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Woops. Was quoting the russian guy presumably asking the reporter girl what the droprate on her pants was. Trust me, I know about droprates. Use to farm the Eye of Shadow on my warlock and epic mounts on my deathknight. I am on US servers so,.. didnt see that go down. Dreamworld..yes. And yes. And I agree, totally. Morpheous, "Have you ever had a dream you thought was real?" Butterfly Effect inside you.

The first chakra is establishing yourself-having all the basic needs. The second chakra is creativity and productivity-you need the basics in order to do this. The third chakra is being fulfilled-being able to live comfortable, as you want. This is not to be confused with the "American dream" or any other ideas of excessive luxury. You simply seem to be a man living at the first chakra, who is looking to advance to the third chakra level. I'm not saying you don't have comfort and that you aren't prosperous, but hopefully this metaphorical explanation of the chakra levels will give you comfort in knowing that it is natural to not want to stay in what I am supposing you consider a "stagnant" phase in your life.

haha yea i had this and posted about it awhile back. Mine appeared as a snake beside my pillow. It was neat in hindsight but pure TERROR in the moment. The fear in those situations isn't logical fear. I could see a cute kitten but still be scared. It's not what you see it's what you know it is. Like mine was a snake with big googly eyes. It didn't look to frightening but it's PRESENCE caused fear. I actually just had a dream last night where this guy i used to know introduced me to a "reptillian" as he called it. It was like yellowish green lookin humanoid, about my size, sleepin on the other side of my bed O.o. I screamed out and accidentally woke him up, then I apologized and woke up, lol. Wierd shit. Anyway its seems to happen most when you're on your back (according to what I read and experienced). I sleep on my side/stomach so i don't get night terrors very often. And before bed I always think happy thoughts, laugh and smile and pray to god/godess of love to be with me through the night. My theory is that negative entities feed off your fear and negative energy. So if you emanate love and child-like nature it's like a poison to them. As for what's going on...from an eastern standpoint...I'd say you're "shifting gears", sliding into another dimension or realm. When you can consciously do this it's called an OBE. I don't think it's a sign of spiritual progression as it happens to ALOT of people, but cultivating awareness in general can lead to this i think. My other night terror is when I woke up and rolled over but my physical body didn't move. I was in this light blue hologram of myself watching my physical body lye there. Then I started screaming and trashing and yelling for someone to wake me up, then I woke up. Oddly enough both night terrors happened when I fell asleep to "energy body, chakra clearing" tapes... Thats my story Peace -Astral -Astral

I think Lucky7Strikes will be the best person to reply you because he struggled a long time over this question. Nevertheless, here are some things for you to consider: From: J Sent: Friday, April 10, 2009 8:46 AM To: (xabir2005) Subject: On Free Will from Dharma Dan (xabir2005), I wrote to Dharma Dan and asked the question about Free Will. Below is his reply for your inforamtion: ============================================================================ Dear J, Thanks for your email. I have been working a lot so it took a little while to get back to you. Hello Daniel, I just read your blook. Your chapter on No-Self vs True Self is very good. I feel it is much better than the chapter on the same topic in the book Path with Heart by Jack Kornfield. Could you allow me to ask you a couple of questions here? According to this chapter, basically you don't agree with Advaita's concept of True Self and Oneness. Is this correct? Second, all Advaita people basically assert that humans have no free will. Here is a sample short article to show what I mean: http://www.advaita.org.uk/discourses/teachers/freewill_balsekar.htm I think this view is closely connected to their another view which is seeing this world completely as an illusion and dream. I think Buddhism's dependent origination is a better description for perceived reality. As I read some Buddhism books, when they talk about Karma, they all say humans have a choice to change the future course. I interpret this as saying that humans have free will in Buddism's view. Is this correct? If so, how does this reconcile with no-self/ego teaching? Best regards, I am a pragmatist, so I think that concept that help people are key. Tbe Buddha addressed this topic, and I agree with his answer. He said that when training in Morality assume free will, as it helps. Thus, you presume that you can make healthy choices about how to speak and act and think, and so you proceed with the notion that you are in control and can make yourself and your world better. When doing Insight practices, you do the complete opposite as much as possible. You assume that sensations arise on their own in a causal, natural way and as much as possible you try to see that aspect of things. That said, until concentration, mindfulness, and continuity of practice are strong, one makes a lot of effort to see things as they are and stay with the natural arising and vanishing of sensations. From an ultimate point of view, and from a strictly Buddhist technical point of view, there is no free will. All the sensations of effort and will are themselves causal, and thus, while there are definitely the impressions of free will, these themselves are made of moments that arise and vanish on their own according to the laws that govern causality. Helpful? Daniel ------------------ (comments by Thusness on Konomonte's questions) Thusness says: *komomonte cannot understand the question of free will this way. *he must first experience no-self and understand how subject/object view affect us then when he look at the question of free will, he will be able to understand better. *because when our mind and experienced are shaped by inherent thoughts, we see 'free will' as a form of freedom. Once we are able to go beyond dualistic and inherent views, we see otherwise. But we must also not lead to the wrong understanding of determinism for both free will and determinism are extremes. Me says: *oic.. Thusness says: *what did u write to him? Me says: *u mean previously Thusness says: *yeah Me says: *basically i said what u said, that things do not happen by chance or ramdomly or determined, but due to conditions. so there is no control, but there is influence by intentions and imprints. Thusness says: *yes *Dharma Dan's answer i also along that line. *It is causal. Me says: *icic..

Heh! Gurumayi is able to appear in two places at once, I mean on a physically tangible level. HAHA!! My Rinpoche can manifest things from his dream into physical reality.. I mean physical artifacts. YAY! I've grown up with great lineages!! I'm so happy right now to know this... YAY!

Agree. Of course this can also be said in the dream. Not exactly. You seem to be implying that only direct empirical evidence is admissible in determining the truth of a statement. Ever heard of logical inference? For example, the scientists infer that the universe was born in a big bang. We accept this, even though none of us were there during the birth of the universe. But we don't have to talk about the big bang. A simple casual thing like tomorrow is a logical inference. None of us exist in the future. Nobody has traveled into the future to verify that it exists, and yet all of us unflinchingly believe in the reality of the future time without any direct evidence. That's logical inference again. You haven't proven this.

First things foremost, I unlike you, in my day job, Clark Kent persona, am a registered nurse and case manager who has worked in psychiatric care and with sexual abuse of both children and adults. Also these Wikipedia articles are copiously footnoted if you have reviewed them. It's a time saver. Most people don't have the job experience and training to plow thru mental health and law journals or other sources if I were to reference them. I wasnt lecturing. I was sharing what I know based on my own experiences of being a nurse since the late 1980s and teaching in metaphysical, spiritual circles since 1992. And yes, like Kate, to me it felt like you came off as being contemptuous of the victims and showing lack of understanding. Sexual abuse under the guise of spiritual leadership is horrible. I once had a woman come to tell me how her well known guru came to her and wanted to teach her tantric sex for her own personal enlightenment because she was a favorite of his. He couldn't make their relationship public because he had taken a vow of celibacy. But because of her beauty and high spiriutal attainment he would take her into his own personal inner circle for teaching even if it meant breaking his sacred vows. Of course, she was shattered when he lost interest in her as an intimate partner. I have had my own share of spritual douchebags whom over the years want the fast track to kundalini awakening by sleeping with me. That is an old line given in the spiritual seeker dating marketplace. "You are such a goddess. I would worship you and we can become enlightened together if we become tantric lovers."You find a lot of these guys hanging out at tantric seminars. It's a variation on a line I heard in BIble College. "I had a dream and God told me we were supposed to get married." Douchebags. s

The real answer may be very complicated. We have brain like cells (neurons?) in our belly area. The heart and other organs seems to hold emotions. Still, you pump the brain w/ one chemical you get happiness, another depression; you cut out parts and the personality changes. You scream at a person who's dreaming and they wake up; scream at them when awake they scream back. Is it possible this brain is a figment of imagination? No, if shoot yourself in the head within a dream, you're fine. If you do it while awake, you're dead. Seems simple to me. So I think, the mind is mostly in the brain.. again the truth may run deeper. Michael

You must be referring to Qi Dao, also known as Tibetan Shamanic Qigong. It is very similar to what you call "Systema" because the latter was developed by many masters in Russia over a period of time. Some of those masters were trained in Qi Dao, for example my grandfather, who was the last lineage holder of Qi Dao. Of course, the KGB had no interest in his Dream Yoga, meditation and healing abilities; they just wanted the fighting skills. He taught that type of skills to a number of top-notch operatives, including a few spies and Stalin's bodyguards. As his grandson, I received a very different training that was more spiritually oriented. Later I became a Tibetan lama in the Bon tradition, so my focus is a bit different from that of Mikhail Ryabko or Vladimir Vasiliev, bot of whom I happen to know. In fact, both of them are spiritually inclined toward the Russian Orthodox Church, which probably makes a difference in their approach to fighting and other applications of the art. If you are interested in Qi Dao, feel free to check out my book Qi Dao - Tibetan Shamanic Qigong: The Art of Being in the Flow on Amazon.com. It is the first in a series of books on this system, but it will give you some idea about the most basic level of training in Qi Dao. There is also a companion DVD that demonstrates the first steps in learning how to be in the flow, which may not look very spectacular, but help develop a very strong foundation for any further training in Qi Dao or any other discipline.

the hunters have come in a dream; not unkind, they just attuned to death

"Comments: this is the Realization of I AM. The realization of the True Essence of Being that transcends and is prior to all manifest. It is that Existence, that Self-Existing, Self-Shining Awareness, that stands prior to and witnesses manifest-consciousness. IT does not come and go, it is Pure Existence-Awareness that is Still, Unmoving, Abiding - the non-objective Principle of Awareness alone that witnesses the coming and going of consciousness, as well as dream, and deep sleep". From Xabir Well said Xabir Om

Interesting topic, I just commented on something related yesterday which I then updated into my Who Am I? e-book/journal: Found some quotations by Indian teacher Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, and wrote some comments in red: "Now the consciousness, when it gets involved with the body-mind, is the individual. It is conditioned by body and mind. Mind is concepts. Whatever it receives through the five senses, and is stored, that is the mind. And whatever the words that flow out, that is also mind. So when that consciousness is conditioned by the body and the mind, it is individualistic, a personality." Comments: this is the normal state of ordinary sentient beings, identified totally with their stories, mind, body, "I am this and that". "And I always tell people, you depersonify yourself by not identifying with the body-mind. When you do that, you are that manifest principle; you are no more a personality, you are only consciousness. When you are in that consciousness state, you are in a position to observe the mind flow, any thoughts occurring to you - you are apart from thought. You don't identify with that thought. Since you observe the body and its actions, you are not one with those; you are apart from that body. Thus, you are now in consciousness; this is the first stage. So when you are only consciousness, you are all manifest; this is to be realized. Then, provided you are, everything is, your world is, and your god is. You are the primary cause, the prerequisite for anything else to exist, whether it be your god or your world. You abide only in consciousness. In your attention, only consciousness should be there. That is the meditation." Comments: this is one of the four aspects of I AM: the impersonality aspect. It is seen here that everything is the manifestation of the Universal Source, the Consciousness, and no individual persons is involved in the doing/creating/manifesting/perceiving of life and phenomena: Impersonal Consciousness alone is that which manifests and perceives and animates all lives. A personal self as such is non-operational and non-existent. "Now the next step is - the question raised in the morning - are you in a position to observe consciousness? This is also the final step. When you are in a position to observe or witness consciousness - and, of course, the vital breath, body and its actions - then by virtue of that very observation, you are apart from the consciousness. So when you are in a position to observe consciousness, you are out of consciousness. Then you are what we call 'the awareness state,' the vijnana or jnana state. Is it firmly stabilized in you, or are you still wavering, vacillating?" Comments: this is the Realization of I AM. The realization of the True Essence of Being that transcends and is prior to all manifest. It is that Existence, that Self-Existing, Self-Shining Awareness, that stands prior to and witnesses manifest-consciousness. IT does not come and go, it is Pure Existence-Awareness that is Still, Unmoving, Abiding - the non-objective Principle of Awareness alone that witnesses the coming and going of consciousness, as well as dream, and deep sleep. For my case, impersonality is experienced only after the Realization of I AM - but why is Nisargadatta talking about impersonality first? I asked Thusness this question and he said the order does not matter. And yes, it makes sense - I remember in the past I had episodes of experiencing the 'Intensity of Luminosity' (one of the four aspects of I AM) even before Realization of I AM. Also, Thusness mentioned how Christians can experience the Impersonality aspect and have the experience of 'being lived' through prayer and submission to God alone (without going through the I AM realization). So there is no particular order, they are all important insights and complements each other. There is no 'higher' or 'lower' realizations, they are all necessary. The reason why Nisargadatta spoke of Impersonality as 'first step' is probably because that is how it unfolded for him, just as I would speak of the realization of I AM as 'first step' because this is how it unfolded for me. It does not have to apply for everyone. The important thing isn't about how it 'unfolds', since these are just some timeless facts that can be discovered/verified at any 'time' (actually, only discovered in timeless Now) with no particular necessary order. Stories of 'unfolding' are simply relative truths. -------- *(from an old post about the 4 aspects of I AM) Thusness told me that at present try not to talk too much about non-dual (to someone else in another forum) and he also talked to me about the deepening of the "I AM" in 4 aspects: 1) the aspect of impersonality, 2) the aspect of the degree of luminosity, 3) the aspect of dissolving the need to re-confirm and abide in I AMness and understanding why such a need is irrelevant, 4) the aspect of experiencing effortlessness. Impersonality will help dissolve the sense of self but it has the danger of making one attached to a metaphysical essence. It makes a practitioner feel "God". The degree of luminosity refers to feeling with entire being, feel wholely and directly without thoughts. Feeling 'realness' of whatever one encounters, the tree bark, the sand, etc. (see the next post) Dissolving the need to re-confirm is important as whatever is done is an attempt to distant itself from itself, if there is no way one can distant from the "I AM", the attempt to abide in it is itself an illusion. On the other hand, abiding in presence is a form of meditative practice, like chanting, and leads to absorption. It can result in the oceanic experience. But once one focuses on the 4 aspects mentioned above, one will have that experience too.

Hi Bob, Any room there to perhaps consider that joy and freedom is only relative to one's own measure of despair and entanglement? We have already found out that the hand of Nature is impersonal, and in all likelihood It bestows neither help nor harm. Its the romantic folly of the nature of Man to dream of exalted states of emancipation from whatever it is It thinks It is corralled in, attempting in vain to lift one's own legs out of the mud, when, funnily enough, there is no mud there to begin with. Chop wood, carry water. Some are more concerned with the quantity and quality of the forest, acquiring the latest wood-cutting equipment, and debating the purity of the water source. Much like one who attempts to shoot the moon down with a bow and arrows... never gets the mark, but effortful practice nonetheless. Its as if the modes of 'being' becomes the main, albeit mistaken focus, instead of simply resting in the beingness of being. Upon exhausting himself after much hard work, he may then begin to consider truly letting go and surrendering to the impartial flow of Nature. Usually this realization comes only after 40 to 50 years of fruitless attempts. By that time, much of the resistance would have worn off, but the way of Nature would have also ensured that one's zeal would also be equally diminished. Of what use is realization then? Better to understand now - do not strive too hard for what is ultimately elusive, let go, rest. Abide in the resting. All things unfold with or without Man's vain-glorious attempts at manipulating the outcomes of things. Of course, Nature would much prefer if Man would cease interfering... (do you still think unenlightened Man is still as wonderfully endowed as we all want to believe we are? I sometimes truly want to believe that humanity is fundamentally good, but that would be the ultimate delusion. So is the opposite assumption, btw.) Happy weekend folks!

Yeah there's actually a Western model for sound turning into light -- and it's used for alchemy!! So that's been the focus of my research. Essentially the sound resonates into ultrasound and ultrasound ionizes matter -- especially water. The ionization creates a "cavitation bubble" which is a sound shock wave -- so that there is a zero-point quantum vacuum that causes the matter bubble to collapse. The heat from the quantum energy is so high it creates what's called "sonofusion" -- and it's like a laser energy, hotter than the sun. So then this fusion causes the creation of neutrons from protons and electrons or vice versa, thereby enabling alchemy. There are physicists demonstrating this sound as alchemy model of reality -- it's called "piezonuclear fusion." Essentially you want a "cavitation chamber" that remarkable looks like the full lotus position -- so there is a focusing of the energy. Just as the sound resonates into higher frequency so too does it resonate into subharmonics but this is best thought of as a "standing wave" which is the model used in the "Stalking the Wild Pendulum" book. So the heart-mind connection creates a standing wave, since the pumping of the heart is the strongest oscillation -- and this oscillation is at the ELF brain wave frequency of the theta waves. The theta waves activate the REM dream visionary state of the brain. The latest research that I just posted on my blog shows that the theta waves have gamma wave spikes -- so at the trough of the theta wave which normally was thought to not do anything, there's actually another resonance into the global brain synchronization. Then, of course, the pressure of the bones as piezoelectric transduction also works through the ELF waves -- but since it's piezoelectric then the ELF waves of the yoga postures on the bone pressure create electromagnetic fields that resonate into light. Western science normally models sound with amplitude for strength so that any frequency resonance would quickly decay in strength and also would not harmonize -- but that's with the Western "symmetric" model of time. Whereas the quantum model is noncommutative -- an asymmetric resonance of time -- and the energy comes from frequency not amplitude. This is also the model for nonwestern music -- so that the ratios as Number resonate as complementary opposites into higher frequency, via the "infinite spiral of fifths" -- and this is the same as the Law of Three (Gurdjieff) -- the three gunas of India or the yin-yang-emptiness.

Last night I had a dream about 2 long boa constrictors and a UFO with a modified US flag on it...

Very awesome! Last night I was thinking about Gurumayi as my wife slept next to me and she had a dream about her. Interesting.

If you do decide to go the traditional route, just make sure you don't end up like the guy in this story. Yeesh. O.o Of course, this guys problems went far beyond simply getting married. Even if you choose to serve others, it's important to set boundaries and maintain balance by holding fast to your own dreams as well. http://markymarksthoughts.blogspot.com/2010/07/story-of-mike.html MarkyMark, I'm writing this to tell you of an old friend of mine, a man I greatly respected and the tale of his life. What makes this man special is the that by all accounts his life, his married life, working life, and family life, was a "success" by the standards laid down by modern society. I'll call him Michael (not is real name) and he was a true blue worker, very intelligent, and raised to provide by two parents who stayed together and raised their son with strict Baptist values. He wasn't all that handsome but invested his younger years diligently, pursuing an engineering degree at Duke University back when grade inflation didn't exist (early 1960's). The girls he dated, well, he didn't date much as he was a nerd and being the 60's the girls with the new freedom used that freedom to ride the cock train of football players and players in general. The new age of sexual emancipation left Mike at the station. Years after college Mike met a girl who had gotten her fill of the bad boys, and they started dating. True she was no virgin while Mike was, she'd had several relationships and relations before but she recognized the value of Mike in that he had a new job with an up and coming career track - computers! Misinterpretation of his prior religious teaching ordered him to forgive this girl’s past and instead focus only on the future. It was his duty after all. He married her and worked, hard. His father worked for the railroad and the company had taken care of him so Mike knew that this was the way to a good life. Work hard, and the company would reward and take care of you. Then the 1970's hit with the Carter recession and all that loyalty and hard work amounted to nothing. Still he tried again, found another job (that forced him to move frequently) and this one wanted even more hours than the prior job. I remember him saying "It's Friday do you know what that means? It's only two more working days until Monday!" and off he'd go. Everyday. For 43 years. He had two children, a boy then a girl, and worked while his wife stayed at home. Later on after the children were out of high school Mikes wife dabbled a little here and there and worked part time occasionally for a convenience store. The extra money was nice but not enough so she pecked Mike continuously to make extra money. It was never enough. "Go tell your boss you need more! You should show him your value! A real man would provide for his children!" and on it went. Mike was getting older now, and had always had diabetes, a life long condition he had to treat with regular insulin injections. The shots were painful but he needed them to think straight. Of course there was the time he was laid off in 1980 with no insurance and the daughter needed braces. A real man knows when to put others first after all. And of course when the mother in law needed a new roof, and he really had promised his wife that new washing machine, and oh she needed to go see her mother for Christmas as well and airfare was so expensive. So the medicine(s) waited, more than once. His children were boomerang types, his daughter slutted it up with a guy and moved in with him but later on came back home until she was able to snag a younger version of Mike. His son dropped out of college a few times and then came home to be a bum for 2 years after deciding that work was too nerve wracking. Mike would never throw his children out so they stayed for several more years. Several more. Finally when his son hit 28 he found a slut with a child from another guy and got her pregnant. The girl wanted a lavish wedding but his son was only working at a book store and couldn't afford it - no big wedding so it seemed. Mike's wife knew better of course, and argued with him for months about paying for the big day. She'd gotten a lavish wedding (thank you Mike) and didn't Mike know how important a wedding is to his future daughter? Yes this was his vacation money, yes after so many years of hard work he was finally going to get to go do something he always wanted (to see the Northern lights in Alaska). Yes he was going to finally get that Harley Davidson and ride up there after 35 years of no vacations at all. BUT This was going to be his daughter according to his wife and his kids HAD to come first.... So the girl got her wedding. Then his real daughter needed help with a house. Her new husband turned out not to be a copy of Mike after all but a thug with a criminal record who had just lost his job. Why did his daughter lie about this guy to Mike? Her wedding was very expensive too. Oh well it was too late now and his daughter did need a place to live and she just found out she was pregnant! He didn't have the money but his wife researched it and 2nd mortgages were so easy to get back then. True, his house after so many years of work was almost paid off but his grandchild needed a real home and there was no way his new son in law could afford it and Mike was told he could now work up to 10 hours more overtime if he wanted. 60 hours wasn't too much of a sacrifice and he'd at least get a leg up on that promotion, maybe. Another decade passed and after scrimping and saving and even more hard work the mortgages were paid off. In a rare perfect storm both children (now well into there 30's with kids of their own) didn't need something. The mother in law didn't need a new appliance, or home repair, or another new car being long past her driving years. Yes, now, this was the time. Mike now 64, proudly strode into the Harley dealership and filled out a custom order sheet. In 8 weeks a shiny new Harley would arrive and he would get to ride it. He would finally take a vacation, his first real vacation since college. Sure his wife and kids had gone on many many vacations over the years but he always had stayed behind - to work. Something always came up. One time it was that there just wasn't money or neighbors to take care of - of all things - the dogs! 3 Lassa's that Mike never wanted yipping and shitting all over the place. Ugh... still at least his wife would get a vacation - she deserved it after all didn't she? There was even that one time (he hoped it was just the one time) where he found out his wife had hooked up with an old boyfriend when she said she was going to visit her mother. He forgave her of course a divorce would have devastated his kids (he knew they were his - or at least he hoped) and of course he'd have lost everything with the divorce laws - besides wasn't he a Christian? Shouldn't he just forgive and forget? What does his pride or even himself matter? He had never cheated on her or even been with another woman - not even once - but that was normal and he knew that she appreciated that didn't she? The last big push before new years came at work and Mike was tired. His wife as always spent Christmas and new years with her mother - and he knew this time she really was with her mother – she was too old to cheat on him now wasn't she? When she got back he would be free of dog sitting and he would take his new Harley on the road for the first time. Shiny and red, he hadn't even ridden it yet. He read the owner’s manual 100 times and knew everything about it, he couldn't wait and it was all he talked about at work! It was brand new and kept in the garage but he stripped the engine and cleaned and oiled everything just to make sure! It was polished, waxed, and hospital clean. All was ready. His first ride on his HIS!! brand new Harley to see the Northern lights. It was the culmination of his life's work and now it was really going to happen. Mike was so excited. On December 29th his daughter called and left an angry message on the tape machine. She wanted to visit but the snow was blocking the drive-way and she had her daughter and no snow shovel! Why the f**k hadn't Mike shoveled the driveway? He knew she was coming to visit that lazy good for nothing piece of crap. NOTE: the words she used were in reality more caustic than this - I have lightened them considerably. On January 3rd his son came to visit and found his father cold and lifeless surrounded by a ring of dog shit. He'd had a massive stroke, likely from the diabetes, and the paramedics said they thought that he didn't suffer for long - but it was hard to tell. When Mike's wife returned later on she immediately made plans to sell the house. She raged that Mike hadn't left her enough life insurance and no instructions on what to do – what a irresponsible man what the hell was he thinking? He should have provided better for her especially since he knew she was too old to work! She was 62!!! Insurance was so expensive for someone in his condition but if he hadn't squandered *their* money on that stupid bike he could have afforded it. Her old boyfriend George was so much more successful – oh how she regretted not marrying him! The bike was listed on Ebay that week. "Never ridden Harley - brand new! $17,000 or best offer". By every PC measure Mike's life was a success. He worked his whole life for someone else and doubtless made millions for his bosses over the course of his career. He took care of 3 people and two grandchildren that would have been on the dole if not for his efforts, and paid punitive taxes to take care of many more along the way. He never collected a dime of social security or unemployment even when he was laid off - he was just too proud to file. He never took Medicare and he made lots of profit for 2 large banks, 2 colleges, and never once thought of himself. He died cold and alone, surrounded by shit, never once having done anything for himself. His epitaph was a bike on Ebay - his life's dream - sold to a dealer for $15,500 - the best offer his widow could get several years ago. She took a cruise with the money. America thanks you Mike. You were a real success, and moreover a blueprint for what we expect a modern man to be. R.I.P. ---------------- That's a sad story, isn't it? I cannot add a thing, hence no commentary from me. Remember, Fealls, if you get married, THIS is what could happen to you! Tales like this make me glad that I'm unsuccessful with women. I'm serious! Ideally, marriage should be a little taste of Heaven on Earth. Unfortunately, it all too often ends up being Hell on Earth. Thanks to the reader who sent this sobering reminder and warning. Until next time...

I had a lucid dream experience of my Rinpoche running up my spine but within a tunnel riding a horse with wind blowing all hair on both Rinpoche and the horse back... moving very fast, and Rinpoche was slapping all my main chakra points with a stick, his eyes wild with bliss, love and radiance and at the end he was churning me, my awareness stuck at the crown of my head and this heat baking me on the top of my head like in an Native Bread oven, he was looking at me with this fierce bliss! I've heard that the windhorse is a synonym for kundalini? What's up?

Funny what people with very little deep meditative experience suggest of the great masters. "Dude... they must have been on drugs man... that's the only way they could have come up with that stuff bro." Ah, the limited minded masses of todays world. You must think Chogyal Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche is on shrooms when he shares his stories of manifesting items from lucid dream states into physical reality. You are no Dzogchenpa! Back on ignore.

My experience is much more direct--I don't return to the the thought of I, so there no fluctation in perception, much less reflection. I don't know about transparent but yes, every perception is THERE. But it is not as effortless or continuous, as in it does not follow into dream states, and at times my thoughts, or more of a feeling (I noticed that even dual thoughts can be perceived directly, and it dissipates upon the moment of simple noticing), arise forming a memory of "me" and "you." I did noting for a while, and it was really helpful for dissolving a sense of "I" behind thoughts, and still devote time to it, but often found it could lead to fragmenting experiences too much, and takes away the directness. So I'm still at the mantra of "sound but no hearer" ...I was actually thinking when my perceptions began to shift, and to be honest, I don't know, because I know I really didin't want to do this. I really wanted my theory of simultaneous arising of consciousness and a creator and phenomena as its object to be right. And a few years back, while reading though Neo-Advaita stuff, I had a tremendous opening with the words "things are just happening without a doer!" Something in my heart just exploded that night and I remember sitting in full lotus for over an hour when before I couldn't do that for more than 2-3 minutes due to knee problems (so I guess there is something to that posture). But that experience fell away because I was still at the time very much into Maharshi and tried to fit everything together by his teachings. And I really clung to...free will and the story of individual spiritual struggle and enlightenment. I reanalyzed and discarded all this "no doer" crap because the face of the no doer crap was the arrogant Neo-Advaita people who seemed to take great pleasure in mocking other's spiritual practice (of course, this perception wasn't entirely accurate, and Neo-Advaita is still very entrenched in Consciousness teachings). As I stated above, it is only recently in the past few months, when I was almost forced to begin to see things "as they are" because of Kunlun (http://www.kunlunbliss.com/). (I think you know AugustLeo, he is an advanced practitioner in the art). But I don't think Kunlun has much to do with what we've discussed here, although it does challenge the body and mind's stability. It pushes at the ego to let go, and let go , and let go....but it became apparent that only a groundless mindset was the perfect surrender, and when I started doing this, my practice became incredibly fluid and natural! It brings amazing bliss and clarity to perception than before, but a fleeting clarity with the knowing that it is not graspable, so the "transparency" you mentioned is perhaps this, that upon noticing it, it is gone! The practice most of the time brings everything into view with a complete opening, like seeing a continuum of objects in completely vacuum space, completely vulnerable to whatever arises, and of course, there is nothing but whatever that arises. But it is not effortless, this state, at least not yet, even if I am naturally beginning to see that this is how reality truly is . Even though I talked all that about Kunlun, I have mixed feelings about it. I try to let the practice, and more importantly the urge to practice it come more naturally rather than from a self-driven point of view. So usually I have a time for general meditation and see what practice I want to engage in at that moment.

When i smoke weed, i go into this laboratory, sort of like a class and i am the student. Every time i am high, i simply sit in the chair and look at the blackboard to see what Mr. Universe is chalking up for me. I learn and absorb a lot of information while in this state and when i am back down to earth i can meditate and everything i have learned and seen facilitates a deeper more profound meditation with a much broader understanding. I cannot however meditate WHILE i am high, but i can certainly do a lot of exploring and learning. And although i am a very changed person after each trip by the things i have learned, i can only apply the knowledge in a clear sober meditation. I hear a lot of people get high on stuff and then go to meditate, me, i simply can't concentrate, my mind gets gang-banged by the universe and i have way too much information to process to even consider meditation. My mind expands so much when i am high that i feel it will physically explode because it can't contain the information, but every time i come back i realize the previous expansion literally prepared me for absorbing even more information on the next trip. To the main question O_o .... why dismiss? If the argument is that information or states attained through stimulation from entheogenic substances is artificial, then that is the same as saying that all the teachings in the world are just as false. But aren't they? - What is real, until felt by our own senses? Just because we see it or hear it, does not mean we have personally attained it or understand it. All the theory and texts mean nothing if you can't reach the experience on YOUR own. As far as i am concerned the use of entheogens is something external and should not be put in the same category as attainments derived from clear minded and sober meditation, under which your body and mind remain in your full control. Having said that. I can see and feel the sun, but i am yet beyond it's glory, and although i may dream of being the sun, when i come back down to earth i will still have much work to do to. But if i do become the sun one day... i will not be surprised : ) Sort of like foreseeing a future event, when it happens, you're not as astounded as everyone else who didn't.

Enlightenment is being awake in the dream of life, is simply "Being" of the true One "Self" without any regard to the illusory ego; the ego self no longer 'is', as it never even truly 'was'.

Hi TianShi, Enlightenment as a word does not exist in Buddhism. The equivalent word the Buddha always used is 'Awakening', and I prefer this term because it is more accurate and meaningful experientially. There can be no liberation without awakening, without realizing the true nature of reality/mind/consciousness. Buddhism's awakening is all about waking up from our dream/delusions into the true nature of our consciousness... it is not an intellectual enlightenment, or any theoretical type of understanding. However I use 'enlightenment' more often because most forummers here come from a western background.

Do it, it's only about 7 minutes. I thought it was pretty awesome, felt like i was in a dream : ) Enjoy!

Very cool. I went to the list of post headlines and started just going down combining them in twos, the way two strands of DNA get braided -- everything connects and makes sense! Here's from a minute ago (as posts appear, the picture will change, but will still show intelligent design... check it out): Silencing the mind: Exotic supplement experience First food experience: Whistle blowing on breathing in the genitals Shaktipat: Sharing the same brain The Serpent - Satan? Time of the universe is slowing down 365 TAO: Taoism & large-scale dynamic systems Spontaneous qigong: Neurological switching the tao way Whole body was shaking when going to the dream: TaoBum love