So many want to escape the nightmare rather than transform the dream and enrich it... they will just find the same elsewhere until they learn and transform it all... the notion that marriage, family, children enslave us rather than enrich us keeps many from working out the lessons they need to learn here and now... Its much better to be an incarnated creature with God than being without God... One still has the opportunity to visit so many different places and dimensions out there and around here... why would you wanna remain on planet earth? well because we be here now... and have something to do here and now... so lets get to it...

Lotus, what courage and self discovery it has taken for you to post your inner being here with us. Please know that I too am an alcoholic; I just haven't indulged the first drink in over 30 years. I am at serious risk for being seriously boring here. I did notice the multiple stints you've done in recovery programs. I didn't hear you mention the 12 steps of recovery, though. When I first started working the 12 steps, I thought it was only to keep from drinking any more. I didn't know at the time that the very process of going in and finding your fears, your resentments....this is the very thing that places our feet on the road to Self-Awareness, self-realization. It is this process that must be followed for us to reach the Awareness that we on this site seek. The 12 steps changed me 180 degrees; from a cynical and judgmental person (I'm a retired cop, so that came with the territory), into a more gentle and accepting person, a person who values totally different things than back when I was living the alcoholic dream. Although I know nobody wants to hear advice like this, PLEASE go back and revisit the 12 steps in a way that you have not before. If there is anything I can do to assist you with this, I'd be happy to be a sounding board, if you need one. It's the inner journey, pure and simple; the beauty of it is that the steps are so Simple (but not easy).... Best wishes to you, friend. Please contact me if I can help. Barbara

Maybe your mind came up with that dream because of your thyroid problem. Maybe there's even a message in it. Maybe you should take care of yourself first when the stakes are high. Maybe a feeling of blind duty is harmful to your health. Or whatever.

WWROA, wow, that is so cool. In my dream I was standing next to my knight attending him to get his armour on (in a real hurry!) as the baddies attacked. We were on a hill side, a sandy slope, a few low scrubby bushes, when the saracens came from the top and left side of the hill, a simple ambush was all it was. Our caravan was spread out down a rough line, maybe 10 metres apart so we had no chance of forming a group to fight them off. We didn't even have our fighting gear ready, most of the equipment was still in bags and on pack horses, and not at hand except swords. Of course I had no weapon at all, I was too busy getting my knight armoured, hands reaching up to help him harness his armour. One wild looking saracen rode his horse full pelt at me and simply sliced my neck half way through. Over and out. Fortunately I had no time to panic, it was over so quickly. That maybe explains my thyroid problem In many of my dreams a past life component is very very common too. I met my future wife many times in dreams before we met in real life when I was 17 yrs old, we had several lifetimes together, that was cool indeed. Astralc

Will keep an open mind, hope you do the same :-) BTW it may actually be impossible to prove it one way or the other! Maybe the lesson each needs to get involves how to choose without getting to know which be the truth and which be the lies. What I present sort of ensures that be it real be it a dream one always chooses the better way... :-)

Hey Astralc cool post I also was killed in the 'Holy War' haha I was a Templar knight in the desert somewhere... was surrounded and game over haha (vivid dream) maybe we fought together? most of the dreams I would deem possible past life memories generally involve the time surrounding the death of that life... the trauma perhaps having a heavy imprint... or the message of life after life... etc

But then you gave up on reality and opted for an idealistic delusion? Yes, I am very well aware of this. Well, sure! So would I. But you will never be able to take away the wealth of the rich nor will you ever be able to take away the power from the controllers. I won't argue this point. It is true, IMO. But it is reality. So you think that the true nature of the animals needs be changed? Ain't gonna' happen. Sorry. There will alwayss be kings of one form or another and there will always be those who want to possess more than they need and neither of these two types of people care anything about what you and I think. Oh, I have had my idealistic dreams. They are nice dreams - everyone well fed with all their needs satisfied. But they are only dreams. Life has never been this way and I don't see it being that way in the near future. If you try to take power away from the powerful they will kill in order to keep their power. Just look at what is happening in Syria right now. And even if you remove one from power another will take his/her place before you realize what has happened. But yeah, we can dream.

interesting question. To me, I do not agree well with the notion of gender specific or nonspecific attraction. I don't even know of I'm bi-sexual or straight, and I don't even care to label myself in that way. I have felt some attraction to one boy in my life. Yet; this "boy" was so feminine deep within. I allowed him to express his inner feminine so freely and he surrendered to my masculine energy so effirtlessly. I was still a young kid back then. Every little detail about him was feminine. We were romping around, ended up biting my finger and the whole situation became awkward and we stopped romping around from that day one. I was just completely my self, not feminine at all. Since I have only felt these things usually with women, I guess I do have the tendency to project the female gender unto this guy. I even had a dream where he had a vagina. Yet, he is unmistakenly a male. Obviously, this is a rare experience, but I do not just denie it and discredit the fact that homo-gender attraction is possible. So, now I wonder "in advance" wether or not homo-energetic attraction is also possible. I guess the fire analogy is interesting. Yet, its still a fire to me, in the end. You know how little physical attraction we feel towards fire in the summer? Haha

I guess all these practices CSM, yoga nidra, are like permission slips. One can really come up with his or her own method of going "within." Yet, a meditation like yoga nidra might already have integrated most of the common pitfalls and thus gain in popularity. I think the allowing of visualization in yoga nidra in a focused part of the body is a powerfull way to go. Especially, because we are then instructed our awareness to shift points to the heart, without any imagination. Just simple awareness and being. I also know from experience that focusing awareness on the heart will help you expand your self as the heart beats become more entensified, the deeper you go within yourself. As if you are shrinking into the center of your body, being your heart. I find it interesting how csm talks about the inner realm. That guy obviously has been going deep. Although, some people might prefer the word "high" as in expansion, inclusion. I find the part where I have to seperate myself from my senses are a bit odd. Since all I had to do to loose focus of the senses was to shift focus of my awareness to something else. So Inwas kinda not expecting a big emphasis on that part. Rather, I would more intensely merge with my 5 senses during the day. Observing them more deeply. Using the 5 senses more habitually will create the habbit in the dream state, resulting in vivid and lucid dreams. Also vivid and lucid imagination, which in turn helps you shift focus from external to internal senses. Paradoxically. Also a. Non-judgemental observation on my thoughts added to that, results in out of body experiences while wide awake and active on the go. Its very powerfull. Yet, what I am trying to achieve with lucid imaginig, I already do every night. We all do it automaticly. I guess the shifting of focus of awareness and the shaping of the awareness should become a process I'm more conscious of as I'm doing it. So that I can still recognize the shape of my awareness even during the very process of falling asleep. This will allow me to really go within, in a conscious way.

I was learning tai chi in 1980 and after about 6 months I found myself waking up in my dreams, flying, and engaging in the dream itself. I spoke to my master about it because I was a bit confused. Sometimes I would find myself floating above myself when doing tai chi in the class, which was very disturbing, I feared I would fall down. But earlier, before tai chi, I was talking to people who had died, and always had weird dreams and experiences, precognitive dreams, sometimes ghosts though never frightening ones, just talking to them in my sleep. But when I woke up to find myself sitting up in bed talking to this old lady in a flowing ice blue gown for example I would freak out and hide under the blankets. So, I suppose it was already there and tai chi kicked it along to the next level.

Unless there was something you were here to do which you didn't get round to because you were too busy with your own dream

If you have a dream, something you truly wish to accomplish before you die, and you work towards that with all your heart and effort, is that escapism? Even if you fail, you lived a meaningful life.

You might want to try a yoga nidra class. It's a guided dream state meditation . It's become very popular in the yoga world, so most studios in the US are adding classes.