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I have two minds about this. One mind is that it would be nice to see something so mind-blasting that your sense of a solid, independent, material world is blown to bits. But then I realize that the basic experience of the world is so mind-blowing, I would be less surprised to see someone walking through a wall. By all accounts, there shouldn't be conscious experience, yet there is. The mind is formless, yet all these forms appear within and as it. There is no qualitative difference between an intense dream and the waking state. How the heck can we mistake our bodies for a self? Why do we take thoughts, which are really nothing but sculptures of light, sound and feeling, so seriously and why do we believe them? One of my favorite spiritual experiences is when I was grappling with the experience of waking and dreams. At the time, I was working through Berkeley's critique of the material world. Not just reading, but actually exploring experience to see if it was the case or not. I walked up to a rock, a la Samuel Johnson, and started stomping on it. Ha ha, it was so solid and real! How could anyone think otherwise? The idea that the world is not material was so obviously ridiculous! And as it turned out, I was actually taking a nap and dreaming. I immediately woke up, and instantly the solid rock in the solid ground vanished without a trace.

I thought you were serious about me. I don't understand why you are deviating away from the subject. I could sense secrecy. I am talking about retention practice, events, and things that come with it, while you are simply talking about pigeons and circumlocution? I have no intention of talking in vague, this experience itself has been such. If I write my heart out and you consider it as vague then I have nothing to add. However, please understand that I am not staying in a state of nonchalance. This energy inside me fuels me a lot. Nobody dies from circumlocution. Have you read Fyodor Dostoevsky's novel? I am inspired by him. However, I have no motive for drawing people towards the wrong line. Also, if a mere self-help knowledge could have satisfied me, I would have googled and stayed in a Youtube. However, thank you for your idea of being silent and just observe, like go with the flow kinda. I will try to understand what this is. Also, nowadays when I keep on putting my tongue there, I feel something in my frontal lobe. It's interesting and sometimes light flicker there when I sleep. However, these things will go once after relapse and will slowly build again. Will try to know about this. I read what you wrote. First I will not write detail about Samaya because my topic is not that. However, Samaya means time as well. With all my knowing and self understanding, it's real meaning has been hidden in tibetean Buddhist context because of its misuse. The other thing, I am not a monk and that is true. A little bit of thing I want to write on 'monk' is that monks believe in lots of wrong views. Praying, eating only vegetable foods, or simply avoiding lust will get us nowhere. Ignoring lust makes the energy stuck, rather embrace it. About energy flow, I have now felt such energy go up in my head as well. I have written about it on my previous post. It happened during 1 am. You said me to stop the practise, but for me it is all about to see what lies beyond. I will not stop and I think I do not need teacher unless I have moral. If death comes then I shall embrace it. There was a moment where I thought I would die as well, like heart palpitation and at one time energy shooting very strongly up once again inside from back of my spine. It's like it needs to be tamed and treat it very carefully and strongly. You also said that my leak won't cause harms to others. Well, that was one idea which I believed. Now 100s of happening has proved me that in fact it does harm others. That is why I came here to ask. Why it is harming others? Else this whole topic should have been only for me. I would never share here. I know that people die all the time, but such thing has not happened or such thing I have not heard in the news on my long streak. It's like I create a field of Aura and nothing enters there. And as soon as I loose my sexual energy, I have to perceive. Maybe such events do not come in my perception when I am in longer streak. This includes, reality, digital world and dream world. But with my relapse, all these world start to suffer, and suffer greatly. If there is something more please let me know. You can reply here or dm me. Thank you. Will look into it. **** Thank you again, for reading.

"Never show your power level to normies unless you can manage it. Almost made same mistake myself. You can't instantly redpill a normie, it takes time." -- an anonymous /pol/ user Totally aligned with what the Protopope Avvacum told me in a dream-vision I had in my 20s. "It's no sin to speak about some affairs eloquently. About others, let's keep silent, for God gave us a discerning mind not toward many words but toward many omissions."

Hello my name is maske and I'm a young man who is interested in cultivation i have always loved the feeling of meditation and just finding your own spiritual self. And I really love the idea that a human having the ability to use QI wich excites me because I always had a feeling that the human race has more potential and now that I have found out about this feels like the best thing that has happened in my life. But I don't really know how to start what do I do? Or am I doing it right sometimes I feel warmth in my hands and I once listened to monk music once and and closed my eyes while listening very closely to every single sound and I felt my soul being outside my body I felt it over my left shoulder but the second I noticed I went back into my body those were the only things that gave me hope to keep going but know I want to really know i want to do this. It's my dream to become good at cultivation and I want to learn more about daoism. And so I want to ask you all as my seniors if they could share or even show me how to cultivate. Thanks

I think one should look at the reason behind why you have a fascination as mentioned in the quote above. Is it an energetic imprint from a past experience? Try and think back to the earliest memory when you remember having this fascination. If you dream about the fascination, good, look for clues. There is nothing wrong with it, however, instead of this fascination leading you, find out why it wants to lead you in this direction.

Can't tell if these are your personal feelings or a quote from someone else. Like many things, it has positives and negatives for me. The comments about a trickster or evil spirit which take the form of the soul can be a good description of its psychological and emotional effects on some. It can really take over one's life and desires, like the mythical lotus eaters. For me, not only does it not mimic meditation but it interferes with meditation significantly if used more than occasionally. It also changes my sleep and dream life profoundly. It can be an effective sleeping aid but has a negative effective on REM sleep and dream and does not provide as restful an experience as natural sleep. While I have always been an advocate for its decriminalization and normalization, I also feel it important to acknowledge the negative impact it can have on many, especially the very young.

A butterfly had a dream that it was a caterpillar

Oh the Bardos. I've been getting a lot of Bardo teachings over the past year, before COVID. It is funny because initially they seem like a death teaching, but the bardo experience is everywhere. One of my favorite practices these days is yogic napping, sometimes in the West called liminal dreaming. You lay down to take a nap, and let your mind drift in and out of the hypnogogia. You can literally watch the body dissolve and reform, and the waking and non-waking states arise and pass. It is how I like to do bardo prayers. With a little experience in liminal and regular dream yoga, it is amazing how the bardo teachings really come to life. Yes, I agree. Sometimes these posts just spill out in contact with, and not necessarily in response to, other's posts.

Hello everyone, this was a topic I looked into a month or so ago. I ended up writing about it somewhere else so I figured I'd move it here. Would love to hear opinions, even if thats criticism. Well, lets jump into it; hope you guys enjoy. Many of you might be familiar, many not; with an idea in Western esoterica called the Law of Attraction, or rather the person behind it: Neville Goddard. However, I'm sure its sprouted out and implied in many faiths and philosophies. Regardless of the source, the general premise is that you can have anything you want by simply becoming the you that already has it. So lets say you wish for a better job, just imagine the version of you that has the better job, then shift that onto yourself believing you are now that version. So okay... sounds simple enough and fairly interesting as well. I'm of the belief that this isn't the way, but a thorough understanding of this can be very useful. At the very least, it can at least aid you in landing into a better physical world scenario so that you can explore more... The simple idea in itself was very intriguing to me and at the time I wanted to figure out its components. While now, I admit that I'm not really messing around with it; It's still super cool. So, I practiced and read the techniques, of which there are many. Some have to do with mirrors and jumping to different dimensions, some deal with drinking glasses of water, some with just feeling, etc... It really goes on. After familiarizing such techniques, I was able to practice with smaller things that made sense to me. Stuff like buying a stock and knowing that it will go up, Something lost returning to you because you 'know' that you've already found it, etc. Now this left me quite a few questions: - First off, how do these manifestations work? That was answered partially by the fact that we are infinite and reality is actually just a mirror of our perception but there is more to it. Even People who active deny this idea, which is completely fine you do you, have luck with this. Hell at the time I was messing around with this, they were having more luck with it than me! - Secondly, why do these manifestations take time? Why is it that it may take weeks before you start to see massive sudden changes in your life? This relates to the first question.... At the time I made this post, I answered it from a scientific perspective. The real reasons are more spiritual but the science still makes sense per say. - Thirdly, how can I keep my belief that something is so, when my perception says otherwise (bank account is empty, etc)? How does that belief even effect reality and why is that things seem to stop shifting as soon as I lose belief? Partially that can be explained by our infinite selves and how reality is like a dream... but once again there's more to that answer - Fourthly, this seems to tie into magic as a general principle. Now how does that work? How much of magic is purely belief? *Note I don't practice magic in anyway, so newbie speaking here* -And Fifthly, This seems like an awesome way to train one's belief in themselves and truly experience their infinite self before the years of meditation. Furthermore, it seems like a great philosophy to live a mundane life: "Don't chase the world, but let the world chase you". Okay, so cool... But how do I optimize it so that it makes sense not just for me, but for other beginners? So I had been practicing with the idea of belief through the methods and in general for a month or so, and while doing so I encountered various specific issues as well as various research topics. Considering that I had no background in magic really nor any magical abilities, those research topics were all science related. It took a while but mostly out of luck... I found my hook which I could start explaining things by: Quantum Physics. Even better, there's even a concept in Quantum Physics that displays the sheer power of perception and how it can effectively place us into parallel realities. The concept I'm referring to is called "Aharonov's Sphere of Many Radii", where a time machine works by using external stimuli and mechanics to shift the time travelers perception consistently. I'll talk more about this at the end, but if you're interested I'd reccomend reading about it. I'll also talk about the Many worlds theory near the end. I'll give a brief overview of the idea behind this method and other methods: The only manifesting that you do in this method, is make it be so that a coin flip can decide a course of events. The rest is enforced by the coin, whether you like it or not. This means that you can manifest anything, no matter how big or small, without having to actually do the manifesting of that yourself. While you might have to give a little push to the coin... The coin does all the work. Furthermore, the coin method isn't about power. Its about understanding every component and just learning how the components somewhat work. So here's how things will be organized. I'll state the process of the actual reality shifting/manifesting. Then I'll give my findings about why it works and other components connected to it. Then I'll briefly explain some quantum physics, though my information of quantum physics won't be too solid. Then I'll state some other methods. Then I'll share a story or two that relates to this concept. The questions above will be answered throughout what I write, but never really specifically addressed. Enough of the intro, here we go!: 1. Find what you want and put it in the form of a “I” state. , then find the opposite. Ex: “I win the lottery” while the opposite would be “I lose the lottery” Ideally, try to pick something that you don't crave or desire too much. If you really want money and you wish for money, chances are you won' get it. Desire effectively says to the world, I do not have this and it is separate from me. So be careful, do something small or something you can forget about. It also tends to be easier to do it on something you have less control over surprisingly. Like if you say I am rich for one of your states and you settle into that, and then you have doubts because you aren't doing what you would do if you were rich because you're watching tv or something then yeah... chances are your doubts will likely get in the way. 2. Then find object. Ideally a coin, but you can use other stuff. It’s probably important to visualize a feeling with what each state would feel like as you assign each to a side but don’t worry too much because that’s just not the mechanics I’m basing this practice working on. Ex: heads represents “I win the lottery”, tails represents “I lose the lottery” I like to add a bit more onto each statement but I’m unsure how necessary it is. You might see why adding the extra statement is helpful though as we get further into the practice. Ex: heads is “I will win the lottery, and if I would have not, I will now”, tails is “I will lose the lottery, and if I would have not, I will now” 3. Now once you've assigned a state to each side, try to really feel the emotions behind each state, as if it was actually you. Ex: "I win the lottery" might represent a feeling of excitement, luckiness, maybe imagine throwing a party or two while at it. while "I lose the lottery" might be no change in life and you being somewhat dejected at the money spent. Do this for a few minutes and switch between each state, back and forth. This isn't so necessary for this practice to work but its really good practice for conscious control of perspective; I'm unsure about this, but it could also assign more significance to the coin-flip whenever its done. On a side note, a cool exercise I read about was find a random object around you and imagine what you are like from its perspective. Could be animate or inanimate. Then from that object go to another and imagine what the object before it would be like from its perspective. You could do it with imagination or physical objects; though I find that imagination is still done. 4. Really believe that this coin flip can change reality. Imagine that you're in a world where this coin flip does really effect reality, if only for this once. 5. Go into a dark place or prepare so you won’t be able to immediately see which side the coin has landed. The darkness, or whatever setup you have to block observation of the result will allow you to really ponder the idea of the "Principle of Complementarity" and the depth of what you're about to do. 6.Now you can flip the coin. Don’t observe the results yet, just flip it then try to understand the what's written below. If you already understand whats below, then you can just brief over the idea and continue on. In quantum physics, all small particles ,and I'll sneakily extend this to all large objects as well because the small particles are the building blocks of the large objects, are possibility-waves. Effectively, a possibility wave is not just a single particle but all the possible places/things that particle/result could be. In the context of infinite universes (many worlds theory), this means that a possibility-wave can be literally anything. Hence the ideas of Schrodinger's cat, etc. Ex: You don't know if there's a cat in a closed box because you haven't observed what is inside the box. Now back to your perspective: By you observing these infinite possibility waves, you have turned them into a set probability, typically meaning that you'll see a chair 100% in the corner of a room(which you also created). And the chair will always be there unless your perspective has changed, which could be through the chair being moved, an action, or a manifestation of some sort. If you're already familiar with the law of attraction, you may have heard people say that you're already constantly switching realities and manifesting; well this is what they mean, only its usually a jump for a small mundane reason. Believe what you want to believe, it's of my opinion that we create this reality because we believe that we are things and memories force a certain perspective. We allow most things to be decided by the 'universe' so they are, and we believe that we are this 'mortal body' so we are. So effectively, awareness towards something means a loss of knowledge since you can no longer see all the things that a possibility-wave can be. I find this concept really cool because it ties into a lot of spirituality a ton, especially ideas like how we are "Brahman" (pure consciousness, awareness, infinite). This effect is called "The Principle of Complementarity". What's scary about this, is that we end up creating a feedback loop where our reality feels solid when in actuality it just isn't at all. That point that I just made, while not a scientific theory (at least known to me), is something that is spoke of again and again in spiritual texts. This reality isn't as it seems.... duh duh duh But before we get into this lengthy topic further: What you've done already is that you've found this coin and shifted your perspective of what used to be a meaningless coin roll to a coin roll that decided the possibility-wave of your state of being. Already, what has happened now, is that you've already shifted to a basically identical reality where the results for this current coin flip decide your state of being. And now, you've flipped it... Well yikes. But the good thing is that by Quantum Physics, it remains a possibility until you observe the coin. So really, the result hasn't be decided yet. Let that sink in. What it implies is that you are not independent from the event which you observe. Even further, a reality cannot exist without an observer, and an observer cannot exist without a reality. (also brought up as subject and object, or seer and seen) So an optional step, is for you to consider what would happen now that you're in a reality where this coin flip effects your state of being and you landed a tails. Well judging by the example, your state of being in this reality, is now doomed to be "I lost the lottery". Yikes! But consider that there's also the chance that you rolled a heads. You don't know, and if you did: that possibility of the coin flip would become a probability. 7. It might be scary now to observe the result of the coin, now that its implications are so heavy; however, I ask to you to look at it regardless. If its good, then awesome; but if its not good... Well, this is why I really like this exercise because its not just about manifestation but understanding how important your belief is. I'm encountering this issue right now as well with the encroachment towards enlightenment, as someone who believes they are bound to this body will be bound to this body, etc. I want you to remember who gave the coin that push, its power in this reality: you did. Like a child playing a game, if things go awry you can just do it again. Nothing, and I mean nothing is stopping you from assigning that same power to the coin and repeating the flip until you get to the desired spot. You create reality, you set the rules. You are the player, rules, and referee 8. Now, I'm assuming that you have the desired coin side. That's it. Whether you believe that "I won the lottery" or not doesn't matter anymore. You shifted your reality to one where the coin had the power to change your reality. Now that the coin was flipped it moved you to another reality where it is true; that's it. Try not to dwell on it, and let things happen; and it will be true. The thing is that this works even with past events to, you just have to let change happen. Now, If you ever want to change things again, you can flip the same/a different coin with the same process or or even now just do the manifestation directly. The purpose of the coin exercise is not to only allow easy manifestation where something else does most the work, but also serve as training wheels so you no longer need the coin. You can do this same thing by simply declaring beliefs, etc. Here's another method: (Reddit isn't the brightest of places so be careful about that subreddit) Well that’s it then. You completed the process. But if you want to hear further about some of my beliefs; as well as give me some pointers on places I may be wrong, read below: I’ll go further into the concept of manifestation. Effectively, going by the many worlds theory, there are infinite realities. While the many worlds theory is very much speculation, it can’t really be disproved or proved, but hell its existence fixes a lot of paradoxes. Otherwise, consider that you are living in one of infinite realities and all the things you’ve experienced make it seem like the die of infinite realities was rolled and said you are in “reality 982”. You have this job, this lifestyle, this car, etc. But you are never stuck in 982 nor was the die ever really rolled, you’re just in 982 because you keep observing from the same perspective and therefore keep seeing the same probabilities, thus resulting in the same job, events, blah, etc. Understand that this primarily happens because our thoughts are molded by our actions, and our action modes by our thoughts. I'm more on the spiritual standpoint now that this is all a changeless illusion, instead of the scientific. Believe whatever you want though, your life your rules; quite literally. This behavior of actions effecting thoughts and thoughts effecting actions is just a massive feedback loop which confirms your reality. Ever wonder why the world was so much more magical when you were a kid? Well it actually was, for the very reason that your perspective wasn’t solid, it was malleable. Though i'm of the opinion that childhood wasn't really as great as we imagine it to be, this is also why most people imagine it to be so great; there was freedom in mind, not this rigid perspective day to day. When you manifest, or do any kind of magic(I’m not really that familiar with magic so I could be wrong about this) for that matter, you’re jumping out of your usual perspective and setting a probability usually before you observe the possibility . Usually that probability is very quickly defined by your usual perspective, which turns these possibility waves ,which could be almost anything, into the same things again and again, everyday. But with manifestation/magic, you don’t have to know the dimension number or anything else, just one aspect of that reality. Once you make that apply that aspect to your perspective(ex I am rich), as long as you let it, your awareness will slowly shift to that reality or a reality that contains that aspect. Some people can do it through simple belief, this example uses a coin. Now that you’ve taken on that aspect onto your perspective of reality, those possibilities which used to always be the same probabilities because your old perspective, finally change a little. On scientific terms, all the possibility waves related to the ex of “I am rich” are trying to confirm the already made observation/probability that “I am rich” with time not even being a factor. So everyday ,as you observe more objects, the physical world shifts more and more on the molecular level to match your new perspective. Till boom, by 3 weeks you definitely start to notice the changes. Spiritually, I believe this is only possible because we ourselves are infinite so we have the power to change these things, The issue just lies in the fact that we’ve forgotten our infinite nature and instead take on a personal awareness which exists in cause and effect... that in itself isn’t bad, just don’t demean how special you are. But if you can’t really fathom that or don’t care too much about this philosophy, think about this: the die of infinite realities, you have the possibility to reroll it. In the case of the coin exercise, we are filtering infinity to the just realities with the choices you care about. Ex “I am rich” or “I am poor”. Pause for a moment(if you care to) and think about how massive of a scale you’re working at, with some simple thought and flipping a coin you’ve changed universes. That is your power... it’s almost inconceivable right? But it’s true. There's actually an interesting story on this in the Yoga Vasistha, it is called The Story of the Sons of Indu (Ten Young Men). Here's most of it below: III:86 THE SUN said: (narrating the story to Brahma to the creator): O Lord of lords, near the holy mountain in a place known as Suvarnajata, your sons had established a colony. In that place there was a holy man known as Indu, a descendant of the sage . He and his wife enjoyed every blessing except an offspring. In order to obtain this blessing they went to and engaged themselves in severe penance, living only on a very small quantity of water. They had resorted to the state of trees and stood unmoving. Lord Siva was pleased with their penance and, appearing before them, asked them to choose a boon from him. They prayed that they might beget ten worthy sons who would be devoted to God and righteousness. Lord Siva granted the boon. Very soon after this, the holy man’s wife gave birth to ten brilliant and radiant sons. These boys grew up into young men; they had mastered all the scriptures even when they were barely seven years of age. After a considerable time, their parents abandoned their bodies and became liberated. The ten young men were sorely distressed at the loss of their parents. One day they got together and asked themselves: “O brothers, what is the most desirable goal here, which is proper for us to aspire to and which will not lead to unhappiness? To be a king, to be an emperor, even to be Indra the god of heaven—all these are trivial, since even Indra rules heaven just for an hour and a half of the Creator’s life-span. Ah, therefore, the attainment of creatorship is the best for us because of all lordships it alone will not come to an end for a whole epoch.” All the others heartily agreed with this statement. They said to themselves: “Well then, we should soon reach brahma-hood which is devoid of old age and death.” The eldest brother said: “Please do as I tell you to do. From now on contemplate as follows, ‘I am , Brahma, seated on a full-blown lotus’.” All the brothers thereupon began to meditate in the following manner: “I am Brahma, the creator of the universe. The sages as also the goddess of wisdom are within me in their personal forms. Heaven is within me, with all the celestials. Mountains, continents and oceans are within me. Demi-gods and demons are within me. The sun shines within me. Now the creation takes place. Now the creation exists. Now is the time for the dissolution. An epoch is over. The night of is at hand. I have self-knowledge and I am liberated.” Meditating thus with all their being, they became that. THE SUN continued: III:87, 88 Lord, after that, still deeply contemplating on their intention to be the creators of the universe, the ten holy men stood in contemplation. Their bodies had withered away and whatever was left was consumed by wild beasts. But they continued to stand there in their disembodied state, for a long long time . . . till an epoch came to a close and there was the great scorching heat of the sun and the terrible cloud-burst which destroyed everything. The holy men still continued to stand in their disembodied state, with the sole intention of becoming the creators of the universe. At the dawn of a new creation, these men continued to stand in the same place and in the same manner and with the same intention. They became the creators. They were the ten creators whom you saw; and you saw their universes, too. Lord, I am one of the suns that shine in the universes thus created by them. Let me know what you guys think. If you don't agree with it that's fine, I hope it was at least amusing to read.

Wow! Sweet! 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽 So we would do some preparatory breathing and tsa lung. Then say a poem and practice. Or all 3 poems and don’t interrupt the sitting. One at a time, 3 in a row, any order or permutation. Most people connect to the body easiest. When you can connect with confidence and facility, rest in daily activity. Apply whichever of the doors is needed for the circumstances. Be playful and inventive. Do it in lucid dream or sleep, that’s a party!!! I pray I will be doing it as I die. I’ve been connecting to the Bön bardo prayers lately... I can send the phonetic Tibetan if you like. No special permission needed.

Emptiness, not nothingness. Nothingness would be nihilism. What appears is expressions of the dharmakaya (however you define it). However, lacking any unitary, independent, permanent substance to them, they are empty. Last night, I dreamed I was in a house. It was very detailed, ornate, elaborate. There were these old lamps that didn't work well. They would sputter before coming on. The house had old wall paper, and many rooms with moody yellow lighting. It was an old house, probably from the early 20th century. Something entered into the house, very loudly and aggressively, coming for me. I forgot I was dreaming (connate ignorance). I took the expressions of my mind (the house, the lamps, my dream body, the monster) as real (co-emergent ignorance). Because of this, I had fear arise (emotional obscuration). What if instead, I recognized that I was dreaming and relaxed? Even though there was nothing to grasp or let go of? Well, then I would have been able to walk through walls. But there are degrees of lucidity in a dream. From a little lucid, to completely awake. Even when completely awake in the dream, the dream rules still apply. It takes some time to undo the mental habit that prevents you from walking through a wall. Last night, I didn't. I woke myself up. In so doing, the dream world dissolved, and the waking world emerged much the same way, with the same level of detail.

Adyashanti's insights have been in mind since waking today. "Most of us want to feel better, we don't actually want to see that we're misperceiving things. But that's the core of spirituality. And the only way to really wake up is to realize that the way you perceive yourself is not true." Adyashanti "Enlightenment is a destructive process. It has nothing to do with becoming better or being happier. Enlightenment is the crumbling away of untruth. It's seeing through the facade of pretence. It's the complete eradication of everything we imagined to be true.” Adyashanti “All that is necessary to awaken to yourself as the radiant emptiness of spirit is to stop seeking something more or better or different, and to turn your attention inward to the awake silence that you are.” Adyashanti and finally, the first thing I ever read of Adya's... instant recognition and sympathetic resonance that spurred me to seek out all his writings... “If you prefer smoke over fire then get up now and leave. For I do not intend to perfume your mind's clothing with more sooty knowledge. No, I have something else in mind. Today I hold a flame in my left hand and a sword in my right. There will be no damage control today. For God is in a mood to plunder your riches and fling you nakedly into such breathtaking poverty that all that will be left of you will be a tendency to shine. So don't just sit around this flame choking on your mind. For this is no campfire song to mindlessly mantra yourself to sleep with. Jump now into the space between thoughts and exit this dream before I burn the damn place down.” Adyashanti

Well, @Mithras! When returning to college, you may wish to devote a moment each day, and imagine walking alongside the immortal scholar Lu Dongbin. His finely honed blade slices through a flimsy page, as easily as you have already seen through idle distractions. He well knows the dream of achieving alchemy can last a lifetime, conversely a whole career of worldly affairs can be dreamed in a single afternoon. Extreme austerity though, can become yet another indulgence. Do all things without ado, but still with an ever present joy, in the wisdom that behind there is a greater depth, propelling your destiny as smoothly as the ocean waves. Though froth and spray will arise on turbulent surface waters, to tempt the mind to tangle, they will dissolve just as quickly. To study the classics is foundational. Look to the sages Lao and Chuang for comfort and perspective. Ponder the Secret of the Golden Flower when you are ready to reflect the light inwardly, and digest the Neiye to nourish your eternal heart.

Good to meet you. My husband and I like to practice and learn about cultivation. The value of this community to us is it will helps us to take our practices to another level. Currently, I am focusing on Yan con qigong. I read the book a lot last year, we discussed it at home, however, I would like it to be more of a practice. Chinese medicine and metaphysics, both qigong and Taoism, Has a deep relationship with learning and helping one another. I know that personally and professionally I can be better as I continue to learn from others. since I do not have formal teachers—I had training in medical qigong in 2009, though it opened my third eye up and I had been doing my best to clear my energy field since. During that time in 09 I had been malnourished, depressed, angry, hurt, when qigong training began. Then it spurred on insomnia, being interactions, very vivid dreaming, and as I continued eventually thyroid deficiency, to now fertility issues. I had been seeking a practice, since through various teachers however, I may like to stick with Yan Xin. As I really connect to what he says, and feel I am elevated in Qi from learning. We are attempting to get Pregnant this year and could use healing I apply lots of mind-body-spirit wellness from many fields to bring my body to balance. I felt like after 10 ish years I was able to take more control in my dream states by learning some about dream yoga with tenzin rinopche. I am moving in a positive direction though would like support my personal health, family, and business life to an even greater degree. finally, I may be at a good point to start training and more seriously. glad to be here!

Matter of fact, all of it. I remember that foreshadowing of nostalgia for the 20th century when it was only projected onto the 21st by these 1981 guys. "Remember the good old 1980s? When things were so uncomplicated?" How insightful they were... and how naive. "You stepped out of a dream believing everything was gone... return with what you've learned, they'll kiss the ground you walk upon." If only. Return with what you've learned and they'll do it all over again anyway.

Welcome to the Dao Bums. A wonderful forum to learn, discuss and cultivate. Below are 3 important sections: Our Rules, The Insult Policy and our 3 Foundations. Before you join give them a read. Most of it boils down to being respectful. No name calling or trolling. Post as if your mom's looking over your shoulder. Discussion and arguments are what the board is about. Keep it civil, don't get personal. Don't be a troll or one issue zealot. We're here for good conversation and make some friend along the way, to be a community. Jump right in, start threads asking questions, look for interesting threads and post your (relevant) thoughts. For the first week you will be restricted to ten posts per day but after that you can post as much as you like. Also, until you’ve posted fifteen times in the forums, you’ll be a “Junior Bum” with somewhat restricted access and will be allowed only two private messages per day. Good luck in your pursuits and best wishes to you, Michael and the TDB team Read and review Our Rules: Our Insult Policy- Read it, Live it TheDaoBums' Three Foundations: Eclectic, Egalitarian, Civil. Welcome. I like to play around with the philosophy Life as Dream, Dream as life- honoring the signs and synchronicity of life. Look forward to your writings.

I'd say in taoism it's a moot point. Zhuangzi wrote his butterfly dream parable to illustrate that. The back-and-forth between the ideal "dream world" of Xiantian and the manifest world of Houtian is constant, and that's what's real. Consciousness is also a moot point, because nothing can really be unconscious. A sleeping man's state is not unconscious even if he doesn't dream. His organs are taking turns taking little naps, is all. The heart is still conscious, the liver is still conscious, the kidneys are still conscious, the brain stem still regulates the breathing. And none of it is unconscious or unaware. None of it is a machine. The stomach is still aware of that bag of chips you ate with the late night movie and is working on that. The kidneys and the bladder are still aware that there's a cup of tea or a can of beer that have been presented to them to deal with alongside all that salt in the chips. Even more aware if it was a six-pack rather than just one can. No amount of ideas in the head or in the scriptures about the bladder being "empty like all phenomena" is going to stop it from waking you up in the middle of the night with the contradicting message that it is quite full, and in need of conscious emptying.

While mind-only language has found its way into some Daoist expressions, I think overall the Daoist approach to the phenomenal world is to treat it as real, albeit in constant flux. Dream and waking are both facets of the same reality. Landscapes are not expressions of karma; animals are not ignorant, deluded incarnations (though Buddhist influence has made inroads here in some Daoist sects).

TL/DR: Is Taoism as practiced generally realistic (i.e. saying everything is real), idealistic (everything is consciousness) or something else? Background: In Buddhism as I’m familiar with it, there is a tradition of Cittamatra or “Mind Only.” This can have two meanings: 1) that everything is mind, or 2) that everything we know is an expression of mind. In philosophy, the first would be an ontological statement, meaning it is a statement about what things are or made of. The second is an epistemological statement, meaning that while everything arises as a transformation of consciousness, no further statement is made as to what happens outside of experience. In the second case, it isn’t relevant. The drawback to the ontological position is that it leaves many things unexplained. Traleg Kyabon Rinpoche uses the example of some one who is asleep and has their head crushed by a falling rock. If no one is around, the conscious being is asleep and completely unaware, how could this happen? Some responses to this include a broad diffusion of consciousness (everything is conscious) or positing a larger consciousness (God, which was Berkeley’s solution). The Buddhist scholar/practitioner Douglas Duckworth makes a strong case in my mind that the general approach is to say that everything is ontologically empty, but epistemologically consciousness. Mipham, the lion of the Nyingmas, says that relatively, Cittamatra is correct (with the exception that the mind is not truly established, which isn’t necessarily a Cittamatra position IMHO), while ultimately, everything is empty. The Buddhist approach seems to demote the waking state (which we may take as real) into the dream state (which we don’t). Hans-Georg Moeller in Daoism Explained claims that the Taoists do the opposite—they regard the dream and waking state as both authentic, or real. In this way, they would promote the dream state into the same position as the waking state. Is he right? What would the Taoist position be in your experience?

In all affairs it's a healthy thing now and then to hang a question mark on the things you have long taken for granted. Bertrand Russell Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd. Voltaire For my own part, I know nothing with certainty, but the sight of the stars makes me dream. Vincent Van Gogh If I knew for a certainty that a man was coming to my house with the conscious design of doing me good, I should run for my life. Henry David Thoreau

Hi little dream, I got few questions, in your school : how much is it food/semen related ? What's the recommended died ?

Not necessarily the most correct because how the visualization is effected is contingent upon one's stage on the path. Since Chenrezig practice is non-tantric and does not require empowerment (the earliest mention of the mantra of Chenrezig is found in the Karandavyuha sutra, which isn't a tantric text), its practice forms are quite flexible. There's absolutely nothing wrong with your current practice. For those who've taken tantric vows, however, they would be performing the visualizations differently, thats all. Berzin Archives is a reliable resource, and if you're interested to gain a deeper view of tantric visualizations, Alex Berzin expounds it extensively here https://studybuddhism.com/en/advanced-studies/vajrayana/tantra-theory/visualization-practice-in-tantra Also this, for perspective: https://buddhaweekly.com/tantra-helps-stop-ordinary-perception-the-fast-path-to-enlightenment-but-how-do-modern-buddhists-relate-to-deities/ According to Vajrayana, that vagueness you mentioned is due to the layers of mental coverings. As your practice progresses, its said these coverings form 'scabs' and eventually peel off. One reliable yardstick to measure how much progress has been made is the increasing clarity and refinement that arises with the visualizations, and to what extent does that clarity persists in the mindstream is also a factor. A beginner might only be able to hold a fuzzy image of Chenrezig for a couple of minutes at a time, whereas a more mature practitioner might be able to capture in his mind's eye all the intricacies and subtle details of a Chenrezig thangka for a lengthy period without being distracted. Such stability is crucial because it prepares the mind for what arises at the onset of the dying bardo. So, in essence, no matter which deity practice one does, its best to stick unwaveringly to one for the whole of one's life and really drive it deep so that it appears to you in waking states and in dream states, and finally, it will appear resolutely at the point of transition from this life into the intermediate bardo, which, according to Vajrayana, is what crowns one's practice. That is the very moment where liberation can happen. This is clearly explained in all the Bardo Thodol texts and commentaries. Excellent resource for the various texts here - https://www.lotsawahouse.org/topics/dying-bardos/

I have a dream that someday i can train with master Zhou. My plaining to go this year was lost due to the pandemic. Does the master give online class, like leve stream?

HI. Please speak more about the master zhou ting jue practices. I want to study with him, this pandemic has caused me a big trouble to make this dream came true.

Well, this thread has brought up some things which have been major issues for me recently, so I'll share here. I got to the point where assuming Damo's Wuji for any amount of time, even a few seconds, would result in a kind of crushing of my kidneys, so that, in the pose I didn't feel pain, but afterward, if I made any movement involving the abdomen I would have sharp pain in my kidneys. Needless to say, I was quite frightened. I stopped practicing and got to work to see what might be wrong. Two major things that needed sorted our were 1. Collapsed arches and habitually holding my weight over my heels. When I would shift the weight into the front of the foot per Damo's instructions, my plantar fascia didn't engage as intended (which would be the physical correlate of activating yongquan), and the weight basically went into the toes. I was going from heels to toes and never actually activating the part that was supposed to activate. 2. The spiraling actions of the legs and arms that synergzie proper opening and closing of the hips and shoulders were not engaging correctly, particularly external spiraling of the legs. This came from years of practicing yoga with bad cues (basically, internally rotate the legs in all poses). So whenever I would open and close the kwa, there was a fundamental imbalance and instability in how it was happening. Even now that I have started doing a little practice again, I'm only practicing for a small amount per session, taking a lot of care on these points. There are further things going on not relevant to this thread that also need sorted out. I had a dream that warned me that I might seriously damage my kidneys, so I'm trying to not do that.