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By sleeping qigong do you mean lucid consciousness while sleeping? If so, training is available from Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche. There are periodic online courses in dream yoga as well as sleep yoga offered through Glidewing.com that will set you back a few hundred bucks. Also, a book: Tibetan Yogas of Dream and Sleep. I think the Bum most knowledgeable about these practices is @steve. He might be able to offer suggestions as far as how to proceed if this is your interest.

As I was contemplating suffering the other day, and thinking about what part of us has actually never ever suffered. That is even incapable of suffering. And it is actually not a physical thing at all, which is also why it has never suffered. It is actually the part of us that actually knows all about our suffering, physically, mentally, emotionally. All that is of our physical life and body, can be suffering. But our consciousness can never ever become the suffering, just become conscious of it. We can be so conscious of our suffering that we can write entire books about it, and still be suffering. But as I begin to think about my own consciousness. As I begin to focus my consciousness more on itself, on myself. As I become more conscious about my own consciousness, I notice that it has got no aspect of suffering. It's just pure consciousness. Just pure existential awareness. It is almost like a non-physical field of pure permeable energy/awareness. Or pure awareness. I cannot draw a line in physical timespace reality, to define it, because it actually exists where physical reality ends. The line is drawn in between physical and non-physical. However, my physical body can become aware of the consciousness itself. It is simply pure awareness. And we are actually an extension of it, however, it is not an extension of us. We cannot change it or make it less, except for ourselves. It is so confusing to think about this relationship of physical and non-physical. Because we always are the consciousness, but we can as a consciousness, become so conscious of our own suffering of our own physical being, that we can actually guide the physical being to say that "I am suffering." even tho we are just consciousness being conscious about the physical being that is suffering. But our consciousness cannot ever become conscious of suffering, and then suddenly be diminished by it. The suffering doesn't affect our consciousness. Infact, some people have been conscious of suffering and then moments later conscious of the complete opposite. Because our consciousness is not limitted by anything that it can be conscious about. It is simply just consciousness being conscious about things, which may or may not actually be other consciousnesses. Or perhaps both our consciousness and not ours at the same time. So we cannot be conscious about going unconscious. I have tried, and what happened is conscious body paralysation, into deep dreamless sleep. What I experienced has profounded me. And it's that our consciousness has actually never experienced unconsciousness, and cannot do so. As my body paralyses, through the 7 hertz pulses of the brain, I lose physical awareness, but I am still conscious, and it feels very light... Just floating in a nothingness just pure beingness or rather awareness, thoughtless awareness. Aware without a mind or body or brain. And in what feels like just --- a few seconds ---, the dream begins. It formulates in my consciousness. When science says, as we go into unconsciousness at 7 hertz, we don't actually dream. There is a gap of time, before the dream begins, and because that gap of time is unconscious, my consciousness literally skips it straight into dreaming. It is literally not experienced nor even capable of being experienced. I skip that time in just a few seconds. The moment I become pure awareness, dream formulates very quickly. As sensations first and more clearly defined ongoingly. So unconsciousness, can never become experienced by us. Which is interesting. So we can never ever lose the consciousness. It feels almost as consistent as existence itself. But ofcourse its rather an extension of existance? Just like our suffering is not really existing unless we are conscious about it. But, even as we are being conscious about it, our consciousness itself, it doesn't suffer over our suffering. So it's so weird. To say, that on a certain level, we have actually never ever suffered. And that that aspect of our being which has never ever suffered, is simply our own consciousness. Or the awareness that is being aware of the suffering. So ofcourse we can suffer, as a physical human being we often suffer. But all that pain, that energy motional pain, it simply exist, because we are conscious of it. The pain doesn't change our consciousness, the pain may and often does change our body. But our consciousness, doesn't change no matter how violently our body changes. Just being conscious about the violent chaos and even conscious about the unwillingness of our physical body to experience this physical suffering. It's mind blowing, because as I am thinking, in my consciousness, expanding upon thoughts of my physical mind, I can experience so much pain, but it doesn't tear my consciousness appart as it tears my physical body appart. Sure I can tear my brain appart, but I wont actually be conscious about having a torn appart brain, because for some reason, maybe my consciousness will experience the torn appart brain as something that is not what it is. Maybe we can even feel some connection to the pain of the body, even while it is dead or even dying evermore. But again, we might even feel some non-physical awareness of pain, by being consciouss more about it. But it doesn't cause our consciousness to be painful. Our consciousness is simply being conscious about the pain. So what about our consciousness? What happens if we become more conscious about our own consciousness itself? Has anyone ever tried that? The awareness of the awareness. Being aware of your own awareness. Is that just a funny thing we can do, or is there some profound benefit to doing that? Or is the profound benefit in the actual fun of doing so.

Does anyone else notice that these are all subtle references to actual superheroes, like the lamp referring to Green Lantern or fruit communication for Swamp Thing? Also, these powers actually wouldn't be out of place with Doom Patrol with Grant Morrison, if the Brotherhood of Dada are any indication... Examples: Alias the Blur Ilse Krauss, an actress, falls in love with her own reflection. As she gets older, the reflection changes, and Ilse's madness drives her to believe that her reflective lover had been kidnapped and replaced; in retaliation, she scars the mirror with battery acid, before shooting herself. Ilse is left in a coma on life support in a Bremen hospital. The dead, destroyed mirror ends up in a junkyard before eventually it is awoken by the dream-vibrations of Mister Nobody; Alias the Blur awakens, a fractured monster-ghost with the ability to speed up the aging process of whoever looks in its mirror. Alias the Blur follows Mister Nobody on the campaign trail to win the presidency before the battle with John Dandy, when it was freed of its tortured existence and Ilse finally died. Sleepwalk Holly McKenzie was a British girl who had tremendous strength, but only when she was asleep. To avoid waking, she took sleeping pills and wore headphones that played Barry Manilow. She had the outlines of two faces painted around her eyes. This is similar to the Supergirl character in the superhero genre of film, comics and fantasy subgenre magical girl. Number None Number None, also known as the Secret Identity, is neither a specific person or thing. Number None is anything or anyone that can get in your way. As Mister Nobody put it, "Everybody and everything, at some time or another, is Number None." It first appears as a door that Agent ! walks into, signaling its joining of the New New New Brotherhood of Dada. It is never officially killed, because it is unclear if it can be.

I once tried that strange pipe and had a vision of the Raccoon God. In the dream, he gave me a golden acorn. But the initial euphoria quickly turned into a “bad trip” when Nungali came out of nowhere and stole the small nut. He even made a rap song out of it to spite me. Then he buried it somewhere in Australia, never to be seen again. It is said that a 1000 year old tree grew where he hid it, and of the shape of a raccoon. But we’ve since patched our relationship over our shared interest in random critters and various rodents. Although I contend that American possums are superior in subtle ways to their Australian counterparts.

Like even the military already knows it, what's hard to understand about "hearts and minds, sir." You don't become a half witt, thinking with your mind alone. You have to think with your mind and heart and become a FULL witt, a WHOLE person. You have to think in alignment with your emotional ability to FEEL the energy motional relativity between the physical consciousness and your greater non-physical consciousness, always here and now. Regardless of whatever perspective you hold about whatever you hold that perspective, you always feel the relativity of that perspective and the perspective of your own soul, which is already being and becoming all that you want to know be do or have evermore here and now. For science to finally once and for all accept that emotions exist, then they simply got acces to the knowing of anything and everything they so desire to know about anything and everything they so desire to know. They will be free evermore to understand anything and everything! AND EVERMORE! They will even become free to become even more stupid than they've ever been if they so wish, in the most intelligent way possible, in the most terrorizing and self contradicting and agonizing way possible, but will their soul join them in their stupidity? No... And that is why they always feel their energy motional relativity between their knowing and that of their own soul's evermore expanding greater knowing. So that no matter how stupid someone becomes, they can always simply let go of that stupidity, ignorance and arrogance, and simply instantly feel better emotionally, and simply instantly release all of that resistant energy and boom. Infinite intelligence, eternal wisdom, unconditional love. Expanding evermore here and now being and becoming all that they want to be do or have. Free to create evermore greater inventions evermore astounding wisdoms and intelligence far bypassing their own minds ability to even comprehend! Because the mind is not responsible to carry the weight of the world on its shoulders. Your soul does that for you. So think with your heart and the knowledge is all out there and everywhere you can possibly look. If you give yourself permission to feel good emotionally more of the time, you can wake up from one dream, and feel juiced up and ready to make 5000 nobel prizes per second. They got no definition to comprehend the kind of intelligence they have acces to. And yet they block it for themselves, because oh science has to be sterile... And emotionless. Everyone knows emotions are not intelligent... Well? All of existance is energy in motion. It is so much in motion that the motion motions itself into existance. What more emotional evidence do you need. And we got all these brilliant minds doing impossible calculations and they get asked, well how do you do it? And they say "Well I FEEL it is just right it feels better it's just right, that feels wrong and so it cannot be and so it is IRRELEVANT, it can only feel very good and not less it can only feel better, that is also the only job that you have as a physical human being extension of your own greater non-physical consciousness to simply enjoy life and be ALL THAT YOU TRUELY ARE PEACE AT LEAST AND EVERMORE JOY AND BLISSFULL NATURAL EVER AWAKENING AND EVER REFRESHING INFINITE INTELLIGENCE AND ETERNAL WISDOM AND UNCONDITIONAL LOVE." it's just the energy motionAL alignment between them and their own greater non-physical consciousness that is their soul and they feel that as joy and anything less than that WILL NEVER EVER DO. It is not relevant it is just a lesser truth and it will never ever become a full truth of ever expanding more being and becoming of all infinite truth being and becoming evermore here and now through the infinite grace of the ever expanding source of all creation, of ever expanding infinite intelligence, eternal wisdom, unconditional love. OF WHICH WE ARE AN INSEPERABLE EXTENSION. So OFCOURSE you're gonna feel emotion when you deviate your perspective from what is true, to let you know, hey! you might wanna know this, cause this is really enjoyable for you to know! UUUeeeeeee! WRONG... Negative emotion. Your perspective is false. Scrap it. Feel better about it first, then you will see the true reality of it. Being and becoming evermore here and now. For the joy of the true life experience that is you. To simply be do or have whatever you want. You just gotta be willing to allow yourself to feel better, that's the only thing you can do and that's the only thing you also need to do. To let go of self contradictory thoughts and allow your natural joyful thoughts to flow again. Meditate, feel better, allow better feeling thoughts more enjoy them more expand more upon them and they will be ENJOYED upon you. EVERMORE. It is simply your normal true normal and natural nature. To flow the energy which creates worlds through you. As you are an inseperable extension of it. So you feel your energy motional relativity with it, emotionally. As your emotional guidance system. To always know you wanna feel better you are ment to feel VERY GOOD. That is your normal truely normal natural nature. You can never get lost, because you can FEEL when you are lost. And so you know you don't like that feeling, it is not compatible with your true nature, your own soul doesn't agree with it. And you know you want to feel better. So uhmmm..... ??? Hmmmm! I wonder what might feel better? Uhmm... Is it "being found" perhaps? Maybe my soul wants me to focus on being found, maybe infinite intelligence is guiding me through my emotional guidance system to "being found" perhaps? Duuh... You want to be found! you want to be knowing! You want the revelations to flow through you! You want to feel EXTATICALLY GOOD! You want to be in evermore greater allowed flow of inspiraling inspirations EVERMORE BEING AND BECOMING EVERMORE HERE AND NOW FOR YOU AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN! A new here and now, unlike any that has ever been before or will ever be like it ever again! and AGAIN! AND AGAIN! AND AGAIN! You got the freaking energy which creates worlds flowing through you. You gonna even wonder about your own ability to come to a real understanding of what life is all about? Then surely you got your heart to teach you otherwise. Because your hearts is always flowing your greater knowing through it, as a guidance to you. So that you may want to feel better again. And allow it to be so! For if you can with that tiny little mind of yours, feel better, you can also feel better again. And again. Untill you simply know that you don't need to do anything to allow yourself to feel better. And then you will allow yourself to feel very good. And better yet. Evermore, being and becoming evermore in greater allowed alignment and realisation of and with the ever expanding source of all creation of infinite intelligence, eternal wisdom, unconditional love. The energy which creates worlds, it flows through you always, you are an inseperable extension of it. And when you flow it through yourself through self contradictory thought patterns, you feel the self contradictory, resistant, energy in motion as negative emotion. And the point is so that you don't have to do that anymore. Do you really need to study 999999999 billion years of science to know that if you touch a hot object and it hurts you are suppose to take your hand off of it, in order to come to a greater understanding of what that hot pan actually is? Seriously, science and their big heads. Once they are happy, they can finally put those minds to good use. Harness its full potential. And the only price you pay is the price of joy. Oh what a awefull price... Full of awe indeed.

Totoro’s mind is clear and lucid like the moon because he has soft thought. A lot of us, like myself, have a tendency towards hard thought. Well, I’m an engineer, so it comes by the trade of the business, but so do a lot of lawyers or politicians, or anything that requires heavy mental work. Hard thoughts mean tightening the mind and seeing the world and your problems as an equation to solve. Artists, enlightened ones, and very gentle people often see everything like a day-dream. Like Totoro, they enjoy soft thought. The thoughts still come and go in their mind space, but as a soft breeze. There is no strong control or direction applied to them by the thinker. Ask yourself, can you really be a soft person if you have hard thoughts ? Can hard thoughts change the world ? Remember in DDJ, “no violent force can last long”. The symbol of hard thought in the West is “The Thinker” by Rodin - Look at how much tension is in his face. Maybe Buddha or Totoro could be symbols of soft thought in the East. And one last thing. Curiosity is a good foundation for a soft mind. Look at Totoro’s big eyes. He doesn’t say much, but he is taking in so much. He is listening, curious. Open to any possibility. And open to any opportunity to help. This makes his thoughts gentle and flexible. Then his outer actions reflect his inner gentleness. But his actions are unpredictable, they could be anything, even a random weird sound like a growl because he is coming from a deeper place then hard thoughts, deeper than the intellect. But to be like Totoro we need to learn to be gentle with ourselves first. If Totoro was still judging himself with hard thoughts, then I don’t think his spirit could shine like the full moon, like it does now

wow @steve Your sharing triggers a memory. Late this morning... an extended dream, mildly lucid of being carried along reef lines by massive underwater waves and currents... lightly interactively tumbling along as carried effortlessly in the arms of deep ocean currents. vast, expansive, utterly sweeping and my awareness, my senses... like a leaf effortlessly rolling, tumbling along in bliss and joy at times swimming a bit to orient but mostly, just relishing the pure movement being carried by the Mother one effortless aspect of all that shifts and all of it, pure sweeping sensation without thought beingness thanks for sharing mate... deep gratitude. I often feel of folks who disregard energetic sensations and interactions, the way I do of folks who find relationships with animals irrelevant. I feel they are missing great dimensions of life. Then I remember that this is just my mind, making stories and I relax. The sense memory of this dream is utterly pervasive to mind and body. I'm sitting here in a near stupor of simple joy of raw beingness. such simplicity... life... beingness.

I don't own any of these, so can't comment on their effectiveness: Daoist Sleeping Meditation: Chen Tuan's Sleeping Gong Daoist Dream Practice Audio CD Eight Pieces of Brocade/Sleeping Qigong It's not specifically for sleep, but I've noticed that the times in the past when I've practiced Pangu Shengong at night, the quality of my sleep seemed much improved, sometimes sleeping straight through the night and waking up feeling refreshed. I should start doing that again! Also, not qigong, but yoga nidra is said to produce effects equivalent to deep sleep in a short period of time. It's certainly very relaxing in any case.

So now we have a new factor - the increased alpha brain waves from attention to “non-objects” - again more science corroboration of the Unprimed condition of formless awareness intention! The non-objects were systematically followed by a higher level of alpha than the objects…. suggesting that the alpha level is inversely related to saliency or familiarity of the object and does not directly reflect visual awareness. The reactive alpha rhythm was generated in the parieto-occipital sulcus, [the Bindu Chakra] which in several primate species includes areas belonging to the dorsal visual pathway So when we turn back to alchemy training - like this Secret of Everlasting Life book - translation of the first book focused on internal alchemy in China… We finally discover that indeed that Kunlun image I had posted in “part one” really is the Bindu Chakra…. googlebook link - water flows down from the Kunlun pass in the back of the brain. So that indicates that the secret of the Max Christensen Kunlun alchemy training of the water flowing down is from the Bindu Chakra - for real! But wait - there will be further corroboration! EEG in meditation. Theta rhythm is found mainly in central, temporal and frontal areas. Its episodes (encircled by double line) may appear at the same time when alpha rhythm dominate in occipital and parietal areas. From Moscow University Brain Research Group - spiritual matters ! Now then - what did I just post - about the parietal-occiptal fissure or sulcus - the Bindu Chakra - it is highest in alpha waves when focused on a non-object as the UNPRIMED CONDITION and now another brain research group documents the same thing from meditation yogis that focus on the formless awareness!! But wait it gets better because as I was doing my research, keep in mind, I was “flexing” or “sucking” on my Bindu Chakra - putting my qi intention there, creating pressure on the skull fissue or sulcus….and amazingly generating great Tummo heat in the lower tan tien. I know from my qigong experience that the tummo heat is best generated when the overflowing cerebrospinal fluid is swallowed, after it overflows out of the nasal cavity. I even quoted alchemy texts confirming that truth - as the “front” path of restoring yuan jing energy via yuan quan energy restoration. I did a blog post making that argument after a certain “school” of Neidan claimed you could not restore Yuan Qi…. using fear tactics while at the same time claiming that celibacy was not necessary for their alchemy training! Hilarious. Alpha-band activity is significantly greater when subjects have been cued to attend selectively to impending auditory stimulation. So now we have more corroboration that proper intention is UNPRIMES, a non-object, and on listening to formless awareness. That is what increases the alpha brain waves to be strongest in the back, thereby causing increased theta brain waves in the front - which causes the energy to resonate with the heart theta REM waves. Science has just discovered that contrary to previous claims, it is the REM dream state that are the most coherent brain waves! So now it’s time to go back to alchemy training to dig out further details : In simple terms, Kunlun is described as the Downward Water Flow and Kundalini as the Upward Rising Fire. The path of Kunlun is one where the Water or Kunlun energy is brought down to the heart, automatically causing the fire from the root to rise, resulting in the merge of the two to result in alchemy at the level of the Inner Heart. This results in the generation of what one calls the ‘steam’ or a third magnetic potential, eventually leading to the Great Void (or the Great One – whatever you choose to call), initiated by a magnetic expansion. In terms of Chi, if you would describe Chi as electric, Kunlun energy can be termed magnetic. The other key difference between Kundalini [fire approach I mean; I am yet to find popularly available water approach to Kundalini except in Kashmiri Shaivite schools] and Kunlun is also their doing – burning in the first case, dissolving in the latter. Also, Fire is all about ascension, becoming the heaven; whereas water is all about bringing heaven down to earth, to the human. Are they eventually the same, may be, may be not, assuming there is indeed an eventuality and a common one lol Why magnetic? Well science calls it gravitomagnetic - because the magnetic field is the precession as magnetic moment - it is the secret of “yuan qi” as the “hidden momentum” of turning the light around! I have occasionally heard of a connection mentioned in yoga between the bindu chakra (top back of head) and the vishuddhi chakra. The relationship is connected with the transformation of amrita which is produced in the bindu chakra and transformed in the vishuddhi chakra before descending lower down in the body. When the process is not working properly because of obstructions in the nadis or chakras, then, it is said, the process results in a contracted state of consciousness (the creation of persons), but when it is functioning in it’s pure state it results in divine consciousness. So contrary to the “general” meaning of bindu as point - we begin to discover the secret meaning of the Bindu Chakra - as the secret of the Water path as Kunlun Pass in Taoist alchemy! Bindu holds our life force within. It is the center of where our life nectar, AMRITA, is produced. Amrita is said to help the yogi obtain enlightenment. From there, this nectar drops down toward the third chakra, Manipura.In the Manipura chakra, the life nectar from the Bindu chakra is being used up for various activities of our body. In other words, the fire of Manipura (the name Solar Plexus Chakra is not given by chance) is responsible for burning up and gradually using the nourishing powers of the AMRITA nectar. So far we have these general declarations without much corroboration. It’s difficult to believe - how could focusing on that Bindu Chakra restore your energy? Well I found out…. So finally we get “official” corroboration that bindu really does mean drop of liquid originally. Bindu, (cp. Vedic bindu & vindu) 1. a drop, usually a drop of water Sn. 392, 812 (uda°); J. I, 100; Vism. 531 (madhu°); ThA. 281; PvA. 98 (udaka°).—2. a spot (cp. SBE XVII. 155) Vism. 222 (°vicitvā gāvī a spotted cow). ‹-› 3 So then in the above forum discussion the only reference I could find was this: “Kundalini Tantra” by Swami Satyananda Saraswati. google pdf link Amazingly this book gives great focus and attention to the Bindu Chakra - it discusses the Bindu Chakra as one of the key - if not the central secret of the alchemy training. Just word search Bindu. What’s fascinating about that book is the Bindu Chakra is considered to be focused on by listening as the source of the OHM sound - and you listen to high frequency sounds. Guess what? when I was earlier doing the science research I discovered another “hypersonic effect” study and the alpha brain waves that are increased by the ultrasound hypersonic effect? They emanate out of the parietal-occipital area of the brain! Indeed, the natural environment, such as tropical rain forests, usually contains sounds that are extremely rich in HFCs [high frequency components] over 100 kHz [3] [ultrasound]. From an anthropogenetic point of view, the sensory system of human beings exposed to a natural environment would stand a good chance of developing some physiological sensitivity to HFCs. We also found that some musical instruments, such as a gamelan of Bali, Indonesia, produce a significant number of HFCs over 100 kHz [3]. Deep Brain Activation So that book points out how then the Brahmins have a knot of hair tied at that Bindu Chakra in order to increase pressure on the skull as a meditation focus. There is 2016 research confirming that alpha wave binaural beats are strongest in the rear parietal lobe, and based on attention. Also that when there are competing thoughts as beta brain waves, it is the alpha brain wave the “suppresses” one thought, over another. Finally it is proven that an electrical current applied to the brain at alpha hertz increases creativity, similar to meditation. So I began searching this source for more details….and bingo or Boom! The science and alchemy of Taoist and Vedic traditions merged together: Secret of how the cerebrospinal fluid gets pulled down into the central channel via the Bindu Chakra There is a connection between the Arohan and Awarohan psychic passageways in Tantric Kriya Yoga, and the Conception vessel (CV) and Governor vessel (GV) of traditional Chinese Medicine, and the segmented dermatomes (distribution of spinal nerves to the front and back of the body). In the Bihar School of Yoga publication Moola Bandha the Master Key (1978, Page 122) by Chela Buddhananda, there are correlations drawn between the Arohan (frontal / anterior) psychic passageway and the Conception vessel & the Awarohan (back/posterior) psychic passageway and the Governor vessel. Chela Buddhananda states, that the ancient Chinese must have known about Kriya Yoga, because in one of the ancient Chinese scriptures called the “Tai Chin Hua Tzang Chih (The Secret of the Golden Flower) there is as meditation technique very similar to that used in the Tantric Kriya Yoga. Finally someone from the Kriya yoga tradition - is making the connection to the Small Universe meditation! haha. Unfortunately the Australian ashram of that Bihar school was doing evil sex abuse on youth. So having the proper intention of the Bindu Chakra is all the more important for doing the proper yoga training! What we have discovered is the Bindu Chakra over-rides - it’s a short cut - and focuses the intention or perspective back on the “awareness” to hold the qi back to restore the Yuan Jing as the Water path going down the front of the spine….and as Master Nan, Huai-chin points out when the jing is converted to qi then a loud OHM sound emanates from the heart. In fact I discovered a new brain study of ayahuasca users and found they have highly increased alpha brain waves in the parietal-occipital region! I mention this since when I did a strong ayahuasca test while in full lotus - I heard this loud OHM sound from the heart…. Another interesting point from science is that hallucinations say seen in the left eye are caused by brain damage in the right side of the parietal-occipital region - so again we see how the cross over works for the energy. So by focusing or “sucking” the cosmic Yuan Qi energy through the Bindu Chakra - then the cerebrospinal fluid bypasses the eyes and prevents the qi-shen from being lost out of the eyes - instead the alchemical amrita flows down as the Water Path -down the nasal sinus cavity via the pineal gland and swallowed down to the stomach. 9. The method used by the ancients for escaping from the world consisted in refining away the dregs of yin in order to return to the pure Qian (Heaven ☰). It is just a matter of dissolving the lower self and completing the higher self. Turning the light around is the method of dissolving yin and controlling the lower self. Except for the secret of turning the light around, there is no other exercise to return to Qian (Heaven ☰). The light itself is Qian; to turn it around is to return to it. Just persist in this method, and naturally vitality-water will be sufficient, spirit-fire will ignite, intent-earth will stabilize and thus the holy embryo gestates. And so turning the light around really does mean focusing the shen below the jing - but starting to do that in the brain by focusing on the Bindu Chakra or Kunlun Pass but this is only understood by properly understanding the psychophysiological secret of the small universe meditation, detailed in the book Taoist Yoga: Alchemy and Immortality . It’s only by doing a comparative study that this research is revealed. https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/proxy/R8e1u4lRnisqHy45GfPrIqtSoIPECH-DStuyRb-GrJcOSJhGR7WcwtYbWJsjWv_CfJUAaBJ5M2aUR5S0hJ-qr1lRhBWXpOqnzq04p2nTpxSk98zIsaf5-GLVapxXJHz7670idvZzsu9aCk309ENE=s0-d So as I recommended to read what for me is the most important book of my life, Taoist Yoga: Alchemy and Immortality , I then returned to review it, after having not read the book in many months. I was also given a good comment that was discussed on thetaobums also. Just as I have recently focused on the Bindu Chakra, the book Taoist Yoga states to first focus meditation on the “original cavity of spirit” until you see light and then feel heat in the lower tan tien, strong heat for one day. But this is very difficult on its own and the secret is the “squinting” the eyes on the nose or the rotating of the eyes - called “gathering” the energy: “the cultivation of heart to preserve (essential) nature….If you can not set your heart at rest in order to fix spirit in its original cavity (in the centre of the brain between and behind the eyes)…..” p. 84 “…for if spirit wanders outside, vitality will scatter to become generative fluid the exhaustion of which leads to death.” p. 83 “While sitting in meditation the practiser should never…3, look at external objects, for there the spirit wanders thereby harming the incorporeal soul (hun)” p. 117 “However if he can unite the element of metal (male) with that of wood (female) and the sun and the moon in one place….he will see the light of true vitality in front of his original cavity of spirit which will then hold it to prevent it from running away; the longer it is held the brighter it will be. When it becomes stable it reveals the successful union of the dragon and tiger (i.e. the female and male vital breaths).” p. 72 So at first you see light inside the brain but only when the qi energy is built up is the light seen “in front of” (meaning outside the body) the third eye. “which manifests when your body is full of prenatal generative force and disappears when the latter is lacking.” p. 80 “driving the first two [generative force and vitality] into the third [shen or spirit] to invigorate it.” p. 78 But the key point the book makes is that successful focus on the “original cavity of spirit” that is the third eye in the center of the brain, the pineal gland, that emanates “true” or “prenatal vitality” (Yuan Qi), thereby creating the spirit shen light , requires that the heart by empty of passion and over-excitement and anger. If this is not possible then the small universe meditation is needed. Hence the method of correct breathing is to circulate quick [strong] fire up and down (in the microcosmic orbit) and so immobilise the generative force causing the genital organ to retract (thus stopping the draining of vitality). After it has shrunk, the practiser should breath in to drive the generative force into the base of the spine and thence up the backbone into the brain; p. 34 The book Taoist Yoga: Alchemy and Immortality quickly (pg. 3) points out that there are two psychic channels that run up from each side of the body to the top of the medulla oblongata - so again that is to the pineal gland, the physical source of the third eye; but those two psychic channels then run to the eyes. “…west of the sun (the left eye)….” p. 4 “The left eye stands for the East whose element is wood and the right eye for the West whose element is metal.” p. 65 True nature is prenatal vitality is prenatal vitality [yuan qi] in its cell [pineal gland] on top of the medulla oblongata. p. 66 “left and right sides [of the third eye] are linked with the pupils of the eyes by (two) psychic channels; and it is also connected with the heart. Hence it is said that essential nature is in the heart and manifests through the two eyes.” “The sun and the moon, when turning round, unite the positive yang with the negative yin so that a glorious light emerges in the centre of the brain.” 64 footnote: the left and right eyes stand respectively for the sun and moon; i.e. the positive and negative yin.“ We can see from my Bindu Chakra research, this most likely is referring to the vagus nerve and the arteries and veins - as the Taoist Body uses the terminology of artery and vein - as the dragon and tiger channels. But the Taoist Yoga book is very clear that "only the two eyes are positive” and the rest of the body is yin qi energy - meaning only the two eyes emanate the prenatal vitality, as the book explains that the two eyes have “one source.” “The left eye stands for the East whose element is wood….” p. 65 “…the female element of moon is the wood….” p. 85 https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/proxy/R8e1u4lRnisqHy45GfPrIqtSoIPECH-DStuyRb-GrJcOSJhGR7WcwtYbWJsjWv_CfJUAaBJ5M2aUR5S0hJ-qr1lRhBWXpOqnzq04p2nTpxSk98zIsaf5-GLVapxXJHz7670idvZzsu9aCk309ENE=s0-d So it’s very important to understand the eye energy and what these two eye channels are - and we learn soon in the book, page 3, that the left eye is solar and the right eye is lunar. But here is where the mystery begins because it is not until the very end of the book that the left eye is revealed to be the “positive spirit” energy channel - the yang shen - immortal man - channel that is combined with the negative vitality of the body that creates the golden light. p. 156 “the left eye stands for the positive spirit” The mystery is this - the left eye is solar but it is also the liver hun incorporeal soul or dragon energy and yet the liver is also detailed as lunar and wood energy! A serious contradiction ! But notice above the quote says to “unite” the sun with the wood and the moon with the metal, a serious clue: unite the element of metal (male) with that of wood (female) and the sun and the moon in one place Again this contradiction is not solved until the very end of the book when we learn that the “solar” of the left eye is actually the “positive spirit” as the “yang shen” or immortal man. The golden light immortal man, at the very end of the training, once finally all the yin shen negative vitality of the body is transformed into yang shen, then vaporizes the whole physical body into pure formless qi that is boundless with the whole universe. When the yang shen wants to be in once location it then condenses back into the golden immortal body as positive spirit. The Hun soul controls our essential nature [xing], and hence, our congenital [yuan qi] meridians. http://www.scholarsage.com/the-hun-and-symbolism/ .“..the spiritual [body] is prenatal vitality [yuan qi] …and is our essential nature.” p. 74 So the original qigong master shared at the Level 3 retreat in 2000 that he knows meditation masters in the mountains of China who are developing their golden light aura as the yang shen. And once I had this book with me in class - but hidden in my back pack, I never brought it out, and yet the original qigong master shared how his meditation energy had been very deep lately and he had seen the falling snow in the sky as flowers falling in the winter. This is a direct reference to the end of the training as the golden light of the yang shen is developing. What the book states is that if you don’t open the top center of the head then you just end up with the yin shen - the white light - that others can not see and has less abilities and in the end is not immortal. And the original qigong master even described how the top of the head really does open up and some masters will have something stuck through the opening - like a reed or some thin plant like that. https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/proxy/R8e1u4lRnisqHy45GfPrIqtSoIPECH-DStuyRb-GrJcOSJhGR7WcwtYbWJsjWv_CfJUAaBJ5M2aUR5S0hJ-qr1lRhBWXpOqnzq04p2nTpxSk98zIsaf5-GLVapxXJHz7670idvZzsu9aCk309ENE=s0-d So in the very end of the Taoist Yoga book it states that the “four elements” are vaporized - and then refers the reader back to page 31 - and those four elements are the body itself, the breath (post-natal or yin qi), and the Hun soul and the Po soul. Again the Hun soul is from the liver and the Po soul is from the lung and both then go to the eyes - the Po soul is the whites of the eyes and the Hun soul is the irises of the eyes. Taoist Yoga: Alchemy and Immortality : The Hun spirit is negative - meaning still yin shen - and so is from the consciousness of the heart - not the true original spirit of the heart. The hun spirit is then powered by the yin qi of the liver but is moved by the heart - it “obeys the heart’s impulses.” The po spirit is then powered by the yin qi of the lungs - metal - passion - it also is moved by the heart’s impulses. “Liver qi communicates with the eyes,” states the Neijing, “and if the liver functions harmoniously, the eyes can differentiate the five essential colors….If the liver receives blood, we can see. The liver channel branches out to the eyes. Both liver qi and liver blood flood the eyes to maintain proper eyesight. A person’s eyesight may therefore also serve as an indicator for liver function. And so to go back to how to open up the Original Cavity of Spirit - it is crucial to understand this secret: ”…the element of fire in the eyes which are above scorches that of the water in the belly which is below, to produce positive vitality whose light manifests in front of him….the white light of vitality.“ p. 122 So if a person is not able to manifest this white light - seen externally outside the person as auras - then the white light seen just internally is the "relative void” that is “useless.” For the cultivation of nature alone ensures only the descent of the positive firewithout the ascent of the (vital) breath from below;“ p. 56 Why? The microcosmic orbit training describes the energy going down the front of the body as "negative fire” or yin qi energy - whereas the energy going up the back of the body is “positive fire” or “quick fire” - that is the prenatal vitality, as it is stronger then the yin qi blockages and yin jing blockages of the generative force - so the quick fire is what activates and creates the yuan qi or prenatal vitality that then expands the energy channels. “the light of the eyes directed downward is positive” p. 123 So the reason that the light of the eyes directed downward are positive is because that is the light seen externally also - the light that manifests when the original cavity of spirit is open as the light of yuan qi or prenatal vitality that later manifests as the “positive spirit” when creating the immortal man, but only after the liver lunar qi energy is build up from the negative vitality! Chapter 11: “the object of [alchemy] which is to realise the full development of positive vitality [yuan qi].” And so not until the generative force is full does the positive vitality manifest to open up the cavity of original spirit with white light seen externally. That means the energy has to be restored to that of a 16 year old!! That is why it is much easier to do this training, the younger a person is. I achieved this “enlightenment experience” when I was 29 years old and I maintained it only for a few weeks!! Since I did not understand the training - the energy “drained” away and then I overused the energy from the “evil fire” of the heart - as the book details. If (essential) nature is still, the incorporeal (soul) lies hidden to let the element of wood return to its source. p. 31-2 So there we finally get the direct connection between Xing as essential nature and the Hun - and the Xing then is the prenatal vitality or yuan qi that emanates out of the eyes via the pineal gland but when is “still” and not lost out of the eyes, then returns to the liver. So this can be used as the reference source for the Neidan entry on Wiki!! haha. I’ve never submitted anything to Wiki and don’t plan to - but nice to solve this secret of alchemy!! The home of qi is said to be centered around the liver[citation needed]. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neidan And this: The Neijing comments in its typical terse code: “Hun is that what follows shen going in and out.” So that makes sense when we consider the prenatal vitality or yuan qi is necessary to be built up to enable the shen to go in and out of the body. https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/proxy/R8e1u4lRnisqHy45GfPrIqtSoIPECH-DStuyRb-GrJcOSJhGR7WcwtYbWJsjWv_CfJUAaBJ5M2aUR5S0hJ-qr1lRhBWXpOqnzq04p2nTpxSk98zIsaf5-GLVapxXJHz7670idvZzsu9aCk309ENE=s0-d So then now we get the crucial secret of Xing meditation - the focus on essential nature in the center of the brain, the original cavity of Spirit, as the beginning of the meditation: “When the eyes cease seeing, the incorporeal soul is in the liver” Hsing-ming kuei-chih [“Balanced Instructions about Inner Nature and Life-Realities”] of 1615,….If essential nature is still, the incorporeal (soul) lies hidden….“ "Hence it is said that essential nature is (in) the heart which manifests through the two eyes….It is only when true vitality develops and united with essential nature to become one whole that the latter is called the precious cauldron [the third eye opened].” p. 10 So as the original qigong master states only after the liver energy is built up does the heart open up - as the third eye manifesting. Use your consciousness to go into the Emptiness - the universe is the green liver energy and now we know why! The Hun moves upwards towards the Shen and its movement gives the Shen the capacity to extend and project outwards. The movement of the Hun towards the Shen is a psychic equivalent of the physiological ascending movement of Liver-Qi. http://maciociaonline.blogspot.com/2012/11/shen-and-hun-psyche-in-chinese-medicine.html And yet the only way to build up the qi energy is by first building up the lower tan tien energy! My master said: When the generative and vital forces in the lower tan t'ien cavity move away they become liquid but when they return to that cavity they are prenatal vitality [yuan qi].“ p. 59 And so how is this connection to the lower tan tien made! With the eyes closed!! "When he wakes up, and opens his eyes, spirit returns to his organ of sight, thereby disengaging the heart from the lower abdomen which will not reunite even if he starves for a week.” p. 82 So the “true vitality” or yuan qi of the lower tan tien then unites with “essential nature” as the liver qi that powers the heart shen in the third eye. essential nature is “negative breath in the heart.” Yin qi of the liver.

Conscious life has revealed itself to being akin to a waking shared dream for me. I've been a lifelong lucid dreamer, from my earliest memories of life. In fact one of my earliest memories is of a dream. I regularly experience weaving in and out of the dream state while remaining conscious in recent years. This occurs most often in the mornings, after waking rested but remaining in bed for dream work. It also occurs in sitting meditations regularly, where awareness is empty, but present and suddenly while processing the sounds of the neighborhood, a dream will suddenly arise, whole scenario, full blown while fully awake. On a couple of occasions, dreams have played out with eyes open, as full hypnagogic projective hallucinatory experiences. We do seem, the more I follow the rabbit hole of meditation and inner self exploration, to be hallucinating our experience of reality. Our senses are triggered, we label them in mind, we then identify with them, or reject them and all of this, occurs within our own localized awareness, subjective, isolated. Some years back, a few of us Bums engaged in a shared dreaming process. There was some identifiable success in one of the sessions. Tibetans talk routinely of the dream like nature of waking consciousness and I'm coming to embrace it as a fact of my own experience. Fascinating stuff.

What if everyday, was the best day, of the rest of your life. It is easy to enjoy every day. I enjoy it by taking full advantage of every single here and now moment of experience. It is easy to enjoy everything. So do not find it difficult to suffer. And you will find it easy to enjoy everything. Do allow yourself to suffer. For you will then know, you created it. And so you will be free to create something else. The fun of life is boring. It is so normal and natural. It so free and joyful. So pure and innocent. It is like your soul. You are inside your soul. It is all around you. This life being a dream, is what makes it so real. And so you can keep enjoying the realness of all dreams. I can fly easily through the sky. Through my imagination. Touch the clouds. Breath the fresh cold air. All the while feel the warmth of the sun. The realness of life is what we make of it. It is more difficult to imagine something that is beyond our life. A goodness so great, that we cannot find a value for it. So we call it not yet fully realised, being our soul. Yet we can feel our way towards the allowed realisation of it. And then we will know, that it is our soul, who has been realising us, evermore. Flying physically is highly unlikely. We do not enjoy being highly unlikely. Because we are dreaming this dream together, with many dreamers. And there will be greater dreams evermore. If you were to dream freely, others would wake up. They would bless you. And you woulden't be able to fall asleep, except into a greater dream. Life is real, because it is the greatest dream there is. And it will become a greater dream evermore. Life is about as big as you are. Always perfectly matching you up, with those of like dreams. A co dreamed dream of evermore greater dreams. But yet, life is short. And the greatest dream we have, is the smallest dream of our soul. As our soul surpasses all time and space effortlessly evermore. The next life is already happening here and now evermore. Together with you. So that you don't have to be it. And it doesn't have to be you. So you come to realise the perfection that is you. And thus then become evermore. When you die. And are born anew. Suddenly finding all things new has always been old and true. As that which will stand the test of time, is all that you are, and it is you. The one of you, -by Everything.

Very timely thread with Mercury retrograde in Scorpio at the end of Oct. This is when secrets, or parts of ourselves that we don't know a great deal about come to the surface. I will be rereading Feeding your Demons by Tsultrim Allione and practicing her modified version of Chod. Incidentally, I also had a dream recently where I was hunting for spiders' eggs around the house, which is apparently about unacknowledged or repressed desires and emotions.

"Forget everything and become enlightened" is extremely difficult for most people , it is like asking a bug which is living and moving on a 2D world, wholly fixed in it , to jump out of that 2D plane, entering into an unknown space ; it is nearly impossible because that bug just doesn't sense and understand what that extra 3rd dimension can be . Similarly , although our consciousness and analytic mind give us very powerful ability to analyze , imagine, dream , even an intuitive ability to grasp the core of things at one stroke, Enlightenment as another dimension* of our 3D world and always described by Taoism as something capable of 'breaking open a primordial hole ' (' 鴻蒙竅' ) in emptiness , is still too difficult for our attaching-to-the-3D-world mind to understand . We are fully trapped in it through our senses ( '法執' ) and our entanglement of its inward projection , our pseudo-egos ('我執') . However , the seemingly Buddhist way of forget-everything-and-become-enlightened can be combined with Taoist jing-qi-shen as we get the famous saying ( in fact , a way ) from a Taoist master : "忘形以養氣，忘氣以養神，忘神以養虛 " (" Forget forms , jing or physical stuff , so as to nourish qi, forget qi so as to nourish shen , forget shen so as to nourish emptiness " ) . Of course, we have to be capable of mobilizing qi first in order to forget it , and it can be done step by step , or at one stroke . So, it is something practical , not necessarily elusive . * Most people refer time as the 4th dimension of our 3D world , which I prefer to leave it aside for future exploration ; however , I do think that maybe we can explore time along with qi , see my previous post on such issue.

When a human being wakes up in the morning he enters a waking state, like the other animals on this planet. But this is not the state of "Awareness" or the state of "Consciousness" that is spoken of in the Eastern traditions. Is it good to die ? Of course not. Buddha's story is very concise. He encountered death and disease and decay when he left the walls of the palace. He was shocked at the suffering. He had lived in a comfortable dream but now the stark reality shook him. Then he returned and a banquet was in progress; but he was no longer hungry. He felt there was something insincere in banqueting in a world of suffering. And for him, this game was over. He then sought an answer. And he found one. Should you do something ? It's up to you. Who knows who anyone is, or where anyone is, or what anyone should do.

Ah right, hmm.... Well from what I know of the planets, that makes little sense to me. I guess you are trying to show some dynamic what should be going on, but to me it seems pretty random at this point. I may not be familiar enough with all the nomenclature you use nor the planets themselves as placeholders. Testing testing... Well okay, I guess I see certain patterns now. Though I have forgotten what you where trying to say that I misunderstood. Ah okay, perhaps, it makes sense that Mercury/Hod generates a shadow, as it is a big driver for action. The Geburah <-> Netzach connection is interesting, and I guess I can see that. Yeah. Well sure on a superficial manifestation level, one could sort similarities and such. But when we have concepts like Sefirot that show the structures they jump out of. It doesn't really matter to me what forms the cultural zeitgeist is spewing out at any given time. People fake for all sorts of reason, usually because of status. Once something becomes important in a group, because it is "higher", then you can bet that half the members are trying to figure out ways to take shortcuts to the esteemed position. Personally I don't care much for groups like that, whenever the hierarchy gets too high and one have to jump through hoops, I'm usually looking for the exits. Sort of like the cat in animal farm, when the pigs take over. I come back if things calm down though. The dream of your mother makes sense, knowing what you have been up to. Your ego seem fairly strong from this side of the internet. Might be so. Well I always assume people don't, as it is a rule of thumb that is right in a majority of cases. Even when they don't admit it also. Yeah pretty much. Okay, well yeah if one wants to drag in stuff like genes or collective unconscious, then obviously there is no end to it in the personal conscious and personal unconscious. Yet I don't really bother to pester myself with such concepts in this discussion of wholeness. It is enough I think to be whole on ones own playground first. To be one with everything, although arguably a higher and nobler ideal by some standards. Strikes me as something that is beyond the spirit of our time. Well you are welcome to your opinion. Yeah, I guess I'm just tired of certain dynamics, and when I see similar patterns I just fire from the hip. Compared to a lot of people who have an air of "enlightened BS" you are kind of okay. Not that counts as a bridge in my eyes though. There is always something new to take hold off to figure out. It just depend how much time one has to sacrifice for it. Time waits for no one!

I am referring to the schema I outlined in my post on page 2 You must have read it as you 'thanked' it . Okay. I think that function , lets call it 'the cover up' can be conscious in some, semi in others and a full blown unconscious reaction in others . I also know that to casually reveal one's 'shadow' and strip of the ' mask of niceness' is very socially confronting and perhaps ' socially inept' .... as I do that sometimes . Which opens up another whole cans of worms ..... why DO that ... when most do not . Yes, it seems that way. That would be 'projection' wouldnt it ? Yes, individually and collectively ( also in a short and long time frame * ) . Hence Harpur's view on the changing metaphor of the experience; Goddess, Fairy Queen, Virgin Mary , Space Alien Woman . He cites an experience related by 'people' and then told to other groups, they all are certain what is described fulfils their definitions for either the Goddess, fairy Queen, etc . Then the explanation is given from the people that told the story; they where certain they had been visited by 'their ancestors'. And on an individual level also as we develop and change these interactions might take on different meanings and 'constructed .forms' of 'interaction'. Jung himself had some pretty fantastic ones ! I read a great book once who title eludes me . The 'complex range' here was history and how these above 'interactions' have changed over time ( from ancestors to Gods , to demons and angels through to good and bad aliens ... 'blues and grays' or whatever the division is ) according to developments in human technologies and culture of the times . So the rule set should not be formed from the projection, but by similarities throughout the projections . In a way . Good question ! It just seems the propensity of some to enjoy that and for others to fear it. Where does THAT come from? . I am tempted to answer ; 'because it feels so good afterwards ' but that doesnt explain the impetus. One of the higher imitations is 'Annihilation' (P.I.) , it comes after the degree that allows entry into the Lodge, so in the Lodge are 'the unannihilated' and the 'annihilated' and those 'beyond'. The P.I. are stripped of their rank, insignia, motto, weapons tools, whatever. They have a concealed (or no) identity. Their robe is all plain black and covers the face. They are , or try to emulate 'Mr Nobody' . I felt very comfortable in that position, as did one of my 'brothers' . Yet some fear ot so much they dont go near that and stop at the 'glorified' level before it. Even stranger, some go on through it and afterwards STILL maintain their magical ego identity ... evidence that ritual and ceremony alone is just a adjunct too change . I also experienced the same dynamic when I was involved in practices of 'annihilation' in Tibetan Buddhism ( Kargu Karma and their Chod meditations ) . Perhaps one made the other more 'comfortable' ? But no, as I go back I see a pattern . I even remember my mother being very worried about me and relaying a dream she had about me as a child ; the family is out at a picnic or something, the shy darkens, a storm approaches, thunder rumbles , lighening all around, earthquakes, the earth heaves up and splits open revealing a huge chasm into the bowels of the earth. Mom and Dad usher the children to safety, running away to a sfer place but I break off from them, run towards the hole in the earth, turn, smile, turn back and jump in. ... Mother awakes from her 'nightmare' , very concerned about ' me ' - the type of person I am . Now this mother was very straight, didnt even understand what the word psychology meant, VERY simple intellectually and a devout and practising catholic . So, where did THAT dream come from ? Can I have a propensity to 'annihilation' ? Or do I think my ego is so strong it will survive it ? Maybe not, as I do not have a strong belief in 'life after death'. Thats an interesting observation . Fanatacism seems mostly an unbalanced outcome of the path of Bhakti Yoga, devotional practices, rituals of worship. Nope . That would be VERY ironic ! ... I think that is a 'typo' . Well, the Tower seems to encapsulate what you are inferring to , if I read you right . Depends on where you draw the 'mind's' boundary ... and definition of mind [ see level / circuit 8 of exo-psychology where 'consciousness is non-local' . But generally, of course, and in normal consciousness , no, it is not possible. I dont think it WAS useless . I think I would get bored if I had all the pieces of the puzzle . Yes. I see personal evolution (when it is working) as an ever rising widening spiral. We can get back to where we where before, but we should be changed by the 'revolution' . Yes, interesting . Time has run away with me though ... gotta split to make a meeting .

I love the clash of perception that is going on in this thread between @Nungali and @Desmonddf Personally I find myself at a different level than both of them, and I can recognize aspects from both that are relatable. Different good or different bad, becomes of course a moral problem that is not easily solved. As we are speaking of things that are not easily pulled apart by such cheap dualistic notions. When one encounters demons and angels one will of course be deep in the work already. Yet the shadow cannot be dispelled just by effort alone, because to turn towards the shadow does not remove it. And when the sun itself move, the shadow isn't countered, it is merely moved to another location. Of course, the main problem I see here is one of talking past each other. Being so merged in ones own manifestation of will that everyone else's is taken as false and useless. Pointing to the flagrant shadows of the others, while completely denying ones own. I don't care how long anyone has practiced, if they have no shadow, then they are indeed dead. And would very much qualify as representatives of the phenomena of this thread, as beings without a soul. I agree that the soul shrinks in such a position, but it is not entirely lost. If is more like in hibernation, a vague dream of something more. I agree on creative output, yet there is more than one level of creative output, it is only when one can unify all 4 elements in oneself that one is truly creative. That is the point when one starts to knock on the gates of Kether, and when one gets in all sorts of trouble because one is not ready for divinity. As even the cooperation of the 4 elements is not enough to represent the totality of the self. This is when the collective unconscious come into the picture, as we find that in the mass of humanity, we are still nothing, and our contribution often are like grains of sand. Though someone who manages to gather the elements have a good chance of becoming a notable player. But even becoming an icon of history is not the same as touching divinity, though it is a lot closer than most get. Because even icons of history will fade away long before the archetypes and other primal forces fade. Which is why pride can be such a dangerous vice, (though it is hardly the only vice) because it tempts one with things that although noble in a way, still don't really help one on ones spiritual journey. If it did, both Napoleon and Caesar would have been paragons of spirituality, because of the mark they made on history and hence peoples ability to remember them long after. Sure they made their will known, and hence was on a path of individuation in that sense, but so is most people in some way or another, even though they might be trapped in bad circumstance. They still bang their head against the wall every day, because they know they should try to make something important happen. So yeah, just me processing this from my own frame, which in some ways I know will conflict with others. It is just an inevitable fact, and I have to accept that what I have to say will not be understood, at least not in the sense I wanted it to be understood, because people will adapt it to their frame, and hence give critique and praise based on that, and not based on what I set out to convey in essence. Though now and then one gets pretty close, but even then it is just a superficial chemistry, that on closer inspection will break down.

Understand, I'll slip quietly away from the noisy crowd when I see the pale stars rising, blooming, over the oaks. I'll pursue solitary pathways through the pale twilit meadows with only this one dream: You come too. Rainer Maria Rilke Is not impermanence the very fragrance of our days? Rainer Maria Rilke

Well said ! In a simple hierarchy of the self , using the elemental model we can utilise fire, water, air, earth as 4 'bodies' . Fire is the spirit and individuation. Wand Water is the emotions, intuitions, dreams, unconscious. Cup Air is 'mind' , the consciousness, the rational faculties, reason and logic, the intellect , etc. Dagger Earth is the physical body and its systems , the output, the material plane . Disk We get inspiration from spirit , we see how that ' feels' , we might even 'sleep on it' , then we evaluate if it makes sense and how it can be achieved , then we put it into practice, or make it . Without a vision or inspiration things dont move forward, if we dont feel for it or 'have our heart in it' it usually burns out, if we dont run it through the balanced intellect we could end up doing crazy or harmful shit and if we dont put it into practice all the above was just a pipe dream. Mind is really third in the hierarchy , but many people do not understand their spirit, misunderstand or cannot regulate or balance their emotions so mind rises to fill the void , which usually isnt trained , its running amok . " Therefore, as hath already been said, Establish thyself firmly in the equilibrium of forces, in the centre of the Cross of the Elements."

I don't know your daughter's health conditions but I know several people who use cannabis products successfully for sleep. Anti-histamines can be quite effective for some people, especially Benadryl (diphenhydramine). I prefer a supplement-free, drug-free approach but either of those may be worth a try if nothing else works. I used to practice Tibetan style dream and sleep yoga very consistently but I've gotten away from it recently. When I was engaged in the practices, my sleep was better than it's ever been before or since. Here are some simple suggestions that help me, most of which were recommended by my dream yoga teacher - 1. Begin winding down the day with the intention to quiet the body, speech, and mind for a few hours before going to bed 2. Stop all electronic stimulation, including television, at least 2 hours before bed. 3. No heavy meals or exercise within 2 hours of bed time. 4. Create a sacred and supportive environment in the bedroom. 5. Keep electronics away from the bed, on the other side of the room. 6. Make sure to get some vigorous physical activity several hours before sleep, not too soon before bed. 7. Abstain from alcohol completely. 8. When lying down to sleep, you may visualize being surrounded by beautiful, loving, supportive beings - dakinis, angels, whatever speaks to you. Imagine that they are there to help you fall asleep and to watch over you during sleep. 9. Keep a dream journal by the bed. Whenever possible, especially if waking up in the middle of the night and first thing in the morning, write down any dreams you can remember. 10. When unable to sleep, it is good to try and allow the body and mind to become still. If that stillness can be maintained for a few minutes, sleep will come. 11. When waking up in the night, first try to simply rest the body and mind in stillness. If this does not work, get up and occupy yourself for a while but NO ELECTRONICS. Read, write, meditate, do some gentle stretching, draw, anything to engage the body and mind gently. When tired return to bed. For me, meditation usually works well. I'll get out of bed, if necessary, and meditate on my cushion for 20 minutes or so and I"m usually ready for sleep. Good luck to you both! PS - my teacher wrote a book on dream yoga that is filled with useful information - Tibetan Yogas of Sleep and Dream by Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche. He also offers an online workshop on the subject which will be starting in November.

Yeah I wonder if my higher self broke my computer a year ago by making me careless. At the time I was doing fruitless exercises to see if they impacted some issue with my hip. When what was really needed was someone actually forcing some of the joints in place. So when my computer died from my carelessness I was forced to stop the useless standing meditation. Or at least I had to stop the journaling of it on this site, the rest came to a halt not long after. It seems I need to pay more attention to Hod and Geburah then I guess. I have read a bit more on them now including Netzach. I think I understand about right where I need to relegate certain Jungian principles to make the puzzle unravel now. Of course I will probably discover new layers all the time on this, but to really be able to use a system, one need to set it in context with the rest of one's knowledge, else it just becomes this weird anomaly that don't contribute anything useful at all. I'm unsure how high my conscious control actually stretch up into the tree though. I need to sit down and ponder it in relation to familiar landmarks. I'm not the kind of guy who wants to be as high as possible in something for the sake of it. Rather I view this as a map, I can either try to find my actual location, or I can find a map of where I want to be, and ignore the fact that I'm not on that map myself. With a map that includes where I'm at, I have can actually navigate the terrain, but with an ideal map of somewhere else, I'm merely allowed to dream.

Mostly a Tenzin Wangyal thing but also a Bön thing. Tenzin is a very progressive teacher and no longer a monastic. He gave up requiring or even offering samaya vows of his students many years ago. He also has been teaching tantric practices from the Mother Tantra without requiring students to walk the entire tantric path, practices like dream and sleep yoga, tsa lung, tummo, bardo, phowa, 5 elements, and chöd. There has been some degree of relaxation of requirements for these practices in Bön in general as well. I believe it is because there is a feeling that the world is desperately in need of these practices. I also suspect there is a recognition that the translation of tantric practices and the guru-student relationship to the West is problematic and the teaching of the full tantric path to non-monastics in the complexity of Western society is very challenging. The intention is to disseminate them as widely as possible both to keep the practices alive but also to offer them for the sake of anyone who has the karmic connection and access. For example, the most senior lama of the order recently published a book detailing the tantric practices of tsa lung and tummo. Lots of books are out there as well as online teaching opportunities. The Bön also emphasize the Dzogchen path for similar reasons and the samaya requirements are different in Dzogchen. In Dzogchen, our obligation is to the source itself, our Nature - not to a teacher who is simply an ornament of the base. At least that's my rudimentary understanding and interpretation of what's going on.

I have no idea why you think I was being facetious. I wasn't. I literally had no idea this picture had anything to do with transphobia, I thought it was about smart clothing versus not smart clothing. I thought this partly because it was posted to Facebook by my gay friend who would not dream of attacking or laughing at anyone for their sexual orientation/gender or anything like that having experienced discrimination throughout his life on this basis. If this meme offends you then take it down. I said this before. But spare me the censorious lectures.

So how do i know i dont turn to much jing into qi ? and how do i know i turned enough jing into qi so i dont get a wet dream ? also does simple meditation ("sitting stupid") not some active one also turn jing to qi ? (thanks for all replies btw)

Cool dream. Just a couple of days ago I was reading an article about a scientific discovery that showed once again (to those with eyes to see) how right the classical taoist take is on the human subtle physiology. What researchers at Columbia U discovered is that it is not the adrenals but the bones that initiate the hormonal signaling underlying our response to danger, by releasing the hormone osteocalcin which initiates a whole cascade of functions. This "in the bone" response precedes, optimizes, backs up and can even replace the adrenal response. Quoting from the article: "...these findings suggest we need a radical re-think of the role of bones, which have previously been viewed as mostly inert structures (...). They may have evolved to protect us from acute danger by activating the flight-or-fight response, optimizing muscle function, providing the structural framework needed for our bodies to move and escape, and forming a protective cage around our organs."